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Quality Digest
RABQSA International Inc. recently announced the formation of an accreditation scheme for auditors that conduct audits using standards that pertain to heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses. The Heavy Vehicle Accreditation (HVA) auditor certification scheme was developed by RABQSA’s…
Quality Digest
The United Nations Global Compact Office recently agreed to cooperate with the International Organization for Standardization’s effort to develop ISO 26000, which pertains to social responsibility. ISO has emphasized that ISO 26000 will complement existing public and private sector…
Last month’s column provided background on the International Electrotechnical Commission, one of only three standards-setting bodies recognized by the World Trade Organization. Readers may have asked, “So what?” The answer is that one of the three “schemes” within the IEC has provided…
Denise Robitaille
The adage “The pen is mightier than the sword.” is hackneyed, accurate and profound. I’ve done several pieces on the influence of words. The simple fact is that how we say something often matters as much as what we’re saying. It’s a wondrous phenomenon, one that is too often taken for…
Quality Digest
Sam Y. Zamrik, a technical consultant and professor emeritus of engineering mechanics at the Pennsylvania State University, was recently named president-elect of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ASME develops codes and standards for the engineering and technology industries.…
Quality Digest
FlexNet Quality, recently introduced by Apriso Corp., supports the prerequisites for effective implementation of Six Sigma, including statistical process control and define-measure-analyze-improve-control techniques.FlexNet Quality supports lean manufacturing programs by focusing on waste…
Quality Digest
The Centre for Corporate Governance and Financial Policy in Hong Kong will develop the “Corporate Practice Management Manual” in the first quarter of 2007.The Independent Financial Advisors Association commissioned the document, which will establish best practice guidelines for IFAA…
Quality Digest
EPCglobal Inc. has awarded its compliance mark to Sirit Inc.’s 510 UHF RFID reader, making the device the first to get European and U.S. dense reader mode (DRM) certification.The EPC certification means that hardware operates according to EPCglobal standards, including the UHF…
Quality Digest
Rockwell Automation recently recognized its top engineers at the Patent and Innovation Awards in Milwaukee and in Cleveland.Sujeet Chand, senior vice president and chief technology officer, and Keith Nosbusch, chairman and CEO, bestowed the company’s most prestigious laurels on Jon…
Theysan Kasirajan
Editor’s note: We’re intrigued by this article, in which the author posits the idea of "Theozen," the author’s term for a God-based approach to quality.
Most of us have some sort of spiritual belief, whether it’s part of an organized religion such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam,…
Quality Digest
In a letter from Navy Capt. Dorothy J. Freer to Sikorsky president Jeffrey Pino, the oversight agency criticized Sikorsky’s reliance on subcontractors and recommended suspending activity at one subcontractor, according to a recent story from the Associated Press.
In regard to Sikorsky’s attempts to…
Quality Digest
MoreSteam.com recently announced a two-fold expansion of its lean Six Sigma curriculum. Each of the online training company’s lean Six Sigma DMAIC courses—Black Belt, Yellow Belt and Executive Overview—are now available in versions customized for service or transactional environments. In…
Quality Digest
Tom Johnstone, president and CEO of SKF, recently received the Six Sigma Premier Leader Award from the International Society of Six Sigma Professionals. Johnstone is the first corporate leader in Europe to receive the prestigious award. It was presented during the ISSSP’s 6th annual Six…
Quality Digest
Chuck Aubrey, vice president of process management and lean Six Sigma for Anderson Packaging Inc., received the prestigious Harrington-Ishikawa Medal at the 12th annual Asia Pacific Quality Organization Conference. The conference was held in October in Sydney, Australia, and Aubrey spoke…
Praveen Gupta
Most quality management systems don’t produce the desired results because of the way companies use it to affect their bottom line.
A QMS is often considered to be a burden, and there’s apathy in all levels of the organization toward quality. ISO 9001 systems, for example, are considered to be paper…
Quality Digest
A civilian worker at the Corpus Christi Army Depot was recently recognized for his supervision of a Six Sigma project that dramatically improved maintenance work on Army aircraft. George Kunkle III, the depot’s process optimization manager, received the first-ever Joint Depot…
Quality Digest
The market for continuous improvement software—primarily programs for lean and Six Sigma—had total hardware, software and services revenues of more than $200 billion in 2005, and it will nearly double by the end of 2010, according to new research. Research firm ARC Advisory Group forecasts…
Bill Kalmar
As the holiday season approaches, several inevitable occurrences will try our patience. Along with people jostling in lines, the NASCAR-like jockeying in the parking lots, out-of-stock merchandise and interminably long lines for Santa, we also have to endure the banes of holiday…
Quality Digest
As quality assurance manager of the flex circuit division, Chester Wright will manage all compliance programs and activities related to products, including ISO standards, Underwriters Laboratories certification and military specifications certifications for Vulcan Electric Co. Wright…
Quality Digest
Hormel Foods Corp. recently bestowed its Hormel No. 1 Award on Silgan Containers, a subsidiary of Silgan Holdings.Hormel uses a supplier quality management system to evaluate its largest suppliers’ performance in deliveries, quality, administrative services and customer satisfaction. “Silgan…
Quality Digest
The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation has granted accreditation to the Moldflow Plastics Labs testing facility in Ithaca, New York.The A2LA accreditation validates nine mechanical property tests and is a testament to Moldflow’s technical competence in the field of…
Quality Digest
CATSWeb PreConfigured Quality Management and Regulatory Compliance Solutions provides organizations with an alternative secure, easy-to-use enterprise quality solution that can be accessed over the Internet.AssurX’s latest solution includes best practices for managing the quality and…
Quality Digest
VLSI Research Inc.’s customer satisfaction survey on chip-making equipment has bestowed five stars on Advantest Corp., based on the company’s equipment performance and customer service evaluations.Advantest sells automatic test equipment to the semiconductor industry and demonstrated…
Larry P. English
Déja vu After the 2006 primary elections in the United States, a local newspaper article headline read, “Computer ballots in stage of ‘trial and error.’” Although elections are critical in a democratic society, electronic voting that isn’t transparent has been introduced with a trial-…
Quality Digest
Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance recently launched businessAssurance.com, and in so doing made a strategic investment in global knowledge-sharing among quality managers and others in management systems and reporting. A first in its field, businessassurance.com aims to enable the creation…