“Zero defect quality control”—what do you think of when you hear that phrase? Do you think of “No headaches today?” or “No one screaming at me today?” Or does is it call to mind Lean/Six Sigma? Preventing escapes? Maybe “improvement” in your manufacturing processes in general? Or maybe you think of it in a purely psychological/motivational … Continued

Customer complaints are a part of doing business—and one of your best sources of valuable information. When people who spend money with your organization are giving you feedback, be glad they care enough to say something. The customers who do not say anything and take their business elsewhere are important too, but a complaint is … Continued

In the age of electronic data, it’s shocking that 75 percent of manufacturers still rely on manual data collection. While it may seem cheaper to manually administer quality and safety programs on paper, it is not efficient and leaves much room for error. When data collection is not done properly, records can be lost or … Continued

As I mentioned in Part I of this blog two-parter, standardization in manufacturing is a dirty word to some folks. It seems “unattainable,” and therefore not worth discussing. But I’m here to say that standardization is attainable, so once again, let’s discuss. For Part II, I’m going to dive into the challenges presented by standardization…and how we … Continued

Standardization. Is that a dirty word to you? Is that something you consider “unattainable,” and therefore not worth discussing? Is standardization the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? What is it? Why is standardization important for manufacturers? And what are the benefits of standardization for your organization? Let’s discuss. In general, the … Continued

When someone says the word “escape,” what comes to mind for you? Is it a last-minute meeting that suddenly “comes up,” allowing you to avoid a visit to your least-favorite relative?  Or maybe the opposite; a family emergency allows you to escape a meeting you were just dreading? Is it the latest fad, the Escape … Continued

Product quality reports are dead; long live the SPC dashboard! Delivering information to the user is key to your manufacturing quality control efforts. I think there are three very important aspects to dashboards that make them invaluable to manufacturers: a visually compelling delivery system, reporting made easy (with the help of a centralized data repository), … Continued