For a few years—back in the early ‘80s—I fell prey to information automation fascination.

What relationship do the various functions and personnel in your organization have with your quality group? Is it collaborative, adversarial, or one of total domination? It can be a slippery slope that runs from successful to disastrous.

Disclaimer: I love John Coltrane, Billie Holliday, and Count Basie. Great jazz, to me, ranks right up there with Einstein’s theory of relativity and Newton’s laws of motion in terms of insightful genius. Smooth jazz with a glass of wine and a roaring fire can

Ultrasonic thickness gauging is a widely used nondestructive test technique for measuring the thickness of a material from one side. It's fast, reliable, and versatile, and unlike a micrometer or a caliper it requires access to only one side of the test piece.

Recently, I paid for a magazine subscription with a check. A few days later, a person from the magazine’s office phoned me to say that my check had been returned unpaid by my bank. I wondered what the reason could be, as I had enough money in my account.