My main desktop computer runs Ubuntu Linux. The default email client is called Evolution. A recent upgrade introduced a very cool feature. When I hit “Send” it looks for language in the email that might indicate I meant to include an attachment. If there is no attachment, it pops up this handy reminder: Maybe Microsoft [...]
Tom posed an interesting question on The Whiteboard. Has anybody else noticed that quality is taking a back seat lately due to the tough economic conditions? Things are tough everywhere, but I’m seeing more and more evidence of companies taking short cuts (to cut costs) where the end result is poor quality. I’ll say what [...]
AP IMPACT: Chinese drywall poses potential risks Although I hate to judge before all the facts are in, it’s beginning to look like a huge set of customers got burned (once again) by quality problems from China. Before I go any further, I have to say that I have spent loads of time in China. [...]
Staight left an interesting post on The Whiteboard a couple of days ago: You’ve discussed 5S but Novaces, for example, has a 6S system. I think it would be great if you talked about different consultant companies and their processes. Novaces, it turns out, is a consultancy apparently based out of New Orleans. In the [...]
In past posts, I have referred to an organization that implemented a “ morning market” as a way to manage their problem solving efforts. Synchronicity being what it is: Brian asked me to fill in some more details with a post on “ The Whiteboard” and Barb, the driving force in the organization in my [...]
Each day you are exposed to an unimaginable number of viruses and bacteria. Any one of them has the potential to overwhelm your body and kill you. But your immune system detects the foreign body, responds, swarms the source of infection, defeats it, and learns so that your immunity is actually strengthened in the process. [...]
Microsoft has an internal initiative to start running controlled experiments to determine what is actually better for users. I have no data (as I have no inside scoop from Microsoft, even though they are right down the road), but there is general opinion out there is that one of their latest efforts turned out to [...]
Watch out for drug names that look, sound alike – Yahoo! News One of the most common errors made in the health care industry is medication – giving the wrong stuff to the patient. There are a lot of root causes, and this article highlights one of them. I certainly understand that the commercial pharmaceutical [...]
Jim left a great post on The Whiteboard way too long ago. His problems seem to sum up to these statements: Every valve is hand made one by one in batches through several processes. …about a 10% turnover rate…Consequently we are always training new people…the supervisor needs to make sure the worker understands the job [...]
Corpus Christi, Texas: Hospital error blamed for more infant overdoses – Yahoo! News Key points of the story are: 14 babies received heparin overdoses while in intensive care. Two premature twins died, though it is unknown if this was the cause. …pharmacy workers at Christus Spohn Hospital South made what the hospital called a "mixing [...]