The following is a series of articles that longtime Quality columnist and blogger Jim Smith penned in 1979 to motivate employees.

In this example of a quality improvement project the performance of a catapult needed improvement due to a high degree of variation in the distance traveled by a projectile.

Increasing labor costs in China--which have seen increases in the range of 15 to 20% annually in recent years--are compelling many companies here in the United States to seek lower costs in Southeast Asia.

The federal government is not typically seen as a business, but Corpus Christi Army Depot,the Army’s rotary wing maintenance and repair facility has caught the attention of one high-level Defense official who thinks that this is exactly what the government needs.

The market for lumber is in a constant state of flux based on factors like the time of year and current customer demand, and mills such as Pleasant River Lumber need to be highly efficient to stay competitive.

LinkedIn Groupmembers had their own commentary to share about the article.

Six Sigma is a firm belief that we can all be nearly perfect, do near-perfect work all of the time and that we have the potential to be creative. Perhaps the industry most in need of this creativity is health care.

Saying “users-friendly” plural is admittedly an awkward mouthful and on the border of grammatically incorrect.  However, today most of the instruments, software and equipment your quality team uses is often shared with your entire manufacturing team.

Quality LinkedIn group members discuss Quality's latest GD&T column.