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Editor’s note: This article continues the series exploring the TRIZ methodology, a problem-solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from studying patterns of invention found in global patent data. TRIZ identifies 40 principles, of which separation is one.
In an earlier article from this…
(Mettler-Toledo: Columbus, OH) -- Mettler-Toledo, a leader in the research and development of products and services in the precision instrument industry, introduces the new DataBridge SS vehicle scale software. DataBridge SS is vehicle scale software that can automate vehicle weighing operations.…
A Jan. 11, 2013, email sent by Michael Fauntleroy, program manager for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Electronic Submissions Gateway (ESG), the agencywide solution for accepting electronic regulatory submissions, warns those using the WebTrader for electronic submissions to delete their…
Lionel Loosefit is on trial for violating the assumptions of regression analysis. During day one the prosecution presented evidence showing that the errors in Loosefit’s model were not normally distributed. During day two, the evidence was put to the test during reexamination. Today, the…
Writing articles for Quality Digest Daily has created some positive if unpredicted consequences for me. I’m fortunate that people read what I write and even reach out with feedback. Recently one such reader, just beginning her quality career in Chicago, emailed me, and we started a conversation…
(APQO: Rizal, Philippines) -- The Armand V. Feigenbaum Life Achievement Medal, established by the Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO) and the Walter L. Hurd Foundation, has been awarded to H. James Harrington for 2012.
“There were many reputable global applicants for this medal and without a…
At the end of my December 2012 column, “Evolving Beyond Platitudes to Holistic Improvement,” I described three different management styles. Management expert Peter Block saw the need to evolve away from traditional management, and in “As Goes the Follower, So Goes the Leader,” he describes a…
(ISPE: Tampa, FL) -- The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE), a leading authority on best practices for the pharmaceutical industry, has issued updated and expanded guidance to help pharmaceutical companies maximize testing efficiency of computerized and software-based…
Companies that want to boost employee engagement sometimes can’t make their efforts stick. These businesses seek the benefits that come from increased engagement—improved productivity, profitability, safety, retention, and customer focus, among others—but they don’t feel that employee engagement is…
When you think of the word “genius,” what first comes to mind? Perhaps Albert Einstein, Ludwig van Beethoven, or Isaac Newton. You may be imagining someone who is very different from yourself—someone who sits in a basement and tinkers with experiments, and who routinely forgets to use a hairbrush…
With apologies to Tolstoy: All successful project certification reviews are alike; every unsuccessful project certification review is unsuccessful in its own way.
During the certification of a Six Sigma Green or Black Belt, one critical step is to demonstrate that you used the methodology and…
My last column about superficial improvement may have implied that the condition is limited to organizations with deep enough pockets to buy pricey automation. There are also plenty of opportunities for superficial improvement in small shops. Here’s an example of a manual assembly waste that took…
This article is about accreditation of conformity assessment bodies. Before proceeding further, however, it is important to provide some definitions in order for all of us to have the same understanding of key terms.
The first term is “conformity assessment body” (CAB). According to ISO/IEC 17000…
In our last episode, we looked at how the crew of the USS Enterprise might have employed quality management systems (QMS) to help streamline their processes, mitigate risks, and foster continuous improvement throughout the galaxy. Now we will continue our “trek” and look at some of the other areas…
I am by no means a Trekkie. I don’t go to conventions, nor do I have all the episodes memorized and cataloged. I don’t even try and weigh in on Picard vs. Kirk (although I do have some valid points in that debate—another time). What I do know is I tend to see things in terms of quality management…
Editor’s note: In the current, sometimes heated, discussion about the relevance of unions, David Schwinn takes a look at their role and the responsibilities of both union members and managers.
A few weeks ago, I found myself in a gridlock on a four-block stretch of Grand Ave. in downtown Lansing,…
Please don’t tell me that the U.S. economy is moving in the right direction, however slowly. I hear this from politicians and commentators all the time. It isn’t. Not even close. Key economic metrics offer no encouragement at all.
The two big ones, gross domestic product (GDP) and unemployment,…
I want a staff entirely populated by trusted associates; everyone does. But hardly anyone has a staff who functions at that level all the time. At some time, somewhere, someone is unaware—that is to say, they are unconsciously incompetent.
Louis the intern functioned at that level more than any…
(Creaform: Lévis, Québec, Canada) -- How often do engineers get the chance to make their most cherished yet craziest project a reality?
It’s exactly this opportunity Creaform is putting forward through the 2013 edition of its “Put us to the test!” contest.
By entering this competition, engineers…
Editor’s note: This topic will be covered at greater length in an IBS-Quality Digest webinar on Tues. Jan. 29, 2013, at 11 a.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Eastern. Click here to register for this event.
Labels are a primary way to share product information in a manufacturing organization. They identify items…
(ReverseEngineering.com: La Jolla, CA) -- ReverseEngineering.com, a leader in advanced reverse engineering and 3D scanning software, will debut the next major release of ReverseEngineering.com for SolidWorks 2013 at SolidWorks World 2013, which will take place Jan. 20-23, 2013, in Orlando, Florida…
The Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the global advocate for the automation industry, is disappointed in how 60 Minutes portrayed the industry in “March of the Machines” that aired Jan. 13, 2013.
“[Although] the 60 Minutes depiction of how technological advances in automation and…
You may have noticed that there is a huge amount of confusion with regards to the process capability indices Cp’s and Pp’s (see the iSixSigma website). Specifically, the confusion centers around when to use which one and what they mean. I would say that a large proportion of the engineering…
If that title caught your attention, it was meant to. Let me begin by saying I am not advocating that businesses do away with measurements, especially customer- and quality-related measurements. However, drowning in data, as illustrated by the following story, is counterproductive.
Some months ago…
Got your attention by what seems a bizarre claim? Yes, you can significantly reduce the number of procedures you maintain by converting your ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) to one that is also certified to the medical device standard ISO 13485 and the aerospace standard AS9100.
I am…
