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Need help choosing a New Year’s resolution? The University at Buffalo (UB) offers its annual list of 10 suggestions for achieving health, happiness, and success in the new year. Each resolution is based on the work of UB faculty in 2011. Their research and expertise provides some direction on…
Chief quality officers (CQO) are particularly well placed to lead a major transformational effort. Yet, few do so successfully in spite of having a vested role in operational improvement and having input into what the organization measures and monitors.
Although many CQOs do emphasize…
The next 12 months will see a greater focus than ever before on the quality of customer experience permeating strategies, systems, applications, and initiatives.
An efficiency and transaction mindset is driving many industries, including airlines, into a churn-based business model that is…
I was less than two minutes into my sales presentation when the business owner sitting behind his desk gruffly said, “Get out of here.” I figured someone must have walked into his office, and he didn’t want us to be interrupted. I turned around to see who it was. There was no one.
He then…
As a frequent columnist for Quality Digest Daily and several other publications, I have learned that there are certain topics that are out of bounds. These are topics that elicit heated debate, comments from riled readers, and the occasional canceling of a subscription. I recently read there…
’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shop
Santa’s quality manager feared that all production would stop
The FMEA showed high risk, nonconformances were a fright
But Santa knew better—his QMS would help on this magical night.
I really enjoy the holiday season. I love the…
Lean Six Sigma has proven itself as an effective strategy for business success in both private and public sectors. The methodology has helped enterprise leaders recognize business processes as engines that drive performance excellence and help to deliver value. Lean Six Sigma offers a…
A traveler attempting to book a ticket by phone became frustrated after choosing from a menu of endless options, then waiting on hold for 20 minutes before eventually being transferred twice—the second time to a dial tone. When she called back, the first live person she connected with got an…
The holiday season is like a magnifying glass that enlarges both the best and the worst in us. This time of year induces joy, caring, and generosity, but it can also magnify stress, anxiety, and heighten conflict at home and in the office.
The holidays can be stressful. You see it in people…
Much has been written and discussed about “risk” being the future of “quality.” But what does this really mean, and how does it work?
Definitions of quality
Let’s us look at common working definitions of quality: zero defects, customer satisfaction, control of process variance, reliability,…
It sometimes seems that few people can accurately define risk management, let alone apply it in their organization. Yet, a risk management plan can help an organization identify and correct hazards and substandard work practices before bad things happen. Risk management is by far one of the…
Cisco Systems Inc., headquartered in San Jose, California, runs one of the most complex supply chains in the global information technology industry. The company relies on more than 1,000 suppliers, four contract manufacturers, and 50,000 purchased parts. It also outsources assembly. In October…
Organizations need a systematic approach for risk containment when quality, delivery, and design product and service issues occur. Such a system should also help them to recover quickly from errant decisions made by executives, operations personnel, and the quality department.
This article…
On the face of it, today’s supply-chain risks don’t seem too different from any other time in history. We are faced with natural and man-made disasters, frequent dissolution of supply-chain partners and suppliers, constantly changing regulations, counterfeiting, and the long-standing question…
The ISO 9001 requirements pertaining to preventive action would get a lot more attention if people grasped the very simple fact that this is all about managing risk—which is really about managing the consequences of change. Whenever we change something, even for the better, there are…
Japanese vehicle manufacturer, Toyota, is well-known for developing the principles of lean manufacturing. Research published in the International Journal of Technology Management suggests that the lean approach might also be beneficial to medical procedures, making hospitals more efficient and…
A few weeks ago, my eyes filled with tears as our daughter, Lisa, told those whom we call the Macaronis, that she was struggling to decide between her current occupational choices (yes, she’s that talented and in demand); what she really wanted to do was work more closely with my wife, Carole,…
Last article, I wrote about the importance of correctly classifying variables as part of the research design process, and discussed the benefits of the hugely useful, but oft-neglected, blocked variables. As part of my ongoing crusade against poor experimental designs, and the people who love…
Lean training and programs are more popular than ever. Implementing lean strategies is all the rage, but has your CEO really seen the lean light? Use these 10 signs as a gauge to find out.
10. He initiated a brand new lean department.
His thinking: Lean is something new. We don’t want to taint…
It’s all too easy to make mistakes involving statistics. Statistical software can remove a lot of the difficulty surrounding statistical calculation, reducing the risk of mathematical errors, but correctly interpreting the results of an analysis can be even more challenging.
A few years ago,…
A frequent refrain of top managers is, “We need to do a better job of holding people accountable.” Accountability seems to be the mantra for organizational get-well programs these days. One can agree with this in part, and yet there is an aspect of accountability that feels like a cop out.
The…
On Nov. 18, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-55), which provides fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding for a number of government agencies, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The act…
In production, “zero defects” is a frequent quality metric, but zero worker injuries, while a stated goal of most manufacturing plants and distribution centers, has not made it to the gold standard. There is no disputing that defective product costs companies millions of dollars in repairs,…
He is nameless in the movie Polar Express and the closing credits only give him the name, “Hero Boy.” The adventures depicted in the movie follow the plight of a young boy who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. Hero Boy cannot hear the bells of Santa’s sleigh because he doesn’t believe.
For…
I recently attended the annual forum of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), which is probably the leading health improvement organization in the world. The forum has grown from under 100 attendees in 1989 to almost 6,000 this year—half of whom were there for the first time—with now…