To stay profitable as a manufacturer, you have to run a tight ship. I’ve been lucky enough to visit with owners and key people at thousands of manufacturers all over the world.

I’ve worked in manufacturing procurement for just over 25 years. In that time, I’ve learned one thing above all else—precision is the backbone of quality. Every product we make, every part we produce, and every component we measure relies on measuring tool accuracy.

Meritocracy—the idea that individuals should advance based on their talent and hard work—appeals to our sense of fairness. However, despite its noble intentions, meritocracy often fails in practice.

When most people think about work, fun probably isn’t the first word that comes to mind. Deadlines, meetings, and spreadsheets? Sure. But laughter, camaraderie, and a little silliness? That often feels like a luxury, not a priority.

Change is inevitable in manufacturing. Controlling change effectively distinguishes industry leaders from quality-deficient, recall-plagued, and regulatory-troubled companies.

When organizations implement an enterprise quality management system (EQMS), the instinct is often to begin with high-visibility processes like corrective and preventive action (CAPA) or supplier quality.

In this article I want to explore an observation on how we make distinctions and what this reveals about the structure of our thinking.

AI has amazing capabilities, and it’s one of the best technologies for the future. It’s helping to change the world and bringing productivity enhancements across industries with its exceptional use cases. Quality assurance isn’t left out, either.

Many organizations have decided to automate their quality management system (QMS) or upgrade their currently automated QMS.

When an issue arises, it’s important to take quick action. Whether that means launching a software patch, pulling a batch, or halting the use of a reagent, it’s critical to tackle the immediate problem.