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Quality Digest
(BearingPoint Inc.: McLean, Virginia) -- BearingPoint Inc., a management and technology consulting firm, has been awarded a blanket purchase agreement to provide advisory and assistance services for the United States Air Force’s Smart Operations for the 21st Century program (AFSO21), including…
There’s a certain manufacturer makes carbon-based friction material in the form of a disk. A press and die are used in the final manufacturing operation to cure the carbon material into a functioning friction pad. Peak temperature uniformity is a critical characteristic during the cure…
Quality Digest
(Penske Truck Leasing: Reading, Philadelphia) -- Penske Truck Leasing implemented Six Sigma techniques to drive down costs and optimize services and recently announced it was awarded a three-year fleet management and maintenance services contract valued at approximately $47 million to support…
Steven Ouellette
Repent of your wicked ways O fellow Six Sigma Heretics, or surely you shall be smitten (smoted? smited? smartied?) and turned into a pillar of out-of-spec material! The End (of the Top Ten Stupid Six Sigma Tricks countdown, anyway) is here! What could possibly be the No. 1 reason that Six…
Quality Digest
(American Society for Quality: Milwaukee, Wisconsin) -- The American Society for Quality presented nine medals of distinction during its recent World Conference on Quality and Improvement. Recognized for their innovative contributions and achievements in the area of quality methodology…
Quality Digest
(United Press International: Washington) -- According to a United Press International column by senior news analyst Martin Sieff, the U.S. Government Accountability Office has praised the Missile Defense Agency in a new report for improving its quality processes. The progress was cited in a GAO…
Quality Digest
(International Organization for Standardization: Geneva) -- ISO recently launched ISO 14065:2007 to address climate change and support emissions trading schemes. In March 2006, ISO launched its greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and verification standards ISO 14064:2006. The complementary new…
Craig Cochran
Last year, I had the good fortune of doing some consulting with B&C Specialty Products in Hopeulikit, Georgia. B&C does light manufacturing, primarily plastic molding and assembly, and they also distribute imported products produced by companies in the Far East. They have about…
Quality Digest
(Florida Sterling Council: Tallahassee, Florida) -- The Florida Sterling Council, Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp and Governor Charlie Crist recently announced that six organizations will receive the prestigious Governor’s Sterling Award on June 1, 2007. Honored will be Brevard Public…
Quality Digest
(Hexagon AB: Stockholm, Sweden) – Hexagon AB has entered into an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of the French companies D&P Systems and Topolaser System s.a.s. D&P Systems develops and supplies multidimensional systems for measuring, planning and machine control for…
Quality Digest
(Illinois Tool Works Inc.: Albuquerque, New Mexico) – Illinois Tool Works Inc., parent company of MAGNAFLUX, recently announced its acquisition of Quasar International Inc., the inventor of process compensated resonant testing (PRCT), a revolutionary new nondestructive testing method.…
Quality Digest
Organizers of the Measurement Science Conference have issued a call for papers to be presented at the event. The MSC will be held March 10-14, 2008 at the Disneyland Hotel Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Those interested in presenting a paper at the conference should submit a…
Fred Mason
The past few columns about inspection and measurement have led to discussion of different systems for measuring based on images. One type of measurement done via image analysis is dimensional, or coordinate, measurement. The systems are called video, or vision measuring, systems. Here…
Quality Digest
(FARO Technologies Inc.: Lake Mary, Florida)—FARO Technologies Inc., the world’s single source for a complete line of portable CAM2 solutions, is sponsoring a team for the 2007 season of the Porsche Supercup. Siegfried Buss, managing director of FARO Europe, explains: “Together with our…
Quality Digest
(GKS Inspection: Minneapolis)—GKS Inspection Services Inc., a global provider of dimensional measurement, 3-D laser scanning and terrestrial scanning services, has purchased a FARO portable CMM articulated arm for its Minneapolis office. GKS’ Michigan office already uses its four FARO arms…
This month we provide the basics for compliance with the European Union’s Directive 2002/95/EC—“On the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.” This directive is commonly referred to as “RoHS,” for Reduction of Hazardous Substances…
Quality Digest
(American National Standards Institute: New York) -- The American National Standards Institute has issued a preliminary program for the third ANSI Conference on U.S. Leadership in ISO and IEC, to be held May 23–24 in Chicago. The event will bring together representatives from the U.S.…
Quality Digest
(National Institute of Standards and Technology: Washington, D.C.) -- National Institute of Standards and Technology engineers, together with colleagues from industry and other standards organizations have completed a five-part series of standards designed to evaluate the accuracy—and…
Quality Digest
Noting an increasing number of complaints about accredited certification bodies issuing certificates based on accreditation standards such as ISO 17025, the International Accreditation Forum’s technical committee (TC) is currently voting on a proposal that would allow the accreditation…
Quality Digest
(Canadian Standards Association: Ottawa, Canada) -- The Canadian Standards Association, in cooperation with the Canadian General Standards Board and other stakeholders, announced recently their intent to develop a national standard for protective equipment for fire, police and paramedic…
Denise Robitaille
Three blind men sat in the market place. One said to the others: ‘Would it not be a wondrous thing to know the nature of an elephant?’ His companion agreed, ‘Yes, it would indeed be wondrous.’A merchant standing nearby overheard the men’s conversation. He went over to the trio and said, ‘I…
Quality Digest
(National Institute of Standards and Technology: Boulder, Colorado) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have worked with the private sector for years to develop measurement methods and standards for electronic displays used in industrial, medical, and consumer…
Quality Digest
(Intertek: Boxborough, Massachusetts) -- Intertek, a provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of global and local industries, recently announced it has launched a certification program for blast-resistant products.Since September 11, 2001, government organizations such as the U.S.…
Quality Digest
(Statit Software Inc.: Corvallis, Oregon) -- Statit Software provides statistical process control technology for quality improvement and recently announced a strategic alliance with Symmetry Services Group, a woman-owned small business in Vienna, Virginia. “At a time when the federal government is…
Peter Tzaklev
The quality level of Bulgarian companies is far from the six sigma level, but so far they have been satisfying requirements. Many manufacturing firms in Bulgaria are registered to ISO 9001, especially those that are working for foreign customers in a sort of outsourcing. Every year,…
