Machine learning as a tool in your analytical toolkit can help accelerate the discovery of insights in data that can create a more efficient manufacturing process and drive innovation. Machine learning in the spotlight The growth in availability of technologies that give us the ability to monitor,…

I always enjoy my fellow columnist Arun Hariharan’s musings. He has worked in the field of quality for more than 30 years and, like me, has obtained reasonable results. But he has also made his share of the inevitable growing-pain mistakes—lessons we both had to learn the hard way in an environment…

Nearly every month, it seems, comes a new report. In March 2018, there was news of contaminated romaine lettuce, which eventually led to five deaths and sickened more than 200 people across the United States and Canada. In May 2018, about 100 people in California got sick after eating raw oysters…

In June 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Expanding Apprenticeships in America.” It calls for the creation of a special task force to identify strategies and proposals to promote apprenticeships in the United States. To meet this challenge, Department of Labor Secretary Alex…

Each year, billions in funding for research and development as well as workforce initiatives is available for small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to help them get off the ground or aid in expansion efforts. Here are eight organizations that can help your business flourish in today’s…

The high school students clustered around a 4 ft-tall red robot with long arms and cartoonish eyes. A so-called collaborative robot, programmed to work with humans at Prent Corp., a packaging company, it looked cute, not intimidating. But on this annual Manufacturing Day, which during the last few…

In today’s hypercompetitive environment, companies can’t afford to lag behind when it comes to the quality of their products—or the tools and technologies they use to ensure them. During the past two decades, 3D scanning has become an essential component of many companies’ quality control…

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the 2018 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will be given to two educational institutions, an organ donor group, a hospital, and a project management firm. A presidential-level honor, the award recognizes exemplary U.S. organizations and…

I’ve written previously about 11 myths and mistakes about journey mapping, but I should add one more myth, which is really the umbrella myth that likely encompasses all the others: Journey mapping is just a tool. Nope, it’s not just a tool; it’s not just a workshop: It’s a process. Journey mapping…

In this episode we look at lessons learned (or not) from GE, the difference between ISO and FDA “requirements,” and this year's Baldridge recipients. “GE’s Lessons Won’t Determine Whether You Succeed or Fail” Does the success or failure of GE’s CEO really matter that much when it comes to how most…

Even though most businesses have invested in quality management and performance improvement, each organization is unique. People, processes, and machines must be coordinated to achieve desired outcomes. This is not easy. Whether you’re in discrete manufacturing, a process industry, or a service…

The frequently referenced learning pyramid asserts than an average student retains 75 percent of information learned through practice, compared to just 5 percent of what he hears in a lecture. Although experts may dispute the relevance of these figures when applied to modern society, all of us can…

In this era of artificial intelligence, where bots can mimic human minds and outperform humans, a new-age process automation tool called “robotic process automation” (RPA) has been creating a lot of buzz. It is highly versatile and can be used by every industry to streamline and optimize their…

Next to defining a problem accurately, root cause analysis is one of the most important elements of problem-solving in quality management. That’s because if you’re not aiming at the right target, you’ll never be able to eliminate the real problem that’s hurting quality. So which type of root cause…

Process validation is vital to the success of companies that manufacture pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines, test kits, and a variety of other biological products for people and animals. According to FDA guidelines, process validation is “the collection and evaluation of data, from the process design…

I recently had eye surgery that required me to sleep on my back for two weeks following the operation. I have always slept on my side, ever since I was a kid. My back-sleeping attempts are so challenging, I am never able to nap on those United States to Europe flights. I usually end up burning a…

BioBridge Global (BBG) is a parent organization for four subsidiary organizations, three of which are involved in production activities, and they’re all around regenerative medicine, including blood components, clinical laboratory testing, and cell and tissue therapies. Organizations in the life…

Life science companies play a major role in the global economy, with revenues expected to reach a staggering $1.5 trillion by 2020.1 Such a rosy forecast is likely to attract innovators and encourage current industry players to blaze new trails. Whether new or established, life science companies…

Technological breakthroughs tend to change the way users perceive of a problem, offering a solution that, in retrospect, comes to seem obvious and apparent. So it is with the new FARO 8-Axis Quantum ScanArm and FaroArm. “This is such an obvious solution to a challenge that every single portable-arm…

Confused about the difference between mission and vision? Or between purpose and mission? You’re not alone. I am frequently asked about the difference between mission, vision, purpose, strategy, and goals, and where do values fit? Many people don’t care about definitions, and that’s unfortunate.…

Chad Kymal1 gave an excellent overview of the ISO 45001 occupational health and safety (OHS) standard that was released in March 2018. I purchased a copy of the standard, and it provides an excellent framework, modeled on Annex SL, which defines the structure of all the new ISO standards, for an…

The news that General Electric ousted CEO John Flannery was surprising to many of us, and it certainly matters to investors, analysts, employees, and competitors (and probably, historians). But does the success or failure of GE’s CEO really matter that much when it comes to how most of us lead,…

To most of us, the phrase “work that matters” infers job satisfaction. The outcome is lower stress, lower turnover, and higher productivity—in business, a win-win for employees, customers, and shareholders. The logic is infallible. So, I ask you, why is there such a gap between the theory and the…

Our industry embodies many aspects, but “Big Q” quality generally involves issues affecting management, measurement, and methodologies. This week on QDL, we covered all of them, and more. Let’s look closer: “Ripped from the Headlines: Tariff Fallout” U.S. manufacturers are currently dealing with…

To ask a good question requires two things: insight and gumption. The root of all worthy questions is a desire to fill in a gap in your understanding of something. The insight in good questions comes from seeing that gap, exploring its edges, and forming a question that can serve as an invitation…