All Features
John Tschohl
Most organizations are reluctant to spend time and money training their workforce on customer service.
There are a variety of reasons:1. It will do no good.2. By the time they’re trained, the employees will leave.3. It’s common sense. Everyone already understands customer service.4. It’s too…
Akhilesh Gulati
During a recent visit to a brewery in Dublin, I was stopped by one statement displayed on the tour: “The quality of our advertising must be equal to the quality of our beer.”
It was intended as branding. But it pointed to something most organizations quietly overlook: They assume quality begins…
greenlight.guru
Teams building software as a medical device (SaMD) tend to think of ISO 14971 as the hardware team’s problem. Risk management files, FMEA tables, severity scores: all quality and regulatory territory, while the engineers close Jira tickets. That split is where things go wrong.
ISO 14971 applies to…
Hilke Plassmann, Paulo Albuquerque
A food company spends months and significant budget on consumer research before launching a new product. The survey scores are strong, so the store managers stock it. Six months later, the product is quietly pulled from the shelves. The consumers who said they would buy it didn’t.
This pattern—…
Andy Addington
Three years ago, I’d never heard the term biomedical equipment technician (BMET). I didn’t know the field of healthcare technology management (HTM) existed. Today, I’m a BMET II responsible for making sure critical medical equipment is available and safe for patient care. It’s incredible to look at…
Chip Bell
Southern politicians often have a homespun way of making a point. A few years ago, a candidate for a small-town sheriff’s election was overheard saying, “Criticize my drawl, you make me laugh. Criticize my views, you make me listen. But criticize my mama and you’re asking for a fight.”
Customer…
ISO
Markets run on trust. Trust runs on standards. And standards only work when the people shaping them reflect the people they are meant to protect.
That’s why International Women’s Day and World Consumer Rights Day aren’t just two dates on the calendar—they are part of the same story. When women…
Chip Bell
Delight your customer! Exceed your customers’ expectations! Provide value-added service! These have been mantras of customer service gurus for a long time. Such a focus on “giving more” has improved customer service quality in many organizations. It has also increased customer standards for what…
Akhilesh Gulati
A few months ago, during separate visits to an emergency department and an urgent care center, I experienced what many patients and clinicians now consider routine: long waits, crowded spaces, and visible strain on staff. It raised a familiar question that I’ve been asking for years: If the…
Chip Bell
Walk the aisles of any liquor store in the U.S., and brands named after people call for your notice—Johnnie Walker, Jose Cuervo, Captain Morgan, and Jim Beam. Perhaps the most revered name among them is Jack Daniel. Established in 1875, Jack Daniel’s Whiskey comes from the oldest distillery in the…
ISO
Data are the backbone of our digital world. From healthcare to finance, and from government agencies to private businesses, organizations everywhere rely on vast amounts of data to function effectively.
It’s not just businesses that generate data. We all leave digital trails through our…
Chip Bell
The customer is not always right. We are all customers, and sometimes we’re dead wrong. Stew Leonard Jr., CEO of Stew Leonard’s grocery stores, enjoys saying, “The goal is to make the customer feel right.”
His sentiment means never dealing with a customer in a judgmental way, because you never…
Mike Figliuolo
It’s a terrible feeling to put a ton of effort into crafting a recommendation only to have it shot down in front of all your co-workers. If you want your idea approved, you should try doing things backward instead.
Think about how you craft a recommendation. Typically, it goes something like this…
Megan King
If you’ve flown in the U.S. in recent years, you’re probably familiar with the airport security experience of entering a booth, raising your hands above your head, and having a machine check your body. That machine is called a millimeter wave scanner.
I’ve done this many times and never given it…
CANEA
The digitalization of society during the last decade has created many opportunities for businesses and organizations. But digitalization, combined with a rapidly changing world, has also opened new threats and vulnerabilities that can cause serious damage to businesses. Every day we see headlines…
Chris Pinaire
The manufacturing industry is undergoing a transformation driven by rapid technological advancements, changing consumer preferences, and evolving regulatory frameworks. Manufacturers everywhere face unprecedented challenges as they seek to remain competitive, profitable, and sustainable in the face…
Mike King
As we look ahead to 2026, the medtech sector stands at an intersection of regulatory evolution, technological advancement, and operational transformation.
The landscape for quality and regulatory affairs (QARA) professionals continues to shift, driven by emerging AI capabilities, changing…
Troy Harrison
Here’s something nobody saw coming: The generation most skeptical of AI isn’t the one that doesn’t understand it. It’s the one that understands it best.
Every new technology faces resistance. The internet? A fad. Smartphones? Unnecessary. Social media? A waste of time. But tech skepticism has…
ISO
In 2021, container ships idled for weeks outside the Port of Los Angeles, a stark visual reminder of just how fragile modern supply-chain reliability had become. The backlog sent shockwaves across industries. Factories stalled, shelves emptied, and businesses scrambled for alternatives. It was a…
Nimax
The global coding- and marking-equipment market is on a clear growth path. As shown in a recent Grand View Research report, the market was worth $17,528 million worldwide by the end of 2024.
Furthermore, GVR’s projections estimate the market value will reach $24,927 million by 2030, with a…
Adam Grabowski
To stay profitable as a manufacturer, you have to run a tight ship. I’ve been lucky enough to visit with owners and key people at thousands of manufacturers all over the world. My main goal during these visits is to listen and learn what makes them so good at what they do.
It turns out that the…
Chip Bell
One hour after takeoff from London’s Heathrow Airport on an intercontinental flight to the U.S., the pilot announced the aircraft was returning, “because my windshield just shattered.” After gasps from passengers, he calmly announced there was no danger, but there would be a long delay to secure…
Creaform
In motorsport, performance isn’t defined by a single factor. It’s the sum of countless details, each playing a decisive role when pushing speeds up to 200 mph (320 km/h). From how a driver sits in the car to how the bodywork complies with strict regulations, accuracy can mean the difference between…
Dolf van der Haven
When businesses talk about customer experience, the conversation almost always focuses on the end user. That’s understandable, but dangerously narrow. In modern service ecosystems, particularly those governed by service integration and management (SIAM), the customer experience depends just as much…
Troy Harrison
A recent company meeting revealed what management called a “handoff problem.” The sales team would close deals, then toss them over the wall to the service team, which would promptly fumble the relationship because they didn’t understand what had been promised or why the customer bought in the…