All Features
Memex Automation Inc.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) has become an indispensable tool that allows manufacturers to see information about assets in real time. Applications built around RFID help report immediate deviations and exceptions to any process. RFID has allowed companies to build authentication and…
IBM
T he annual IBM survey of the daily commute in a cross-section of some of the most economically important international cities reveals a startling dichotomy: While the commute has become a lot more bearable during the past year, drivers’ complaints have spiked.
The Commuter Pain Survey reveals…
ISO
Six Sigma, a data-driven method for improving business and quality performance, has been published as a two-part standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Six Sigma was originally developed by Motorola in 1986 to ameliorate manufacturing processes with the goal of 99.…
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Quality control for the series production of home appliances at Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) in Traunreut, Germany, used to be based on coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). Last year, the tactile measuring system was replaced by optical 3-D measuring technology from Steinbichler…
Patrick Stone
What products will be affected by the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) quality by design (QbD) stipulation, as outlined in its report, “Pharmaceutical Quality for the 21st Century: A Risk-Based Approach”?
It will apply to new marketing authorization applications, new drug applications, Type…
University of Arizona
A University of Arizona (UA) engineering professor may have a solution to a U.S. infrastructure problem that’s growing deadlier each year. The National Gas Technology Institute (GTI) recently published a test report approving a new technology called PipeMedic, which uses carbon and glass…
American Management Association AMA
I
t’s easy to complain about the boss sometimes. Many of us are guilty of the “If I were running things, it would be different!” rant among co-workers. But, it’s not always easy being on top, and the boss likely doesn’t always associate you with blue skies and rainbows, either. Take the initiative…
Mark R. Hamel
I love simple questions. Specifically, I love questions that are ostensibly simple but can spur deep reflection about important stuff… and ultimately improvement.
I like the question, “So what?” Those two words seek to identify the “actionability” of things like performance metrics and…
Steven Ouellette
Yesterday in “Blocking Out the Nuisance, Part One,” we saw the results of an experiment done by That Guy Over There that didn’t control for the environmental variable of humidity. There was a lot of variability in that experiment, so we didn’t see a whole lot of improvement to be made. I also…
The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson
A few years ago I was surfing the Internet on a Friday afternoon and discovered a contest asking amateurs to make TV commercials for a famous ketchup brand. The prize was several thousand dollars, and your commercial would actually run on television. Instantly I had an idea for a romantic…
Johns Hopkins University
A digital dumping ground lies inside most computers, a wasteland where old, rarely used, and unneeded files pile up. Such data can deplete precious storage space, bog down the system's efficiency, and sap its energy. Conventional rubbish trucks can't clear this invisible byte blight. But two…
Steven Ouellette
No, I am not writing about going, “Lalalalala! I can't hear you!” when someone is trying to tell you bad news. In the last couple of articles, we have been exploring how to properly perform research in industry. In this one, we will take a look at how you can handle variables in the real world that…
The Advisory Board Co.
In our current health care environment, hospitals face increasing urgency to strengthen relationships with physicians. Among the concerns are an aging population driving increased demand for health care (as well as a growing Medicare population), reimbursement reductions and changes, and…
Vickie L. Milazzo
In today’s world, we’re constantly sabotaged by nonproductive energy wasters. There are e-mails to read, Facebook statuses to update, receipts to locate for that already-late expense report, dishes to be washed, files to be organized, and on, and on, and on. These are the easy, albeit often…
The 21st century has brought about many changes for the U.S. Department of Defense that have affected all the military branches. The Air Force specifically has encountered a reduction of forces, base closures, and funding cuts to many of its programs. The message from the Department of Defense…
William A. Levinson
There is a lot of controversy about whether energy-intensive businesses should make extraordinary efforts to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Energy conservation measures such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) construction, regenerative…
Gartner
.Surviving as a 21st-century supply chain requires operating as a demand-driven value network, according to Gartner Inc., a leading IT research and advisory company. Orchestrating these value networks means supply-chain executives must understand and adopt best practices in selecting,…
Robert Sanville
Manufacturers realize that feature location in part design and production is crucial. To produce interchangeable parts in a manufacturing environment, the design must be sound enough to allow mating parts to work correctly. Furthermore, the industrial process must be robust enough to produce…
The Ohio State University
Drugs produced in offshore manufacturing plants—even those run by U.S. manufacturers—pose a greater quality risk than those prepared in the mainland United States, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that drugs produced at plants located in Puerto Rico that are owned and operated by U.S…
Miriam Boudreaux
So you have been in the quality world for many years. Admit it, you are the underdog. No matter if the whole company revolves around your statistics and process controls, you are not the operations manager, and neither are you the sales leader. You are the underdog. The rest of the company…
Gallup
No leader can be blamed for thinking how wonderful a week would be if it didn’t have any meetings—or any “I just need a minute” conversations in the hall or interruptions of any kind—basically, a week with a to-do list and without people. Wouldn’t that be a productive week?
Not really, says…
Bill Kalmar
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the event that changed our nation’s psyche forever, the “9-11 attack,” all of us have memories and recollections of where we were on that fateful day. For me, I was in my office at a local university. Shortly after 8:45 a.m. one of my associates came by my…
Donald J. Wheeler
The simplicity of the process behavior chart can be deceptive. This is because the simplicity of the charts is based on a completely different concept of data analysis than that which is used for the analysis of experimental data. When someone does not understand the conceptual basis for process…
U.S. Department of Energy
What if electricity and heat could be generated simultaneously? Think about energy generation on a small scale, like your household. Imagine if the same source that powered your lights and turned on your television would also heat your water and home. This two-for-one type of energy generation…
Bruce Hamilton
In April 1989, the first Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence had just been awarded at Utah State University. Shigeo Shingo was on hand at this auspicious event to receive an honorary doctoral degree from the university and also to bestow his name on the prize. I had the honor of meeting…
