All Features
FDA
(FDA: Rockville, MD) -- Michael R. Taylor, J.D., a nationally recognized food safety expert and research professor at George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services, will return to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to serve as senior advisor to the…
James Odom
In “The Power of Observation—Part 1,” we learned that a good portion of problem solving should be devoted to a thorough understanding of what’s going on before any corrective action steps are taken.
In many cases, too much time is spent on proposing various solutions before the problem has been…
The New Yorker magazine featured a cartoon showing a discussion between a salesman and his sales manager. The despondent salesman asked, “I know you’re always telling us to sell the sizzle and not the steak, Mr. Bollinger, but just what is the sizzle of a 90º elbow, flexible-copper fitting?”…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a systematic analysis technique that facilitates the identification of potential problems (failure modes) within a design or manufacturing process. Problems can then be ranked in order of importance to prioritize improvement actions. These actions are…
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence
(Hexagon: North Kingstown, RI) -- Wilcox Associates Inc., a Hexagon Metrology company, announced the release of PC-DMIS 2009, the latest version of its market-leading CAD-based metrology software. PC-DMIS 2009 is a family of software products covering a variety of metrology hardware platforms and…
NIST
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- Miniature devices for trapping ions (electrically charged atoms) are common components in atomic clocks and quantum computing research. Now, a novel ion trap geometry demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could usher in a new…
(InterTech: Skokie, IL) -- Recession-strapped manufacturers and machine builders with applications requiring high-speed leak testing of parts from several cubic centimeters to several liter volumes can now integrate leak testing into test-intensive assembly operations with unprecedented ease with…
U.S. Green Building Council
(USGBC: Washington) -- As part of LEED v3, the latest version of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) program for green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance; buildings seeking LEED certification will begin submitting operational performance data on a recurring basis as a…
Larry Carlberg
You have a carefully crafted clay prototype made by a top design artist. Each detail is exquisite and you want to make sure every last one is molded into the finished article. Contact measurement isn't an option, because the piece is too complex and too malleable for touch probes. You need…
Steve Arbogast
It can be extremely difficult if not impossible to have an antiquated, document or paper-based quality management system (QMS) work for a company. To possess, build, and support this type of management system burdens the organization.
On the other hand, a QMS that is electronic, linked, or…
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality AHRQ
(AHRQ: Rockville, MD) -- The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) annual release of state-by-state quality data continues to give mixed reviews for the quality of care that states provide. As in previous years, AHRQ's 2008 State Snapshots show that no state does well or poorly on all…
Mike Micklewright
Mike Micklewright's pun of the month (we can only hope there is just one)
Question: When Potsie and Fonzie tried to trick Richie into handing over his date to Ralph Malph in exchange for a better looking girl, what did they call the deal?
Answer: A Ponzie scheme.
Training within industry…
(Intertek: Boxborough, MA) -- Intertek, a leading global provider of quality and safety solutions, is working with medical device manufacturers who are currently under pressure to stay compliant under widespread changes to EU regulations.
The European Union has published a revision to its…
ISO
This is further information on the story released on July 1, 2009: http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/quality-insider-news/iatf-releases-revised-version-isots-16949.html.
--Editor
(ISO: Geneva) -- ISO has just published a new edition of ISO/TS 16949:2009, which specifies quality system…
Bill Kalmar
As I listened to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford struggle through tears and sobs as he described his sordid, illicit affair with a woman from Argentina, I concluded that he must have been listening to the new Kenny Chesney song “Out Last Night” with these opening words:
We went out last…
Brittany Vogel
Bright Minds, a Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) mentoring program, provides a chance for students interested in manufacturing to get an in-depth look into the industry. Students are given the opportunity to immerse themselves in rapid prototyping, tooling, and additive manufacturing.…
NCQA
(NCQA: Washington) -- Beginning in 2010, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) will publicly report on health plans' resource use for patients with diabetes and asthma. The reporting of these two relative resource use (RRU) measures will allow purchasers and consumers to compare…
(BSI: United Kindom) -- Findings of a recent BSI survey show that a standard to help improve energy efficiency is much needed. Of 800 public-and private-sector UK organizations surveyed, only half rated their energy management practices as good or very good. This is despite 78 percent saying that…
(Vision Engineering: New Milford, CT) -- With more than 50 years of proven optical experience, Vision Engineering has packed massive technical capabilities into the new Falcon three-axis noncontact video measuring system, delivering performance you would expect to find on systems many times the…
(CSA Group: Toronto) -- Robert M. Griffin, president and CEO of CSA Group, recently announced that CSA Group has acquired SIRA Test and Certification Limited, a world leader in the conformity assessment solutions field that specializes in the testing of safety equipment used in potentially…
Donald J. Wheeler
Some authors recommend that you have to wait until you have the range chart “in control” before you can compute the limits for the average chart or the X chart. Why this is not true will be the subject of this column.
To illustrate the issues we will once again use the NB10 data. The 100 values are…
Laurence Finley
One of the earliest quotes I remember from a general manager: “If my manufacturing manager and quality manager weren’t at each other’s throats, then I would be concerned.” At the time, as a young graduate mechanical engineer acting a quality control manager for a small aerospace firm, I thought…
Brittany Vogel
The core of lean manufacturing, kanbans use the “pull” system to prevent waste by creating a cyclical relationship between the consumer, supplier, and manufacturer. The user of a material requests or "pulls" material from the supplier, as they need it. They do this using some form of notification…
(AuthorHouse) -- To put it simply, there is no business without the customer. In any successful business venture, the objective is to keep the customer happy so that they will generate new business. In his new self-published guidebook for customer service prowess, It is All Between Your Ears: It…
Laurel Thoennes @ QD
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers presents a new book from Michael J. Termini, Concept to Customer: Portfolio, Pipeline, and Strategic Project Management (SME, 2009). Termini wrote Concept to Customer in response to the many questions from project managers and novices who have sought his…
