On Dec. 4, a California-based consumer watchdog group announced that testing performed by them on the enormously popular Zhu Zhu Pets showed that levels of the heavy metal antimony were in excess of federal limits.

Story update 11/23/2010: A paragraph was added to the end of this case study to reflect the current state of the company's quality initiatives.

(Sparta Systems: Holmdel, NJ) --  Sparta Systems Inc., the maker of TrackWise software and a provider of enterprise quality and compliance management solutions, is pleased to announce new additions to the

(Nikon Metrology NV: Leuven, Belgium) — Nikon Metrology and Magestic Systems Inc.

Is anyone performing total quality management (TQM) anymore? MIL-Q-9858A? Total cost of quality (TCQ)? Pert planning? Are there any one-minute managers around? Pareto? What about “up the organization?” Value analysis? Quality is free?

(Olympus NDT: Waltham, MA) — Olympus, a provider of nondestructive testing technologies, is pleased to introduce TomoView v. 2.9—the newest software version of the TomoView ultrasonic data acquisition and analysis software suite.

(CyberMetrics: Phoenix) -- CalPro, from Cybermetrics, is a database of complete step-by-step calibration procedures covering more than 60 kinds of measuring devices—everything from gauge blocks to micrometers and calipers. CalPro is an indispensable asset for any calibration department.

You just finished your audit, and your registrar has handed you a brand-new certificate. Now, what do you do to make sure everyone knows about it?

Mission Support Inc. has pioneered the combination of sheet metal fabrication and modern computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) dimensioning technology for improved production capabilities.

We all have one hiding over there in the groan zone. It’s the unfinished project that lives in a strange sort of limbo.