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In a TED Talk, Geordie Rose, co-creator of the D-WAVE quantum computer, said, “Humans use tools to do things. If you give humans a new kind of tool, they can do things they couldn’t otherwise do—imagine the possibilities.”
Rose was, of course, speaking of quantum computers, but…
A central tenet of President Trump’s campaign platform was reducing the regulatory burden on businesses, with the desired effect of facilitating business expansion, job creation, and economic growth. This raises questions about how the regulatory landscape will change and the effect on the…
More than a million organizations around the world embrace the ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) standard to guide their businesses and operate in the most efficient manner possible. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has recently updated ISO 9001 from its 2008 version…
Defining a spark: A spark is all about change. Sparks are people who recognize they don’t have to accept what’s given to them. They can do things differently to create the change they’d like to see. Their actions can directly shape their future and they can make things better.
A spark is also a…
Just curious: Do you have monthly (and/or quarterly and/or even weekly) “How’re we doin’?” meetings like the end-of-year scenario described in my November and December columns last year—about budgets, financials, never events, incidents, near misses, machine downtime, productivity, root cause…
For several decades, manufacturers have been pursuing lean on their shop floors to reduce costs and improve lead times through waste elimination and process improvement. They have been less successful, however, in reaping lean’s potential benefits in their purchasing, planning, and supply chain…
If you’re in the business of developing medical devices, then risk and risk management become terms synonymous with your daily operations. Your overall task is to bring a device to market that not only provides a needed function to a patient, but is also proven to be safe to use—maybe even used by…
Do we have another automotive cheating scandal? Could helping our economy be as easy as just paying our vendors faster? Last week’s Quality Digest Live contained answers to those questions and a discussion between myself and my co-host, Quality Digest publisher Mike Richman. During the show, we…
Recently, during one of my many adventures across the internet, I stumbled across a photo that struck me. It depicts an aisle of a U.S. drugstore, where nearly every single product facing has a tag on it announcing a price and a limited-time promotion. The entire row is covered with bright yellow…
Operating a small business, the backbone of the U.S. economy, has always been tough. But small businesses have been disproportionately hurt by the Great Recession, losing 40 percent more jobs than the rest of the private sector combined. Interestingly, as my research with Harvard’s Ramana Nanda…
(Speak With a Geek: San Francisco) -- Technical recruiter Speak With a Geek (SWAG) is using its voice in the industry to raise awareness about the unique challenges faced by women in technology. The Bay Area agency hopes to educate and provide a deeper analysis into the topic of a lack of female…
Layered process auditing (LPA) is a quality management approach increasingly used by manufacturing and service companies alike to address a gap in traditional product-oriented approaches. When properly implemented, layered auditing is the most effective way to ensure that processes consistently…
The language of statistics is a funny thing, but there usually isn’t much to laugh at in the consequences that can follow when misunderstandings occur between statisticians and nonstatisticians. We see these consequences frequently in the media, when new studies—that usually contradict previous…
Cars, buildings, computer chips, you and me, and the air we breathe—everything is made of atoms. We learn this in elementary school, because, well, it’s an elementary fact. But for most of our history, we humans have been pretty much clueless as to what’s going on at the scale of individual atoms…
(Verisurf: Anaheim, CA) -- Verisurf Software is pleased to announce the public release and immediate availability of Verisurf 2017—a major product update featuring a host of exciting new capabilities and improvements carefully crafted to boost productivity, streamline workflows, and promote…
(Quality Digest: Chico, CA) -- Here is your chance to listen to and learn from someone who helped develop, improve, and expand Toyota’s production system!
This is a rare opportunity to learn genba kaizen from Chihiro Nakao at the 2017 Shingijutsu Super Kaizen, held May 1–5, 2017, on site at…
(Metrologic: Wixom, MI) -- Metrologic Group, the leading provider of universal 3D metrology software solutions, is launching its Version 7 built on the latest X4 architecture. This version includes enhanced new capabilities and performance improvements that further set apart its universal 3D…
While the fallout of the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the European Union has sent shockwaves throughout the political and economic world, Brexit is merely a footnote in the global supply chain risk story. According to the latest risk index from the Chartered Institute of Procurement &…
Like it or not, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) is here. MACRA created the new Quality Payment Program, comprised of two pathways to higher quality: the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the Advanced Alternative Payment Models (Advanced APMs). MACRA…
Jane is an amazing photographer, but her family feels her photography skills aren’t going to help her earn a living. Consequently, she was offered a job in her sister-in-law Kerry’s company calling clients to collect on invoices. After several months, both Jane and Kerry realized they’d had enough…
(NSF International: Ann Arbor, MI) -- NSF International and ISMS Solutions are expanding their partnership to help organizations successfully attain the requirements of multiple information security standards through a single service. This partnership offers organizations full-service information…
Do you know what it takes to stay ahead of the competition? Is that one of your business goals? Recently I was interviewed by someone for an article she was writing, and one of the questions was about competition and the best ways to research the competition. Other questions on the topic revolved…
When the circus ringmaster wails, “...and children of all ages,” he is speaking to me. I love the circus. When it came to my rural hometown when I was a boy, it was an all-consuming experience that embedded “circus” in my heart before it appeared and well beyond its departure.
Long before the…
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Although efforts have been made to create policies that support a bias-free workplace, there is still a considerable way to go toward achieving the gender equality that organizations are striving for. Due in part to a lack of clear measurement and transparency, many companies and…
The first QDL episode of February was filled to the brim with timely news items, thought-provoking articles, and a great interview with Pam Bethune of DEKRA, who chatted with us about the meaning of “context of the organization” within ISO 9001:2015.
In case you missed it, on the show we took a…
