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Quality Digest
An upcoming workshop will focus on the integration of ISO 9001 and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements. The event, scheduled for May 4 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will show how the requirements of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 can be used to support the system of internal controls mandated by the standards, and how…
Quality Digest
For several decades, competition in the health care industry has been touted as the way to curb rising prices by reducing inefficient practices and improving quality and safety, but a new study suggests that it may not be as effective as researchers once believed. The study of 341 HMOs shows that…
Quality Digest
The fourth annual Manufacturing Excellence Conference will be held June 20–23 in St. Louis, Missouri. It will bring together lean, Six Sigma and quality professionals, and will feature strategies for manufacturing organizations to increase profits and improve efficiencies. Speakers will include…
Quality Digest
COMET North America recently moved its headquarters to an expanded facility in Stamford, Connecticut. The newly renovated 12,000 sq. ft facility will be headquarters for the company’s vacuum capacitor, dosimetry, industrial X-ray products, and FEINFOCUS microfocus X-ray inspection systems and…
Quality Digest
DeFelsko Corp. recently released the PosiTector Ultrasonic Thickness Gage, a new product that nondestructively measures wall thickness and the effects of corrosion. The device is designed for use with pipes, tanks and other structures where access is limited to one side. It features a scan mode for…
Quality Digest
Intertek ETL Entela plans to build a new automotive component and systems test lab in Shanghai, the first commercial lab of its kind in China. The 40,000 sq. ft facility will be called Intertek Automotive Services. It will provide automotive performance testing including vibration; thermal aging;…
Rick Hudgell
As industry standards increase, so too does the demand for flexibility in specialized gaging procedures. Because there’s no room for error, choosing the right contact point or styli is paramount in conforming to the organization’s high quality standards. Accuracy can be jeopardized by any number of…
Quality Digest
Eastman Kodak Co. recently released several new products for nondestructive testing in the industrial radiography market. The company’s new NDT offerings are the KODAK INDUSTREX ACR-2000 and ACR-2000i digital systems, and the KODAK INDUSTREX LS85 Film Digitizer. The ACR-2000’s phosphor imaging…
Quality Digest
NITON LLC, a manufacturer of portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments, recently opened a sales and service support office in Shanghai to enhance its Chinese distribution network. NITON is targeting the burgeoning Chinese consumer electronics industry with its portable XRF products, as many…
Quality Digest
Sypris Test & Measurement recently added an LDS V9 Shaker System to its Orlando test facility. The shaker is designed to test heavy loads at high vibration levels over long periods of time, significantly reducing test time and expense. It can be used to test avionics, military hardware,…
Quality Digest
Blue Mountain Quality Resources is now sponsoring free online job postings as a service to the calibration community. Benefits of the service include highly ranked Internet search presence for “calibration jobs” searches and no automatic expiration dates for job postings. The service is free to job…
Paula Esty
This article reviews management review in the latest ISO 14001 standard revision, including the management review requirement update and system recommendations for ISO 14001:2004 compliance. The updated ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) standard includes a clarification to the…
Denise Robitaille
The Abbott and Costello routine “Who’s on First?” is one of the greatest comic treasures of our time. Bud Abbott begins listing the improbable names of his team players: Who, What and I Don’t Know (the three basemen), while a befuddled and increasingly frustrated Lou Costello tries to nail down the…
Quality Digest
The National Institute of Standards and Technology recently launched a new Web site to increase the profile of international standards online.The new Web site is designed to help individuals and organizations find information about the use of standards in government. The site supports the…
Quality Digest
Orion Registrar Inc. and Shenyang Auditor Training Center recently partnered to create Orion (Shenyang) Registration Inc., a bid to expand Orion’s business in rural northeastern China. “The establishment of Orion (Shenyang) Registration Inc. will make up for the shortage of registration resources…
American National Standards Institute ANSI
Comments on the updated draft of the United States Standards Strategy are due by April 18. A first draft of the USSS revision was released on March 7, 2005. The USSS will be the topic of a National Institute of Standards and Technology forum, scheduled for April 15 in Washington, D.C.
The draft…
Quality Digest
The American Society of Safety Engineers recently released seven standards for public review. There are three new ANSI A10 standards in the release: construction standards on lockout/tagout, hearing-loss prevention and sanitation. Four other existing standards that need reaffirmation are also…
Quality Digest
The Australian government recently announced that it will develop a standard by which to certify food safety auditors. RABQSA International and the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry recently signed a contract to develop and implement a National Food Safety Auditor…
Quality Digest
Nearly 300 delegates attended the first meeting of the new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) working group that will develop ISO 26000, the planned standard on social responsibility (SR). By the end of the meeting, the working group had formulated 32 resolutions, mainly regarding…
Quality Digest
A workshop focusing on using the senses as quality tools will be held June 6–10 in Florida. The course will be facilitated by Nancy McDonald, president of M&M Consulting & Laboratory Inc. She will show participants how to use their senses of taste, smell and sight to evaluate the overall…
Quality Digest
HealthStream Inc., a provider of learning solutions for the health care industry, recently acquired Data Management & Research Inc., a provider of quality and satisfaction surveys and other research-based measurement tools. HealthStream purchased all of DMR’s shares for approximately $10.6…
Quality Digest
Honeywell recently announced that its Electronic Materials unit received the Best Quality Award from Samsung Electronics’ Semiconductor unit. Samsung noted that Honeywell was chosen for the award because of a close customer/supplier relationship and cooperative technology development in 2004. “We’…
Quality Digest
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the National Quality Forum are now accepting applications for the 2005 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards. The annual award recognizes health care workers and organizations that make significant contributions to…
Quality Digest
Peter J. Kolesar is the newest elected member of the Juran Institute’s board of directors. Kolesar, a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, teaches courses in statistics, quality and productivity management. He holds a joint appointment with the university’s School of…
Quality Digest
Nikon Instruments Inc. recently announced the integration of its semiconductor inspection and Nexiv vision measuring systems under the company’s SITECH division, which is based in Tempe, Arizona.The purpose of the move is twofold. First, Nikon hopes to improve customer responsiveness by building on…
