All News
Many client organizations are starting to require formal evidence of quality management capability as a condition for signing construction contracts or partnership agreements. This is where Quality Management in Construction (Gower Publishing Co., 2005) comes in handy.The new book focuses on the…
The Juran Institute and Wexi Inc., a South Korean quality management services provider, recently partnered to expand in the Asia Pacific region. When signing the agreement, Joseph A. De Feo, Juran Institute president and CEO, and Ho-Jin Hwang, Wexi president, suggested the combined services of…
Davis Inotek Calibration Laboratory recently acquired Northwest Calibration Systems, as part of the laboratory’s ongoing expansion strategy. The calibration provider reports that the acquisition will strengthen its portfolio by adding Northwest’s high-quality calibration certifications and rapid…
Vitech Reliability Systems has agreed to become reseller for Endevco Corp.’s products and services, broadening Endevco’s presence to Australia and New Zealand. The partnership marks Endevco’s first foray into the Australian and New Zealand markets. “Vitech is proud to become part of the Endevco…
The Boeing Co. recently ordered 10 Laser Trackers from FARO Technologies Inc. FARO reports that Boeing will use the Laser Tracker Xi units for its rotorcraft facility in Philadelphia to dimensionally control the manufacture, modernization and support of the twin-turbine, tandem-rotor CH-47 Chinook…
Instron Corp. recently received accreditation for ISO 376 calibration of secondary force standards. The company also expanded its calibration services. In addition to force, strain and hardness measurements, Instron now offers accredited on-site calibrations of speed, displacement, stroke and…
National Technical Systems Inc. recently completed electromagnetic interference testing on the U.S. Navy’s Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS). The testing satisfies the MIL-STD-461E standard for undesirable radio frequency transmissions that could interfere with the successful operation of…
Foam Design Inc. of Lexington, Kentucky, builds a wide range of foam parts, including inserts for headliners used to protect against injuries in the event of a collision. Inspecting these components with a CMM was a tedious and error-prone process because of the difficulty involved in making…
TÜV America recently promoted Derek J. Tremblett to lead its NAFTA region business development efforts. In his new role, he will be responsible for all of TÜV America’s and its subsidiaries’ sales and business development in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Tremblett joined TÜV Canada in…
The Standards Engineering Society will hold its 54th annual conference Aug. 15–16 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event, entitled “Standards—Pillars for Success,” will feature a keynote address from Mark Hurwitz, ANSI’s president and CEO, along with the participation of David Karmol, ANSI’s vice…
The Standards Press of China and the American National Standards Institute recently signed an agreement to mutually distribute Chinese and U.S. standards. The SPC is the publishing division of China’s national standards body. Chinese standards will be available for electronic purchase at ANSI’s…
Top executives from 14 national standards bodies from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia attended a recent open house organized by ASTM International. The event included a frank and stimulating discussion about international standardization, especially as it relates to developing nations…
Globalization and the effects of the Chinese manufacturing will be among the topics at the American National Standards Institute’s second annual leadership conference. The conference will be held Nov. 9–10 in Phoenix, and will bring together worldwide representatives from the International…
I’ve long been a proponent of involving as many individuals as possible in corrective action, both during the root cause analysis phase and during the development of the action plan. Middle managers, supervisors, machine operators, customer service representatives, shippers, software test engineers…
Jeff Carr recently joined Intertek Systems Certification as its vice president of systems certification. In his new role, Carr will direct the operations of the systems certification group, which is based in Boxborough, Massachusetts and Lachine, Quebec. He replaces André Forcier, who is retiring…
The Automotive Industry Action Group’s AutoTech 2005 will be held Aug. 29–Sept. 1, and will include a substantial quality component. This year’s theme is “Streamlining the Industry,” featuring more than 70 educational sessions in five areas: quality, OEM requirements, collaborative engineering,…
A seminar focused on understanding and preventing human error in decision making will be held Sept. 13 and 14 in Boston. The seminar will examine the root causes of human errors and discuss how they relate the quality improvement efforts. Ben Marguglio, of BW Marguglio LLC and High Technology…
The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently released its first online version of Quality Compass, a health plan comparison tool. Quality Compass includes accreditation and HEDIS results on more than 250 commercial health care plans. It allows employers, health plan administrators and…
Pilgrim Software Inc. was recently recognized as one of just 12 Microsoft Independent Software Vendors for manufacturing. The designation will allow Pilgrim to receive Microsoft training, marketing and technical expertise. “Being an ISV has many advantages that will filter town as benefits to our…
Quality Technology Co. recently posted an ISO 9001 self-assessment checklist on its Web site. The checklist is available free until Aug. 31, and it allows users to assess their organization’s documentation, compliance and effectiveness processes. It’s organized by ISO 9001’s components: quality…
Software quality was identified as one of the greatest challenges facing the software development community in a recent industrywide survey. Seventy-four percent of respondents reported that software quality is their biggest problem. Distributed development and customization were also cited as top…
Intergraph Corp. recently signed a four-year contract with the U.S. Air Force to deploy and manage operational excellence programs. The contract covers continuous improvement, lean and Six Sigma programs at the Air Force Materiel Command at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force…
A recently released book compiles case studies, articles and advice to help readers through lean transformations.Lean Culture—Collected Practices and Cases (Productivity Press, 2005), uses articles and advice from Productivity Press’ monthly newsletter “Lean Manufacturing Advisor” to address common…
Outlook Group Corp. recently reported a 13.6-percent increase in net sales for the fourth quarter of 2005, an achievement that was helped by the company’s use of Six Sigma. “Our strong performance in fiscal 2005 is a direct result of our continuing strategy to differentiate Outlook Group in the…
Companies applying the innovation and design techniques of Six Sigma report median “hard” gains of $200,000 per project, and another $100,000 in “soft” benefits, according to a recent study. The research was conducted by iSixSigma Magazine, and found that even small companies realized comparatively…
