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Have you ever walked through a museum and noticed a sculpture that you just wanted to reach out and touch? Of course you didn’t risk it because the first rule of museums is that you can look, but you don’t touch. But your desire to reach for certain pieces may have been exactly the reaction that…
If you're responsible for managing operations, the following scenario won’t be new to you: You have a meeting with the executive team tomorrow, and you are running around to get information on metrics for your presentation. The next day, you’re expected to report on the overall performance of your…
Those of us who are accustomed to work with standards like ISO/TS 16949 are also accustomed to “hear voices”: the voice of the customer, the voice of the stakeholders, and so on. The only voice we are not accustomed to hear is the voice of quality. Perhaps this should be called the “sounds of…
(Microscan: Renton, WA) -- Microscan, a global technology leader in barcode, machine vision, and lighting solutions, will demonstrate its latest products, designed to ensure process traceability and increase throughput in clinical applications, in the company’s booth, No. 2537, at the American…
(LEI: Cambridge, MA) -- The Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), a nonprofit education, publishing, research, and conference organization, has opened registration for the “Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata” workshop that helps companies create and sustain cultures of continuous improvement.
The workshop…
(SME: Dearborn MI) -- During the next five years, there will be up to one million military personnel returning to civilian life and getting into the U.S. civilian workforce. Juxtapose this with the 600,000 jobs currently open in advanced manufacturing, and the anticipated need for 10 million…
(AMT: McLean, VA) -- May U.S. manufacturing technology orders (USMTO) totaled $473.92 million according to AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 14.5 percent from April and up 19.0 percent when compared with…
(InfinityQS: Chantilly, VA) -- It’s no news that all the departments in a company are fully interrelated. Most of the time the quality department plays a central role that affects all other departments’ metrics. For example, if a product does not meet the standard quality levels, then that affects…
In an earlier column, I focused on innovation as I pondered the growing importance of the topic to U.S. competitiveness and how to heighten attention to the topic in the 2013–2014 Criteria for Performance Excellence. This month, I am focusing on a second topic of growing importance to business and…
(FDA: Washington, D.C.) -- In response to requirements in legislation that passed Congress with broad bipartisan support, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed that most medical devices distributed in the United States carry a unique device identifier, or UDI.
A UDI system has the…
There has been no shortage of innovations in leak detection design since Uson first developed automated leak testing methods for the U.S. space mission a half century ago and then brought these techniques to various commercial applications. Last year, for example, Uson unveiled a leak tester that…
(Gigahertz-Optik: Newburyport, MA) -- White optically diffuse reflecting material is useful in many lighting design, laser, and reflection and transmission applications, including integrating sphere coating, laser cavities, and reflectance standards.
Gigahertz-Optik’s white ODM98 optically diffuse…
(Verisurf: Anaheim, CA) -- Join Verisurf at CMSC 2012, July 16–20, 2012, as it demonstrates its latest software release, Verisurf X6. Verisurf also will be hosting a technical forum and user meeting, and sponsoring the Wednesday morning breakfast.
Verisurf X6 is loaded with innovative…
(Pivot Management Consulting: Maharashtra, India) -- TRIZ (pronounced “treez”) is a leading innovative problem-solving method based on logic and data analysis, which accelerates your ability to solve difficult problems creatively. TRIZ provides repeatability, predictability, and reliability due to…
(CSS: Farmington, CT) -- Connecticut Spring and Stamping (CSS), a manufacturer of precision parts for the medical, aerospace, firearms, and defense industries worldwide, announces that CSS will present “Self-Directed Work Teams Improve On-time Delivery and Quality,” at the 2012 Northeast Shingo…
(NIST: Rockford, IL) -- To highlight the importance of manufacturing to the nation’s economy and draw attention to the many rewarding high-skill jobs available in manufacturing fields, a group of public and private organizations announced the launch of Manufacturing Day for Oct. 5, 2012.
The…
(Hexagon Metrology: North Kingstown, RI) -- Hexagon Metrology has launched PC-DMIS 2012, the popular metrology software. PC-DMIS focuses on the collection, evaluation, management, and presentation of manufacturing data to reduce scrap, improve throughput, reduce costs, and build lean manufacturing…
When I was a guest on Quality Digest Live, co-host Dirk Dusharme asked me about hesitations that some health care professionals might have about the lean concept of “standardized work.” As you can see in the show’s archived recording, I talked about how the increased standardization of core…
In today’s dynamic business environment, the supply chain plays an ever-increasing role in bringing products to market. As businesses continue to evolve and improve efficiencies in the production process, suppliers play an important role in ensuring business objectives are met. The growing global…
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t a recent nondestructive testing (NDT) task group meeting, the topic of human factors came up, and it took me back to my previous position as a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) repair man. Part of my responsibilities then was to help develop a training manual as a companion to our repair…
Two thousand years ago, somebody (like the future Alexander the Great) who wanted to learn from a famous philosopher (like Aristotle) had to visit him in person, or vice versa. Written correspondence was of course possible, but every letter had to be written by hand, and it could take months to…
(The Conference Board: New York) -- The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence, which had improved during the first quarter of this year, decreased during the second quarter. The measure now stands at 47, down from 63 last quarter. A reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than…
(HDL Inc.: Richmond, VA) -- Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. (HDL Inc.) is bringing its innovative approach to identifying and managing risk for chronic disease to the nation’s capitol for the inaugural Population Health Innovations Showcase, Wed., July 11, 2012, on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.…
Editor's note: Part one of this three-part series on patient safety, "Establishing a Patient Safety Culture," offered an overview of the Juran Model for Patient Safety. Part Two takes a closer look at Juran's patient safety curriculum and certification.
It has been 22 years since the Institute of…
Editor's note: Part one of this three-part series on patient safety, "Establishing a Patient Safety Culture," offered an overview of the Juran Model for Patient Safety. Part Two takes a closer look at Juran's patient safety curriculum and certification.
It has been 22 years since the Institute of…