Consolidation is something we’ve all done. It’s efficient and can help save time and space and naturally leads to greater organization and productivity.

Here’s a thought: what if you could also perform multiple measuring tasks at the same time, on the same part with one machine, right there on the factory floor?

As the adage says, when you only have a hammer in your toolbox, every problem looks like a nail. Until this time, QA pros only had hammers.

To drive change in any business process you must first assess your existing program. Is it inclusive? Is the program delivering results? How can it be improved and how can success be measured?

This may sound familiar. Manufacturer’s efforts to do more for less have resulted in the purchasing department sourcing products to the cheapest provider. Such cost-cutting certainly makes purchasing groups look like heroes to management, but the effect on manufacturing and quality may be just the opposite.

“Lean isn’t going to help you if your quality is bad. Why just make bad stuff faster?”

We’ve all heard about or experienced the blame game. The customer is upset because a product doesn’t meet expectations. Once notified, the manufacturer apologizes, makes restoration, but blames a supplier for poor workmanship. Soon the blame game between manufacturer and supplier restricts the flow of meaningful information.

Problem solving is finding the root cause of a problem and preventing it from ever happening again.