All Features
Here’s a story that proves once again that exciting quality applications can occur anywhere in the world.
BHP Billiton operates the EKATI Diamond Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories, approximately 200 miles northeast of Yellowknife—just below the Arctic Circle. Arctic winter gear designed…
Walter Pastorius
Assemblers of large objects, such as automotive bodies, have strongly recognized the need to continually improve processes to enhance dimensional integrity of assemblies, maximize customer aesthetic perception, and optimize product performance.
Implementing laser sensors for dimensional…
Mike Micklewright
Question: How do Somalian pirates differ from some Wall Street CEOs?
Answer: A Somalian pirate takes hostages and demands money. A Wall Street CEO takes money and demands hostages.
Without the need, drive, pursuit, and focus on reducing waste; and because we had $1 billion to spend, Saturn…
John W. Stoneback
Is your toolholder showing wear in the areas indicated on the toolholder shown?
We’ve been asking this question for some time now, and we know the answer. Normally, close inspection of the tapered area will show a difference in finish at the threaded area a
Toolholder…
Bill Kalmar
M
ost of us, I suspect, have had a week that we would prefer relegating to our mental recycle bin. But every now and then we have a week that is truly remarkable. I recently had such a week that soundly confirmed my contention that customer service is rebounding and doing so in large leaps. (If…
Bill Kalmar
M
ost of us, I suspect, have had a week that we would prefer relegating to our mental recycle bin. But every now and then we have a week that is truly remarkable. I recently had such a week that soundly confirmed my contention that customer service is rebounding and doing so in large leaps. (If…
Abiding by strict environmental rules can at times seem as much like a religion as a lifestyle. It’s often difficult and even conflicting to balance the intention to live “green” with the attractions of modern convenience. Moving into igloos or pit houses made of mud, is sustainable, yes, but not…
The approach of using a Wiki to document a quality management system (QMS) may seem overwhelmingly obvious in a year or so, yet we are far from that today. Chances are you've used Wikipedia on the web, but you may not appreciate the power that a Wiki can bring to virtually every facet of…
Michael Casey
S
ince 1979, an automotive-parts manufacturer had one premier product that is used by automakers such as General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Mercedes, and Daimler-Chrysler. For competitive reasons, this business didn’t want to share their name for this article.
Overview
In May 2008, the…
Bill Kalmar
Since the year 2000, we have either been mesmerized, entertained, or in my case, irritated by a TV program called “Survivor.” Contestants on this show are isolated in the wilderness and compete against each other for cash and other prizes. The program utilizes a progressive elimination gimmick,…
Mark Albert
Many shops have implemented computerized systems to gather data for production reporting, quality control, statistical process control (SPC), and tool management. Stephen Birman, president of High Tech Research Inc. of Deerfield, Illinois, believes one knowledge-based system that integrates all of…
Patrick Sweeney
A work instruction is a tool provided to help someone do a job correctly. This simple statement implies that the purpose of the work instruction is quality and that the target user is the worker. Unfortunately, in many workplaces, today’s work instructions have little connection with this…
Mike Micklewright
Question: How is the octuplets mom similar to an American CEO?
Answer: She outsourced the main process, she made more inventory than she can properly care for, and she expects bail-outs for her wasteful actions.
Saturn was my real first job and it pains me to learn that after just 24 years,…
Thomas R. Cutler
Story update 6/03/2011: The first two paragraphs following the subhead "ISO 22000 users" were changed.
Regulatory and standards compliance is a requirement that meets with regular resistance from CFOs and CEOs who must justify the expense. Brand protection from recalls and costly litigation is…
Thomas R. Cutler
Story update 6/03/2011: The first two paragraphs following the subhead "ISO 22000 users" were changed.
Regulatory and standards compliance is a requirement that meets with regular resistance from CFOs and CEOs who must justify the expense. Brand protection from recalls and costly litigation is…
Peter J. Sherman
For the record, I’m a registered Independent voter. With that said… Recently, President Obama’s nominee for commerce secretary, Sen. Judd Gregg, unexpectedly withdrew from the position. Was it because of skeletons in his closet: unreported nanny taxes, inappropriate personal lifestyle,…
Bill Kalmar
To be a quality professional means that you must have a trained eye and a sensitive ear for the delivery of exceptional service. We appear to be a group of people who have set the bar so high that at times it may be difficult or almost impossible for service personnel to meet our expectations. As…
Today’s manufacturers must develop products quickly and inexpensively to meet the demands of a competitive marketplace. Rigorous testing to meet North American product certification requirements may prove to be a time-intensive process. If not properly planned, third-party approvals can…
Kurt Boveington
With all of the quality lingo over the years, “right-the-first-time,” “prevention vs. detection,” “total quality,” “Six Sigma,” “ kaizen, ” and “continuous improvement,” Intermec Media, a label converter in Fairfield, Ohio, has taken this to another level and applied these concepts to their own…
Mike Micklewright
In part 1 of this series, I blamed myself for the recession. Actually, I blamed all quality professionals but I was trying to be polite. I also explained what one of our challenges is, if we hope to have a hand in turning the economy around.
I asked, “Why don’t we have more quality-type people…
Bill Kalmar
Anyone who has ever purchased merchandise from L.L. Bean is no doubt aware of this rock solid guarantee:
“Our products are guaranteed to give 100% satisfaction in every way. Return anything purchased from us at any time if it proves otherwise. We do not want you to have anything from L.L. Bean…
Thomas R. Cutler
Plan-do-check-act (PDCA) is an iterative four-step problem-solving process typically used in business process improvement. It’s also known as the Deming Cycle. When W. Edwards Deming postulated this process, there was no such system as e-commerce.
PDCA has been rarely applied to websites or to the…
William A. Levinson
Carbon dioxide emissions are symptomatic of energy consumption in manufacturing, especially in transportation. Therefore initiatives to reduce them often cut supply chain costs as well. However, the exaggerated focus on carbon emissions is dysfunctional and it may overlook other cost-reduction…
Daniel M. Smith
Why would anyone start a new metrology business in this economic climate? Why would they do it in Michigan, the epicenter of the automotive industry recession? The short answer is that if you can identify a clear need in the marketplace for your product and have the ability and expertise to bring…
Belinda Jones
As energy prices continue to soar and the public—with increased awareness and concern for the environment—continue to demand environmental accountability from manufacturers, companies are looking long and hard at ways to decrease their influence on the environment. But there are competing goals.…
