Ryan E. Day
With the threat of a trade war between China and the United States looming, business relations between Asia and the West have not been this hot a topic since the Japanese Economic Miracle that was...
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
In part one we saw that China has made great strides in terms of product quality, notably in the tech sector. But it still has a long way to go in other products. Driven by the growing middle class,...
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese products were synonymous with cheaply made. Anyone over the age of 50 probably remembers cheap Japanese transistor radios when they were a kid. We all believed,...
William A. Levinson
A job safety analysis (JSA) worksheet is almost identical in organization to a job breakdown sheet and standard work, all of which assess a job (or process) on a step-by-step basis. This suggests...
Beatrice Weder di Mauro
As the 21st century dawned, Germany was known as the “sick man of Europe,” with lower GDP growth and higher unemployment than peer nations such as France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Today, it is...
Steve McKee
Hasbro recently reported a double-digit decline in revenue and a big internal overhaul. That followed Mattel’s news that it will be hiring its fourth CEO in as many years as it...
Tim Lozier
Corrective action is often an effective means of identifying and correcting quality and compliance events within the organization that can arise through the result of complaints, audits, incidents,...
Maria Guadalupe
Your competition is no longer what it used to be. In this age of information at our fingertips, same-day delivery, and seamless payment options, customers now expect more from business than ever...
Mike Figliuolo
You think you’re well on the way toward building and leading a high-performing team. You’ve got a clear vision and mission, and a nice set of prioritized initiatives. You have all the right people....
Mohammad Jalali
Like any large company, a modern hospital has hundreds, even thousands, of workers using countless computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices that are vulnerable to security breaches, data...
Bill Petti
You have plenty of trended data on employee performance. You have a cutting-edge dashboard and seamless reporting capabilities. This makes you data-driven, right?
Not quite.
Optimizing your...
Mike Richman
During the May 18, 2018, episode of QDL, we had a terrific conversation with Gary Confalone of the Coordinate Metrology Society, and also considered the importance of mindfulness and good manners in...
Mike Richman
There are many ways that we lose attention on tasks at hand. From nosy and noisy colleagues to extraneous emails and meetings to burdensome and often pointless short-term projects, even the most...
Tom Middleton
Markets and manufacturing practices continue to evolve, and companies now outsource to an increasing number of global manufacturing and supply partners. As companies have pursued this broadened...
Matthew E. May
Process improvers the world over rally around root cause analysis as if it were the holy grail of all things organizational. But is it?
Understanding the root cause of a problem certainly makes...
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
In our May 11, 2018, episode of QDL, we looked at overproducing ideas, bad quotas (aren’t they all), and how anger can help identify core values.
“Questioning Quotas”
When are quotas bad? Most of...
MIT Sloan School of Management
Traditional corporate hierarchies tend to rely on static design. There’s the CEO at the top, followed by directors and managers. Red tape and inefficient processes can bog down decisions. ...
Knowledge at Wharton
Volatile markets, challenging consumer demands, and the technological disruptions resulting from digitization and Industry 4.0 are producing unprecedented rates of change. In response, companies have...
Ryan E. Day
You run a manufacturing business, so you know how it goes. The cost of doing business and manufacturing product never decreases. You know that your revenue must increase just to keep up. You also...
Paul Foster
Equipment downtime gets expensive fast in automotive and aerospace manufacturing, a risk many companies try to mitigate by storing spare parts onsite. A machine breaks down, haul out the parts, and...
