All Features
We examined the practices and major problems that can easily occur in the use of balanced scorecards in the June 3 issue of InsideSixSigma. Now let’s look at why attention to causal event analyses can improve the future performance of any process. Often, this traditional method fails to make metric…
Walk into many stores and you’re bound to be impressed by the quality of digital cameras, TVs, cell phones, and other consumer electronics. Every year the quality of these devices improves by leaps and bounds, and consumers often pay less as products improve.I wish the same could be said about the…
Forrest Breyfogle—New Paradigms
We examined the practices and major problems that can easily occur in the use of balanced scorecards in the June 3 issue of InsideSixSigma. Now let’s look at why attention to causal event analyses can improve the future performance of any process. Often, this traditional method fails to make metric…
In September 2007 at the QuEST Forum I had the privilege of presenting an AT&T in-house Six Sigma process-improvement success story, “Reducing NonBilled Inside Wire Dispatches,” which was selected as a best practice in the Six Sigma category. (The QuEST Forum—Quality Excellence for Suppliers of…
Sharon Phillips
In June 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the dietary supplement current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) final rule (21 CFR Part 111). In essence, the final rule requires that the proper controls be in place for dietary supplements during manufacturing, packaging, labeling…
Sharon Phillips
In June 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the dietary supplement current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) final rule (21 CFR Part 111). In essence, the final rule requires that the proper controls be in place for dietary supplements during manufacturing, packaging, labeling…
Douglas C. Fair
A few weeks ago, I found myself and my family on a beach making a sand castle. It was the last day of our vacation and shortly after we began working the warm South Carolina sand, an official approached us and asked if we would like to be contestants in the weekly sand sculpture contest. Why not?…
Steven Ouellette
I
was working with a client to create their business’s critical performance measures the other day, and one of the managers said, “We should set the target higher than we want it—you know, aim high to hit low.” This set off one of my rants, and I thought I would share it with you.
When I…
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has solely sourced a grant to the American Society for Quality and the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) to develop a national voluntary conformity assessment accreditation and certification program for private sector emergency preparedness…
Mike Thelen
As is the case with any lean implementation in a traditional environment, culture change is the most difficult obstacle to success. A company can hire consultants, develop work teams, and begin lean initiatives, but if it only talks the talk, the initiative soon becomes just talk.
Why do we do lean…
Mike Thelen
As is the case with any lean implementation in a traditional environment, culture change is the most difficult obstacle to success. A company can hire consultants, develop work teams, and begin lean initiatives, but if it only talks the talk, the initiative soon becomes just talk.Why do we do lean…
Dave Heberling
When my daughter, Anna, was in the fifth grade, her teacher asked the students to write down their personal goals. Anna’s goals are still displayed in our home, so we obviously feel that there was something special about this assignment. Not bad for a fifth grader, huh? Could you do better? How? Is…
Fred Mason
When thinking about measurement devices and systems, the subject of accuracy comes up. Accuracy has been discussed in past columns of “Measurement Matters.” In the context of measurement system specifications, there’s more concern about the uncertainty of measurement, not its accuracy. So, what is…
Fred Mason
When thinking about measurement devices and systems, the subject of accuracy comes up. Accuracy has been discussed in past columns of “Measurement Matters.” In the context of measurement system specifications, there’s more concern about the uncertainty of measurement, not its accuracy. So, what is…
Denise Robitaille
I recently had a client who went through a pre-assessment in anticipation of his company’s certification audit. It’s kind of like a dress rehearsal for the real thing. Over the years, I’ve discovered that organizations tend to garner more value from pre-assessments than I had originally thought…
Joseph J. Caylor
As a consultant, I have been asked numerous times by management teams that are considering quality management systems (QMSs) such as ISO 9001, QS 9001, ISO/TS 16949, AS 9001, or TL 9000, “What’s in it for me? Companies complain that QMSs, such as ISO 9001, take up their employees’ time and cost too…
Joseph J. Caylor
As a consultant, I have been asked numerous times by management teams that are considering quality management systems (QMSs) such as ISO 9001, QS 9001, ISO/TS 16949, AS 9001, or TL 9000, “What’s in it for me? Companies complain that QMSs, such as ISO 9001, take up their employees’ time and cost too…
Joseph J. Caylor
ABC Company Work Instruction
Purpose: To initiate a DMR for internal nonconformance, subcontractor nonconformance, rework, or sorting.
Work description: A DMR is used to determine the nature of defect(s), establish a temporary remedy, determine the apparent root cause, establish corrective…
Joseph J. Caylor
ABC Company Work Instruction
Purpose: To initiate corrective and preventive action for customer complaints, vendor nonconformance, and internal quality audits.
Work description: A CPAR is initiated to determine apparent root cause, corrective action, and preventive planning for customer complaints…
Joseph J. Caylor
ABC Company Work Instruction
Purpose: To determine root cause for external nonconformance (customer complaints), internal nonconformance (rework, sort, subcontractor), and quality audit nonconformance findings.
Work description: Nonconformance-generated CPARs and DMRs are analyzed for…
A thorny question lies at the heart of meaningful health care reform. How much is human life worth? New research from Wharton and Stanford based on Medicare kidney-dialysis data shows that the average figure—$129,090 per additional year of quality life—is higher than prior studies have shown.…
Abe Eshkenazi
With increasing productivity and focus on efficiency, good manufacturing jobs can still be found in the United States, but they are becoming more complex, and the people who succeed in the field need advanced training, education, and support.According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative…
Over the years, scorecards have progressed through many changes, good and bad. Although scorecards often evolve into a meet-the-numbers game, regardless of the consequences to an enterprise as a whole, restructuring can produce dramatic improvements for any organization. This results in counter-…
Bill Kalmar
I think most of us would agree that there are a handful of attributes that separate average companies from those that should be held up as role models. Some of those traits would be: a strong and achievable strategic plan, management interaction with staff and customers, well-trained employees, a…
Mike Micklewright
Question: When the first-grade boy asked to use the washroom, the teacher said that he must first say his ABCs aloud. The little boy obediently did so, but he skipped the “P” and the “Y.” The teacher asked, “Why did you skip the ‘P’ and the ‘Y’?”
Answer: “My Daddy told me to never say ‘Y’ again…