All Features
William A. Levinson
I recently returned a pair of $28 (suggested retail price) Chinese-made gloves I bought for $7.97 the day after Christmas, which is when I do all my Christmas shopping. The reason I returned the gloves was because a seam had begun to come apart less than three weeks after I bought them. This…
Brian Gudauskas, Shaun Wissner
A Quality Digest reader wrote in asking for techniques to evaluate touch-trigger probes for accuracy. Specifically, he asked how someone can evaluate touch probes and magnetic modules for wear, or to determine if they have been damaged as the result of a collision or being dropped. He wanted to be…
Jason W. Womack
Although you were energized and excited about jumping into 2012, the 20+ tasks added to your to-do list and an inbox full of e-mails begging for an immediate response sidetracked you into feeling overwhelmed and incapable of getting everything done. Will 2012 become another year of wishing things…
NIST
With a random-looking spatter of paint specks, a pair of cameras, and a whole lot of computer processing, engineer Mark Iadicola of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been helping the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in cooperation with the American Association of…
Tom Pyzdek
One of the cornerstones of quality and lean Six Sigma is data: “We insist on it.” “Don’t tell us what you think the situation is; let the data do the talking.” “In God we trust—all others bring data.” You get the idea.
An unfortunate side effect of this emphasis is the proliferation of useless…
Demand Solutions
Any company that attempts to reduce inventory and its associated costs brings its own unique advantages and challenges to the battle. Managing for optimal inventory levels is a critical objective that requires diligent attention and daily action to maintain the hard-fought advantage. The results,…
Carly Barry
I found that training to run a marathon is a lot like completing a quality improvement project. I ran my first full marathon in November 2011, and as I was completing my training, I came across this quote about quality improvement from V. Daniel Hunt, quality management improvement author and CEO…
Paul Naysmith
Recently I visited the world-famous Tabasco sauce factory on Avery Island, Louisiana. We live approximately 30 miles from the global super-brand, and what else would a quality professional like to do on his holiday downtime than visit a factory to see what lessons he could learn? And my wife…
MIT News
Contrary to common perception, the major automakers have produced large increases in fuel efficiency through better technology in recent decades. There’s just one catch: All those advances have barely increased the mileage per gallon that autos actually achieve on the road.
Sound perplexing? This…
Jennifer Robison
Engaged people feel good about coming to work every day, says Fred Lorestani, vice president of North American Implant Operations for Stryker. “Given the products that we make and the kind of facilities that we have, as a leader you need to do everything in your power to make your teams engaged and…
Akhilesh Gulati
Lights, camera, action! Sound familiar? Given the continuous release of movies, we are all familiar with this phrase. But what does this have to do with the quality profession or strategy?
“Lights” make more visible the area to be captured on film. “Camera” indicates the readiness of the equipment…
Michael Causey
It’s actually bigger than a battle over a popular condiment, according to some folks who oppose what they say is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) overplaying its regulatory hand.
We’re not going to settle this controversy here, but some experts suggest you may be able to sprinkle a little…
Knowledge at Wharton
France—the land of haute cuisine, fine wine and cheese—would be the last place you would expect to find a thriving fast-food market. In a country known for its strong national identity and anti-globalization movement, it seems improbable that McDonald’s could have survived the onslaught of French…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
One of the more fascinating applications for large-volume 3-D scanning is in preserving our past. Sure, for those of you who work in the manufacturing or building industry, 3-D scanning is all about the future, making sure your product is in spec and performs properly going forward. But for those…
NIST
An advance in sensor design by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Waterloo’s Institute of Quantum Computing (IQC) could unshackle a powerful, yet high-maintenance technique for exploring materials. The achievement could expand the…
Julie Fraser
Quality by design (QbD) is a widely discussed approach that is often neither well understood nor effectively executed. Joseph Juran also called QbD “quality planning.” QbD is not primarily focused on typical quality issues such as corrective action, testing, measurement, or monitoring. QbD is a…
Donald J. Wheeler
I
n my February 1996 Quality Digest column I discussed an article out of USA Today. Since that article provides a great example of how we need to filter out the noise whenever we attempt to interpret data, I have updated it for my column today. “Teen Use Turns Upward” read the headline for a graph…
Texas A and M News and Information Services
Sunk in 1606, the Portuguese merchant ship Nossa Senhora dos Martires is sailing again—in 3-D presently but perhaps one day in reality. If the cyber-replicated vessel ever does hit the high seas, the way will have been paved by the research of a persevering Texas A&M University nautical…
MIT News
The information age is also the age of information overload. Companies, governments, researchers, and private citizens are accumulating digital data at an unprecedented rate, and amid all those quintillions of bytes could be the answers to questions of vital human interest: What environmental…
Nikon Metrology Inc.
A new research center designed to examine materials and structures across many length scales has been launched at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. The µ-VIS (micro-vis) X-ray Imaging Center examines the internal structure of objects in incredible detail. It produces high-…
University at Buffalo
Need help choosing a New Year’s resolution? The University at Buffalo (UB) offers its annual list of 10 suggestions for achieving health, happiness, and success in the new year. Each resolution is based on the work of UB faculty in 2011. Their research and expertise provides some direction on…
Andrew Spanyi
Chief quality officers (CQO) are particularly well placed to lead a major transformational effort. Yet, few do so successfully in spite of having a vested role in operational improvement and having input into what the organization measures and monitors.
Although many CQOs do emphasize…
Louis Columbus
The next 12 months will see a greater focus than ever before on the quality of customer experience permeating strategies, systems, applications, and initiatives.
An efficiency and transaction mindset is driving many industries, including airlines, into a churn-based business model that is…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
I was less than two minutes into my sales presentation when the business owner sitting behind his desk gruffly said, “Get out of here.” I figured someone must have walked into his office, and he didn’t want us to be interrupted. I turned around to see who it was. There was no one.
He then…
Bill Kalmar
As a frequent columnist for Quality Digest Daily and several other publications, I have learned that there are certain topics that are out of bounds. These are topics that elicit heated debate, comments from riled readers, and the occasional canceling of a subscription. I recently read there…
