Bill Kalmar
In the last couple of months, two topics have become particularly vexing to me. First, how can we be environmentally responsible by purchasing E85 fuel when there are few service stations that...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Michael Casey
Allegra Print and Imaging of Portage, Michigan, was founded in 1988 and has been growing by at least 6 percent annually over the past five years, despite a weak local economy. Allegra Portage is 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...
I recently gave a speech on products made in China to ASQ’s customer service division in Raleigh, North Carolina. The critical takeaways were that global uncertainties and risks were fundamentally...
Mike Thelen
What’s an extremely difficult part of lean? Sustained improvement. Kaizen is best known and most often described as continual, incremental improvement. Kaikaku is perhaps best described as...
Mike Thelen
What’s an extremely difficult part of lean? Sustained improvement. Kaizen is best known and most often described as continual, incremental improvement. Kaikaku is perhaps best described as...
