All Features
This column and the next two take stock of the current state and future of the hazardous-substance-free (HSF) movement and its effects on industry, and share my perspectives on the potential effects of QC 080000 IECQ HSPM. A vision of the future: The industry will forevermore be held…
Quality Digest
(SAS: Cary, North Carolina) -- Lisa Flint Dodson has been named president of the International Association for Information and Data Quality. Data integration product manager for SAS, a provider of business intelligence and analytical software and services, and a charter member of IAIDQ…
Quality Digest
(ISO: Geneva) -- The sustainable development of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors will be facilitated by international standards to be produced by a new ISO technical committee that will hold its first meeting in October 2007, in Bergen, Norway. ISO technical committee ISO/TC 234,…
Quality Digest
(ANSI: New York) -- The American National Standards Institute recently welcomed seven new members—Crane Operator Certification Authority, DataCom Technology Co., Electronic Data Systems, MetaMetrics Inc., Parsec Inc., Valley View Corp., and Weitzel and Associates. These organizations joined a…
Quality Digest
(Strategic Vision: San Diego, California) -- For the first time, Hyundai has produced the most leaders on Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Index, leading in three segments. The 2007 results are based on the ratings of new vehicle owners in 19 product segments. The only other brand to…
Prasad Nair
Quality and customer focus have always been topmost strategic weapons in the arsenal of successful corporations, which nurture strategic initiatives like a gardener looks after a garden. It’s quite an imaginative thought to see the resemblance of the deployment of a quality system to…
Quality Digest
(Kronos: Chelmsford, Massachusetts) -- Kronos Inc. has announced a new key performance indicator (KPI) that allows manufacturers to measure the effectiveness of their workforce. This new KPI, overall labor effectiveness (OLE), measures the utilization, performance, and quality of the…
Quality Digest
(MDMC: New York) -- Mortgage loan analysis provider MDMC has created Quality ONE, a quality control program that emphasizes the quality of each transaction. Quality ONE is the most recent addition to MDMC’s efforts to monitor and improve its level of service. Based on the Six Sigma…
Quality Digest
(Milliken: Spartanburg, South Carolina) -- Milliken & Co. has announced the formation of a dedicated business group to provide performance improvement services to manufacturing companies. The new group is called Milliken Performance Solutions and will be based in Milliken’s Spartanburg,…
Praveen Gupta
It’s easier to start a Six Sigma project than to close it successfully. Green Belts and Black Belts are expected to be working on projects constantly, so they work on projects to meet the existing expectations. Some of these projects are unlikely to yield significant improvement due to lack of…
Quality Digest
Maj. Gen. Arthur J. Rooney, Jr., vice commander, Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force base, is the keynote speaker for this year’s conference. (WCBF: Chicago) -- With the theme “maximizing cost-saving efficiencies, delivery…
Bill Kalmar
Organizations that provide spectacular customer service always keep their line people informed of new developments or offers that will improve a process, and of glitches in the system that may have an adverse effect on customers. Similarly, great customer service means being flexible to the needs…
I recently got a call from the owner of a local manufacturing company asking my advice on whether to implement SAP. This is a single-site, $5 million operation with one nice, big, contiguous manufacturing floor, making rather uncomplicated widgets that have a raw material lead time of a couple…
Quality Digest
(CyberShift: Parsippany, New Jersey) -- CyberShift was recently named one of START-IT magazine’s Hottest Companies of 2007. CyberShift is the only provider of workforce management solutions to earn a spot on this year’s START-IT list. START-IT magazine has held the Hottest Companies…
Quality Digest
(dbMotion: Chicago and Hod HaSharon, Israel) -- Initiate Systems Inc., a provider of enterprise master person index (EMPI) solutions, and dbMotion Ltd., a provider of health care information integration software, recently partnered to create a unique solution for retrieving, integrating, and…
Quality Digest
(NQCA: Washington) -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently published an expanded set of measures, guidelines, and technical specifications to allow for standardized, equitable assessment of physician practice quality. The new specifications are based on HEDIS, the most widely…
Quality Digest
(HyperQuality Inc.: Seattle) -- QualityJournal.com was recently launched as a community for people connected with contact center management and operations. It provides industry news, research resource portals, and expert viewpoints, and it’s a resource for all industry-specific…
Quality Digest
(TBM Consulting Group: Durham, North Carolina) -- TBM Consulting Group, a provider of business improvement services for the manufacturing and service sectors, presented to WIKA Alexander Wiegand GmbH & Co. the fourth annual Perfect Engine award, recognizing the company’s commitment…
Quality Digest
(ANSI: New York) -- The American National Standards Institute recently announced the availability of an online toolkit for all ANSI-accredited standards developers. Issued under the auspices of the ANSI executive standards council, the comprehensive suite of guidance documents is intended…
Mike Micklewright
Question:Why was the son of an accountant for a U.S. manufacturing company forbidden to name his dog Fifo?
Answer: His Dad told him that all four-letter words starting with F are bad.
Last Tuesday, I performed another long, exhausting, internal audit with a client near my hometown in Chicago…
Quality Digest
(ES&S: Omaha, Nebraska) -- Election Systems & Software Inc., a provider of total election management solutions, recently announced that its election services division has been awarded registration under ISO/IEC 27001, which defines requirements for establishing, implementing and…
Despite the best efforts of pharmaceutical manufacturers, drug labeling is one of the greatest challenges in clinical trials, involving a complex, time-consuming process to meet strict regulatory requirements and obtain wide-ranging approvals from individual countries. That labels must…
Quality Digest
(Natus: San Carlos, California) -- Natus Medical Inc. recently announced that it was awarded a 2007 Medical Design Excellence Award for its Olympic Cool-Cap head-cooling product for newborn brain injury. The award will be presented to Natus at a ceremony to be held June 13, 2007, in New York City.…
Quality Digest
(FDA: Washington) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigators and U.S. marshals recently seized all implantable medical devices from Shelhigh Inc., Union, New Jersey, after finding significant deficiencies in the company’s manufacturing processes. The deficiencies may compromise…
Quality Digest
(Standard Register: Dayton, Ohio) -- For the third consecutive year, Standard Register was named a 2006 Platinum Supplier by MedAssets Supply Chain Systems, a St. Louis-based group purchasing and supply chain services company. The award was recently presented at the 2007 MedAssets…