All Features
Quality Digest
Event-planning company WCBF will host its annual Global Six Sigma Summit this summer in Las Vegas. The event, which is scheduled to have an unparalleled panel of expert speakers and many high-profile CEO attendees, will be held June 27–30 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The keynote addresses will be…
Quality Digest
UltraCell, a producer of fuel-cell technology, will use the latest in lean manufacturing processes at its recently opened manufacturing and corporate facility..Located in Livermore, California, the facility will enable the company to convert from prototype manufacturing to volume production. It’ll…
Russell T. Westcott
Early on you recognized the economic effect of shipping defective products to customers and/or providing inferior services. You countered this deficiency with elaborate inspection proceduresIn more recent times, you’ve focused on improving your organization’s processes and decreasing inspections.…
Quality Digest
Rockwell Automation will offer a series of varied educational courses starting January 2006. The courses will be offered throughout various U.S. cities and include the following: AC/DC motors and drives fundamentals Introduction to vibration technology Ethernet/IP design and configuration…
Quality Digest
The average staffing level for full-time quality professionals is 23.8 per 1,000 employees, according to a recently released study. The figure was revealed in “Improving the Quality Function: Driving Organizational Impact & Efficiency,” performed by Best Practices LLC. The study found that…
Quality Digest
Several police precincts of the Dubai Police Department have received registration to ISO 9001. The registration was announced by Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, commander-in-chief and lieutenant-general of the Dubai Police, at a recent Dubai Police Academy graduation ceremony. In addition, Dubai’s General…
Quality Digest
The American Society for Quality has released a third edition of its popular The ASQ Auditing Handbook.The best-selling handbook is a comprehensive resource for professionals in the quality, environmental, safety and health-auditing industries. It’s designed to correspond to ASQ’s Certified Quality…
Quality Digest
The Association for Operations Management (APICS) recently recognized several organizations for supply chain efficiencies, innovation and other notable successes. APICS annually recognizes successful organizations with its Corporate Awards of Excellence. The 2005 recipients are: Engenio…
Quality Digest
Statit Software Inc. recently released Performance Indicator & Management Dashboard (piMD), a new approach to measurement and analysis for the heath care industry. Statit reports that a review of current software options for health care executives revealed a need for a system that would enable…
Quality Digest
George Rathbun, director of architecture in Pfizer’s Global Research and Development Informatics group, was recently named chief technology officer of SAFE-BioPharma Association. SAFE-BioPharma is the pharmaceutical-industry–sponsored organization that’s developing and managing a secure digital-…
Quality Digest
Beijing United Family Hospital and Clinics recently became the first integrated health system in Asia to earn accreditation from the Joint Commission International. The hospital is a joint venture between Chindex International, a U.S.-owned health care company that operates Chinese hospitals, and…
Quality Digest
Precision Wire Components LLC, a medical-component manufacturer, recently received registration to ISO 13485:2003. PWC manufactures guide wires for major medical-device makers, and has been registered to quality standards in the ISO 9000 series since 1997, one year after the company was founded.…
Quality Digest
Delphi Medical Systems, a subsidiary of Delphi Corp., recently signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with WearAir Oxygen Inc., a Canadian medical-device company. Delphi anticipates using WearAir’s technology for its OEM customers and distributors for portable oxygen concentrators in the…
Quality Digest
Shared Services Healthcare Inc. recently recognized Standard Register with its Top Medical Surgical Vendor for 2005 award. Shared Services Healthcare, an affiliate of MedAssets, is a group-purchasing organization composed of health care institutions in the southeast United States. The recognition…
Quality Digest
Automotive-industry groups around the world will be able collaborate and communicate more easily with a recently released strategic memorandum of understanding. The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) and Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) jointly signed the memorandum with…
Quality Digest
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has decided that standards for certain electronic prescriptions will be developed only by organizations accredited by the American National Standards Institute. The requirement is one of three…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization recently formed a technical committee that will develop standards for the nanotechnology industry. The first meeting of ISO/TC 229 was held in Britain in November. The British Standards Institution provides the chair and secretariat of the new…
Quality Digest
A new standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization aims to help avoid security threats to international trade. ISO/PAS 28000:2005, the specification for security-management systems for the supply chain, outlines the requirements to establish, implement and maintain…
Denise Robitaille
Time is arguably one of the most precious and least quantified resources that organizations possess. It’s a uniquely intangible, yet indispensable, feature of any process or activity. Things occur over a span of time. It’s an indisputable characteristic of our universe and is so self-evident that…
Quality Digest
S. Joe Bhatia was recently appointed president and CEO of the American National Standards Institute. Bhatia is the former executive vice president and chief operating officer of Underwriters Laboratories Inc.’s international group. He was elected at a special meeting of the ANSI board of directors…
Quality Digest
The American Health Quality Association has thrown its support behind the creation of a comprehensive system to measure and report on the performance of health care organizations and practitioners. The Institute of Medicine, a health care trade group, recently proposed creating the new system,…
"Es ris!" (“It’s snapped!”) This apocalyptic line from Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) referred to the thread of fate or destiny that the three Norns, or Fates, had woven since the dawn of time. This ill omen portended the opera’s inevitable tragic conclusion. This year’s…
Quality Digest
An upcoming seminar will allow attendees to see and hear famed quality expert W. Edwards Deming present his quality theories. “Quality, Productivity and Competitive Position,” a four-day Deming video seminar for advanced students, will include large-screen footage from Deming’s archives of him…
Quality Digest
The 60th anniversary World Conference on Quality and Improvement, one of the largest gatherings of quality professionals, will be held May 1–3 at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee. The event will feature dozens of networking sessions and breakout groups with topics such as “The Impact of Six…
Quality Digest
Gemba Research, a lean consulting firm, is offering on-site tours of some of Japan’s best lean manufacturing operations. Japan Kaikaku Experience offers a behind-the-scene look at world-class manufacturing operations in a variety of industries. Kaikaku means “in revolution,” or “major change” in…
