All Features
Bob Emiliani
I recently posted a version of the graphic below with the caption: “Not perfect, but close. It’s about right.” The response was overwhelmingly positive. A great majority of people recognized it as a unique comparison, one that they had never seen before, and also as an accurate comparison that…
Jesse Lyn Stoner
Are you fatigued and disheartened by the current amount of polarization in the world today? Are you frustrated with leadership that divides instead of unites?
Instead of wishing someone would do something about it and feeling helpless, focus on the place you have the most control—your own…
Patrick Nugent
Sponsored Content
A simple fact in manufacturing is that everyone has to measure. However, measurement is not simply about inspection; manufacturers need the right tools to increase quality, maximize productivity, and ultimately, make measurement a value-added process.
One of the most critical…
William A. Levinson
Some ISO 9001 users complain that the standard does not improve performance or deliver bottom-line results, while others are delighted by the standard as a framework for effective quality management systems. I pointed out previously that ISO 9001:2015 does not address, at least not explicitly, the…
Annette Franz
There’s a problem with journey maps? Well, not with the maps themselves but with how people talk about them.
I love attending webinars and reading articles about journey mapping because I’m always curious about how others talk about them, what their approaches are, and what outcomes they’ve…
Eric Stoop
In December 1998, NASA launched the Mars Climate Orbiter, a robotic space probe intended as the communications relay for the Mars Polar Lander. By September 1999, the spacecraft had disintegrated after coming too close to Mars and passing into its upper atmosphere.
The problem? A simple unit…
Mike Richman
Our most recent episode of QDL from Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. featured news, technology, and two great interviews. Let’s have a closer look:
“Domestic Cars Fail to Keep Up With International Competition”
The most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) survey took a look at people’s…
Jack Phillips, Patti Phillips
According to W. Edwards Deming, “Every system is perfectly designed to achieve exactly the results it gets.” This applies to any quality initiative and any other activity, including learning and development. Yet, according to an ATD/ROI Institute study, only 8 percent of CEOs see the results most…
Graham Ross
Why doesn’t machine translation (MT) work for all languages? There are currently more than 7,000 languages worldwide. If each of those had four dialects, that would be more than 28,000 language variances. To offer a perspective, Google can translate 37 languages. If you take into account…
Arun Hariharan
In my October 2013 column, “Standardize to Improve,” I dealt with business process mapping in detail. Business process management systems (BPMS) comprise the entire gamut of documenting process steps, assigning ownership to process owners, and often, process-compliance audits to check whether you…
Thomas Kochan, Lee Dyer
The technologies driving artificial intelligence (AI) are expanding exponentially, leading many technology experts and futurists to predict that machines will soon be doing many of the jobs that humans do today. Some even predict humans could lose control over their future.
While we agree about…
Jacqueline Calhoun
Which cybersecurity-related activities are most important to your business strategy and critical service delivery? How do you assess the effectiveness and efficiency of your use of cybersecurity standards, guidelines, and practices? To answer these questions and build excellence in your…
Patricia Morrill
Do all employees in healthcare understand how their jobs link to patients in some way? If they do, then they are more likely to know the importance of service excellence.
Does every leader, physician, and employee know the statistic that preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of…
Annette Franz
I recently saw an article with an image that included a quote from Antonio Banderas: “Expectation is the mother of all frustration.”
Honestly, this is true in life, in all relationships. Think about it for a second: Aren’t relationships much easier and much more relaxed when you have no…
Steven Brand
Quality management in manufacturing significantly contributes to a manufacturer's brand and bottom line. However, persistent challenges to quality management continue to trouble small and medium-sized manufacturing companies alike. The issues, of course, vary depending on the existing management…
Peter Merrill
ISO 9001:2015 has significant structural changes that differentiate it from the previous standard. The new high-level structure is common to all ISO management system standards (i.e., quality, environmental, IT security) and enables us to start looking at integration of these systems. There is a…
Ryan E. Day
Sponsored Content
Headquartered in the little Hamlet of Deming, Washington, Canyon Hydro builds hydroelectric systems producing anywhere from 10 kilowatts up to 25 megawatts. In business for more than 40 years, Canyon Hydro has gained wide recognition with public and independent power producers…
Joe Bollard
As of Sept. 14, 2018, ISO/TS 16949 certificates are longer valid, which means automotive suppliers must certify to the new version, IATF 16949. Transition audits are underway and will continue into next year, but many companies still have a long way to go to prepare.
Let’s look at some of the…
Mary Ann Pacelli
On the surface, the manufacturing industry’s “good news, bad news” scenario appears to lean toward the good. The 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index projects that by 2020, the United States will be the most competitive manufacturing economy in the world, a position currently held by…
Davis Balestracci
I have reached one of those life landmarks (receiving my Medicare card) and have been reflecting back... a lot. I will remain every bit as passionate about improvement and don’t think I will ever formally retire, but I also doubt I will have W. Edwards Deming’s tenacity to keep at it until I (…
Steve McKee
Back in the day, when the battery died in my Datsun 210 hatchback, all I needed was a steep hill or a couple of friends willing to give me a push
It’s a metaphor that comes back to me each time my firm consults with a struggling company. Today, of course, it’s difficult to find a standard-…
Michelle LaBrosse
A wonderful thing about humanity: most people love to learn. Think about how much fun it is when you have a question, and you are able to succeed in finding the answer through your own efforts researching online or in a library. You are intrinsically motivated to learn and to feel good about…
Kelly Graves
In general, people hate confrontation and will do just about anything to distance themselves from it, but a manager owes it to her employees to overcome this fear and address problems directly and honestly. The key is knowing how to handle problems with employees, and knowing what will happen…
Michael Lee Stallard
Costco Wholesale moved in front of Google to earn the title of America’s best large employer this year. To determine America’s best employer each year, Statista and Forbes survey 30,000 workers at U.S. organizations, asking them questions about their work experience. Costco has consistently…
Mary Drotar
A recent article in MIT Sloan Management Review, “Using Scenario Planning to Reshape Strategy,” indicated a resurgence of scenario planning that initially gained recognition during the 1960s and ’70s. Royal Dutch/Shell has been the “poster child” of success ever since it used scenario planning to…