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The July Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index was 106.5, up 1.1 from the assessment performed in June.“Consumer confidence continues to hold steady, with the prognosis little changed from last month,” says Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. The…
A Team Leader’s Guide to Kaizen Events , a new guide from Breakthrough Management Press serves as an armchair coach for those who are leading lean kaizen events within their organization,” says Neil DeCarlo, Breakthrough Management Group’s vice president of publishing. The guide includes…
Representatives from companies such as The Ritz-Carlton, Accident Fund, Raytheon, Sonoco and DuPont will present winning tactics and case studies to business executives Sept. 20–22 in St. Louis. “Unleashing Business Success Through Breakthroughs in Lean Sigma and Quality” will include…
Leading quality professionals can learn how to achieve management buy-in, bring about organizational harmony, identify best strategies for implementation while maintaining compliance, and integrate benchmarking and metrics into lean Six Sigma initiatives at the International Quality and…
Pentacle Partners and MoreSteam.com recently partnered to offer a training program for lean and Six Sigma. Pentacle Partners is a consulting and training services provider, and MoreSteam.com provides online lean and Six Sigma training.The focus of the training is on immediate workplace…
Reliable Plant magazine will host its Lean Tools for Maintenance and Reliability Conference Sept. 18–20 in Las Vegas. Last year, nearly 150 manufacturing industry leaders gathered in Cleveland to share experiences and learn from major companies how lean tactics and strategies help…
SigmaXL, a provider of Excel add-ins for statistical and graphical analysis, recently released a new version of its flagship software. SigmaXL Version 5 includes multiple dotplots, improved multiple linear regressions, enhanced measurement systems analysis capabilities, process capability…
The U.S. Army recently graduated its first class of lean Six Sigma Black Belts in Korea, and more training is already underway. The U.S. military has made process improvement through lean, Six Sigma and theory of constraints a major focus in recent years. The Navy’s extensive lean Six…
Delcam, a supplier of machining software, recently acquired International Manufacturing Computer Services Inc., the developer of the PartMaker suite of computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software. The IMCS catalog includes PartMaker SwissCAM and PartMaker Turn-Mill for the programming…
Olympus Micro-Imaging’s LEXT OLS3000-IR microscope was recently named the top quality assurance tool at the sixth annual Advanced Packaging Awards ceremony in San Francisco. The ceremony was part of SEMICON West 2006, a semiconductor industry trade show. The LEXT-IR offers near-infrared…
RABQSA recently achieved a presence in Mexico through the offices of Perry Johnson Registers Inc. RABQSA reports that PJR’s existing client base and connections offer both companies opportunities for expansion in Mexico. Located in Mexico City, PJR will provide direct support and access…
The Automotive Industry Action Group and Odette International Ltd. have updated their joint global Materials Management Operations Guideline/Logistics Evaluation based on feedback from users. The guide is a continuous improvement and self-assessment tool. It’s aligned with ISO/TS 16949 to…
In recent meetings with legislators in Washington, D.C., representatives of the American Society for Quality offered quality expertise in support of President Bush’s American Competitiveness Initiative and health care issues that are currently before Congress. The meetings have focused…
Lean Six Sigma Summit West 2006 will be held Sept. 26-29 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The event, hosted by Six Sigma IQ, will feature nine detailed tracks and presentations from leading organizations using lean Six Sigma, such as Bank of America, DuPont and GE Plastics. Track topics…
In an effort to help Americans in the fight against heart disease, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America recently launched a multimedia national health education campaign. The effort stresses the importance of Americans consulting with their health care providers, as…
The increasing use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) in clinical processes such as admissions and discharge, drug administration, surgical procedure control, and patient monitoring is the focus of a new ChainLink Research study. Clinical settings are a high-payback opportunity for…
WellPoint Inc., one of the nation’s largest health benefits provider, recently launched "360 Health," a public outreach program that addresses preventive care, health improvement and care coordination. "360 Health" is the industry’s first program to integrate all care-management…
The American Society for Quality will host its Six Sigma Forum Roundtable Sept. 14–15 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. To maximize one-on-one discussion time with other attendees and presenters, and for more networking opportunities, registration is limited to 150 people. The event will feature in-…
The Confederation of Indian Industry estimates that the Tamil Nadu region of India—that country’s automotive manufacturing hub—will generate as many as 500,000 new jobs in the next decade. This can’t be good news for the U.S.-based automotive manufacturing industry, which is forecast to…
A new book takes issue with the Sloan management model, arguing that its widespread use in American industry is a major reason why U.S. manufacturers are struggling in the leaner global economy. Rebirth of American Industry, by William H. Waddell and Norman Bodek, outlines the core…
In his new book Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way (Kaplan Publishing, 2006), author Michael J. Webb takes readers into companies like Standard Register, ServiceMaster, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank, Motorola and others to show how they doubled revenues and cut sales costs by rethinking…
Authorized generic drugs can lead to lower medicine prices and overall savings to the health care system, according to a new study commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and prepared by IMS Consulting. An authorized generic is a drug that is distributed by…
The use of Six Sigma in sales and marketing applications will be the focus of an upcoming WCBF conference. The 3rd annual Six Sigma in Sales and Marketing conference will be held Aug. 23–24 in Chicago. It will include a keynote address entitled “Applying Six Sigma to Sales and Marketing…
CIGNA HealthCare Corp. recently launched a lab that will develop integrated Six Sigma-level end-to-end service for its medical, dental, pharmaceutical and behavioral health plan participants. The "Innovation Lab" will be staffed with 100 specially trained consumer advisers representing…
A Canadian bread company used Six Sigma to determine how to maximize efficiencies on its delivery operations. Before it selected CHEP to provide delivery pallets, Canada Bread Frozen Bakery had experienced costly delays and occasional difficulties with the inbound flow of pallets,…