All Features
Bill Kalmar
Advancing into that mystical category of “senior citizen” brings with it certain perks. Simultaneously becoming a senior citizen, retiring, and joining the ranks of Social Security recipients is a financial trifecta.I retired in 2003, and when I made that phone call to add my name to the millions…
Dr T Burns
In Part 1 of this article I discussed Six Sigma failures and the fundamental flaws in the term Six Sigma, as seen in figure 1 below, which highlights the flaws in the hundreds of Six Sigma web sites displaying the nonsense of out-of-control processes that are the result of the claimed “unavoidable…
TAGSYS
(TAGSYS: Düsseldorf, Germany ) -- TAGSYS, a provider of item-level radio frequency identification (RFID) infrastructure systems, recently announced a technology partnership with Sirit Inc., a provider of RFID reader technologies. The combination of TAGSYS’ RFID systems and software with Sirit…
IDS Scheer
(IDS Scheer: Orlando, Florida) -- Customers need business process management (BPM) to constantly align their processes with business needs. ARIS Six Sigma combines IDS Scheer’s proven business process excellence approach and Six Sigma’s statistics-driven view. This not only guarantees…
Juran
(Juran Institute: Southbury, Connecticut) -- Joseph M. Juran, Ph.D., noted author and a founder of modern quality management, died on February 28 from natural causes.“Dr. Juran recently told me that he wanted everyone to know he had a wonderful life and hoped that his contributions to improving the…
the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Utah State University
(The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Utah State University: Logan, Utah) -- The 20th Shingo Prizes will be awarded in Dallas, Texas, March 31–April 3. The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business of Utah State University will stage its annual conference and awards ceremony at the Adam’s Mark Hotel…
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
(SME: Los Angeles) -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ WESTEC 2008 Exposition and Conference will take place March 31–April 3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The largest annual machine tools and advanced manufacturing event in North America, WESTEC connects manufacturing professionals…
SWPP
(SWPP: Nashville, Tennessee) -- The Society of Workforce Planning Professionals and The Call Center School are pleased to announce the formation of the Quality Assurance & Training Connection (QATC) as an association and resource for those in the call center industry responsible for quality…
Bill Kalmar
Each year at this time a momentous event is announced in the pages of a prominent magazine. No, I’m not talking about the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, although thoughts of that warm me up on frigid evenings in Michigan (sorry if that’s sexist). I’m referring to Fortune Magazine’s…
RABQSA
(RABQSA: Sydney, Australia) -- RABQSA International Inc. is officially launching the Australian Pork Industry’s Moisture Infused Pork (MIP) Food Safety Auditor Scope, developed in liaison with industry and Australian Pork Limited (APL).“Australian Pork Limited is leading the way in using the RABQSA…
Tim Lozier
In today’s quality management systems, the ability to control and correct processes is key to maintaining a high level of compliance within an organization. Whether it’s tracking incoming customer complaints, identifying nonconforming materials from production, or using corrective and preventive…
AM2 PAT Inc.
(AM2 PAT Inc.: Angier, North Carolina) -- A nationwide recall of Heparin and Saline prefilled flushes manufactured by AM2 PAT was issued by AM2 PAT. These products are distributed under two brand names, Sierra Pre-Filled Inc. and B. Braun. These products are sold in 3-ml and 5-ml sizes for Heparin…
Calypte Biomedical Corp.
(Calypte Biomedical Corp: Portland, Oregon) -- Calypte Biomedical Corp., a developer, manufacturer and marketer of HIV diagnostic tests, recently announced that the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA)—the equivalent of the U.S. FDA—has notified Calypte’s Chinese manufacturing…
Advanstar
(Advanstar: Iselin, New Jersey) -- The Institute of Validation Technology, a division of Advanstar Communications, will host the “Computer Systems Validation in FDA-Regulated Industries” conference in Baltimore, Maryland, April 29–May 2. The conference will provide updated interactive…
Unigene Laboratories Inc.
(Unigene Laboratories Inc: Fairfield, New Jersey) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a modification for a key enzyme, the first of two proposed improvements for Unigene Laboratories Inc.’s patented manufacturing process for calcitonin, the active ingredient in Fortical, a…
Quality Digest
(ACSI: Ann Arbor, Michigan) -- Satisfaction with the goods and services that people in the United States buy declined in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to a report recently released by the University of Michigan’s American customer satisfaction index (ACSI). The index fell to 74.9 on the…
Quality Digest
(ISO: Geneva) -- Equipping pedestrian street crossings with acoustic and tactile signals to help disabled persons was a step forward. The problem is that they vary from one country to another. Now, a new ISO standard provides the basis for harmonizing such signals on a worldwide basis.The aim of…
Quality Digest
(NCQA: Washington) -- Two new measures focusing on obesity in children and adults highlight the additions to the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, released recently for public comment by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Two other additions to the 2009 edition of HEDIS…
Douglas C. Fair
I was hiking in the Smoky Mountains National Park with a colleague, and we happened upon fellow hikers. Being the friendly sorts that we are, we stopped to take a breather and chat with our new female friends. We enjoyed resting and speaking with the women until my friend Bob smiled and asked one…
FARO
At rare moments, an idea comes along that makes people rethink how jobs are done from that point on. The engineers at Falk PLI Engineering & Surveying have hit on such an idea for one of the most basic concepts of all: measuring.
The larger-than-life nature of steelmaking would seem to belie…
Metris
(Metris: Leuven, Belgium) -- Metris has recently announced that it has signed a share purchase agreement with the shareholders of X-Tek Group for the purchase of 100 percent of the X-Tek stock. The X-Tek purchase fits in the Metris acquisition strategy to strengthen its product portfolio with…
Metronor
(Metronor AS: Nesbru, Norway) -- BAE Systems has awarded Metronor AS an additional Harmolign boresight system contract. The contract covers development and supply of a new configuration of the Harmolign boresight system for BAE Systems’ Hawk jet trainer. The system will replace a legacy…
With the ever-growing demands of energy, the demands on high value-added vessels, such as container vessels, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, and crude oil carriers, have skyrocketed in recent years. As of 2006, shipbuilding orders received by South Korean shipbuilders accounted for 42…
Automated Precision Inc.
(API Technical Services LLC: Newport News, Virginia) -- API Technical Services LLC is pleased to announce that it has formally started operations as of January 2008. API Technical Services is a new metrology services company, wholly owned by Automated Precision Inc. (API) and is based in Newport…
Geomagic
(Geomagic: Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) -- Geomagic is now shipping Geomagic Studio 10, the latest version of its digital reconstruction software, and offering a free 90-day trial through it’s web site, www.geomagic.com.Geomagic Studio 10 features an optional surfacing module called…
