All News
The balance of trade in medicines for the United Kingdom dipped over the first half of 2005. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry reports that there was a 14-percent drop in the trade balance over the first six months of 2005 as compared with the first half of 2004—from 1.693…
The ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) is developing an accreditation program to support ANSI/AIHA Standard Z10, its new American standard for occupational health and safety systems. Because the new standard is compatible with environmental and quality management standards such as ISO…
The Quest for Excellence Conference XVIII, the official conference of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, will be held next spring in Washington, D.C. The event will be held April 23–26 at the Hilton Washington. It will feature presentations from the 2005 Baldrige Award winners, who will…
In a plan to “strengthen American business through the successful use of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and its framework,” three major quality trade associations have formed the Malcolm Baldrige Collaborative Project. The alliance was formed by the Baldrige National Quality…
Three new judges were recently elected to the 2005 Minnesota Quality Award Panel of Judges. The new judges are Debra Bowers, Independent School District 283 superintendent; Mary Ann Nelson, Minnesota Department of Education assistant commissioner of academic excellence; and Rachelle Schultz, Winona…
A report recently released by the National Committee for Quality Assurance shows that health care improved significantly, but health-care plans that publicly report their performance have declined. The information was part of NCQA’s annual “The State of Health Care Quality” report, which was…
RABQSA recently started offering its AS9100 aerospace auditor certification program on its Web site. The registrar has offered AS9100 certification services for some time, but the old scheme required customers to contact RABQSA directly for copies of relevant documentation. The new scheme meets…
Research from Quantitative Software Management Inc. has found that best-in-class software-development projects not only make it to market faster than competitors, they are significantly less expensive. The company surveyed 563 IT software-development projects over the course of four years and…
Kaiser Aluminum recently received the 2005 TBM Perfect Engine Award for its Chandler ( Arizona) facility, a recognition of the company’s implementation of lean Six Sigma. The award is given annually by the TBM Consulting Group Inc. to a facility that achieves outstanding productivity results. The…
As part of its ongoing transformation effort, leadership at the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) recently held several lean Six Sigma value-stream mapping events to identify projects that will provide the best return on investment. “Project identification and selection is a disciplined,…
The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has selected the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division as the base for its new Lean Six Sigma College. During their training, students learn about basic lean, Six Sigma and theory of constraints principles and tools, including value-stream…
Solectron recently held two consecutive events to honor its suppliers for their successful lean Six Sigma initiatives. The company received more than 50 entries to its first-annual Global Solectron Production System Kaizen Competition. The Supplier Day conference was held immediately after the…
The Confederation of Indian Industry awarded several top-producing Indian companies with Six Sigma awards at its National Convention on Six Sigma. The event was held in late September, and 150 delegates attended, representing 21 teams from India’s manufacturing, services, telecom, energy,…
ASI DataMyte Inc. recently announced a special incentive offer for new software customers. The special offer allows new customers to purchase ASI DataMyte’s Inspect visual inspection software starter kit at a package price. Inspect is a ready-to-use production and quality system used by…
The American Society for Quality’s Customer-Supplier Division will host an upcoming symposium to discuss improving customer-supplier relationships. The event will be held Feb. 1–Feb. 2 at Disneyland’s Paradise Pier Hotel in Anaheim, California. Its theme is “Catch the Wave of Change,” and it will…
The International Organization for Standardization recently released guidelines for local governments to implement ISO 9001. More than 670,400 organizations in 154 countries have already implemented ISO 9001. However, the new guidelines explain the standard in terms more familiar to local…
The judge presiding over a lawsuit against FARO Technologies Inc. has withdrawn a summary ruling that the company’s use of infinite rotation technology in several of its products infringes on a patent held by ROMER CimCore Corp. The development reverses a ruling made in…
The contributions of international standards to economic and social progress, and their role in disseminating technological innovation, were the focus of the International Organization for Standardization’s General Assembly, held September 19-23 in Singapore. A total of 360 delegates from 113…
Rockwell Automation will host a series of professional education courses for the manufacturing industry through the end of the year. The courses will be held throughout the United States, and include: Motion Control Fundamentals, Oct. 17-18 in Boston Introduction to Vibration Technology, Oct.…
The Shanghai Power Co.’s use of quality chain management theory allowed it to keep the electrical grid up and running in the bustling Chinese city all summer last year. The organization recently released a report on the process it used to avoid power failures, which have been common in Shanghai.…
The National Quality Institute announced 13 recipients of the 2005 Canada Awards for Excellence recently. The CAE Quality Award is based on the Canadian Framework for Excellence, used by many organizations as a management model for continuous improvement and the achievement of operational goals.…
The Performance Management Group recently started offering a package that includes unlimited training and consulting for a full year. The package also includes Black Belt certifications, Green Belt certifications, Yellow Belt certifications, the implementation of a customized Six Sigma system and…
An upcoming conference will focus on creating synergy between organizations’ various quality improvement efforts. The SCOR/Six Sigma/Lean Convergence Forum will examine ways to align implementations of quality efforts for maximum benefit. It will be held Nov. 7–8 at the Grand Hyatt DFW Airport…
Vintara recently released a fully integrated tool that allows authorized document editors to revise and save any compliance-related document. The software is useful for easily maintaining and verifying compliance to a long list of standards and methodologies, including Six Sigma, ISO standards and…
An upcoming conference will focus on the use of Six Sigma in the services and transactional sectors. The 2nd annual Six Sigma in Services and Transactional Environments Summit will be held Oct. 20–21 in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is sponsored by WCBF, which reports that last year’s event sold out.…