In ancient times, the story goes, cooks in the city of Sybaris were granted yearlong monopolies for the sale of unique dishes they created. Since then, generations of inventors have relied on patents to discourage copycats from stealing their best ideas.

Manufacturing is in the middle of a new industrial revolution that requires skilled laborers.

Cogeco’s technical distribution center in Burlington, Ontario, is one of Canada’s drop-off points for internet modem and cable device repair. In 2011, the company’s management carried out a kaizen blitz to improve the efficiency of its device repair process.

On a recent morning, Rick Lake stopped in the middle of giving a tour of NIST’s machine shop to ponder a part sitting on a shelf. It was about 25 cm long and made of metal coated in a sheen of purple and blue.

In our June 15, 2018, episode of QDL, we get a field report from the HxGN LIVE user conference, examine the “story of quality,” and consider the importance of experience.

(Standards Stores: Excelsior, MN) -- Standards Stores has simplified the process of finding industry training (like ISO 9001 lead auditor training) with one site that has 1000’s of classes from all the top industry organizations.

Business partnerships are nothing new. Partnerships that result in leaner manufacturing processes, more consistent quality, and lower manufacturing costs—that is worth talking about.

Making mistakes and learning from them is par for the course for companies. But years of bad decisions could lead to the downfall of conglomerates.

In today’s talent market, employees are consumers of the workplace: They are attracted, recruited, and wooed into making employment decisions, similar to how companies market products and services to shoppers.

(Standards Stores: Excelsior, MN) -- The Registration Quote service, launched by Standards Stores, is a free service that simplifies the process of receiving management-system registration services quotations from accredited registrars.