All Features
Jim Frost
This is part two in a three-part series where we assess what information we can obtain from the various estimates of quarterly GDP growth using statistical analysis and a control chart. Read part one here, and part three here.
An I-MR chart comprises two plots, the individuals (I) chart on the top…
Dale Hallerberg
There are substantial changes in the third edition of IEC 60601-1, and understanding all aspects of them is the key to turning the standard into a benefit for medical-device manufacturers.
This article explains the philosophy behind the major changes in the standard, how these changes will affect…
Davis Balestracci
As I’m sure most of you have discovered, transformation is not a linear, predictable process. People have insights and breakthroughs in fits and starts, and growth is full of individual, inner personal transformational phenomena. This process can be seriously compromised by traditional attempts to…
ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions
When the parts you manufacture pass through numerous processes such as deep hole drilling, machining, hobbing and grinding, and coating, a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) is essential when your customers require 100-percent in-process and final inspection.
Dearborn Precision Tubular Products in…
MIT News
Not long ago, MIT political scientist Suzanne Berger was visiting a factory in western Massachusetts, a place that produces the plastic jugs you find in grocery stores. As she saw on the factory floor, the company has developed an innovative automation system that has increased its business:…
Julie Gunlock
This year will mark another push for aggressive food regulation at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On tap, salt regulations and industrywide regulations dictating which foods can be advertised on television.
In October 2011, the FDA announced in the Federal Register that it would begin…
Mark R. Hamel
During a recent trip to the great state of Texas, I heard some down-home wisdom: “Before you season your food, why don’t you taste it first?” The person who uttered that question was not talking about food. Rather, he was challenging someone who was a little too hell-bent on changing something…
University of Michigan
Although it may come as little surprise that happy employees are more productive, a high-performing workforce needs more than just a feeling of contentment. Workers need to thrive, says a researcher at the University of Michigan.
“We think of a thriving workforce as one in which employees are not…
University of Arizona
Astronomers, physicists, and scientists from related fields across the world convened in Tucson, Arizona on Jan. 18, 2012, to discuss an endeavor that only a few years ago would have been regarded as nothing less than outrageous.
The conference is organized by Dimitrios Psaltis, an associate…
Stewart Anderson
What is the economic rationale for pursuing lean production? Much of the lean literature is concerned with the nuts and bolts of lean, and the economics of lean are somewhat less publicized. This article attempts to redress that imbalance, albeit in a very condensed way.
Firms employ capital and…
Gary Robinson
In an era of fast-paced and ever-increasing competitiveness, continuous business improvement is no longer reserved for a select group of innovators. It is a requisite for survival.
Every business strives to increase market share, drive down costs, manage risk more effectively, and improve customer…
Andy Masters
Life can be a real kick in the pants. In her 1983 commencement speech at Vassar College, Meryl Streep expressed her genuine surprise when she figured out that “real life is just like high school.” She went on to explain, “In high school there’s generally one acceptable way to be, and it’s dictated…
The Conference Board
(The Conference Board: New York) -- According to a report released by The Conference Board, the global business membership and research organization, productivity growth weakened substantially across the globe in 2011, with the drop-off most dramatic in advanced economies.
The “2012 Productivity…
Michelle LaBrosse
How do you know when you are truly wealthy? Your perception of prosperity will most likely change throughout your life. At the age of 5, being prosperous is having your favorite toys within reach, being able to eat ice cream after dinner, and being allowed to stay up an hour later than usual. At 16…
It can take anywhere from six weeks to six months to build a 2,800-square-foot, two-story house in the United States, mostly because human beings do all the work. Within the next five years, chances are that 3-D printing (also known by the less catchy but more inclusive term additive manufacturing…
Bill Kalmar
From the Broadway play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum comes a delightful song titled Comedy Tonight. In the song are phrases such as “something familiar—something peculiar” and “something appealing—something appalling.” As a follow-up to those words, each day we read or hear about…
CyArk
The National Park Service and CyArk have started the new year with the launch of the much anticipated Mount Rushmore website, a new way to virtually visit the National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota. This web portal is part of an ongoing partnership between the National Park Service (NPS) and…
Patrick Runkel
Meet Betty and Bart Bickerson, husband-and-wife quality analysts who work at different companies. Betty and Bart argue about everything. They argue whether grey is a color. They argue whether tomato is a fruit. They argue whether the chicken came before the egg, and whether the egg tastes better…
H. James Harrington
In October 2011, I attended the 3rd Business Excellence Global Conference and the 17th Asia Pacific Quality Conference held at the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore. One of the highlights of the conference was the awards banquet held on October 17, where the Global Performance Excellence Awards (…
MIT News
When Microsoft’s Kinect—a device that lets Xbox users control games with physical gestures—hit the market, computer scientists immediately began hacking it. At MIT alone, researchers have used the Kinect to create a Minority Report-style computer interface, a navigation system for miniature robotic…
Matthew Littlefield
Manufacturing is now a global game. The United States is still the world’s largest manufacturer but is no longer the engine for growth it once was. China, Brazil, Australia, India, Singapore, and other countries are building new facilities at a breakneck pace.
This growth is also no longer limited…
Taran March @ Quality Digest
During a recent holiday debriefing with a friend, I learned that a colleague of hers was feeling guilty because she and her husband were unable to afford an iPad for their daughter. Nodding and sipping tea, I was vaguely sympathizing while trying on the idea of buying a macaroon from the bakery…
Bruce Hamilton
Some time ago, while speaking at a conference in the land down under, I was taken to task by a participant for suggesting, “5S is usually the first improvement” in lean implementation. I had carelessly adopted this posture because, as a consultant, I had found that workplace organization was…
The QA Pharm
Like anyone else, when I plan for the new year, I need to set aside time for reflection and anticipation. I look back and ask, “Have I made a difference in anyone’s life?” I look forward and ask, “What do I want to change that I either have control over or can influence?” For people working in the…
Laser Design Inc.
Inspired by the popularity of up-close recreational experiences in the land of 10,000 lakes, a Minnesota company has figured out how to design and manufacture a unique line of small, electrically powered watercraft. However, the company had a manufacturing problem: The small fiberglass boat was…