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Ampro Computers recently expanded its investment in software developed by Infor for managing and reporting on key areas of its business. Ampro supplies custom computer boards to allow manufacturers to integrate computers into their products in a way that minimizes the product size, cost…
iGrafx recently announced the availability of the 2006 version of its process-excellence series of software solutions. iGrafx 2006 has enhanced modeling and simulation capabilities to better support corporate process-excellence initiatives. It also adds significant improvements and…
Is enterprise resource planning (ERP) software helping or hindering quality? Many companies that purchased their first ERP package years ago now find that the system is hindering their efforts to adopt new quality initiatives, including lean manufacturing and Six Sigma. Since the purchase several…
Many people believe that they can buy Six Sigma certification and get some marketing advantage. By documenting a few more procedures, they can achieve Six Sigma recognition. For some, Six Sigma is a fact-based methodology made of fancy statistical tools that solve all business problems.…
Synthis Corp., a provider of enterprise knowledge-management software, was recently named one of Georgia’s most innovative technology companies. The list was compiled by the Technology Association of Georgia, which accepts nominees from the state’s technology community. Recipients are…
Perkins Technical Services Inc. was recently awarded a nearly $500 million contact to provide lean Six Sigma consulting, process management and organizational development throughout the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command. Perkins has subcontracted much of the work. One of the…
Diane Ritter, a prolific author and former colleague of W. Edwards Deming, recently joined The Quality Group as its director of business excellence. Ritter is a co-author of the popular The Memory Jogger (GOAL/QPC, 1994) series of Six Sigma pocket guides, and has more than two decades of…
Dave Rasmusson’s The SIPOC Picture Book: A Visual Guide to the SIPOC/DMAIC Relationship (Oriel Inc., 2006) helps readers use Six Sigma concepts to sort, categorize and organize new concepts and information, and integrate them with what they already know. SIPOC—supplier-input-process-…
The Global Six Sigma Awards will be presented on June 28, 2006, at the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Scheduled to coincide with the Global SixSigma Summit, the awards will honor Six Sigma’s best achievements and leading practitioners.Entries for 12 different awards (10…
An upcoming conference will offer attendees a unique environment to learn about the production of hazardous-substance–free (HSF) products. HSPM2006 will include a thorough overview of QC 080000 IECQ HSPM, a recently released standard that addresses new requirements (such as RoHS in Europe…
An upcoming conference will examine the dual use of lean and Six Sigma to achieve the most return on investment. Lean Six Sigma 2006, hosted by Ixperion, will focus on the application, not simply the theory of the methodologies. There will be streams designed for manufacturing,…
RABQSA recently reported a partnership with the Australian government and other stakeholders to develop a certification scheme for disability-services auditing personnel. The organization expects to release the scheme this spring. The scheme’s been designed to ensure that auditing personnel,…
Customer satisfaction slowly and steadily climbed during the fourth quarter of 2005, according to The American Customer Satisfaction Index.The index is released quarterly and examines customer satisfaction in rotating groups. During the fourth quarter, it measures satisfaction with the quality…
A new ISO/IEC standard aims to harmonize the various approaches used around the world for assessing the quality of e-learning initiatives. ISO/IEC 19796:2005, Information technology—learning, education and training, quality management, assurance and metrics—provides an overall framework to…
Why don’t registrar auditors audit clause 7.4 Purchasing of ISO 9001 when it comes to purchasing their services? After all, they’re providing a service that affects the quality of your operations, processes, and eventually, products.ISO 9001 states that your company “Shall evaluate and select…
A revolution is working its way through America’s health care systems. Like many great revolutions, it’s about empowerment and the creation of a new paradigm. It won’t happen overnight, but the forces at work are irresistible and will bring new hope and new responsibilities. The agent…
Heightened awareness among electrosurgical-device companies and health care consumers about the potential spread of communicable diseases during surgery has increased market demand for disposable surgical devices. While this is good news for large-scale manufacturers, high expec-tations…
Cognex Corp. will host a series of complimentary machine vision seminars for pharmaceutical professionals involved with packaging operations. The half-day seminars, titled “Applying Machine Vision to Pharmaceutical Packaging” will be held in March and April in Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey…
Digirad Corp., a provider of cardiovascular imaging services and solid-state nuclear medicine imaging products, recently achieved registration to ISO 13485:2003. The standard specifies a quality management system for medical device manufacturers and complies with the Canadian Medical…
Five pharmaceutical facilities from all over the world were recently named finalists for the second-annual Facility of the Year competition. AstraZeneca, Baxter BioPharma Solutions, Daiichi Asubio Pharma Co., Janssen Pharmaceutica and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals are the finalists in the…
PharmaManufacturing.com was recently named a finalist for the Best B2B Web Site award in American Business Media’s 52nd annual Jesse H. Neal Business Journalism Awards program. PharmaManufacturing.com is affiliated with Pharmaceutical Manufacturing magazine, a publication of Putman…
Northrop Grumman Corp. recently achieved its 25th Software Engineering Institute Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) level 5 rating, the highest possible rating for benchmarking commercial and defense industry best practices for management and engineering. The rating was…
Effective this month, Canada’s National Quality Institute will no longer offer auditor certification. The organization, which is Canada’s leading nonprofit quality training and recognition organization, reports that it wants to focus its energies on personnel certification and…
HealthGate Data Corp. has released a new version of its popular Quality Architect software, a product that features innovative tools for continuous improvement in health care environments. The new release includes an expanded library of evidence-based clinical content, including order…
Delegates at the World Standards Cooperation (WSC) workshop agreed that futuristic, digitally connected home networks need an international standard by which to comply. Household connectivity is growing rapidly, with more and more electronic devices and remote networks that control…
