When a medical institution aspires toward excellence and patient safety, quality enhancement proves to be a key factor essential to the process.

Many companies’ internal quality audit systems suffer from a reputation of being mildly effective to completely ineffective or just nonvalue-added. Often, it’s viewed as a policing department from which one’s dirty laundry must be hidden.

This is a story that, as far as I know, has never appeared in print before. It’s not exactly hot news—the incident happened in 1970—but it exemplifies Henry Petroski’s dictum that engineers often learn more from failure than success.

As you all know, the influence of W. Edwards Deming on my career and thinking has been profound.

Whether analyzing Toyota’s supply-chain management, culture, history, or philosophy, writers have long been intrigued by the inner workings of the internationally successful automotive manufacturer.

(SME: Dearborn, MI) -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) has released a national action plan, “Workf

For those of you looking for a way to emerge from the doldrums of realizing that summer is almost over, I suggest you circle today, Wed., Sept. 19, on your calendar. No, it isn’t the first day of fall; that is Sept. 22.

Take a calming deep breath and maintain focus on the matter at hand. Find your center and stay balanced, calm, and ready. Now, tell me, are you on a yoga mat or in a boardroom preparing to negotiate?

Most of us do some form of testing or other validation of our designs and production systems before we initiate production of our products.

During a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony, the U.S.