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Quality Digest
Are you looking to improve the quality of classroom learning?A recently published book demonstrates that quality and continuous improvement systems have a rightful place in K-12 classrooms. Boot Camp for Leaders in K-12 Education: Continuous Improvement (ASQ Quality Press, 2006), by Lee…
Quality Digest
Hexagon AB recently acquired Mikrofyn A/S, a Danish producer of machine automation and laser-leveling equipment. Mikrofyn is based in Odense, Denmark, and has 65 employees. It has an annual growth rate of about 30 percent. Hexagon reports that it will be consolidated into the parent…
Quality Digest
The U.S. Senate recently honored several manufacturing companies in Indiana for their productivity improvements. The winner of the 2005 U.S. Senate Productivity Award is AK Steel-Rockport Works, a Rockport, Indiana, producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steels, and…
Quality Digest
Tokyo Metropolitan Police recently arrested the president and CEO of Mitutoyo Corp. on charges that the company illegally exported equipment that can be used in making nuclear weapons. Kazusaku Tezuka and four other Mitutoyo executives were arrested and charged with violating foreign…
M. P. Bhattathiri
Editor’s note: The Bhagavad Gita is a guide for millions of people around the world, particularly in India. Quality Digest is interested in anything that can affect quality in business, and Bhattathiri’s use of the Bhagavad Gita is unique in our experience. See what he has to say and tell us what…
Quality Digest
The incoming associate dean of Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration plans to expand its Six Sigma offerings to students. Monica Holmes, a Six Sigma Black Belt, is a big believer in Six Sigma for college students and MBA candidates. She reports that she will…
Quality Digest
Students enrolled in the International Society of Six Sigma Certifications’ Green Belt courses can now simultaneously earn their Green Belts and attain certified manager process improvement status. The dual certification ability also applies to ISSSC’s Black Belt courses. The Harrington…
Quality Digest
The American Society for Quality will host a roundtable on Six Sigma next year in Phoenix. The event will be held Feb. 12–13 at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort and will feature a large selection of case studies, answers to organizational challenges, applications, results, best…
Steven Ouellette
This month let’s examine another common mistake that some people (not my loyal, intelligent, heretical and, let’s face it, downright attractive readers) make when they use Six Sigma. I expect to seriously annoy some practitioners when I say that Six Sigma isn’t a method of continuous…
Steve Wise
In a certain operation, a part is subject to a high-temperature curing cycle. The ideal curing scan is illustrated in the chart below. The oven chamber begins at room temperature, ramps up to a conditioning temperature of about 80 degrees, dwells for four minutes, ramps up again to the curing…
Quality Digest
The e-TQM College, the world’s first online school for the field of total quality management (TQM) recently announced the creation of the Harrington Best TQM Thesis Award, named in honor of renowned quality expert, and Quality Digest columnist, James Harrington. The award was established…
Quality Digest
Do you want to use Six Sigma concepts, but you’re frustrated by the complex mathematical equations involved?An upcoming book addresses this issue, outlining nonmathematical presentations of the statistical topics that Green Belts must master. Statistics for Six Sigma Green Belts with…
Quality Digest
RABQSA International Inc. recently entered the European personnel training market. The personnel certification organization signed a cooperation agreement with the Society of Trainers, Assessors and Registered Professionals (STAREGISTER) for the delivery of RABQSA’s personnel and training…
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…
Quality Digest
StatSoft Inc. has opened a new office in Oslo, Norway. It’s the third international office the company has opened this year, bringing the number of StatSoft’s international offices to 22. The facilities provide sales, technical support, implementation services, configuration services…
Quality Digest
The American National Standards Institute and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, along with the Standardization Administration of China, recently launched a new online portal to simplify trade between the United States and China. Designed primarily for industry…
Quality Digest
Team Torque Inc. has announced the recent accreditation of its calibration lab and customer support center. The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation awarded the company with registrations to ISO 17025 and Z540-1. The accreditation includes a mutual recognition agreement…
Quality Digest
ACLASS Corp., a Washington, D.C.-based ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation body, recently signed onto an international recognition agreement for calibration and testing. Company representatives attended the 11th Annual General Assembly of the Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation in August,…
Quality Digest
Bede X-ray Metrology, a provider of X-ray metrology solutions to the semiconductor industry, has announced a collaboration with IMEC, a Belgian nanoelectronics and nanotechnology research center. The companies will investigate the use of X-ray metrology in the process control of new…
George Rodrigues Ph.D.
The pipette is a reliable precision instrument that has been used and trusted for many years. However, as with many forms of instrumentation, a pipette performs only as well as the operator’s technique allows. Differences in technique—some more than others—can alter delivery volumes and affect data…
Fred Mason
No, this isn’t about promises you made on New Year’s Eve and broke the next day. It’s about measurement resolution—the number of decimal places to which a measured value is calculated and presented. The measurement can be of any parameter—voltage, distance, weight, temperature, whatever. The…
Quality Digest
Instron Corp. was recently accredited to perform displacement verifications in compliance with ASTM E 2309. The company reports that it is among the first calibration providers to receive accreditation for the new standard. Standard verification includes five data points within the…
Quality Digest
The L.S. Starrett Co. recently acquired the assets of Tru-Stone Technologies Inc., a Minnesota-based provider of high-precision, custom-engineered granite machine bases and accessories to manufacturers of inspection and measurement equipment. Starrett reports that the acquisition will…
Quality Digest
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association is developing a new standard for a new technology called broadband over power lines (BPL). BPL will allow consumers to access the Internet, send e-mail and automate their homes simply by plugging into an…
Quality Digest
A new standard in the ISO 14000 series is expected to help users increase business support and confidence, while promoting their environmental credentials and performance. ISO 14063: 2006, ”Environmental management—Environmental communication—Guidelines and examples,” will help…