All News
X-rays transformed medicine a century ago by providing a noninvasive way to detect internal structures in the body. Still, they have limitations: They can’t image the body’s soft tissues, except with the use of contrast-enhancing agents that must be swallowed or injected, and their resolution is…
Thanks to Twitter, again, I recently came across one of the most insightful articles I’ve read in a long time—on a safety blog, no less. Steven Shorrock takes on the concept of “human error” and adds considerably more perspective to this oft-used term.
“In the aftermath of the [Spain rail]…
Join Matt Littlefield, president and principal analyst of LNS Research, and Mark Bienkowski, supplier quality process and audit manager of GE Healthcare, Thurs., Dec. 19, 2013, at 11 a.m. Pacific for a Quality Digest webcast, “Building the Foundation of Enterprise Quality Management Throughout the…
I love all of the holiday classics (stories and movies), especially those that make us pause for a moment to reflect not only on who we are but also on who we want to become. This holds true both for us as individuals and for companies or brands.
Have you read or watched A Christmas Carol yet this…
Based on a reading of the ISO 9001:2015 Committee Draft (CD), the 2015 standard will further clarify and emphasize the requirement to apply a process approach. Although the requirement has been resident in the standard since 2000, this fundamental requirement has been overlooked often enough to…
Editor’s note: This article continues the series exploring structured innovation using the TRIZ methodology, a problem-solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from studying patterns of invention found in global patent data.
Members of My Executive Council (MEC) had been learning about and…
Nik Karpinsky quickly tapped out a few computer commands until a bust of Zeus, in all his bearded and statuesque glory, appeared in the middle of a holographic glass panel mounted to an office desk.
The marble eyes stared back at Karpinsky. Then a hand appeared and turned the full-size head to the…
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed prototype calibration tools for an experimental medical imaging technique that offers new advantages in diagnosing and monitoring certain cancers and possibly other medical conditions.1
NIST designed, constructed and tested…
In spring 2013, managers of the contract-manufacturer and product-development company MME Group met to discuss strategies that would break down residual barriers. They agreed on collective goals to improve communication between department leaders, to encourage people to ask for help and receive it…
OK, I know that what I’m about to say may sound cynical, but 20 years of personal, hard-knock lean experience tells me that this is reality. And most folks I think would, or at least should (I hope), agree with me.
The majority of companies pursuing a lean implementation do so superficially. (Did…
It’s not just the looming, package-filled holidays that prompt this rant, but it looks like we’re in for another year of over-packaged consumer goods spreading fear and frustration along with the seasonal goodwill.
That’s too bad, because this is an opportunity with quality improvement and…
For one reason or another, the response variable in a regression analysis might not satisfy one or more of the assumptions of ordinary least squares regression. The residuals might follow a skewed distribution or they might curve as the predictions increase.
A common solution when problems arise…
Recently, I read a blog post about the “Myths of Motivation.” The point of the post is that motivating employees takes some time and energy and is not formulaic; one size does not fit all. The author then discusses four misconceptions about employee motivation.
1. It is all up to the boss. No it…
According to a report from the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research, a dollar invested in improving an organization’s approach to quality management results in a six-fold return in increased revenues, and a 16-fold reduction in expenses. The promise of dramatic improvements is…
(Alignment Supplies: Maumee, OH) -- Alignment Supplies Inc. has launched of the ALiSENSOR SHAFTLASER, a new system for shaft alignment that combines all of the best aspects of Apple's iOS devices, like the iPad and iPhone, with the most streamlined and easy-to-use shaft alignment interface ever…
Only seven percent of Japan’s working population is engaged at work, one of the lowest engagement rates in the world. That translates to only one in 14 employees entering their workplace each day feeling motivated, enthusiastic, and committed to adding value and innovation to their jobs. This is a…
In my first post in this series, I mentioned that Minitab reached out to our customers who are practitioners of quality improvement to better understand how they complete projects, what tools they use, and the challenges they come across in achieving quality initiatives. One area they said they…
Here is a common scenario that has come across my path again just this week. It happens to all of us at some point. We conduct our routine incoming inspection or quality test of materials or components, and something fails the screen. Now what?
Obviously, the first thing to do is to contain the…
In an attempt to better understand and accommodate customers’ needs, organizations are involving customers in product design, prototyping, production, supply chain planning, and more. Customers are increasingly engaged in quality processes, participating at points where quality is critical to…
For the dreamer, high-tech enthusiast, and entrepreneur, 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, seems to embody the promise of what could be. Forward-thinking companies like Ford Motor Co., GE, and Mattel have been using 3D printing for R&D since the 1980s. However, the caveats…
What factors significantly affect how quickly my couch-potato pooch obeys the “lay down” command? The cushiness of the floor surface? The tone of voice used? The type of reward she gets? How hungry she is?
In part one we looked at the elements for a design of experiment (DOE) to answer these…
Effective leadership is the process of persuasion and example by which an individual induces a person or group to take action that is in accord with the leader’s purposes. It’s the art of letting people have your own way.
Keeping in mind the motivators that apply to specific generations, such as…
For work purposes, I first made my way to the United States on a short business trip in October 2007. I remember it vividly. I was not long married, and my boss was putting me on the long haul into Texas and Louisiana.
Fresh in my mind was the memory of the unusually warm day in Scotland the week…
When I was 50 years younger and 50 pounds lighter, I tried my hand at pole vaulting. It’s a peculiar track-and-field event that involves running at full speed with a heavy pole in hand toward a crossbar set high off the ground.
At about three steps from the crossbar you plant the pole in the…
It would appear that there is still considerable confusion regarding which method to use in evaluating a measurement process. There are many voices speaking on this subject, however, most of them fail to use the guidance provided by statistical theory, and as a result, they end up in a train wreck…
