All Features
William A. Levinson
The recent revelation that a major steel maker falsified test data,1 and similar scandals at other companies,2 underscores the menace of counterfeit parts, or what a 1987 Senate hearing called COME UPS: COunterfeit MatErials and Unauthorized Product Substitutions. The history of COME UPS shows the…
Mike Richman
During last Friday’s episode of QDL, we examined the potential of quality thinking to improve outcomes for people’s health, manufacturing, and workplace efficiency. Let’s take a look:
“World Toilet Day” ISO truly has a standard (or at least a standard in development) for everything. World Toilet…
Jay Desai
The presidential symposium at this year’s annual meeting of the Child Neurology Society of America in early October in Kansas City raised many eyebrows: The first presentation focused on burnout rates among neurologists around the country.
Many of my colleagues felt that this was an inappropriate…
ISO
A new version of ISO 31000:2009—“Risk management” is due to be unveiled early next year. As the threat of risks grows for governments, organizations, and the public alike, how can the new, streamlined standard help to make our future more secure?
Ten years ago, the boardrooms of banks and…
Jon Speer
What exactly is a risk-based quality management system (QMS)? This is a timely topic to get into. In 2016, ISO 13485—“Medical devices”—“Quality management systems” was updated, and one of the key concepts presented is the idea of a risk-based QMS.
Historically, regulations have almost exclusively…
Grant Ramaley
I have written previously about the Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP) created by the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF). MDSAP is viewed as a single audit covering the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, and Japan. The intent was to establish one medical-device…
Scott Shackelford
Hackers around the world are attacking targets as diverse as North Dakota’s state government, the Ukrainian postal service, and a hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia. Unfortunately, many governments—in the developing world, and even cash-strapped states and local communities in the United States—lack…
Jason Furness
You have defined what you want as an outcome of the change program; you have looked at how to understand your financial statements and how to use them to assess options. You have looked at the obstacles that lay in your path. Now we are going to start to look at your business, specifically.
Why…
Mike Richman
QDL co-host Dirk Dusharme was on vacation for our Nov. 10, 2017, episode, but we ably covered for his absence with some thought-provoking stories and great guests. Let’s take a look:
“What Really Causes Workplace Stress” A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Southern…
Fred Schenkelberg
The term “Weibull” in some ways has become a synonym for reliability. Weibull analysis = life data (or reliability) analysis. The Weibull distribution has the capability to describe a changing failure rate, which is lacking when using just mean time between failures (MTBF). Yet, is it suitable to…
ICEE
Reflecting a greater focus on achieving organizational success through people, the first certification program for ISO 10018, “Quality management—Guidelines on people involvement and competence” is now available for organizations committed to quality people management. This standard was created in…
Jeremy Straub
Some people are afraid that heavily armed artificially intelligent robots might take over the world, enslaving humanity—or perhaps exterminating us. These people, including tech-industry billionaire Elon Musk and eminent physicist Stephen Hawking, say artificial intelligence technology needs to be…
Gene Morrison
Never-before-seen growth has turned the aviation, space, and defense industries into lucrative markets. Demand for increased efficiency, security, quality, and durability has taken off in recent years, resulting in high margins and operating profits. With exponential growth potential and a long-…
Mike Richman
During the Nov. 3, 2017, episode of QDL, we (figuratively) traveled the globe to bring you quality information. Let’s take a closer look:
“‘Made in Japan’ Falls from Grace Amid Scandals, Systematic Flaws in Manufacturing Industry” Kobe Steel is the latest Japanese manufacturer to admit to…
Olympus
Sponsored Content
High-volume manufacturers need fast, nondestructive testing methods to help avoid material mix-ups and to meet customer quality requirements. Quality assurance (QA) inspectors are responsible for evaluating incoming raw materials by determining their elemental makeup and…
Kemper Lewis
President Trump has long talked about reinvigorating U.S. manufacturing, which has suffered heavy job losses as a result of automation, trade deals, and other factors. In July, the Trump administration even celebrated “made in America” week by showcasing things built in the United States and…
Eric Stoop
General Motors (GM) recently published updated customer-specific requirements for IATF 16949 compliance. The new requirements take effect Nov. 1, 2017, and cover layered process audit (LPA) requirements in greater depth than previous versions.
LPAs use a series of frequent audits to check high-…
Christopher Martin
Nearly two decades ago, rising from the ashes of the once-giant video game hardware manufacturer Sega, Microsoft debuted the Xbox and entered into the video game market with the intent of competing directly with Sony’s PlayStation brand. By 2006, Microsoft’s launch of the second-generation of Xbox…
Lily Elefteriadou
What self-driving cars want, and what people want from them, varies widely. Often these desires are at odds with each other. For instance, carmakers—and the designers of the software that will run autonomous vehicles—know that it’s safest if cars stay far away from each other. But traffic…
Sheronda Jeffries, Carmine Reda
Companies purchase lots of things. They purchase tangible goods, like raw materials and equipment, or intangible services, like calibration and transportation. And most companies have basic criteria that they use to qualify and select suppliers.
Many companies require their suppliers to obtain…
Mike Richman
We cover a wide range of topics on QDL most weeks, but our latest episode, from Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, provided a steady drumbeat of technological detail. Here’s what we chatted about:
“Energy Harvested from Evaporation Could Power Much of U.S., Says Study” Renewal sources of energy like solar…
Dane Warren
Sponsored Content
As businesses become increasingly dependent on an effective supplier network, more data must be shared with these suppliers to support business goals and delivery business value. This gives rise to the need for a more robust, next-generation approach to supplier assurance and…
Ken Kingery
The first in-car measurements of exposure to pollutants that cause oxidative stress during rush-hour commutes has turned up potentially alarming results. The levels of some forms of harmful particulate matter inside car cabins was found to be twice as high as previously believed.
Most traffic…
Timothy Zimmerman
Cybersecurity, at this point in the technological age, has become a household word. Every week, almost like clockwork, it seems there is a story in the news about a newly discovered hack or data breach, often made possible by poor cybersecurity practices. Many of these incidents are focused around…
Dirk Dusharme
Our Oct. 13, 2017, episode of Quality Digest Live looked at edge computing for natural disasters, medical records, and zero defects.
“New Research May Improve Communications During Natural Disasters”
Could edge computing help communications during disasters?
“How Health Care Leaders Should…