All Features
Quality Digest
An improved version of ISO/IEC 17799, which has become the e-commerce community’s international benchmark for information security management, was recently published. The new version broadens the standard’s definition of information security, providing best business practices, guidelines and…
Quality Digest
The International Auditor and Training Certification Association recently changed its name to reflect new priorities. The organization is now called the International Personnel Certification Association, a name that reflects a new focus on personnel certification, according to company officials.…
Quality Digest
Leading groups of international experts that develop standards for the International Organization for Standardization recently gathered in Geneva to discuss the efficiency and global relevance of ISO’s standards development system. Every working day, 10 or more ISO meetings took place in different…
Quality Digest
The Standards Council of Canada recently approved an extension to the scope of TÜV America Inc.’s accreditation to include testing services for the safety of machinery. TÜV America’s scope is now among the most comprehensive, enabling the company to offer testing services for mechanical safety,…
Quality Digest
Pilgrim Software Inc.’s Fusion 2005 User Conference will be held Nov. 6–9 at the Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina in Florida. Pilgrim expects the conference to be its largest yet. It will feature IT personnel, executives and Pilgrim users from all over the world to discuss best practices and…
Quality Digest
Participants at the ISO 9001 & TQM International Conference and the Shanghai International Symposium on Quality proposed several ways that quality philosophies can adapt to the rapidly changing Asian social environment. The conferences were held simultaneously in Shanghai recently. Participants…
Quality Digest
In a wrap-up of the American Society for Quality’s World Conference for Quality and Improvement, ASQ officials reported the conference a big success.A total of 1,927 people attended the event, which was held in May in Seattle. ASQ reports that book sales increased 50 percent over last year and…
Quality Digest
PQ Systems Inc. recently released an enhanced version of its GAGEpack EZ software that includes new measurement systems analysis and gage management capabilities. Other new features include maintenance scheduling, robust reporting features and user-selected sigma values for R&R percentages.…
Quality Digest
Vision Engineering Ltd. is relocating to a manufacturing facility in New Milford, Connecticut, where it will offer higher quality and lean manufacturing of its microscopes and noncontact measuring equipment, company officials reported.Rick Coyle, Vision Engineering general manager, says that the…
Quality Digest
A week after Leica Geosystems rejected its surprise acquisition offer, Hexagon Metrology has mounted an effort to buy all outstanding shares of the Swiss metrology company. Hexagon has offered Leica shareholders 440 Swiss Francs per share of Leica stock—a 21.23 percent…
Thomas R. Cutler
Kanban, in its most simplifying role, is a visual signal (or cue) that something needs to be replenished. More specifically, lean manufacturers today use kanban to drive a process to make, move or buy the appropriate parts. Thus, kanban has become one of the fundamental building blocks of a pull (…
Quality Digest
MoreSteam.com recently introduced an online design for Six Sigma training program that uses a video game to illustrate design techniques. MoreSteam.com’s DFSS simulation incorporates the Roller Coaster Tycoon computer video game as an engaging learning platform. The simulation includes rich voice…
Quality Digest
PowerSteering Software Inc. and Computer Sciences Corp. have formed an alliance to offer a new line of Six Sigma and strategic program management services based on PowerSteering’s software. “Executives in charge of strategic initiatives are increasingly looking for solutions like Six Sigma that can…
Quality Digest
A recently released book examines new insights and perspectives on how Six Sigma process management can be used to achieve business process leadership. What is Six Sigma Process Management? (McGraw-Hill, 2005) by Rowland Hayler and Michael Nichols, outlines the use of Six Sigma process management,…
Quality Digest
Six Sigma Qualtec recently launched a new program for achieving its advanced Master Black Belt certification. The newly revised offering is designed tot meet the evolving needs of today’s businesses, placing a higher emphasis on meeting specific objectives, achieving dramatic improvements in…
Praveen Gupta
Companies are facing challenges in sustaining the energy and resources to continually benefit from Six Sigma. Black Belts face challenges in continuing to work on projects as these are becoming increasingly difficult to identify. Experts are talking about the ”Death of Six Sigma.“ Company…
Quality Digest
JLG Industries Inc. recently implemented a new strategic plan that diversifies its operations and increases the focus on its Six Sigma program. The company’s new vice president of Six Sigma quality processes and training is now John Louderback, who has been with the company since 1993, when he…
Quality Digest
In an effort to strengthen local support to its customers, ASI DataMyte Inc. recently opened a new Shanghai office and expanded its distribution network in Poland.TQMsoft, headquartered in Krakow, Poland, specializes in quality systems training and consulting, and produces overall quality solutions…
Quality Digest
Overall company growth and the addition of a new sales and marketing staff have prompted American Systems Registrar to move into new headquarters recently.The registrar’s new address is 5989 Tahoe Drive, Ste. 120, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Richelle Kinzie, ASR president, reports that the company…
Quality Digest
New rules that prohibit the presence of lead and other hazardous substances in electronics and electrical equipment will be outlined in training courses held this summer and early fall in the United States. The new Hazardous Substance Free specification, adopted by the International…
Quality Digest
MetricStream Inc. and Tata Consultancy Services, an Indian IT services firm, recently formed an alliance to help clients decrease the cost of compliance with government regulations and industry mandates. According to the companies, a recent study found that companies will spend nearly $15.5 billion…
Quality Digest
TÜV América de México recently received ISO 9001 registrar accreditation from the entidad mexicana de acreditacíon (EMA). The accreditation will allow TÜV América de México to better meet local market needs and strengthen its customer commitment. It will also allow the registrar to conduct more…
Paul McNamara
Brutally competitive markets are driving companies to design, build and improve their products faster and at lower costs. Faced with this economic climate, companies are understandably intent on freeing up resources—capital, engineering time and even plant space—that can be reallocated to high-…
Quality Digest
Quality will need to become more of a focus as service industries realize that competing on price alone isn’t a viable, long-term business strategy, according to authors of the American Society for Quality’s Quality Index.“ISO management systems and Six Sigma have long been a staple of the…
Quality Digest
Brookfield Engineering Laboratories was the recipient of the 2005 Northeast Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing.The award was presented by the University of Massachusetts’ College of Management’s Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership. The Shingo Prize has been dubbed the “Nobel Prize of…