Plant Reliability: Six Sigma FMEA

Reliability excellence builds on simple foundation of Six Sigma concepts, such as failure mode and effects analysis ...

... "Patterned after Six Sigma, the concept of reliability excellence includes tools specifically designed to identify and manage risks, including environmental, health and safety. The process begins with a thorough simplified failure modes and effects analysis (SFMEA). " ...

Via Plant Services: Reliability

Six Sigma Mission Excellence

Mission excellence will be based on a foundation of Six Sigma in this new organizational model. ...

... "Northrop Grumman Corporation has appointed Sonya Sepahban to lead the newly created Mission Excellence organization at its Space Technology sector. The organization combines Six Sigma, Safety & Mission Assurance, and Chief Engineer functions into one organization. Sepahban will be responsible for advancing the maturity and performance of the sector's processes, increasing the cross-functional focus on production reliability and quality, and the focus on customer deliverable products. The new organization will emphasize collaboration across the value stream to ensure mission success with stable, predictable processes to ensure flawless execution. " ...

Via Northrop Grumman: Northrop Grumman Assigns Sonya Sepahban to Lead Space Technology Sector's New Mission Excellence Organization

Army Depot Lean SixSigma ...

RRAD, Red River Army Depot, supports the Army with military hardware and technical support during times of conflict. The RRAD is experiencing a peak workload during the current Iraq and Afghanistan engagements requiring the depot to operate at unpredicted levels of efficiency. It is using Lean Six Sigma as a methodology to decrease its cycle times and improve overall quality of services. ...

... "RRAD has risen to these challenges utilizing innovative methods of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma tool sets to increase efficiency, reduce waste, improve quality and reliability of our processes and provide the Army with more equipment for the limited dollars available. " ...

Via Texarkana Gazette: Red River Army Depot: By their side ...

TPM Total Productive Maintenance: A Challenge

Incentivize your total productive maintenance initiative to position for success with computerized maintenance management systems. ...

... "Implementation of any major change such as Lean, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) or a new CMMS can be difficult at best, especially given industry's dismal track record of success. " ...

Via Plant Services: Incentive-based CMMS implementation ...

Quality Systems Leader: Lean Manufacturing Experience ...

ABB appoints quality systems leader ...

... "Quality Systems will continue its focus on developing data-driven and customer-focused capabilities that result in measurable improvements in product, process & supplier quality, customer support & responsiveness, and reliability science & technology, said Hepperla, in announcing the appointment. This is critical to our continued growth and business success. Beaudet most recently was director of Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement at Waukesha Engine/Dresser in Waukesha, WI. In this role, he was responsible for leading the implementation of Lean manufacturing and quality systems, and had direct responsibility for manufacturing engineering, product engineering and technical support functions. " ...

Via ABB Group: Beaudet named vice president, Quality Systems, ABB Automation Products, Low-Voltage Drives ...

Root Cause Analysis RCA Reference Materials ...

SKF discusses techniques for root cause analysis in the reliability and asset management field. White paper provides additional reference materials to support further learning. SKF also provide its Reliability Maintenance Institute as a resource. ...

... "Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a structured investigative process that aims to identify the true cause of a problem, and the actions necessary to eliminate, mitigate that problem.. The trigger to start an RCA can be a major accident or incident, or an overall improvement program in the areas of safety, quality, or production/maintenance. " ...

Root Cause Analysis RCA Reference: Via SKF Aptitude Exchange: Root Cause Analysis Primer ...

SKF also provides reliability services for customers, which includes root cause analysis. ...

SKF Half-year report 2006: "SKF signed a performance-based IMS contract with Valero Energy Corporation, the largest refiner in North America, for the Valero Paulsboro Refinery located in Greenwich Township, NJ. With this agreement, Valero extends the application of performance-based contracts from mechanical seals to pumps. Valero's Paulsboro Refinery is contracting resources from SKF that will be used for reliability related projects such as training, engineering, root cause failure analysis, and reliability centered maintenance. The scope of the contract also covers a one-time investment in condition monitoring hard- and software technology. "

Lean Conference: Maintenance Focus ...

Upcoming conference focuses on lean in the maintenance business process ...

... "Reliable Plant magazine is pleased to present the 2nd annual Lean Tools for Maintenance and Reliability Conference, September 18-20, 2006 at the world-renowned Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel. " ...

Via Reliable Plant: World-class speakers highlight 2006 Lean Tools conference ...

SixSigma Recognition: FreudenburgNOK by Ford ...

Freudenburg NOK is recognized by Ford for its innovative use of DFSS Design for Six Sigma in the pre-production process of automotive component manufacturing. ...

... "In honor of the Technology Specialist's quality efforts, Freudenberg-NOK recently received a Recognition of Achievement Award from Ford Motor Co. for its consumer-driven Six Sigma accomplishments. The award is part of the automaker's World Excellence Awards program, which recognizes suppliers who not only achieve the highest levels of cost, quality and delivery, but who also embrace the vision to build Ford's legacy and drive innovation to new heights. The Recognition of Achievement Award, earned by only nine suppliers in 2005, honors suppliers who impact customer satisfaction by providing significant contributions in key designated areas including: environmental leadership, consumer-focused technology and consumer-driven Six Sigma.

Freudenberg-NOK's Advanced Vibration and Acoustics (AVA) group was charged with optimizing the sealing isolation system and the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) characteristics for a cam cover design. AVA has developed techniques to synergize sealing and NVH, which are typically opposing phenomena. Utilizing Design for Six Sigma techniques, the Freudenberg-NOK engineering team improved the product pre-production, also optimizing cost savings and increasing customer value. Six Sigma, which focuses on measuring quality and allowing for no more than 3.4 defects per million parts, is one of the pillars of Freudenberg-NOK's Growtth program focused on superior quality, service and productivity. Freudenberg-NOK has 61 Six Sigma black belts on staff and has completed 155 Six Sigma projects to drive superior quality, enhance reliability and help automakers and tier one customers to reduce costs. " ...

Six Sigma Recognition: FreudenburgNOK by Ford: Via Freudenberg-NOK: Freudenberg-NOK Recognized for Six Sigma Achievement by Ford Motor Co ...

Lean Management: Reliability Centered Maintenance Program at BART ...

Wyle Laboratories will support Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in its maintenance improvement program for the mass transit system rolling assets. ...

... "Wyle will use its expertise in applying Versatile Asset Management System principles for equipment maintenance, including Reliability Centered Maintenance process improvement techniques, a leading standard that has been used in the aerospace industry for almost 30 years. We're excited to use our technical expertise to help the Bay Area protect such an important public investment and to help BART achieve its future capacity goals, said Kevin Balsan, Wyle's project manager. This contract win is part of Wyle's business objective to provide its Reliability Centered Maintenance and Lean capabilities to new markets.

Wyle employs a team of certified maintenance and reliability professionals skilled in the Versatile Asset Management System tools of Reliability Centered Maintenance, Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma, as well as other process improvement methods. That team works at Wyle's Jacksonville, Fla., location, where management and oversight of the analysis for the BART maintenance program will take place. LEAN and Reliability Centered Maintenance consultants from Wyle will also work on-site at BART's various San Francisco Bay Area locations. " ...

Lean Management: Reliability Centered Maintenance Program: Via Wyle Laboratories: Wyle Laboratories Awarded $6.9 Million Contract to Support BART Program

Boeing Lean Manufacturing: Final 717 Aircraft ...

Boeing lean manufacturing program continues, as the final 717's are delivered ...

... "Our production system is an industry benchmark because of the lean manufacturing and employee involvement practices we pioneered on the 717 in Long Beach, said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally. The 717 has forever redefined how we build airplanes. We're extremely proud of the airplane, our employees and our many supplier partners on the program. The program was launched by an order from AirTran Airways in 1995, and the airplane quickly became renowned by customers for its excellent economics, performance and reliability. Based on the Douglas DC-9 and launched as the McDonnell Douglas MD-95, the 100-seater was renamed the Boeing 717 after McDonnell Douglas and Boeing merged in 1997. " ...

Boeing Lean Manufacturing: Final 717 Aircraft: Via Boeing: Boeing Delivers Final 717s; Concludes Commercial Production in California ...

SixSigma Energy Executive ...

GE leader achieves executive position at wholesale energy company. ...

... "At ABB, Mr. Mukerji had global responsibility for ABB's Power Technology consulting services, and he drafted ABB's position paper on grid reliability after the 2003 blackout. He also led ABB's $500 million global Utility Partner Business, overseeing 3,000 employees in 35 countries. At GE, Mr. Mukerji implemented the Six Sigma quality improvement program in the Power Systems Energy Consulting organization, and helped establish the GEMAPS (Market Assessment and Portfolio Strategies) software as an industry standard tool for evaluating deregulated power markets. He also became the first GE Power Systems Energy Consulting employee to be promoted to General Manager from within the department. " ...

SixSigma Energy Executive: Via NYISO: NYISO Announces New VP of Market Structures: Rana Mukerji joins the NYISO's Senior Management Team ...

Six Sigma Reliability Measures Success ...

Rich Weissman explores successful leadership methods, that leverage six sigma to drive reliability. ...

... "Mainstream quality related concepts such as statistical process control (SPC) and six sigma all work to identify and reduce waste and variation in a process, resulting in improved reliability and associated cost containment and management. Reliable products are cost effective, reducing service and warranty expense and improving customer satisfaction. Reliability is good business. " ...

The Manufacturer.com - Relying on leadership ...

Lean Manufacturing Hangzhou Facility: GE Energy ...

GE Energy opens hydro power manufacturing and technical service center in Hangzhou, China, where the principles of lean manufacturing will be embraced. Lean manufacturing is about managing the right material, to the right place at the right time, in the exact quantity while preventing waste. Lean manufacturing techniques also promote flexibility and readiness to change ...

Via International Water Power and Dam Construction: GE opens Chinese hydro power facility ...

... "The Hangzhou facility implements the principles of lean manufacturing and zero inventory. For example, in the previous location, GE's generator bar and pole manufacturing lines were split into different places. " ...

GE Energy is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technology, with 2004 revenues of $17.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, transmission and distribution, distributed power and energy rental industries.



GE Energy experience in China: GE Energy has been active in China for more than 90 years, supplying 70 steam turbines, 165 gas turbines, 97 wind turbines, 180 hydropower units and 300 compressors as well as total engineering solutions to help the country improve the reliability and availability of its energy production and transmission equipment. In addition to GE Liming and GESTT, GE Energy has three other joint ventures in China: GE-HPEC-NTC Energy Services Co., Ltd. in Qinhuangdao, GE Hydro Equipment Asia Co. Ltd. in Hangzhou, and Xin Hua Control Engineering Co., Ltd. in Shanghai. GE Energy also has a research and development team at the GE China Technology Center in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-tech Zone. Current GE Energy activities in China include gas turbine power plant construction, hydro, oil and gas and renewable energy projects, as well as preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Under a contract of US$ 5.4 million, GE will provide two 50-megawatt Francis hydro turbines and generators, spare parts, accessories, technical service and installation supervision. The equipment will be supplied from GE Hydro Asia's manufacturing plant in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. GE Hydro Asia was formed in 2003 when GE Energy acquired majority ownership of Kvaerner Power Equipment Co., Ltd. of Hangzhou, one of the leading suppliers of hydropower generation equipment in China.

The equipment will be manufactured by GE Hydro Asia Co., Ltd. (GEHA) in Hangzhou, China. This company was formed in 2003 when GE Energy acquired majority ownership of Kvaerner Power Equipment Co., Ltd. (Kvaerner Hangfa) of Hangzhou, one of the leading suppliers of hydropower generation equipment in China. The first turbine-generator unit and related spare parts will be shipped from Hangzhou in May of 2005 and the last unit will be shipped in May of 2006. The first unit is scheduled to start commercial operation by September 30, 2006, the second unit by December 30, 2006 and the third unit by March 30, 2007.

SixSigma Quality Supplier: Belton Group ...

SixSigma Quality Supplier: Belton Group: Via Seagate: Seagate Technology News Release Seagate Technology Honors Supply Chain Excellence for 2005

Belton Group recognized a Six Sigma quality supplier by Seagate ...

... "The Belton Group, a leading manufacturer of Arm Coil Assembly and Hook-Up, was this year's Outstanding Supplier in the Mechanical Components category. In addition to delivering on aggressive volume requirements, Belton consistently outperformed its peers to meet Seagate's quality, Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing and technology metrics. " ...

Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacturing and marketing of hard disc drives, providing products for a wide-range of Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing, and Consumer Electronics applications. Seagate's business model leverages technology leadership and world-class manufacturing to deliver industry-leading innovation and quality to its global customers, and to be the low cost producer in all markets in which it participates. The company is committed to providing award-winning products, customer support and reliability to meet the world's growing demand for information storage.

SixSigma DFSS Disciplined Methodology ...

SixSigma DFSS Disciplined Methodology: Microvision: Alexander Tokman Joins Microvision as President and Chief Operating Officer; Former GE Executive Strengthens Management Team ...

... "As one of GE's Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) pioneers, Mr. Tokman drove the quality culture change across GE Healthcare as a certified Black Belt and Master Black Belt in the late 90's. Six Sigma and DFSS are highly disciplined methodologies, processes and tools that focus on developing and delivering products and services that are characterized by high performance, quality, reliability and serviceability all of which result in higher customer acceptance and satisfaction. Mr. Tokman has a both a M.S. and B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. " ...

Headquartered in Bothell, Washington, Microvision, Inc. is the world leader in the development of high-resolution displays and imaging systems based on the company's proprietary silicon micro-mirror technology. The company's technology has applications in a broad range of military, medical, industrial, professional and consumer products. Microvision and its scanned beam display technology have been recognized by IEEE Spectrum Magazine as one of "10 tech companies for the next 10 years."

Six Sigma Operational Improvement Program ...

Six Sigma Operational Improvement Program: MDS Inc.: John Rogers Accelerates CEO Transition ...

... "Mr. DeFalco transformed declining sales into growth, launched over 30 new products and successfully completed a number of acquisitions and joint ventures. Mr. DeFalco's execution of a Six Sigma operational improvement program at the company was recognized with the Today's Chemist at Work Award for Quality in 2001 and the Award for Technical Innovation in 2002. " ...

MDS Inc. has more than 9,000 highly skilled people in 27 countries. We provide a diverse range of superior products and services to increase our customers' speed, precision and productivity in the drug development and disease diagnosis processes. We are a global, values-driven health and life sciences company, recognized for our reliability and collaborative relationships as we help create better outcomes in the treatment of disease.

Six Sigma Product Standards ...

Six Sigma Product Standards: Motorola and ViaStar Energy to Provide Remote Meter Reading Solution for Residential Water Customers: Wireless Automation to Help Control Costs for Utilities ...

Motorola partners to deliver wireless meter reading product that meets rigorous Six Sigma quality manufacturing standards ...

... "Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) announced today it has selected ViaStar Energy, Inc. as the master distributor for its Motorola® Remote Meter Reading Solution for North American residential water market customers. The wireless Automated Meter Reading (AMR) solution, which enables utilities to remotely read meters multiple times per day and access other important daily interval data from a distance, was developed to help utilities control costs and decrease operating expenses. ... A completely scalable, end-to-end solution for utilities, the system components offer a superb level of quality and reliability, including: Designed to Six Sigma manufacturing standard; Operation in urban and rural environments of all sizes; Compatible with Motorola and other existing networks; Rates competitive with drive-by metering technology; Two-year warranty on all hardware " ...

ViaStar Energy, Inc. is a privately held utility management company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ViaStar’s business is focused upon implementing meters and metering technology for utilities. ViaStar provides a complete spectrum of services from technology provisioning, implementation and back office read, billing and customer care.

Motorola is a Fortune 100 global communications leader that provides seamless mobility products and solutions across broadband, embedded systems and wireless networks. In your home, auto, workplace and all spaces in between, seamless mobility means you can reach the people, things and information you need, anywhere, anytime. Seamless mobility harnesses the power of technology convergence and enables smarter, faster, cost-effective and flexible communication. Motorola had sales of US $31.3 billion in 2004.

Quality Improvement: Various Processes

GTB Study Guide - Section 4 (QA)

... "Management - Quality Improvement: The purpose of this criteria is to exemplify the types of processes used to assure or improve quality. Key features are inherent in processes that: prevent problems, improve quality, identify trends that impact quality (positively and negatively), raise performance standards and measures (continuous improvement), encourage staff to suggest improvements, resolve problems and causes commensurate with their significance, demonstrate management support and involvement, control defective items to prevent inadvertent reuse, and document their disposition (such as repair and retesting, or disposal). Examples of processes include: peer reviews, design reviews, probabilistic risk assessments, safety analysis reports, reliability analyses, process variability analyses, failure rate reviews, decreasing corrective maintenance, increasing preventative maintenance resources. " ...

DOE Design of Experiments

ACC: Acquisition Community Connection

... "Design of Experiments is a structured, organized method for determining the relationship between factors and the output of a process. This knowledge allows engineers to optimize the design (robust) and improve quality, reliability, performance while reducing costs." ...

Six Sigma Career Experience Supports Operational Excellence Consulting Practice ...

Six Sigma Career Experience Supports Operational Excellence Practice: General Physics Corporation Expands Operational Excellence ...

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... He holds a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Houston and a Six Sigma certification from Villanova University. ...

... Global performance improvement solutions provider General Physics Corporation (GP), a subsidiary of GP Strategies Corporation (NYSE:GPX), welcomes four Principal Consultants to its operational excellence consulting division, GP Deltapoint. Joining GP Deltapoint are Greg Como, Greg Heard, Brian Jacobs, and Ken Jaede. Mr. Como joins GP Deltapoint after running his own successful maintenance and reliability consulting firm for the past three years. During this time, working with his customer Shell Oil Company, he implemented a Total Asset Healthcare improvement process, which included Work Management, Production Optimization, and Operator Performed Maintenance. These key strategies focused on improving asset healthcare reliability for on-shore and off-shore production facilities. He has also served as the Director of Operations and Maintenance for Enron Energy Services and as the Operations Manager for HSB Reliability Technologies. He holds a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Houston and a Six Sigma certification from Villanova University. ...

GP is the principal operating subsidiary of GP Strategies Corporation (NYSE:GPX). GP is a global provider of training, e-Learning solutions, management consulting and engineering services, improving the effectiveness of organizations by customizing solutions to meet the specific needs of clients. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, manufacturing, process and energy industries, and other commercial and government customers.

Baldrige Award TQM at TI

Baldrige Award Recipients--Texas Instruments Inc., Defense Systems & Electronics Group ...

... "The Texas Instruments Defense Systems & Electronics Group (TI-DSEG) (now Raytheon TI Systems) has made total quality basic to its business. The Dallas-based maker of precision-guided weapons and other advanced defense technology believes that its full-scale conversion to total quality management (TQM) is making it a stronger competitor, one up to building market share in a contracting defense industry. Aiming to achieve six sigma* quality by 1995 and to reduce product development time by 25 percent each year, TI-DSEG is reaping the benefits of accelerating quality-improvement efforts that began in the early 1980s. The reliability of TI-DSEG systems exceeds the specifications of its Defense Department customers, in several instances by four or five times. Effective strategic planning, wide use of concurrent engineering methods, and strong relationships with key suppliers have helped TI-DSEG penetrate new defense markets, while increasing its share in five of the company's six existing markets." ...

DFSS in Advanced Vehicles and Fuels Research ...

NREL: Advanced Vehicles and Fuels Research - Modeling and Analysis Capabilities

... "Our main focus with DFV was to build virtual prototypes such as ProEngineer that integrate CAD, CAE, topology optimization, design for six-sigma quality, and reliability based optimization techniques such as ANSYS. These tools can thermally analyze batteries, model fuel processor fluids, and perform structural investigation and topology optimization of fuel cell components." ...

DFSS Techniques in Development ...

DOE Building Technologies Program: Compact Fluorescent Lamp-Ballast in a Socket

... "To aid in the development of an optimum product, the GE Global Research and the LRC team will determine the following characteristics of two or three different types of existing amalgam and non-amalgam CFLs: light distribution and usable light on a table or chair situated near the portable fixture; color shift with dimming; efficacy drop with dimming; and warm-up characteristics. Then, GE Global Research will use consumer research data, regulatory requirements, and lamp behavior data to develop an optimum ballast and identify a lamp to best meet customers' expectations. The GE Global Research staff's technical work to achieve this goal will include:

Thermal modeling and management
Ballast circuit design
Identification of the optimum lamp distributors
Packaging of electronic circuits
Design for Six Sigma, including design for reliability and for manufacturability
Performance verification " ...

Six Sigma E-Maintenance ...

Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS)-Internet-based intelligent e-maintenance is key to achieve global leadership in six-sigma product aftermarket service and productivity for the 21st century ...

... "The vision for the Center is to achieve near-zero breakdowns of product and system through advancements in internet-based intelligent performance-degradation monitoring and proactive maintenance technologies, including innovations in machine performance degradation and reliability assessment, prognostics and diagnostics, smart service NetWare and agent, and self-maintenance intelligence. The Center's mission is to serve as a center of excellence for creation and dissemination of a systematic body of knowledge in intelligent maintenance systems and, ultimately, to impact next-generation product and service systems with six-sigma quality." ...

Application of Lean Techniques Show Dramatic Assembly Time Decrease ...

Application of Lean Techniques Show Dramatic Assembly Time Decrease: Boeing Reduces 737 Airplane's Final-Assembly Time by 50 Percent

From Boeing ... ... The Boeing (NYSE: BA) Next-Generation 737 airplane is making history again as the application of lean manufacturing techniques gives ...

... The Boeing (NYSE: BA) Next-Generation 737 airplane is making history again as the application of lean manufacturing techniques gives it the shortest final-assembly time of any large commercial jet. The 737, the world's most popular commercial airplane model, is now assembled in 11 days at the company's Renton, Wash., facility. That's a 50 percent reduction since lean techniques were introduced there in late 1999. ...

The 737 - a short-to-medium-range airplane - is based on a key Boeing philosophy of delivering added value to airlines with reliability, simplicity and reduced operating and maintenance costs. The Boeing Company provides products and services to customers in 145 countries. Boeing has been the premier manufacturer of commercial jetliners for more than 40 years and is a global market leader in military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight, and launch systems and services. Total company revenues for 2003 were $50.5 billion. Boeing employs nearly156,000 people in 70 countries and 48 states within the United States, with major operations in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, southern California, Wichita and St. Louis.

Medical Manufacturing Excellence ...

Medical Manufacturing Excellence: ForHealth Technologies Transitions Manufacturing of IntelliFill iv ...

From PR Newswire (press release) ... Mobility. Its capabilities stem from Delphi's vast technology base, product development expertise and manufacturing excellence. ...

... ForHealth Technologies, Inc., a leader in automated devices for intravenous drug preparation, announced today that the company has successfully completed the transition for the manufacture of its flagship robotic technology IntelliFill i.v. from a California-based contract manufacturer to Delphi Medical Systems, a subsidiary of Delphi Corp. ...

Founded in 1998, ForHealth Technologies, Inc. (http://www.fhtinc.com), a leader in automated devices for intravenous drug preparation, is committed to increasing patient safety and decreasing operating costs by automating the preparation of small-volume injectable medications in healthcare organizations worldwide. Offering safety, accuracy, efficiency and reliability, our IntelliFill i.v. automates the preparation of IV syringes, greatly enhancing both the safety of patients and the efficiency of hospital pharmacies.

Delphi Medical Systems: Delphi Medical Systems is a world-class provider of technology, products, and product development and manufacturing for Dialysis, Infusion, Respiratory Care, Vital Signs Monitoring and Power Mobility. Its capabilities stem from Delphi's vast technology base, product development expertise and manufacturing excellence.

Additional medical manufacturing excellence resources ...

Medical Manufacturing Experts - Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics: Put our Global Medical Manufacturing Capabilities to Work for You. Our tradition of manufacturing excellence goes back more than 300 years through our ...

SME 2001 papers and presentations: Interaction: A means for Stimulating Manufacturing Excellence (Keynote presentation ... product development within SMEs in the medical manufacturing sector Download ...

Medevoice: Adrianic at the centre of medical manufacturing excellence. Adrianic Limited was established in November 2002 by Adrian Tucker and ...

Team: and operate Sterile Design, the pioneering medical manufacturing company specializing ... of a new trade association to promote standards of excellence for medical ...

Market ready medical investment with $100s of millions revenue: Formed in 1992, Pyng Medical strives to achieve excellence in research, development, design engineering, and medical manufacturing. ...

Supporting Medical Device Manufacturing: “The European medical market is characterised by significant ‘hot-spots’ of research, design and manufacturing excellence stretching from Galway in ...

Six Sigma Process Excellence in Support: IDX Earns ...

Six Sigma Process Excellence in Support: IDX Earns Prestigious Support Center Practices (SCP) Certification ...

From PR Newswire (press release) ... of our customer partnerships, and I'm proud of our team's hard work in this arena, both in pursuing SCP certification and in adopting Six Sigma processes. ...

... IDX Systems Corporation announced today that IDX Carecast(TM) has been re-certified under the prestigious Support Center Practices (SCP) Certification program. Carecast achieved re-certification after an extensive annual audit of the IDX Seattle, Washington support center. SCP Certification quantifies the effectiveness of customer support based upon a stringent set of performance standards and represents best practices in the industry. ...

Carecast is a patient-centric clinical information technology system that combines core clinical processes for orders, results, pharmacy and clinical documentation with administrative and financial processes for scheduling, registration, admitting, charging and billing. Carecast creates a longitudinal patient record that can be shared among providers throughout the healthcare enterprise and enables rapid access to patient records across the care continuum, from admission to discharge, including inpatient and ambulatory care. In addition to providing better care for individual patients, many Carecast customers are using the system as the basis for community health initiatives that can improve care for entire populations. Developed by and for providers -- in collaboration with leading hospitals, clinicians and healthcare executives -- Carecast builds on more than 25 years of innovation with the IDX LastWord(R) enterprise system. The system delivers unsurpassed response time and reliability to support fast-paced clinical environments. Customers include leading healthcare organizations in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Six Sigma Improvement Opportunity: University of New Orleans, College of Engineering Study on Continuous Improvement of Drydocking Management

From The Office of Naval Research's Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) Program ...

... "The results of the survey identified the need for standardization, performance metrics, better risk and ship condition (e.g., corrosion in the hull, plating in the cargo spaces, etc.) assessment, and new reliability and maintenance management strategies. Standardization is needed for items and units for pricing, reporting progress, and specification formats. Performance metrics are not currently used in making decisions. Better risk assessment is needed for scheduling and selecting shipyards as well as better ship condition assessment to create more precise specifications. Six Sigma can be implemented as a management strategy." ...

Event Tree Analysis ETA: Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Complex Systems

From Argonne National Laboratory ...

... "PRA is used to estimate the probability of the failure of a system and to determine what the most likely contributors are to that failure. It is also used in system-reliability assessments. When applied at an early stage of a project, PRA can be a valuable design tool. At later stages, PRA can be used to guide the acceptance testing of a system. Capabilities exist for a computerized fault tree and event tree analysis, common cause analysis, and importance analysis. These techniques have been used in the design of nuclear reactors, including the assessment of the effect on risk and reliability of plant modifications, equipment aging, procedure changes, and changes in technical specifications; and also to guide the design of advanced transportation vehicles. " ...

Manufacturing Excellence Committment: General Cable and Panduit Announce Alliance and Introduce PanGen ...

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... "With our joint commitment to research and development, manufacturing excellence, customer satisfaction and ongoing industry leadership, we believe we bring ...

... General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC), a global manufacturer of copper, aluminum and fiber optic wire and cable, and Panduit, a world leader in network and electrical solutions, today announced a new alliance and the introduction of the PanGen(TM) Structured Cabling Solutions designed to meet diverse network infrastructure requirements. The new General Cable and Panduit alliance brings together two respected leaders in cable and connectivity to provide a comprehensive line of structured cabling solutions. The strength of this new alliance includes research and product development along with extensive joint marketing and sales programs, which will bring enhanced customer-focused products and services to the market. ...

PANDUIT is a global leader in wiring and communication products, delivering end-to-end solutions in support of demanding electrical and networking requirements. The PANDUIT solution is built on a foundation of quality and durability to ensure maximum reliability and performance. Continually focused on market needs, research and development enables PANDUIT to provide innovative products that meet today's applications and environments. This provides leading-edge solutions that allow businesses to move forward with their strategic objectives.

GENERAL CABLE, headquartered in Highland Heights, Kentucky, is a leader in the development, design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of copper, aluminum and fiber optic wire and cable products for the energy, industrial, specialty and communications markets. The Company offers competitive strengths in such areas as breadth of product line, brand recognition, distribution and logistics, sales and service and operating efficiency. Energy cables include low-, medium- and high-voltage power distribution and power transmission products. The Industrial and Specialty segment is comprised of application-specific cables for uses such as electrical power generation (traditional fuels, alternative and renewable sources, and distributed generation), the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, mining, industrial automation, marine, military and aerospace applications, power applications in the telecommunications industry, and other key industrial segments. Communications wire and cable products transmit low-voltage signals for voice, data, video and control applications.

DFSS Customer Process: PerkinElmer Fluid Sciences Announces Plans to Expand Asian ...

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... The product platform approach utilizes Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and allows the company to qualify to a broad spectrum of customer requirements very ...

PerkinElmer uses DFSS method to develop the voice of the customer ...

... PerkinElmer Fluid Sciences, a global technology leader providing critical sealing and fluid containment products and services, today announced its plans to offer "sheet metal" V-Band style rigid joints, including couplings and flanges. The product will be manufactured in their existing Asian factory. This is part of a continuing effort to expand their product portfolio, offer customers a greater choice in pneumatic systems and components, and continue to lower the costs to its customers. ...

PerkinElmer Fluid Sciences has been offering sealing solutions to the aerospace, energy, semiconductor and industrial turbomachinery markets for more than 50 years. Although sealing applications vary widely, PerkinElmer Fluid Sciences has gained a reputation for solving problems containing combinations of high pressure, speed, and temperature using a variety of products, including static seals, dynamic seals, bellows devices, and pneumatic joints. Continuing the PerkinElmer product innovation heritage, they have recently introduced proven aerospace and power generation brush seal technology and demonstrated significant improvement to turbomachinery sealing efficiencies. PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI) is a global technology leader focused in the following businesses - Life and Analytical Sciences, Optoelectronics and Fluid Sciences. Combining operational excellence and technology expertise with an intimate understanding of our customers' needs, PerkinElmer provides products and services in health sciences and other advanced technology markets that require innovation, precision and reliability. The Company serves customers in more than 125 countries, and is a component of the S&P 500 Index.

Reliability Models: Mapping between math for reliability and software reliability ...

From NASA SATC, Software Assurance Testing Center, Dolores Wallace and Charles Coleman, Manager, SATC, write ...

... "Hardware and Software Reliability. Although hardware and software differ, they share a sufficient number of similarities that the mathematics used in hardware reliability modeling have been applied to software reliability modeling. This task examines those models and describes how they may be practical for application to projects at Goddard Space Flight Center. The task also resulted in improvements to one model to allow for fault correction. " ...

The Software Assurance Technology Center (SATC) was established in 1992 in the Systems Reliability and Safety Office at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The SATC was founded to become a NASA center of excellence in software assurance, dedicated to making measurable improvement in the quality and reliability of software developed for GSFC and NASA. Funding for the SATC comes from the NASA Software IV&V Facility in Fairmont, WV for technical and research tasks, and from NASA software development projects for direct technical support.

Reliability Models

From DACS ...

... "Reliability Models: Models have been developed to measure, estimate and predict the reliability of computer software. Software reliability has received much attention because reliability has always had obvious effects on highly visible aspects of software development: testing prior to delivery, and maintenance. Early efforts focused on testing primarily because that is when the problems appeared. As technology has matured,