On our most recent episode of QDL from this past Fri., April 14, 2017, we took a close look at innovation and engineering. Here’s a quick recap:

Let’s say you’re interviewing a new applicant for a job, and you feel something is off. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you’re a bit uncomfortable with this person. She says all the right things, her resume is great, she’d be a perfect hire for this job—except your gut tells you otherwise. Should you go with your gut?

In last week’s Quality Digest Live: Enterprise quality management vs. integrated quality management. Our deteriorating U.S. infrastructure. Stress testing composites. The Fowler Precision Mobile Tech Center.

“Save Costs When Implementing Enterprise Quality Systems”

The message for audience members who attended the 29th Annual Quest for Excellence Conference held last week was, “Prepare for an inspiring journey.” This was the advice of keynote presenter Polly LaBarre, co-founder and director of Management Lab (MLab) and co-founder of Management Innovation eXchange (MIX).

It’s discouraging and frustrating to work tirelessly on solving what you think is an important issue and nothing happens. Despite brilliant thinking, smart teammates, and innovative solutions, the organization never fully embraces the new approach.

There are a lot of reasons why good ideas never get adopted. Sometimes they’re not critical to the organization’s goals, require too many resources, or scare the managerial keepers of the status quo.

Restaurant reservations systems such as OpenTable and Yelp Reservations may be one of the biggest areas where technology is working to help restaurants win new customers and build a bigger roster of loyal regulars. The services offer tools that help eateries customize the experience and add a personal touch to each interaction with a patron.

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Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations help protect the public from the toxicity and pollution associated with consumer products and electronics. Beyond public health and safety concerns, the cost of noncompliance, including fines, product recalls, and decreased customer confidence, can be a significant burden for any organization.

As manufacturing becomes increasingly oblivious of where one country stops and another begins, the responsibilities of quality managers have extended beyond the safely measurable and into the loosely regulated wilds of global competition. Quality control now requires a sense of how different cultures perceive the art of doing business. (Hint: It’s not always about teamwork and doing the right thing.)

A well-designed product equally elevates form and function. It is pleasing to look at, easy to use, and solves a common problem. Here, five design professors answer the following question: What’s the best-designed product of all time, and why? Their responses vary from cheap, everyday products to newer, more expensive ones. But all share a story of trial, error, and ingenuity.

Imagine that a satellite is launched into space and communications are intermittent. This happens because the satellite is wobbling, which causes connection problems in the receiver. The cause of the wobbling is identified: It is the result of not using a calibration provider with a low enough uncertainty.