All Features
David Weldon
This article is reprinted with permission from the July 2007 issue of ExecDigital. At age 160, the New England Confectionery Co. is the oldest multiline candy company in the United States and one of the newest. Four years ago, the popular candy manufacturer embraced lean manufacturing practices,…
Bill Kalmar
How many times have you viewed a compelling story on TV, or read a newspaper or magazine account of an investigation of wrongdoing and then never discovered the outcome? Mass media tantalize us with sensational reports, and after the hoopla the stories just fade away.As I lay here recently in my…
Praveen Gupta
Six Sigma was Bill Smith’s vision for excellence in everything. Prior to Six Sigma, companies were implementing total quality management, statistical process control, pre-control, cost of poor quality, and other techniques with minimal effect. Quality became a promise of “motherhood and apple pie…
Paul Midler
Numerous news stories this past month have focused on concerns about the quality and safety of certain Chinese exports. In this opinion piece, Paul Midler discusses “quality fade” in China, which he defines as “the deliberate and secretive habit of widening profit margins through a reduction in…
Mike Micklewright
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways.”by Michael Jackson
Question: What did the registrar auditor do after informing his client that he wasn’t allowed to give advice?
Answer: He gave them advice.
I like to listen to Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.”…
CardioMEMS engineer Michael Fonseca uses a laser to separate pressure sensors in the company’s clean room facility in the ATDC Biosciences Center located at Georgia Tech’s Environmental Science and Technology Building. Photo by Gary Meek After…
Bipin Roy
Story update 11/1/2010: We had the incorrect author shown for this story. The author is Bipin Roy.
Welcome to the information technology world of governance boards, compliance councils, Sarbanes Oxley, and audit committees that continually invent stringent rules and regulations to make the…
Steven Ouellette
Last month I talked about the “sigma” index and how it can be used. So what could be bad about the “sigma” index?Never forget that metrics drive behavior and that people are very, very good at finding a way to succeed when given a goal. It just may not be the thing you wanted them to do. If “sigma…
David Schwinn
We recently lost two great American authors, Kurt Vonnegut and David Halberstam. I liked them because they told the truth. At least their truth agreed with my truth, and it seems like the truth of a great many other people.I first became aware of Kurt Vonnegut in my late teens, a time when I…
Fred Mason
In last month’s column, I talked about the format of accuracy specifications for video measuring machines. The following is a typical format for a single axis accuracy specification: Ex = ±[k + (multiplier * L)/1000] μm And this is an example of an actual specification (linear accuracy in the X-…
Denise Robitaille
What data are the best to gather? What processes should you be tracking? What are your metrics telling you? In observing various organizations’ attempts to fulfill ISO 9001 requirements around subclause 8.4—“Analysis of data,”–I’ve noticed a recurring problem. Companies allow the requirements of…
Last month, I shared some perspectives about the current state of the hazardous-substance-free movement and trends that are propelling its influence. This month I’d like to discuss what I think these trends mean to industry and the potential usefulness of QC 080000 IECQ HSPM.The European RoHS and…
For nearly 20 years, the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence have proven themselves time and again to be a path to exceptional organizational performance. Used in more than 70 countries around the world, the seven categories of the criteria are often seen as essential for excellence.
What’…
Praveen Gupta
I’m surprised how quickly we blame a methodology for a business’s lack of performance. We’re always looking for some silver bullet to cure all ills. In contrast, Six Sigma integrates many methodologies to achieve sustained profitable results. When Motorola practiced Six Sigma under the leadership…
Bill Kalmar
Whenever I enter a Ritz-Carlton hotel, I know “I’m not in Mediocreville anymore!” Walking through those doors transports me to a world unparalleled in service, with guest amenities and services consistently beyond my expectations. Unlike the Wizard of Oz, the hotel is everything it purports to be…
Georgia Tech student Ashley Palmer, Ph.D., conducted experiments to validate a new cartilage-imaging technique developed by associate professors Marc Levenston and Robert Guldberg in the Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering. On the computer…
Douglas C. Fair
I frequently hear discussions among engineers, managers, and higher-ups concerning process capability, an alphabet soup of indexes and three-letter designations. The indexes are bandied about as though a single number communicates knowledge, understanding, and certainty. My experience is that this…
Steven Ouellette
Now that we have talked about defining Six Sigma and 10 stupid Six Sigma tricks, I’ll move on to the measure phase and discuss some things that work and don’t work in measuring the effect of Six Sigma. The new metric that Six Sigma brought to us was the sigma index, so let’s start…
Steve Wise
The manager of a local grocery store is having dinner with his statistician friend. The store manager tells his friend about a certain cashier who is stealing from the company.
The manager is frustrated because he thinks he knows who the thief is, but can’t fire the miscreant because the employee…
Craig Cochran
A few years ago, I had the good fortune of doing some consulting with B&C Specialty Products in Hopeulikit, Georgia. B&C does light manufacturing, primarily plastic molding and assembly, and they also distribute imported products produced by companies in the Far East. They have…
Fred Mason
Accuracy, repeatability, performance—knowing how to interpret specifications for measuring devices and systems is important. This month I’ll talk about accuracy specifications for video measuring machines, which I described last month. The concepts apply to other measuring devices as well…
Denise Robitaille
Subclause 6.2.2 of ISO 9001 is ubiquitously referred to as the training clause. That unfortunately narrows the focus to only one aspect of the requirement. The subclause is situated in the section of the standard that relates to provision of resources. It doesn’t simply require that training be…
This column and the next two take stock of the current state and future of the hazardous-substance-free (HSF) movement and its effects on industry, and share my perspectives on the potential effects of QC 080000 IECQ HSPM. A vision of the future: The industry will forevermore be held…
Prasad Nair
Quality and customer focus have always been topmost strategic weapons in the arsenal of successful corporations, which nurture strategic initiatives like a gardener looks after a garden. It’s quite an imaginative thought to see the resemblance of the deployment of a quality system to…
Praveen Gupta
It’s easier to start a Six Sigma project than to close it successfully. Green Belts and Black Belts are expected to be working on projects constantly, so they work on projects to meet the existing expectations. Some of these projects are unlikely to yield significant improvement due to lack of…