Certainly there are many types of teams, but in recent times it’s been similar to the alphabet soup of quality tools and techniques. Top executive teams, project teams, six sigma teams, cross-functional teams, improvement teams, self-directed teams, and ad hoc teams are some of the more recognizable forms.

Thanks to rising costs abroad, a need to protect intellectual property from foreign competitors, and a growing consumer preference for American goods, U.S. manufacturing is turning around.

The Trump Administration’s contentious relationship with Mexico, possible changes to trade agreements and its public focus on American manufacturing has led some to reconsider moving jobs south-of-the-border. But what’s often lost in the rhetoric and public relations arm wrestling is the growing trend of nearshoring.

The company, headquartered in Nottingham, is among the top 1 percent of the UK’s SMEs after being profiled in the London Stock Exchange Group’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain.

As CSO, Ben Maslen will be responsible for the development and execution of strategic initiatives to support Hexagon’s long-term growth and shareholder value.

The research draws on the responses of 1,000 senior executives and 869 quality professionals worldwide from a multitude of industries. The survey was conducted online in March 2017.

Socrates said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” Another great mind, Ed Morse (in his keynote address at this past year’s Coordinate Metrology Society Conference), said, “Data is only as good as what you can do with it.” If you were so inclined to put these two thoughts together, you could see the current dilemma regarding Big Data.

Have you noticed that your orange juice may not just be orange juice anymore? While tasty and nutritious, simple orange juice may not always be enough for our increasingly competitive world. Maybe it has added calcium, or extra vitamins; it may even have an optimized amount of pulp for your individual needs. 

Last month, we examined the supply chain. The management of this complex system is a daunting task. That’s why, with this month’s column, we will move the discussion from the system to the standard—specifically, the quality management standard, ISO 9001:2015.

Many quality professionals, including statisticians, have remained mired in their rapidly diminishing consultative roles of teaching statistical tools, analyzing data, designing experiments and performing internal consulting duties while having few leadership responsibilities and limited accountability.