All Features
Mike Figliuolo
There’s an old army saying, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
I’m sure some Navy or Marine guy out there will attribute this comment to their branch of service, but to be clear, it came from the Army.
Actually, the original of this paraphrased quote is widely attributed to Prussian…
Nick Haase
When I talk with maintenance leaders, I hear urgency. Pressure is mounting. They’re being asked to cut costs, attract skilled workers, and embrace AI—and fast. Yes, pressure turns coal into diamonds. But constant pressure can wear down even the best teams. So for our 2025 State of Industrial…
Bruce Hamilton
Last year, after many years of physical therapy, cortisone shots, and experimental treatments to prop up my failing knees, I decided to go bionic and get full knee replacements. Holding out hope for more than a decade that emerging cell-therapy technology would offer breakthrough cartilage…
Justin Sirotin
In the early 2000s, at my former company, my team was tasked with creating educational products for a major national educational toy brand. We developed an impressive line of learning tools—forensic kits, microscopes, telescopes—designed to engage curious young minds. After securing coveted shelf…
Akhilesh Gulati
In today’s competitive manufacturing landscape, resilience is the new quality. And one of the most powerful lessons in resilience doesn’t come from a factory—it comes from an art form.
In the Japanese tradition of kintsugi, a broken ceramic bowl is not discarded or disguised. It’s repaired—…
Matt McFarlane
One of the key findings in Greenlight Guru’s 2025 Medical Device Industry Report was that economic uncertainty is playing a large role in the decisions medical device companies make this year.
The report surveyed more than 500 medical device professionals across quality, regulatory, product…
Jones Loflin
In a professional kitchen, no chef prepares a steak, a cake, and a casserole simultaneously with all the ingredients scattered across the counter. There’s a method: one recipe at a time, with only the ingredients needed for that specific dish.
The same principle applies to how we work, especially…
Bruce Hamilton
A few months ago I visited a potential customer, a high-tech startup, which like many Boston-area tech companies is developing astounding products that would have been considered science fiction only 10 years ago. The parking lot was half full at 8 a.m., but the entrance was locked to visitors, and…
Stephanie Ojeda
Every day, quality leaders face a variety of production and process issues. Although some problems are easy to fix, others require deeper investigation, such as using a 5 Whys analysis or fishbone diagram. But then there are the stubborn, recurring issues that can lead to quality issues, increased…
William A. Levinson
The Chinese character for crisis means “danger” and “opportunity,” and tariffs have created a supply chain crisis throughout the United States. Paul Roberts of the Seattle Times reports that fewer ships are arriving in Seattle: “Fewer ships coming into the U.S. means companies can’t get components…
Akhilesh Gulati
When we step into a complex organization—whether in manufacturing, healthcare, or finance—we often find ourselves navigating a sea of competing truths. Everyone seems certain they see the problem clearly. Yet somehow, solving it feels harder than it should.
Why?
Often, it’s not the facts that…
ISO
Occupational health and safety (OHS) is often brushed aside as a checkbox exercise—something assigned to compliance officers or forgotten in day-to-day operations. But this mindset comes at a cost. Every year, millions of people suffer injuries, illnesses, or worse, simply because their workplace…
Stephen Graham, Quality Digest
Uploading something “to the cloud” has become common enough that most people are acutely aware of the storage advantages of cloud services—whether in their personal or professional lives—as well as how they might benefit administrators in any business. What might surprise people is the additional…
Harry Hertz
A little enjoyment is always important. I recently read a blog post titled 15 Facts That Will Make You Laugh.
A few of those facts were:• There is a Welsh town with a 58-letter name:Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.• You used to be able to send children by mail in the U.S…
Mike Figliuolo
We humans love to complicate things. The more crap we hang off of a product, the better we think it is. The more engineering that goes into it, the more we can sell, right?
Wrong.
Simplicity wins. Every time. (iPod, anyone?)
As an entrepreneur, I get to hang out with other entrepreneurs (and we…
Donald J. Wheeler
Define, measure, analyze, improve, control, goes the mantra used to carry out improvement projects in many companies. In various books, these steps get slightly different interpretations. But the overall outline is still characterized by DMAIC. This article will show a proven way to simplify and…
Harry Hertz
In an earlier blog, I introduced you to Arnie Weimerskirch, a former vice president of corporate quality at Honeywell and the former chair of the Baldrige Judges Panel. I recently had lunch with him and learned how he got involved with the Baldrige Program and how it influenced his career. I think…
Mike Figliuolo
Nobody likes change. I know if you do anything that changes my routine in the morning, my whole day is whacked. We all hate change. Heck, most of us hate getting change at the grocery store because of all those coins.
As a leader, though, your job is to get others to want to change.
Getting other…
Jones Loflin
A question I’m getting asked a lot these days is, “What’s a quick way for me to improve my ability to focus?” I have several suggestions. One of the new ones I’m working on is connected to a principle from lean management. It’s called the 3S’s—Sweep, Sort, Standardize. See if it doesn’t have…
Christine Schaefer
‘Every organization has countless opportunities for improvement, but only a few points—what we call constraints or bottlenecks—govern the pace and performance of the entire system,” says Rami Goldratt, who gave the closing keynote presentation at the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program’s 36th…
Elisa Duquet
The semiconductor industry is one of the most complex, dynamic, and technologically advanced sectors in the world. It plays an essential role in shaping modern life, serving as the foundation for everything from smartphones and MRI machines to kitchen appliances and space shuttles. In today’s…
Gleb Tsipursky
Generative AI (gen AI) is fundamentally transforming industries, reshaping the way professionals innovate, create, and solve problems. These systems, capable of generating text, images, music, and complex solutions, aren’t just tools—they’re catalysts for a paradigm shift in the professional and…
John O'Kelly
Warehouses are the backbone of supply chains, ensuring that goods move efficiently from suppliers to consumers. However, the physical demands of warehouse work—heavy lifting, repetitive motions, and prolonged standing—can take a toll on employees, leading to fatigue, injuries, and long-term strain…
Mike Figliuolo
Email is the bane of our existence. Sure, it’s awesome for funny cat videos, chain letters, and getting awesome blogs like this one (see what I did there?), but it can also cause massive amounts of stress and waste tremendous amounts of time.
One of the first things I do when I take on a new…
Bryan Christiansen
Failure analysis helps uncover the root cause of equipment issues so you can fix problems and prevent them from happening again. This guide outlines a clear, six-step process to conduct effective failure analysis and write a report that adds long-term value.
Failure analysis techniques vary widely…
