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(Publisher’s Note: This article, is reprinted with permission from THE INFORMED OUTLOOK, in which it first appeared in Nov. 2003.)
Following the ISO 9001:2000 transition, the future of quality management continues to align with that of business management. The challenge in both cases is for…
Editor’s story update 6/15/2017: This article was originally published on our site in 2004. Although it references ISO 9001:2000 rather than the current version of the quality management standard, Cochran’s 10 questions remain useful for organizations preparing for an audit.
All experienced…
Would you spend millions of dollars for a return of more than a billion? Sure you would, but that’s just a fantasy, right? It wasn’t just a pipedream for GE’s CEO Jack Welch, who expected to reap a hefty return for every dollar his company spent on Six Sigma. Needless to say, he did. In 1997, GE…
Would you spend millions of dollars for a return of more than a billion? Sure you would, but that’s just a fantasy, right? It wasn’t just a pipedream for GE’s CEO Jack Welch, who expected to reap a hefty return for every dollar his company spent on Six Sigma. Needless to say, he did. In 1997, GE…
What roles do quality and quality management systems play in a business sector facing revolution? The term isn’t too strong for what’s currently underway in the telecommunications industry. Competitive pressures and customer demands are driving the sector to introduce next-generation network…
To succeed in our increasingly competitive global economy, many companies have implemented lean manufacturing, a step beyond just-in-time production systems. Other companies claim they’re "lean" but hedge on the concept. They maintain work-in-progress inventories because they fear the consequences…
Contrary to what alarmists with an interest in fueling controversy might say, ISO 9001 is still on the rise-and with good reason. The standard is capable of producing the desired results (i.e., consistent quality in goods and services globally), and its full potential is yet to be realized.…
How many dimensional data points are enough to accurately describe a part feature? The key to answering this question is understanding the stability of the manufacturing process. In general, components should be measured only as often as required to ensure the stability of manufacturing processes.…
Jack Welch had a unique vision of an organization that made data-based decisions. At times his tactics for bringing this about were described as “violent,” “abrupt” and “painful,” but his methods worked. GE’s transformation is still a modern model of how to make quantum shifts in the way a huge…
Coordinate measuring machines gather data by means of a probe or sensor. Conventional CMMs equipped with touch-trigger probes can use a stitch-scanning method to record point streams from part surfaces. In stitch scanning, the CMM lifts the probe head from the surface of the part, moves it slightly…
Many Americans feel like the winds of change have blown away from them. They turn out on Election Day to provide a gust that blows back to local, state and federal power centers, where the clashing breezes become tornadoes. Consequently, many citizens are left with a sticky, humid feeling of…