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Eastman Kodak Co. recently acquired OREX, a provider of nondestructive test equipment for specialty medical facilities. OREX has 84 employees, is headquartered in Yokneam, Israel, and is now part of Kodak’s Health Group’s Non-Destructive Testing group, which produces KODAK INDUSTREX digital systems…
The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently released a draft of its new Quality Plus standard. Comments on the draft are due by April 18. The standard, compliance to which is voluntary, identifies organizations that have adopted innovative practices or that promote quality care. It…
Most experts don’t see an end to the offshoring trend, but with an estimated half of all offshoring operations falling short of expectations, companies considering sending their operations overseas have to consider the risks—not merely the rewards—of doing so. The findings come from a report, “…
PowerSteering has acquired Breakthrough Management Group Inc.’s software assets. The two companies have entered into an agreement in which BMG will offer its project tracking software along with the complete suite of PowerSteering software. BMG will continue to provide Six Sigma solutions worldwide…
The National Committee for Quality Assurance and the American Board of Internal Medicine will offer a new program to physicians seeking to maintain their ABIM certification and the opportunity to more easily earn a new distinction: recognition from NCQA and its partners. The agreement will allow…
Canada’s National Quality Institute will host an April networking event focusing on mental health and addiction in the workplace. The event, titled “Working Toward Mental Health and Excellence at Work in Canada,” will be held April 12 in Toronto. It will include a town hall-style panel and keynote…
Omnex Systems LLC recently released EwQMS 2.0, a software suite aimed at allowing quality managers to quickly build, approve, manage and analyze critical quality documents for continual improvement. By using a centralized repository and interchangeable software modules, EwQMS users can tailor…
The Performance Management Group recently announced plans to upgrade its management training boot camp to include team leadership, metrics and scorecard training. “Technical companies that have promoted new managers because of their technical skills find their new leaders lacking the requisite…
The American Society for Quality announced the following quality leaders as ASQ Fellows: Dr. Inteaz Alli, professor of food quality assurance at McGill University G. Dennis Beecroft, president of G. Dennis Beercroft Inc. Ronald Gary Berglund, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center quality…
It was 25 years ago that Philip Crosby’s watershed book, Quality is Free, was published—a landmark that Philip Crosby Associates will celebrate all year long. At a time when peers such as Deming, Ishikawa and Juran were focusing on the highly technical aspects of quality measurement and control,…
The largest North American trade show dedicated to innovation in manufacturing opens this week in Chicago. National Manufacturing Week features a Manufacturing Town Hall panel discussion with top government and trade officials, the National Association of Manufacturers’ 2005 Annual Survey and the…
Excel Partnership Inc. will offer a Six Sigma training course for professionals who want to become familiarized with the methodology. Green Belts are defined as practitioners who spend 5–20 percent of their working hours in support of Black Belt or Six Sigma projects of their own. Course…
Software developer iGrafx recently released Process for Six Sigma, its new suite for practitioners of the popular methodology.The solution includes features customized to Six Sigma, including design of experiments, data fitting, lean tools and value-stream mapping, hierarchical process maps and…
Food & Drug Law Weekly recently reported that one of the largest hospitals in the Netherlands is using Six Sigma to improve its management of clinical trials. The Atrium Medical Center currently conducts about 70 clinical trials per year for major pharmaceutical companies. Its new system will…
Owners and managers of small to mid-sized organizations will learn how to use Six Sigma to improve operations at a full-day workshop scheduled for next month in Moon Township, Philadelphia.The workshop, “Achieving Customer Focus Through Six Sigma for the Small and Midsize Organization,” will be…
FM Solutions, a facility management consulting and technology company, recently added a lean Six Sigma contractor management function to its WorkOasis technology platform.The addition includes processes for sourcing service contractors, handling service requests and paying invoices. It combines…
2005 marks the 125th anniversary of The L.S. Starrett Co.The company was founded in 1880 by Laroy Sunderland Starrett to market his innovative combination square tool, an item that has since become a standard in toolboxes worldwide. Starrett later developed innovative design variations to calipers…
The Turkish Standards Association will host the upcoming 49th European Organization for Quality Annual Congress. The event will be held April 25–27 in Antalya, Turkey. The theme will be “Quality: The Way to Sustainability,” and will include 30 breakout seminars examining all aspects of quality,…
Almost 60 percent of telecom executives surveyed reported that performance improvement efforts over the past three years were unsuccessful. However, the respondents judged 90 percent of the efforts to be a success. “The apparent contradiction between disappointing strategic business results and the…
DVT Corp., a provider of innovative machine vision systems, recently upgraded its Intellect software to include new algorithms with simplified user interfaces for plant-floor technicians.The new algorithms include an application-specific toolset dedicated to bead tracking, as well as a fixed-font…
The Juran Institute and i-Solutions recently released the Initiative Deployment Manager, a software program that allows users to monitor all business initiatives in real time.With a 360-degree view of business programs, the IDM can launch projects based on methodology templates; share plans and…
Manufacturing industry analyst Bob Parker predicted in InformationWeek magazine that more manufacturing companies will combine lean and Six Sigma to improve efficiency and quality in 2005.Parker, vice president of the Manufacturing Insights group at the market research and advisory firm IDC, also…
A Swiss software company recently added a new quality analysis tool to the popular Marketing Manager for Excel software.The tool, named Quality Manager, allows marketing agents and business analysts to monitor a wide range of activities, such as traffic at call centers, the quality of ongoing…
The National Committee for Quality Assurance plans to honor several high-profile figures, including U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and former U.S. Representative Newt Gingrich, for their contributions toward improving the quality of health care in the United States.The NCQA Health Quality Awards…
An upcoming conference focusing on stability testing will feature several major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The “Advances and Efficiencies in Stability Testing for the Pharmaceutical & BioTech Industry” conference will be held March 7–8 at the La Jolla Marriott in San Diego. It…