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Carl Zeiss SMT Inc. recently opened a new applications and demonstration lab in Redwood City, California. The company plans to use the new Electron Microscopy Applications Lab to serve West Coast customers with better applications, sales and service support. Customers can bring samples in…
National Quality Assurance USA recently announced its accreditation through the ElectroStatic Discharge Association to provide auditing services against ANSI/ESD S20.20:1999. The accreditation will allow NQA USA to help organizations develop electrostatic discharge control programs. The ANSI…
Pilgrim Software recently announced the availability of its SmartAudit Offline solution. The suite is based on Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003, though it’s a new and separately licensed add-on to Pilgrim’s SmartAudit version 7.03.5 internal and external audit management system. It allows…
As organizations pursue quality and value, many find that Six Sigma alone isn’t enough to compete in the global marketplace. The addition of quality function deployment, however, often translates into increased functionality, quality and profitability. International TechneGroup Inc. will host…
Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. recently signed a contract with Leica Geosystems to buy six laser tracking systems for its manufacturing operations in Dallas. Vought reports it will extend the contract over a span of four years to replace its existing measurement systems with approximately 24…
DVT Corp. recently announced the availability of a new PC-based object linking and embedding for process control server designed to work with the company’s Legend series of smart camera-based machine vision systems. OPC technology can eliminate expensive custom interfaces and drivers normally…
SigmaXL recently released an enhanced version of its eponymous software suite. SigmaXL 3.0 features failure mode effects analysis; cause-and-effect matrix templates; gage repeatability and reliability templates with multivariable, X-bar and R-charts; as well as; multiple regression with…
Top executives from Bank of America will host a Six Sigma symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Oct. 25-27. Bank Chairman and CEO Kenneth D. Lewis will deliver the keynote address, and the company’s Six Sigma Leadership Team will lead a moderated panel discussion about using Six Sigma…
Quest Diagnostics recently announced the selection of Instantis’ EnterpriseTrack tracking and management solution for its Six Sigma effort. EnterpriseTrack will be in use by Quest Six Sigma teams spread across its business units. “Information tracking and reporting needs for Six Sigma are…
Hexagon AB added to its market share recently by acquiring ROMER CimCore Inc., a consolidation that is already underway. ROMER CimCore Inc., which has operations in Carlsbad, California, and Farmington Hills, Michigan, manufactures and markets metrology equipment used widely in the…
ISO 10006:2003, guidelines for quality management projects, was released in the fall of 2003. This standard is creating the next wave in our understanding of project managing processes. But how does ISO 10006 compare to the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of…
The presidents of the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission and the secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union recently highlighted the importance of international standards in a joint address. The annual message…
Randy Dougherty, the Registrar Accreditation Board’s director of registrar accreditation, was recently named chair of the technical committee of the International Accreditation Forum. The appointment was made at a meeting held in Bern, Switzerland. Dougherty’s three-year term began on July 1…
A new standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization and international maritime organizations aims at making ports around the world more secure. ISO/PAS 20858 was adopted by more than 100 member countries of the International Maritime Organization. It contains…
National Quality Assurance announced it was accredited by the American National Standards Institute-Registrar Accreditation Board to register companies to AS9003. NQA representatives report the approval demonstrates that its assessors meet the exacting standards and expertise required in the…
The new version of AssurX’s CATSWeb Enterprise Quality Tracking System includes new features that increase user productivity. The additions of CATSWeb dynamic forms and full-text search features are the centerpieces of the new release. Dynamic forms allows users to adapt based on prior…
ASI DataMyte opened a Brazilian subsidiary recently, expanding the quality solutions provider’s market share in South America. The new subsidiary, ASI DataMyte do Brasil Equipamentos para Controle de Qualidade Ltda., will be operated by Marcelo Trovo and Agnaldo Trovo. The two were formerly…
Ask employees at any financial institution to pick two words to describe a typical core system conversion, and "major headache" is likely the nicest description you’ll hear. Ask that question at $1 billion South Carolina Federal Credit Union, North Charleston, South Carolina, and prepare to hand…
There’s a marauding infestation of adverbs and adjectives that infiltrate the text of quality documents and operating procedures, wreaking havoc wherever they are found. The leader of this menacing bunch is called “All.” Among his compatriots you’ll find “Never,” “Always,” “Every” and “None.”
When…
July marked the 20th anniversary of the Coordinate Measurement Systems Conference, the only conference solely devoted to the users, services and OEM manufacturers of close-tolerance coordinate measurement systems, software and peripherals. This year’s conference and exhibition was held in San…
The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently released the newest version of its comprehensive Quality Compass database. For the first time, the database includes a measure of flu shots given to adults aged 50-64 last year. The metric is important, reports the NCQA, because influenza…
ASI DataMyte was recently awarded a “People Make Quality Happen” award by General Motors. The manufacturer received the award for its 501 Fit Gate program, implemented to check gap and flush and vehicle body panels during final assembly. The program replaced an inefficient “carrot stick”…
Employees of Baxa Corp. recently graduated from a government-funded pilot program in Six Sigma methodology and were deployed to use their new skills to improve their company. The training program is just part of Baxa’s quality improvement efforts. The company is now working on several…
ORBIS Corp. recently announced it hired Allen Dembski to lead the company’s Six Sigma implementation. “Allen’s proven expertise in executing continuous improvement initiatives will provide ORBIS with enhanced operational and administrative efficiencies to provide our customers with…
Breakthrough Management Group opened its European headquarters in London recently, raising the performance improvement training and consulting firm’s international profile.
With offices on five continents, BMG reports the expansion enables the company to be physically closer to its international…