Blog
Acushnet Supplier Improvement Program (Short version)
Long-time GainSeeker user and sporting goods giant Titleist needed a formalized system for rating raw materials and supplier performance for its golf ball manufacturing division, Acushnet. The company now tracks supplier quality for the top 80 percent of their purchasing dollars, in addition to tracking production quality data with great results.
Acushnet Supplier Improvement Program – Live Audio Podcast
Ken Welchman, director of quality, Golf Ball Operations, Acushnet Company (Titleist), gave a compelling presentation at the IQPC Six Sigma Summit in Orlando, Florida, in January 2008. It is a fascinating glimpse at what makes Titleist the #1 Ball in Golf. Titleist is a long-time GainSeeker user.
Walking the talk – Empowering people with data (Full version)
This article describes how the Six Sigma effort at Micropump and Hertzler Systems’ software solutions have come together to yield outstanding results. Micropump ‘Walks the Talk’ when it comes to providing data to drive decisions. Micropump, a unit of IDEX Corporation, is a leader in product innovation and also a leader in innovation in Operational Excellence.
GainSeeker® OPC solution boosts OEE from 65% to 75% (Short version)
A manufacturer of work-enabling devices for the transportation industry collected and analyzed downtime information in new ways using GainSeeker. The company now keeps with up with increased product demand without increasing production capacity (no capital investment) or staffing.
GainSeeker® OPC solution boosts OEE from 65% to 75% (Full version)
“In a data driven society, automated data collection is a must,” says John Foley, Network Administrator for Engineering Systems, of Pollak-APD (Actuator Products Division) a Stoneridge, Inc company. “The quicker we get information in hand, the better-off we are.” With this idea in mind, Hertzler Systems recently added some major new functionality to GainSeeker® SPC: support for OPC (Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control).
Down-time Analysis Reduces Waste
Over a six-month period, GainSeeker helped a department of a transmission components supplier reduce the number of work days by two that it needed to keep up with production demands each week. Meanwhile, output increased by 25% as defects and scrap were minimized.
Controlling Net Contents and Reducing Give-Away
Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC) has used Control Charts for years, but the culture of process control is now permeating the company like the smell of cookies baking. The cost savings attributed to not giving away unnecessary amounts of product is substantial.
McCormick Flavor Division reduces overpack and material costs by 10-30%
“Of all the plants in the McCormick Flavor Division, our plant is consistently at the top of the list for efficiency of material usage, and by a substantial margin. We trace that directly back to our use of the Hertzler [GainSeeker] software,” John Campbell, quality manager, McCormick Flavor Division of McCormick & Company, Inc.
Building a Six Sigma Measurement System in Financial Services
This case study looks at one company’s experience deploying and implementing a set of Six Sigma projects within the context of a robust data systems infrastructure – the establishment of which is a fundamental first step in developing an effective transactional Six Sigma initiative. With such an infrastructure in place, projects can proceed more rapidly and with greater success.
Social media and quality…
I ran across a thought-provoking post at Modern Servant Leader about how social media has shifted job responsibilities in the corporate world…. What does it mean to shift quality assurance from “par” to “peak?” Has the advent of social media shifted the focus of your quality system from “acceptable quality levels” to “peak performance?”
