All Features
Peter Beaucage
Every time you squeeze toothpaste onto your toothbrush, spray perfume on your skin, or swallow a pill, you’re using the result of a carefully crafted recipe made in a lab. These are called formulations.
Formulations aren’t just simple mixtures—they’re complex arrangements of ingredients designed…
John Tschohl
What are the elements of a successful team? In a nutshell—whether it’s an athletic team, a dance team, or a business team—the critical elements are people who are knowledgeable, dedicated, productive, work well with others, and constantly seek to improve their skills.
But hiring and firing are…
Harish Jose
Today I’m looking at the free energy principle (FEP) by the British neuroscientist Karl Friston. The FEP basically states that to resist the natural tendency to disorder, adaptive agents must minimize surprise. This has implications for the gemba, as you’ll see.
A good example to explain this is…
Steven Garner
In the ever-changing landscape of business management, the concept of quality has undergone significant transformations. What began as a focus on maintaining standards such as ISO 9001 and AS9100 is evolving into a more holistic approach encompassing organizational excellence. Tom Taormina’s book…
Wayne Labs
A September 2024 Gallup poll revealed that nearly 30% of U.S. adults have little to no confidence in the safety of U.S. foods at the grocery store. Considering recent recalls, is it any wonder? What good is a quality control program if it doesn’t include food safety?
Boar’s Head’s Jarratt,…
Angie Basiouny
Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli is routinely asked to predict the future of work. His expert answer is always the same: “The future looks like the past.”
He’s not trying to be cryptic. It’s just that the big changes ushered in by the pandemic five years ago are still unfolding—remote…
Stephanie Ojeda
In April 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first artificial intelligence-powered diagnostic system, a software program used to detect diabetes-related vision loss.
Since then, the industry has seen explosive growth of AI in medical device manufacturing, which is…
Ayush Soni
Audits and inspections are critical components of industrial safety management. These processes help organizations ensure compliance with legal requirements, identify risks, and improve workplace safety and operational efficiencies. Conducting regular audits and inspections is not just a regulatory…
Malcolm Chisholm
Data are the fuel of the Information Age, and all organizations acknowledge the value of well-managed corporate data assets. The problems start when we begin to ask just exactly how the data assets are to be well managed.
In response, many organizations have put data governance departments in…
Ben P. Stein
NIST is unique as the national measurement science institute. We are the U.S. agency responsible for maintaining measurement standards, from the second to the kilogram.
We help ensure that these units of measure are consistent across our watches and our grocery scales. But this isn’t as…
Angie Basiouny
Hospital patients rate their pain on a scale of 1–10. Teachers grade on a curve. Sports fans spend hours debating stats on their favorite teams. Even the most ardent language lover can’t deny the power of numbers to convey information, especially when choices need to be made.
A new study from…
Prashant Kondle
Unplanned equipment downtime costs manufacturers an estimated $50 billion annually, according to a study by Deloitte. It is estimated that unplanned downtime costs more than $100,000 per hour. Traditional maintenance approaches—whether reactive or scheduled—are not sufficient to address these…
4C Consulting
ISO 27001 is a globally recognized standard for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and improving an information security management system (ISMS). Successfully implementing ISO 27001 can provide tremendous benefits, such as ensuring data security, building trust with customers, and meeting…
Horacio Falcão
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could outsource to technology the complex, laborious, and often emotionally intense process of negotiating? Until recently, the idea of merging negotiation and AI was only a dream. However, the launch of more sophisticated AI systems has changed how we approach the…
Megan Wallin-Kerth
It’s 2024, and the age of automation has largely taken over our phones, computers, and businesses. This isn’t entirely a bad thing, you understand. It gives us the ability to spend time and money elsewhere—from investing in staff to spending more time on innovating technology rather than whittling…
Erin Vogen
For many maintenance teams, the story is all too familiar: Limited resources make it difficult to anticipate equipment failures, which leads to frequent, costly breakdowns. During these moments of crisis, miscommunication and disorganization only amplify the problem. This perpetuates the perception…
Etienne Nichols
Compliance with industry regulations and standards is a fundamental part of medtech. Without proper medical device compliance, companies risk patient harm, litigation, and reputational damage.
Fortunately, compliance with medical device regulations and standards is not an impossible task. A…
Jennifer King
A study by Upwork has revealed that about 22% of the American workforce will be working from home by 2025. Remote work is here to stay, bringing many benefits along with it—including significant cost savings for businesses and the promise of a better work-life balance for employees. However, the…
Marian Merritt
Cybersecurity is a fast-growing field with a constant need for skilled professionals. But unlike other professions—like medicine or aviation—there’s no clear-cut pathway to qualifying for cybersecurity positions. For employers and job seekers alike, this can make the journey to building a team (or…
Rachel Byfleet
In an eco-friendly plot twist that would make Captain Planet proud, the European Union has rolled out the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), a blueprint that’s got big companies talking about more than just profits. Imagine a world where every major company’s reports don’t just…
Victoria Alestra
In regulated industries like pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and food manufacturing, compliance is crucial for operational excellence. A validated quality management system (QMS) is key to maintaining this compliance. Let’s explore how QMS software streamlines validation and ensures regulatory…
Gleb Tsipursky
As organizations increasingly integrate generative AI (gen AI) to boost productivity, innovation, and competitive advantage, they encounter a host of challenges. Many face resistance to change, fears of job displacement, and concerns about data privacy.
Understanding and overcoming these…
ISO
A customer calls asking for details about how they are registered in your company’s database so they can make sure their information is updated. You get a phone call from a business partner who needs to contact your colleague and asks you to check her calendar to see when she’s free. Although in…
Akhilesh Gulati
In the ever-changing world of quality management, the intersection of innovation and standardization offers both exciting opportunities and tough challenges. Maria, a dedicated and certified quality professional, struggled with the concept of “standardizing innovation”—something that seemed like an…
Chris Rush
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published new guidance on conducting clinical trials with decentralized elements. It offers recommendations for sponsors, investigators, CROs, and other parties that are interested in implementing decentralized clinical trials.
By issuing this…