All Features
Quality Digest
DuPont will triple the revenues from its automotive coatings business by the end of this year due, in part, to an aggressive Six Sigma effort, company officials report. Since consolidating its previous Brazilian coatings operations from a joint operation into a fully DuPont-owned business…
Quality Digest
National Technical Systems Inc., an engineering services provider, recently acquired Dynamic Labs, an environmental testing laboratory. The acquisition marks the growth trend that NTS has established in the past few years, company officials report. Dynamic Labs operates facilities in Phoenix…
Thomas R. Cutler
The key to quality throughput within a warehouse, especially in a high-speed/high-volume environment, is the ability to move a carton into and out of a pick zone expeditiously.When a warehouse control system (WCS) doesn’t process the information to divert products quickly enough, it causes…
Quality Digest
Quality New Mexico and the Baldrige National Quality Program will co-host the Western Baldrige Regional Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this fall.The conference and preconference workshops will be held Oct. 4–5 at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town. It will feature speakers and workshop…
Quality Digest
The release of an updated version of ISO 9001 has been delayed until the middle of 2009. The update was scheduled for release in 2008, but a failure to obtain sufficient support for a draft of the standard at a meeting recently held in Ireland has pushed it back, reports Quality Systems…
Tony Coray
One of the latest trends in the ongoing evolution of Six Sigma is its rising popularity among college students and its appearance in universities’ curricula. These courses are exposing students to the power of data-driven quality improvement and, in many cases, giving them firsthand…
Quality Digest
SigmaPro Inc. will begin its fall training Sept. 25 with a Master Black Belt course. It will be followed by service for Black Belt, lean Sigma Black Belt and lean Sigma Green Belt courses. All of the courses’ curricula are designed to provide in-depth knowledge in how to apply DMAIC (…
Quality Digest
Anderson Packaging, a pharmaceutical contract manufacturer, recently hired Chuck Aubrey to join its executive management team. In the newly created lean Six Sigma position, Aubrey will lead Anderson Packaging’s corporate lean Six Sigma programs, help facilitate ongoing process improvements…
Quality Digest
A recently released book promotes hoshin kanri , a Japanese method of strategically planning and managing complex projects, as a powerful component of Six Sigma and lean enterprises. Hoshin Kanri for the Lean Enterprise: Developing Competitive Capabilities and Managing Profit, by Tom…
Quality Digest
The University of California at Irvine Extension will offer a new lean Six Sigma course this fall. The Six Sigma Lean Green Belt course has been designed for professionals in a variety of industries, ranging from manufacturing to service to seek increased management efficiency. It will be…
Steven Ouellette
As I said in my premier Heretic column, “Dogma and Definition,” I’m interested in examining our assumptions and premises about Six Sigma so we can discard the dross and refine the potential benefits in implementing it.To that end, I have decided to co-opt an omnipresent element of pop…
Quality Digest
The implementation of Six Sigma at Decatur Memorial Hospital has saved millions of dollars and dramatically improved patient satisfaction. The hospital reports that 10 months after it installed patient-safety technology software from Omnicell Inc., it was more than $2 million under budget in its…
Craig Cochran
Last year I had the good fortune of doing some consulting with B&C Specialty Products in Hopeulikit, Georgia. B&C does light manufacturing, primarily plastic molding and assembly, and they also distribute imported products produced by companies in the Far East. They have about 150…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization’s Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO) and Committee on Developing Country matters (DEVCO) will hold a seminar on improving consumer participation in standards development. The event, hosted by the Botswana Bureau of Standards, will be…
Quality Digest
The American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians Inc. will host its 29th-annual Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Conference this fall in Rosemont, Illinois. “Does Quality Pay?” will feature a thorough examination of the effects of quality-assurance programs…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization reports an 18-percent increase in the number of international registrations issued for ISO 9001 in its annual “ISO Survey of Certifications.” The survey is ISO’s main barometer for measuring international use and compliance with its…
Quality Digest
Chad Kymal recently received the Quality Professional of the Year award from the American Society for Quality. Kymal is CEO of Omnex Inc. and a contributor to Quality Digest. He was recognized for his long-term commitment and contributions to the quality industry. The award was presented…
Quality Digest
B.C. MacDonald & Co., a provider of specialized cutting tools and gaging products, will open a new metrology center in September. The new center will display more than $2 million worth of 3-D metrology and dimensional gaging equipment in Lisle, Illinois. Mahr Federal and Optical Gaging…
Quality Digest
Mitutoyo America Corp. recently released the second edition of its metrology handbook, Metrology Handbook—The Science of Measurement. Nobuo Suga, advisor and instructor at the Mitutoyo Institute of Metrology is the author. The book is designed primarily for students enrolled in MIM courses…
Quality Digest
Renishaw’s calibration products division recently started offering users of its ML10 laser calibration system complimentary upgrades to the latest version of the company’s Laser 10 software package. The ML10 laser interferometer system is widely used by OEMs and end users in research,…
Quality Digest
RNDT Inc., a commercial nondestructive testing (NDT) laboratory, recently received from the Performance Review Institute its ISO/IEC 17025 and National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program accreditation for multiple NDT testing methods. The lab, based in Johnstown,…
Quality Digest
Hexagon AB, a Swedish conglomerate, recently acquired a Thai metrology distributor, Thaimach Sales & Service Co. Hexagon reports that its new subsidiary, to be renamed Hexagon Measurement Technologies Thailand, will be its largest distributor of coordinate measuring machines in…
Fred Mason
Many people know about William Tell shooting the apple on his son’s head. What can this archery event teach us about accuracy and precision? What do these words mean? When are they equal, and when are they not? “Accuracy,” “precision” and “resolution” are sometimes misunderstood or…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization reports an 18-percent increase in the number of international registrations issued for ISO 9001 in its annual ISO Survey of Certifications. The survey is ISO’s main barometer for measuring international use of and compliance with its…
Quality Digest
The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently added new requirements for health plans seeking accreditation to its Quality Plus program. The change becomes effective in 2007.Candidate health plans will have to demonstrate that they provide their members with information to help…
