All Features
Denise Robitaille
ISO 9001 continues to wend its way through the revision process, and as it does so there have been lots of discussions and prognostications over the impending changes. All the wringing of hands and ongoing debate will not hurry the process or change the outcome.
The standard is still on track to…
Tripp Babbitt
In my last column I wrote about the seven perspectives that pollute customers and culture. These perspectives rule the design of our organizations. They are inherent to our work cultures and thinking. They put us on autopilot as we toil in our everyday work. The first step to change that is to…
Dawn Bailey
According to a recent IndustryWeek article, the 2015 edition of ISO 9001, the standard on quality management systems, is nearing completion.
The new version of IOS 9001 will have three areas of focus:
1. The process approach will be strongly emphasized; that is, the quality management system has…
Andy Nichols
The international standard for quality management systems, known as ISO 9001, is currently being revised and is scheduled for release in late 2015. Are you ready for the changes? How do the changes affect you?
NQA, a globally recognized certification body, is preparing, and we’re sharing with you…
Christine Schaefer
In late October, longtime Baldrige examiner Miriam Kmetzo traveled to Suzhou, China, to attend and speak at the 6th Quality Forum for Academics and Innovation.
Kmetzo gave a presentation at a session that featured four quality award programs in the international arena: the Malcolm Baldrige…
Rick Calabrese
The ISO 9001 standard is currently under revision. The decision to do so wasn’t driven by one dramatic event happening in the marketplace, but rather by due diligence of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committees and working groups that perform systematic reviews of…
Ryan E. Day
When auto manufacturers set out to create award-winning vehicles, much consideration is given to interior sound quality. Ironically, the manufacturers have been so successful in mitigating road noise they have inadvertently caused a new problem for themselves: Apparently, the cars are too quiet.…
NIST
Penny Pritzker, the U.S. commerce secretary, has announced that four U.S. organizations are recipients of the 2014 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest presidential honor for performance excellence through innovation, improvement, and visionary leadership.
The 2014…
Publically announced breaches of secured information are so common today that they almost seem routine. Last year, in the United States alone, financial companies like JPMorgan Chase and retailers such as Target and Home Depot were victimized by information system hackers that allegedly gained…
Dan Nelson
ISO 9001 certification is like a driver’s license test. To prepare for a driver’s license test, a new, unlicensed driver requests a booklet from the state. This booklet explains the laws and conventions of driving in that state. From ISO, a new, unregistered company receives two booklets…
Dave Cranmer
Some things are just meant to be, apparently. Sept. 23, 2014, marked an interesting waypoint in the career of someone concerned about standards of measurement, because on that day, I became a standard reference human.
Having started working for the (then) National Bureau of Standards (NBS) almost…
Quality Digest
BioCision was founded in 2007 by Rolf Ehrhardt and Brian Schryver when they realized, having spent many years in the clinical and laboratory environment, that there were critical unmet needs in the handling of temperature-sensitive biospecimens and biologics.
The rapid adoption of their first…
Quality Digest
In October 2001, an international team led by Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to build the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, which resulted in the development of the F-35 Lightning. The requirements for the new aircraft were complex, demanding new heights of lethality…
Paula Oddy
Organizations pursue registration to international standards for a variety of reasons, but in the broadest possible sense most agree that the goal is to improve business operations and reap financial rewards, either by saving money through increased efficiencies or in making money by getting or…
NIST
At the new NIST Center for Automotive Lightweighting (NCAL), workloads are fraught with stress and strain—all to help the auto industry take a heavy load off future cars and light trucks.
To meet proposed federal fuel-efficiency standards—54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, or nearly double today’s…
Denise Robitaille
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last two years, you can’t help to have noticed that the ISO 9001 standard is in the middle of its revision process. Seems like people have been talking about this revision for ages. And, it’s not even a whole new standard. They’re not starting from…
Whitney Andrews
Medical device manufacturers are facing mounting pressure to better manage the quality of their supply chain. One approach they’ve taken to improve risk management and increase efficiency is to partner with suppliers who are ISO 13485 certified.
ISO 13485 is an internationally recognized quality…
NIST
Recent experiments have confirmed that a technique developed several years ago at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can enable optical microscopes to measure the 3D shape of objects at nanometer-scale resolution—far below the normal resolution limit for optical microscopy (…
Rick Gehrke
The International Labour Organization estimates that more than 2 million deaths every year can be attributed to work activities. This single statistic clearly indicates the pressing need for occupational health and safety regulations, and the importance of a single standard to help organizations…
Gary Phillips
For decades now, the measurement systems analysis (MSA) approach has been the predominant method for evaluating measurement systems capability. Although this method is widely considered to be an acceptable and comprehensive approach throughout most of the world, a growing number of specialized…
Rob Fenn
Arecent client satisfaction survey conducted by our company, the British Assessment Bureau (BAB), a UK-based certification body, highlighted the benefits of achieving certification to ISO 9001. Here is a summary of the results.
As our client base has increased over the years, we have moved the…
Gurdeep Mahal
ISO standards help make the world a safer and more efficient place and help tackle a myriad of societal issues. They also touch almost everything we do. The sparked interest in the new ISO 9001:2015 revision is significant, given that the draft has notable changes vs. the current 2008 version. The…
Christine Schaefer
In the Baldrige Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence, category three, concerning customer focus, asks how your organization engages its patients and other customers for long-term marketplace success. The related self-assessment questions cover how your organization listens to the voice…
Dawn Bailey
Much has been discussed about the value of tomorrow’s leaders learning about the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence while still in school. As an example, I remember listening to a presentation by Bruce Kintz, president of Concordia Publishing House, a 2011 Baldrige Award recipient, about…
Maria Lazarte
Everyone has a passion, whether it involves biking the toughest roads or collecting Star Wars figurines. Mine is travel.
My love of travel has taken me far and wide. I have been thrown into a river by an elephant in Malaysia and attended a four-day traditional wedding in Sudan. I have swum with…
