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Globally, companies are scrambling to reengineer their performance management processes. Unfortunately, many of these initiatives have the wrong priorities.
Too many leaders rely on convoluted human resources processes and rigid rating systems that are time-consuming and disengaging for managers…
Last month, the ESPN series Outside the Lines reported on baseball pitchers suffering serious injuries from being struck in the head by line drives, and the efforts that Major League Baseball (MLB) is making toward having protective gear developed for pitchers.
You can view the report here if you…
Everyone is gearing up for the challenge of updating their compliance to the requirements of the 2015 version of ISO 9001. Most quality professionals I speak with seem to have digested the new requirements as something very different than past versions. Personally, I don’t see it in quite the same…
This is a continuation of my last column, which I’ve written to honor my late dad who loved golf. As promised, let’s look at the Masters golf tournament final four-round scores for the 55 players who survived the cut. We’ll analyze and then give it a twist based on the ongoing enumerative vs.…
To make 3D scanning useful, you really need to understand the types of data files that can be exported or saved from the process. This is particularly important if you’re considering the purchase of a 3D scanner, or are paying for 3D scanning services.
If you’re paying for a service, you might…
In the first part of this series, we looked at how two manufacturers used the Baldrige Criteria to survive the Great Recession and transform their companies. Here we learn more about how the Baldrige can help organizations achieve competitive advantage.
Baldrige Award recipient Lockheed Martin…
During a recent interview with Clint Belinsky, vice president of global quality at Jabil, LNS Research discussed revolutionizing quality management and some of the keys to achieving excellence. Streamlined processes, systems, and technology are important, but without the right people and quality-…
When looking for the best quality management system (QMS) for your business, there are certain traits to take into consideration to ensure you get the most value out of the system in the long run. Here are six of them.
1. Flexibility to make the system your own
Flexibility is an important aspect…
When the recession hit during the early 2000s, Michael Garvey left his fast-paced life trading equities on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to help save the “family farm,” a bronze foundry in Youngstown, Ohio.
Garvey said his parents and many other manufacturers got caught in the “perfect…
Calling it something of a “culture change” at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), Director Jeffrey Shuren said his team is working hard to find ways to speed approval of new medical devices by, in part, placing more stress on patient needs when looking at high-risk devices.
If…
What good is it? Often the mantra of the obsessively practical or the hopelessly cynical, a “what good is it?” response typically indicates disgust, disappointment, or disdain—maybe all three.
Obsessively practical leaders seem to become, well, obsessed, with efficiency. Every act, every task,…
In the medical device industry, one absolute—which shows no signs of abating—is the need to maintain documentation.
We’re talking documentation to demonstrate you have a compliant quality management system, that you design and develop products to meet design controls, and that you’re addressing…
In the medical device industry, one absolute—which shows no signs of abating—is the need to maintain documentation.
We’re talking documentation to demonstrate you have a compliant quality management system, that you design and develop products to meet design controls, and that you’re addressing…
There’s no doubt that the world becomes more interconnected and technology-centered as each day passes. Driverless cars have taken to the road in pilot projects in several countries; modes of communication are instant and global, whether they’re under 140 characters or above; and medical…
I love my car. Recently, I had to get some major repairs done on it (luckily, they were covered by the warranty). Because it was going to take a while, they provided me with a loaner. This was a really nice car—only 1,200 miles, new-car smell, sunroof, super-quiet, drove like a dream. It made me…
June 11, 2015, marked the fourth anniversary of the passing of someone who, although not typically credited as a “lean” thinker, nevertheless had a profound effect on many lean implementers. Eliyahu Goldratt, or Eli, was an Israeli physicist whose Ph.D. thesis on queuing theory led him and many…
We need to think about redefining work. Until we—anyone who wishes to bring about organizational change—redefine the actual value-creating work of the business, we haven’t made any changes that are meaningful.
You may be able to create wealth through a variety of business models or ways of…
The new ISO 9001, scheduled for publication in late 2015, introduces the term “knowledge.” As knowledge was not addressed by the previous version of ISO 9001, the depth of this topic and the approach to it are new.
The international standard ISO/DIS 9001:2015—“Quality management systems—…
I know that the customer should be involved when performing a root cause analysis (RCA) as the result of a complaint. However, in a meeting, the manager of problem resolution and statistical methods told our team that we should view customer-related problem resolution as a “shared journey of…
Great leadership quotes inspire and guide us. They become part of our mainstream language and are instilled into our culture. We accept them as a reflection of the ideal, aspire to live them, and use them when teaching others about leadership.
But sometimes a quote takes root that sends us in the…
Editor’s note: This week, Quality Digest Daily will be looking at some of the key technologies on display at the Coordinate Metrology Society’s annual conference (CMSC). The CMSC, taking place this year July 20–24 in Hollywood, Florida, is the gathering place for users, service providers, and…
Almost every conversation I’ve had with colleagues lately on the topic of process improvement or business performance improvement has centered on organizing working meetings or events to address and solve problems. “Events” seem to be growing in popularity. The problem is, they don’t work.
People…
While the computations for a process behavior chart are completely general and very robust, the secret to using a process behavior chart effectively lies in the art of rational sampling and rational subgrouping. Rational subgrouping was the topic of last month’s column. Here we shall look at the…
No, this isn’t an opinion piece or in any way a critique. It’s more like a public service announcement for business professionals in the job market, looking for a strategy position with a market leader.
Like most regular users of LinkedIn, I constantly get pushed notices about “jobs I might be…
Editor’s note: This week, Quality Digest Daily will be looking at some of the key technologies on display at the Coordinate Metrology Society's annual conference (CMSC). The CMSC, taking place this year July 20–24 in Hollywood, Florida, is the gathering place for users, service providers, and…