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Quality Digest
RABQSA recently started offering its AS9100 aerospace auditor certification program on its Web site. The registrar has offered AS9100 certification services for some time, but the old scheme required customers to contact RABQSA directly for copies of relevant documentation. The new scheme meets…
Quality Digest
Research from Quantitative Software Management Inc. has found that best-in-class software-development projects not only make it to market faster than competitors, they are significantly less expensive. The company surveyed 563 IT software-development projects over the course of four years and…
Praveen Gupta
Teamwork has always been considered a critical component of completing complex projects that require significant improvement. The process of teamwork has been well-documented, but teamwork is still often elusive. Why?
When teams succeed, it’s often for the following reasons:
Strong leadership
Well…
Quality Digest
Laboratory Testing Inc. recently announced that it has expanded its scope of accreditation in calibration services with the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation. The company’s calibration division, LTI Metrology, was previously accredited to perform calibration to a wide range of…
Ken Lyons
Laser scanning keeps older military equipment running by enabling the creation of spare parts that perfectly duplicate the originals at a reasonable cost. MILPARTS and other companies are taking advantage of new technologies, particularly the ModelMaker laser scanning system, which make it possible…
Quality Digest
The use of metrology equipment from Leica Geosystems is helping a Formula 1 car racing team newcomer beat out its rivals. The Red Bull Racing team, which joined the Formula 1 circuit this season, announced that it’s already beating its rivals when in comes to the speed and accuracy of crucial pre-…
Quality Digest
Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology recently signed an OEM distribution agreement with Bio-Imaging Research Inc. to distribute BIR’s computed tomography equipment in North America. BIR is a leader in the design of both medical and industrial computed tomography systems. The unique position allows BIR…
Quality Digest
Automated Precision Inc. recently opened API University, an innovative training program for precision measurement. The program consists of a three-day course that features lectures and practical, hands-on exercises to introduce students to the science of basic metrology and related practices.…
Quality Digest
Shuster Laboratories Inc. recently expanded its food testing capacity to meet increasing demand from manufacturers, retailers and food service establishments. The company, based in Canton, Massachusetts, invested in state-of-the-art equipment for the rapid turnaround of microbiological and…
Denise Robitaille
How is it possible to ship customers the right product, on time, and still fail to fulfill their requirements? Most organizations do a pretty good job of determining what product the customer wants. Based on what I’ve observed during surveillance audits, they’ve also improved their processes for…
Quality Digest
The judge presiding over a lawsuit against FARO Technologies Inc. has withdrawn a summary ruling that the company’s use of infinite rotation technology in several of its products infringes on a patent held by ROMER CimCore Corp. The development reverses a ruling made in…
Quality Digest
The American National Standards Institute recently released a guidance document for use by ANSI-accredited standards developers in connection with the maintenance of electronic records related to ANSI’s audit requirements. Compliance records of standards developers are subject to ANSI audit, and…
Quality Digest
The contributions of international standards to economic and social progress, and their role in disseminating technological innovation, were the focus of the International Organization for Standardization’s General Assembly, held September 19-23 in Singapore. A total of 360 delegates from 113…
Quality Digest
One of the International Organization for Standardization’s first technical committees has received the Lawrence D. Eicher Leadership Award for excellence and innovation in standards development. ISO/TC 8, which develops standards related to seafaring supply chain security, was praised for its “…
Quality Digest
Rockwell Automation will host a series of professional education courses for the manufacturing industry through the end of the year. The courses will be held throughout the United States, and include: Motion Control Fundamentals, Oct. 17-18 in Boston Introduction to Vibration Technology, Oct.…
Quality Digest
The contributions of international standards to economic and social progress, and their role in disseminating technological innovation, were the focus of the International Organization for Standardization’s General Assembly, held September 19-23 in Singapore. A total of 360 delegates from 113…
Quality Digest
The Shanghai Power Co.’s use of quality chain management theory allowed it to keep the electrical grid up and running in the bustling Chinese city all summer last year. The organization recently released a report on the process it used to avoid power failures, which have been common in Shanghai.…
Quality Digest
The National Quality Institute announced 13 recipients of the 2005 Canada Awards for Excellence recently. The CAE Quality Award is based on the Canadian Framework for Excellence, used by many organizations as a management model for continuous improvement and the achievement of operational goals.…
Quality Digest
Alka Jarvis, Cisco Systems manager of software quality, will likely replace John E. "Jack" West as the chair of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to TC 176. West is stepping down after nine years of leading the committee and Jarvis is the only person nominated for the position. Nominations close…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization released a new standard this month in response to a significant increase in the number of food-borne illnesses around the world. ISO 22000 harmonizes regional requirements for managing food supply chains on a worldwide basis. It’s designed to…
Quality Digest
Each year on Oct. 14, the members of the International Electrotechnical Commission, International Organization for Standardization and International Telecommunication Union celebrate World Standards Day. This year’s theme is “Standards for a Safer World.” Renzo Tani, president of the IEC, Yoshio…
Quality Digest
An upcoming conference will focus on creating synergy between organizations’ various quality improvement efforts. The SCOR/Six Sigma/Lean Convergence Forum will examine ways to align implementations of quality efforts for maximum benefit. It will be held Nov. 7–8 at the Grand Hyatt DFW Airport…
Quality Digest
The secretariat of the Dubai Quality Award recently published a guide for implementing kaizen. The Dubai Quality Award is administered by the kingdom’s Department of Economic Development, which partnered with the Kaizen Institute Ltd. to produce the book. Masaaki Imai, the founder of kaizen,…
Quality Digest
Hexagon Metrology has emerged as the winner in the competition to acquire Leica Geosystems. The Swedish company recently announced that it has acquired 71.3 percent of Leica Geosystems’ outstanding shares, easily surpassing the minimum requirement of 50.1 percent. An additional acceptance period…
Quality Digest
The use of value-stream mapping recently helped the U.S. Navy improve its acquisition processes. The value-stream map was produced by some of the Navy’s top lean Six Sigma practitioners at a kaizen competition designed to improve the Navy’s complex justification and approval (J&A) process. J…