A father and his son were going to market. Their donkey was laden with the vegetables from their garden and assorted wares they were going to sell. The young son became tired and so his father lifted him up onto the donkey so that he could ride for a while.

(The QC Group: Burnsville, MN) -- On July 16, The QC Group launched an Instant-Quote site for scanning and comparative analysis services for precision products.

Through the 1990s, the application of a quality system relied primarily upon the Food and Drug Administrations’ (FDA) good manufacturing practice requirements or the FDA 21 CFR Part 820 Quality System Regulation.

(TÜV SÜD: Peabody, MA) -- TÜV SÜD America Inc. has announced a cooperation agreement with Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC LLC), an engineering services and test provider based in Fremont, California.

(Wilcox Associates: North Kingstown, RI) -- Wilcox Associates, a Hexagon Metrology company, has released PC-DMIS Vision 2009.

(Metrologic Group: Wixom, MI) -- The new Metrologic V5 Inspection suite is now available on CATIA V5 R19SP3 level.

(Hexagon Metrology: London) -- Hexagon Metrology has filed a patent infringement suit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts alleging that Metris N.V. and its U.S. subsidiary Metris U.S.A. Inc., and Mitutoyo Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary Mitutoyo America Corporation, have infringed U.S.

For process manufacturers, regular calibration of instruments across a manufacturing plant is common practice. In plant areas where instrument accuracy is critical to product quality or safety, calibration every six months—and even more frequently—is not unusual.

We usually focus on lean and Six Sigma concepts as ideas for providing improvement. But there are many other approaches around the world that are insightful and worth noting as lessons learned for business and other organizations.

When someone mentions design for Six Sigma (DFSS), the initial thought usually turns to developing new, innovative products. While DFSS has its roots in product development, individual components of the toolset can be applied in a variety of ways.