Q-Cast

  If you want to get ahead, Quality columnist Jim Smith has thirteen tactics you can use, no matter where you work. We spoke to Jim about advice he received early in his career, tips for others in the field, and how Michael Jordan relates to the quality profession. For more information, read his “13 Steps to Get Ahead” feature in our September issue, his Face of Quality column, or his Jim Gem’s blog.

Bill Arbogast explains his perspective on quality, ISO 9001, and how to manage inevitable business changes. Read: The 2013 Quality Professional of the Year 

Managing Editor Michelle Bangert talks to Top Tool’s Duane Kari to learn more about the challenges in manufacturing today—both at Top Tool and in the industry overall—as well as the role of operators, the next standard for the company, and the drive for quality. Read: Tight Tolerances at Top Tool 

Sponsored by Learn tips for SPC success from Don Elmore, chief software architect at DataNet Quality Systems. Don is the inventor of a patent-pending methodology that enables quality practitioners, using statistical process control, to identify process improvements that will lower manufacturing costs. 

Quality recently spoke to the University of California-Berkeley’s David Dornfeld about how green manufacturing relates to quality. Dornfeld, a manufacturing engineering professor, recently edited a book on green manufacturing fundamentals. Here, he explains why it matters and discusses the increased attention given to manufacturing today. 

Michael Molnar became the first chief manufacturing officer in NIST history last August. Here, Molnar, the chief manufacturing officer at NIST and the director of the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, explains some of the issues in industry today and why he’s excited about students in manufacturing. 

Jesse Morse went into his first calibration lab in 1964. Quality met with Morse, president of Morse Metrology and longtime NCSL member, at the NCSL conference in Sacramento this year to discuss metrology trends. He explains the changes he’s seen over the years, and why he’s worried about the future of the industry.

During his keynote address at the NCSL International conference in Sacramento this year, James Rooney made the economic case for quality. Rooney, the chair of the American Society for Quality, or ASQ, sat down with Quality afterwards and described how investments in quality should drive a business.

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Education Foundation wants to highlight the opportunities in manufacturing. Rodney Grover, senior development officer at the SME Education Foundation, explains how the Edge Factor video series, EduFactor classroom videos, and a Reality Redesigned student design competition are trying to give the manufacturing industry a better image. For more information, visit www.edgefactor.com.

Sponsored By In an interview with Quality magazine, Otto Geiseman, business unit manager of Carl Zeiss IMT's Junker & Partner Detroit, describes how fixturing technology can help readers, and explains the fixturing market today. www.carlzeiss.com/metrology

According to a recent Quality reader survey, 97% of respondents said they used plug gages on the shop floor. Learn more about this classic gage.

Harry Moser wants to strengthen American manufacturing. In this podcast, he describes his success so far, his visit to the White House, and why he would like to see a new buzzword in manufacturing. For more information, visit www.qualitymag.com or www.reshorenow.org.

If you want to calculate how much it costs to make something in the United States, Harry Moser can help. In our second podcast with Quality's 2012 Professional of the Year, Moser explains how to use his Total Cost of Ownership software. For more information, visit www.qualitymag.com or www.reshorenow.org.

In our second podcast with MBX Systems (Wauconda, IL), President Jill Bellak explains today's business climate, plans for growth, and what it's like to work there.

MBX Systems (Wauconda, IL) manufactures computer server appliances. They sell to software companies who want to store their product in an appliance instead of in the cloud. But when you compete against much larger companies as well as offshore component manufacturers, you have to find your place in the market. And MBX competes on quality. Jill Bellak, the company's president, explains their inspection process.

Jack McDougle John Spovieri, editor in chief of our sister magazine, Assembly, recently had the opportunity to meet with Jack McDougle of the Council on Competitiveness, and keynote speaker at the upcoming Tech Manufacturer Expo, about the current state of U.S. manufacturing, and how it might get back on track.

Sponsored By The importance of ISO 50001. Interview with Carolyn Campbell, LRQA Lead Assessor and Energy Management Expert ISO 50001 is the new Global Energy Management System Standard (EnMS). In this LRQA podcast, Carolyn Campbell, LRQA lead assessor and energy management expert, talks about the importance of ISO 50001 to organizations--irrespective of size, sector or location. Carolyn also discusses the ability of ISO 50001 to address the global energy supply, how the standard helps organizations improve energy efficiency and performance, and the link between ISO 50001 and ISO 14001. 

Sponsored By In an interview with Quality Magazine, Devin Ellis and Chris Richardson, both of CyberMetrics Corporation, tout the benefits of calibration management software. For more information, visit www.cybermetrics.com.

Sponsored By In an interview with Quality magazine, Sidney Vianna, the director of aviation, space and defense with DNV Business Assurance shared insight on the deadline and changes in the aerospace standard, AS9100 Revision C. For more information, click here. 

Sponsored By In a recent interview with Quality magazine, Paul Keller, president of Quality America and author of McGraw-Hill's newly released SPC Demystified, shared insight into why SPC is crucial for quality management systems.