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What comes to mind when you hear the word “innovation?” Quick—grab a pen and paper and jot down the first five things that you think about. Many decades ago, I thought of things such as technology, inventions, and the future when someone talked about innovation. The flying cars and robots you’d…
All manufacturing companies that get audited require some or all of their calibration certificates to specify the calibration uncertainty. At a minimum, some manufacturers only need certified uncertainty for gauges that are reference standards used to calibrate other gauges. Those companies…
(Renishaw: Hoffman Estates, IL) -- Renishaw's new EZ-IO software for the Equator Flexible Gauge makes it easy for automation integrators to configure communications between Equator systems and a cell controller. EZ-IO software allows intelligent functions, such as automatic re-mastering when the…
I am in the world’s epicenter of offshoring, Bangalore, India. We just spent several days running a Kaizen Camp and keynoting SolutionIQ’s sold-out Lean India Summit.
Not surprising, the Kaizen Camp surfaced many issues around offshoring or the perils of distributed teams, with which we often…
We’ve reached the last month of 2014—can you believe it? This time of year offers many opportunities for getting together with family and friends, but it can also be a stressful time for many. With the approach of the year’s end also comes the pressure to meet end-of-the-year goals, coordinate…
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s expected, the FDA is shifting more of its regulatory focus toward medical device reporting (MDR). In an Oct. 1, 2014, letter, the agency’s Baltimore district office hit Baltimore-based Electronic Development Labs for not having a MDR procedure. Bad idea. The company may not have recovered very…
Greetings, fair reader. In the past, I've written several articles with practical tips related to Minitab graphs, such as how to discuss the sensitive issue of p-charts and Laney P' charts with your doctor; how to use a g-chart to monitor parenting success; and how to use a scatter plot to start…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- As part of an interagency agreement between NIST and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), PML’s Radiation Physics Division recently completed a series of image quality measurements of a high-energy X-ray vehicle-screening system at a newly constructed port of…
As you think about the customer experience, which impression has the most effect: the first one or the last one? Which one is the lasting impression?
Let’s think for a moment about the customer experience life cycle, particularly when the customer first becomes aware of your brand or products.…
(ZEISS: Oberkochen, Germany) -- Experience virtual reality any time, any place: In December 2014, for $99, ZEISS is launching the ZEISS VR ONE, a mobile virtual reality (VR) headset that works with smartphones and features display sizes between 4.7 in. and 5.2 in.
The focus of the development…
‘When you find him, come and tell me so I can worship him, too.”
Those were the now-famous words of Herod, the designated Roman ruler of Judea during the first century of the Common Era. This is not a religious c6340n, and neither is it a Christmas story. It is a leadership article, and if you…
For those of you who are improvement practitioners, are you satisfied with the organizational results of your efforts? I have a feeling most of you would answer, “Far from it,” and would almost unanimously feel that you could be more effective.
There is justification for this. A recent…
Starting with the board and the CEO, the pursuit of quality or excellence is the job of everyone in the organization. Everyone, regardless of seniority or functional role, needs to do their jobs right the first time, meet customer requirements, and figure out ways to continuously improve their…
(Frost & Sullivan: San Antonio) -- The interest in mobile enterprise applications among businesses across North America is increasing. The amount of respondent companies that reported the deployment of at least one mobile worker application has risen from 73 percent in 2013 to 82 percent this…
Medical device regulators around the world often have to assess the cost of a new regulation. Typically there is a study to determine the financial effect on industry and the public. This information is often supplied to lawmakers in their respective countries before they pass new legislation. In…
As a business leader, you spend a lot of your time figuring out how to win. With good reason: The most crucial job of every executive is to align efforts at every level of the organization to deliver wins for the week, for the quarter, and for the year.
The people at the front end of the business—…
I wrote about technology and the customer experience a couple times last year. After all, that’s what self-service is all about: technology, such as ATMs, online flight check-in, self-checkout grocery lanes, interactive voice response, online FAQs, knowledge bases, and more.
Technology is an…
(Bruker: Boston) -- At the 2014 MRS Fall Meeting and Exhibit, Bruker announced the release of the UMT TriboLab, the latest generation of the world-leading Universal Mechanical Tester (UMT) platform. TriboLab incorporates into a single, modular platform the full range of performance previously…
For the second time in three years, salaries in 2014 decreased slightly for quality professionals, who said their organization’s quality culture plays a key role in the overall satisfaction of their job and salary, according to Quality Progress magazine’s 28th annual salary survey.
In 2014,…
The life sciences are largely driven by innovation and growth. What lies beneath those two drivers is a world of complexity across the drug or device life cycle. It’s clear that those companies that can continuously and collaboratively ensure quality, meet regulatory compliance, and mitigate risks…
My husband and I both like to run. I run about three miles once or twice a week—if the weather’s not too bad, and if I don’t have something else going on. Keith, on the other hand, runs half marathons.
Keith goes for long runs on the weekends for three to four hours at a time and shorter runs…
In this two-part series, we outline the action necessary to create organizational transformation in line with the “Culture of Quality” research report published in late 2014 by ASQ and Forbes Insights. We also explain in practical terms how to implement the three main actions leaders say are…
(Boeing: Seattle) -- Boeing has completed the world’s first flight using “green diesel,” a sustainable biofuel that is widely available and used in ground transportation. The company powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane with a blend of 15-percent green diesel and 85-percent…
The international standard for quality management systems, known as ISO 9001, is currently being revised and is scheduled for release in late 2015. Are you ready for the changes? How do the changes affect you?
NQA, a globally recognized certification body, is preparing, and we’re sharing with you…
In late October, longtime Baldrige examiner Miriam Kmetzo traveled to Suzhou, China, to attend and speak at the 6th Quality Forum for Academics and Innovation.
Kmetzo gave a presentation at a session that featured four quality award programs in the international arena: the Malcolm Baldrige…
