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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.
After last month’s meeting, a few councilmembers stayed late to…
How many employees roll their eyes during meetings when it’s time to discuss new initiatives? How often do they scramble to complete a task not because they love it, but because they’re afraid of the consequences if they don’t? How many mutter “not in my job description” when asked to assume a new…
Editor’s note: This is the third in a three-part series on air gauging. Engineer and inventor Michele Dechape has updated the seminal work on the subject by V. R. Burrows. Read part one here, and part two here.
Currently, and for many years, the terms air electric or air electronic converters have…
The Chinese government’s actions against foreign drug makers emerged like a late-summer Beijing storm: heavy drops slapping slowly at first, then all at once becoming a disorienting deluge, pounding down in every direction.
The turmoil began on July 2, 2013, with an announcement from the National…
When I work with customers, I see all kinds of quality management systems. The performance of an environmental or quality system is consistently driven by people’s ability to make good decisions. Any good quality management system is the sum of the decisions made within it.
Each time we choose to…
Let’s imagine that, because we move to a different city to keep our job, we want to buy or rent a small flat, and that the landlord is astute enough to put us to a test. If we pass it, the sales price or the rent rate will be discounted by 10 percent; if we don’t pass, the flat will remain at…
As PayPal continues to reinvent itself, expect the mother-of-all disruptions: a global currency comprised of cash and data. Similar to how voice and data coexist over the same copper wire today, PayPal’s next move will commingle cash and data over a shared platform.
Instead of bits to sound bytes…
Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series on air gauging. Engineer and inventor Michele Dechape has updated the seminal work on the subject by V. R. Burrows. Read part one here.
The circuit shown in figure 7a is a differential back-pressure circuit in which accuracy is maintained…
(LNS Research: Cambridge, MA) -- LNS Research, a technology research firm focusing on the industrial space, has released its Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) Solution Selection Guide. Composed of 20 top software vendors, the guide aims to educate end users on the manufacturing software…
In part one, I discussed how to avoid a lean Six Sigma project failure, specifically if the reason behind the failure is that the project solution never gets implemented. Now let’s discuss a few other project roadblocks that prevent teams from completing projects and some suggestions for…
Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces couldn't make things more challenging for itself if it tried. Hospitality is always a tough industry, but in addition to running more than 100 hotels around the world, Taj rents luxury jets, provides travel services, and has an air catering business.
Maintaining a…
(Jenoptik Industrial Metrology, Rochester Hills, MI) -- Light and compact in design and easy to operate with long-lasting battery power, the Jenoptik W10 mobile surface roughness measuring system is ideally suited for measurements on the production line or machining cell. It was introduced at…
It’s a tale as old as project management itself. Somebody works up a very detailed project schedule and even assigns specific resources to tasks. This person even manages to do some basic allocation so Jake from engineering isn’t working 120-hour weeks for the next five years.
But in all the…
As improvement professionals, part of our learning curve is the experience of facilitating project teams that fail miserably. Then, despite the necessary lessons learned, there still remain some very real dangers lurking in any project, but it goes beyond organizing and facilitating a team. What…
These days, what’s keeping many company executives up at night is Section 1502 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Considered by many to be one of the toughest regulatory reforms in recent times, the rule requires companies to track and report information about the presence of conflict minerals in their…
While doing some research for my book on W. Edwards Deming’s activities during World War II, I came across some fascinating information, particularly in Nancy R. Mann’s book, The Keys to Excellence (Mercury Business Books, 1989). I wrote this column based on my research notes and excerpts from…
Since 2011, MIT faculty from several disciplines have collaborated on a unique research project, Production in the Innovation Economy (PIE); the aim is to see how U.S. strengths in innovation can be turned into new production capabilities, to spur growth and new jobs.
MITnews spoke with Suzanne…
Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series on air gauging. Engineer and inventor Michel Dechape has updated the seminal work on the subject by V. R. Burrows.
The basic principle of blowing a jet of air or liquid from a nozzle against the surface of a workpiece to be measured is…
From my experience, there are a handful of pull-system design steps. This column seeks to “simply” outline those steps and some of the math that should be considered. However, don’t let the brevity mislead you. It isn’t necessarily simple.
1. Understand and segment customer (internal or external…
England, during the 1760s, was the birthplace of the western world’s Industrial Revolution, initiated by a group of men who made “manufacturing” the purview of the inventive. Called The Lunar Society of Birmingham because the group met during the full moon, these inventors were amateur scientists…
The number of students earning bachelor’s degrees in statistical science has more than doubled during the last five years, topping 1,000 for the first time in 2012, says Marie Davidian, president of the American Statistical Association (ASA).
Additionally, master’s and doctorate degrees…
On the long series of flights back home from Bhutan and Nepal last weekend, I came across an article on CNN Tech, “Mark Zuckerberg’s Bizarre New Self-Improvement Goal.” I haven’t really been a fan of the arrogant wunderkind, and the article didn’t sway me much, but this particular aspect of…
Editor’s note: Andrew McKeon will be a guest of Quality Digest Live on Friday, September 27, 2013, at 11 a.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Eastern. McKeon will be speaking at The Deming Institute’s Annual Fall Conference, Oct. 18–20, 2013, in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Businesses today are moving from a world…
Many managers ask me, “How can I accelerate my company’s lean transformation?” My answer is twofold: First get the direction right, and then get everyone rowing in that direction.
One of my columns on this topic from about three years ago (worth reading for context if you don’t remember it),…
My colleagues and I at LNS Research have spoken to numerous companies during the past several years that have done an admirable job of building compliance into production processes. However, there are still many companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector, that struggle to meet product and…
