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Supply chain executives are increasingly focusing on their suppliers’ quality management processes, according to a new benchmarking report from Best Practices LLC. Now more than ever, leading organizations see tactics such as supplier certification as ways to achieve key performance results and key…
RABQSA International recently began offering training designed to bridge the knowledge gap between its current training course certification (TCC) and the recently introduced Training Provider and Examiner Certification Scheme. The current TCC doesn’t satisfy the knowledge-based competency…
Attendance at Quality Expo 2005 increased 11 percent from 2003’s show, and organizers are calling the event a huge success. More than 5,800 industry professionals attended the show, which was held April 19–21 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The program featured…
Companies often have numerous Six Sigma projects in the pipeline, and Six Sigma belts are busy working on projects. However, statistical thinking suggests that not all projects will be equally successful. In fact, the amount of improvement could vary significantly from one project to another. In an…
Scott Paton’s "The Chinese are Coming! The Chinese are Coming!" (Quality Digest, February 2005) describes how China’s Chery Automobile Co. plans to undercut American automakers’ prices by up to 30 percent. The article professes that neither tariffs nor layoffs are the solution to the hemorrhage of…
An upcoming conference will focus on the use of design for Six Sigma in product development, services and transactional processes. The conference, hosted by WCBF Inc., will be held June 8–10 at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. It will feature several levels of information from those…
Ixperion will present two conferences on Six Sigma and lean this summer. Lean Six Sigma 2005 will be held July 12–13 at the Allerton Crowne Plaza in Chicago. The event will feature presentations from: GE Healthcare Performance Solutions, on how it applied lean Six Sigma to common health care…
Executives from two major health care providers and an insurer will detail their lean initiatives at an upcoming conference. ThedaCare, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield will present the information at the Business Process Summit conference, held…
Pelion Systems and ICM America, two providers of technology solutions for manufacturers, will combine their services to help manufacturing clients implement initiatives such as lean, Six Sigma and flow manufacturing. ICM America will incorporate Pelion MPO software into its preferred technology…
Six Sigma Academy has begun offering Gold Belt training for advanced Black Belts. Each participant’s program is tailored in collaboration with corporate sponsors and designed to fit with the strategic goals of his or her organization. By the end of the training, SSA Gold Belts will have completed…
The Sheraton Miramar Resort, which recently implemented Six Sigma, was chosen by its parent company as the chain’s Hotel of the Year. The Sheraton Miramar Resort had the highest overall performance in 2004 of all of Starwood Resorts’ hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Its financial…
Kaikaku The Power and Magic of Lean, was recently awarded a Shingo Prize at the 17th annual Shingo Prize Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The book, by PCS Inc. President and Quality Digest contributor Norman Bodek, follows his travels and discoveries in Japanese and U.S. manufacturing from…
DALSA Corp. has completed the acquisition of Coreco Inc.DALSA paid approximately $73.4 million for Coreco, a provider of performance improvement hardware and software for manufacturing processes. Of that sum, $35 million was paid in cash and the balance was paid by the issuance of 1.9 million DALSA…
With U.S. legislation on hazardous substances in electronics already in place and similar laws set to take effect in China and Europe shortly, how can electrical and electronic manufacturers be sure that their products comply? A new specification adopted by the International Electrotechnical…
A new study reveals that, despite their best efforts, many organizations still struggle to effectively address application quality. The findings are included in Compuware Corp.’s study, “Today’s Quality Assurance Practices: How Can We Continue to Improve?” The report surveyed 305 U.S. and European…
Intercim Inc., a provider of process and quality management solutions to the defense and aerospace industries, has partnered with Operations Technologies, a provider of inventory chain management solutions, to enhance both companies’ software products. The partnership will allow Intercim to include…
QMI recently opened two new U.S. offices and appointed a new business development manager in its Guangzhou, China, office. The management systems registration company opened new offices in Ypsilanti, Michigan and in Houston. Demo Stavros is the new business development manager at the Michigan…
Mohsen Sohi, Ph.D., president and CEO of Freudenberg-NOK, was recently inducted into the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing Academy. Sohi joined Freudenberg-NOK in 2003 and since then has committed to re-energizing the company’s lean benchmark program, called Growtth (an acronym for Get…
Optimizing biological assay conditions is a demanding process that scientists face every day. The requirement is to develop high-quality, robust assays that work across a wide range of biological conditions. The demand is to do this within a short development time frame. To overcome these obstacles…
Firstlogic Inc., a provider of enterprise information quality and mail-automation software, recently announced that Dendrite International has started using its data quality solutions to improve customer information management for Dendrite’s pharmaceutical and life sciences clients. Dendrite is a…
As the nation tightens its borders against possible terrorist attacks, it risks undermining those efforts by allowing the importation of non-FDA-approved prescription drugs. This was the conclusion of a report issued by Giuliani Partners, a firm headed by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. “…
The Food and Drug Administration has determined that endoscopic trocars reprocessed by Vanguard Medical Concepts Inc. are substantially equivalent to new instruments and has cleared the company to resume selling them. Vanguard voluntary took its trocars off the market last fall, pending an FDA…
The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering is marking its 25th anniversary with a full schedule of activities commemorating its contributions to innovation in pharmaceutical manufacturing. The ISPE was founded in 1980 with the primary purpose of providing education, networking…
The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering announced the availability of its newest technical publication, “GAMP Good Practices Guide: A Risk-Based Approach to Compliant Electronic Records and Signatures.” The guide is a user-friendly manual that covers the appropriate management of…
MedMira Inc. has recently achieved registration to ISO 13485:2003.MedMira, a provider of rapid flow-through diagnostic technology, reports that the standard is formally recognized by the European Commission as a key quality assurance requirement for the CE Mark approval for medical devices. ISO…
