All Features
Ronald J. Bowen
After undergoing an often costly and usually painful process to achieve ISO 9001:2000 registration, organizations invariably ask, "What do we do now to ensure that we maintain our registration and gain maximum benefit?" Under ISO 9001:1994, the old answer was fairly straightforward: Continue doing…
Denise Robitaille
Do not ever, ever, do anything just to please an auditor. This is quickly becoming one of my new favorite mantras. For many individuals, this statement would seem to be self-evident, and yet there are instances when an organization has felt compelled to change a process or implement a new practice…
Craig Cochran
Supplier management is one of the most troublesome disciplines within a management system. There’s nothing inherently difficult about it, though. Companies make it difficult by instilling the process with lots of unwieldy bureaucracy. The trick is to strip the process down to its essential elements…
Quality Digest
The Society of Automotive Engineers will dedicate the DTI-SAE Global Knowledge Center at Tsinghua University in Beijing with a formal signing ceremony and reception on June 15. A cooperative effort between SAE International and the Delphi Tsinghua Institute, the Global Knowledge Center…
Quality Digest
new standard intended to increase public safety around construction sites has been published by the American Society of Safety Engineers. A10.34-2001, Protection of the Public on or Adjacent to Construction Sites, establishes safety guidelines for employers, contractors, building owners and…
Quality Digest
TSYS has been awarded two Visa Service Quality Performance Awards for having the lowest assured transaction rate and lowest transaction response time. Visa Service Quality Performance Award Programs recognize members and processors for exceptional operating performance and focus on service…
Quality Digest
Breakthrough Management Group, a provider of Six Sigma training, consulting and software, has signed a strategic reseller agreement with Iowa-based GeoLearning Inc., a developer of learning management platforms and Web-based training solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, GeoLearning…
Quality Digest
TUV America Inc. is now certified to perform ANSI/ESD S20.20 registration services. ANSI/ESD S20.20, Electrostatic Discharge Control Program Standard, was created to help U.S. military and commercial corporations design, establish, implement and maintain an electrostatic discharge control…
Quality Digest
BSI Management Systems has reissued its position on the harmonized standard for electromagnetic compatibility testing for medical devices. EN 60601-1-2:2002, the international standard for EMC testing of medical electrical equipment, is formally recognized as a harmonized standard under the…
Quality Digest
Axsys Technologies Inc. has acquired Telic Optics Inc., a privately owned manufacturer of infrared optics and optical assemblies. Headquartered in North Billerica, Massachusetts and founded in 1986, Telic employs 32 people and sells its products to manufacturers of thermal imaging cameras…
Quality Digest
Frost and Sullivan has presented its 2004 Mechanical Test Company of the Year Award to GE Inspection Technologies. The award was given at Frost and Sullivan’s annual Excellence in Industrial Technologies Awards Banquet in recognition of GE Inspection Technologies’ overall performance in…
Quality Digest
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ annual meeting, "Where Manufacturing Comes Together--to Give You a Competitive Edge," is slated for June 9-13 in Cincinnati. The meeting provides an arena for manufacturing professionals to share best practices and expertise about new technology,…
Quality Digest
Microsoft Corp. has released new enhancements for its Microsoft Office Solution Accelerator for Six Sigma. The additions to the software are intended to help businesses cut costs, improve processes and reduce the time it takes to complete projects. Available now at no charge to all…
Quality Digest
Members of an American National Standards Institute delegation have collaborated with senior representatives of the world’s leading radio, information and communications technologies standards organizations in Seoul, Korea, at the ninth Global Standards Collaboration meeting. Among the…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization has launched a Web site to support the International Conference on Social Responsibility to be held on June 21 and 22 in Stockholm, Sweden. As well as addressing the practical aspects of the conference--including online registration and…
Quality Digest
The National Committee for Quality Assurance has released its annual report, "The Value of Care and Caring About Value." Focused on health care quality, the report is intended to benefit employers and consumers showing increasing interest in the topic. "Questions about value are being asked…
Quality Digest
TUV America Inc. has added Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series 18001 services to its repertoire. OHSAS 18001 is an occupational health and safety assessment series for occupational health and safety management systems created to enable organizations to control occupational…
Quality Digest
Diagnosing heart attacks may become an even more precise science with the advent of the first of a series of new clinical standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Standard Reference Material 2921--human cardiac troponin complex--is intended to help…
Quality Digest
Rath & Strong has published Whose Fault Is It Anyway? A Modern Fable About Six Sigma (2004). In the tradition of quality-focused books such as I Know It When I See It (AMACOM, 1991), Rath & Strong’s latest entry comes on the heels of its most recent bestseller, The Six Sigma…
Quality Digest
Worldwide Conventions and Business Forums has scheduled its 2004 "Successfully Implementing Six Sigma in Financial Services" conference. The conference, which is generally regarded as the preeminent Six Sigma conference for the financial service industry, will be held June 23 and 24 at the…
Dave Wojczynski
The first article in this series, "What the Doctor Didn’t Order But Should Have," established a case for business improvement in the outpatient health care sector. More important, it provided real-life examples of how a Six Sigma framework can help outpatient facilities overcome…
Quality Digest
Leap Technologies has entered into an agreement with Motorola University, Motorola Inc.’s corporate university, to provide corporate Six Sigma solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Motorola University will provide Six Sigma expertise and services to organizations looking to combine…
Quality Digest
Pitney Bowes, a provider of integrated mail and document management solutions, has chosen PowerSteering Software to track and report on its new Six Sigma quality initiatives. Pitney Bowes implemented the PowerSteering tracking system parallel to the startup phase of its Six Sigma programs…
Quality Digest
TUV America Inc. has appointed three new product safety engineers to its machinery, information, technology and consumer products group. "The addition of highly qualified engineers in each of our three regions will allow TUV to continue to provide a high level of customer services to our…
Quality Digest
Carl Zeiss SMT AG has incorporated the electron beam technology business formerly marketed under the LEO brand. LEO will become the new Nanotechnology Systems Division of Carl Zeiss SMT. LEO has been a wholly owned subsdiary of Carl Zeiss SMT AG since 2001. "With this step, we’re…
