ISO and Six Sigma

Over the past summer I had a coop job with Neaton Auto which is a mold injection supplier for Honda and Toyota. My job was in the quality department which allowed me to get involved ISO/TS and Six Sigma projects. This summer experience was the first time I ever got to learn what ISO and Six sigma is. I have had classes that mentioned ISO and Six Sigma but never went into detail. Working in the auto industry was great experience because they have top of the line technology and techniques for eliminating waste and controlling the quality. This experience was eye opening a I am so happy that I go to see these actives first hand. Now that my classes are teaching us about ISO and Six Sigma I am able to relate what we are learning with my first-hand experience. This for me is very important because I am much better at learning hands on.

I believe that very business should use ISO and six sigma methods. Not every company has to be ISO certified but I believe that every company should create some sort of standards, create documentation and reduce variation in the process. Focusing on those this will give a company more control over their product and increase the quality of the servers or part. On the other hand every company should also be looking for new ways to cut out waste and therefor costs. Eliminating unnecessary waste will give a company the competitive edge because it will give the company bester quality, faster production, cheaper product and give the company more agility to switch back and forth between processes. These methods should especially be used now that we are economically in a hard time. Companies should be putting a lot of focus on eliminating waste and creating better quality to get new costumers and more business from preview costumers.

Frustrations with Online Media

Why does it always seem that there are so many different ways to access the same information and it can take hours upon hours to figure out what the reading assignment is for a certain class? Does anyone else find that all the technology and communication on the internet is actually hindering performance and the way students study and learn?

I find that I struggle for hours before actually finding the assignments and when I finally do, it was something so simplistic that its almost not worth my time in the first place. What is the point of having information in multiple areas when you are only creating waste in the time needed to search for your desired information.

 Is it even worth the time and effort posting information in multiple medias and areas throughout the world wide web? Sure everyone can see this information and decide what they are to do with this available knowledge but is it really teaching the masses or just cluttering up space across the board?

Chris P.

Earning my Green Belt

My name is Joseph Matt and I'm currently a student in IET 321, Quality Management. This is my final semester at UD and my victory, victory lap around the Ghetto.

This past summer I completed the project part of earning my Six Sigma Green Belt certification. My journey towards continuous improvement started last fall when registering for classes. Because of scheduling issues I couldn't graduate at the end of the year and would have to come back for another fall semester. After talking to my advisor I was told to enroll in the new Six Sigma Green Belt class, which would add to my resume, give me a summer internship, and complete my IET minor requirements.

Over the summer I worked with a prominent Dayton document management company on quality control of a premier product line that is offered to many state DMVs. Over the summer I traveled to two different plants around the country, ran over 50 DoE, worked with many plant operators and officials, and attached many, many decals.

This week in class we have been learning about the Six Sigma process and it's differentiation and similarities to ISOS standards. My knowledge from last semester and this summer have helped significantly with my homework and class participation.

I look forward to continuing to add onto my past experiences with Six Sigma and supplement it with additional quality management techniques.

-Joe Matt

Lean Sandwiches

Check out this excellent short article on lean: http://www.pfonline.com/columns/0910never.html
It was sent to me by a very successful former student, Mike Monnier, Field Service Supervisor at Barsplice Products.

Communication: Making the first impression

Sometimes when we look at communication methods generational issues appear.  The key to remember when communicating, whether by blogs, email, voice mail, texting, or heaven forbid, face-to-face; is that you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Make your first impression a great one!

Video Conferencing

With the economy the way it is, more and more companies are turning to technology for solutions to reduce time and money. I recently saw an advertisement for an in-office video conferencing system. The ad said “emails and phone calls are a thing of the past since video conferencing enables users to connect face to face with anyone at anytime, at a moment’s notice”.

I think video conferencing is a good thing, because businesses can save time and money by holding video conferences instead of meetings. When a company has several branches that are scattered around the country or world, it is necessary for upper management to continually meet to ensure that the branches are doing what needs to be done. By using video conferencing, companies can save money on the cost of traveling as well as the time wasted when they are traveling.

What do you thing about the use of video conferencing? Do you think it is a productive way to communicate?

By: T.S.

Businesses Using Social Media

I recently read an article that discusses businesses using Facebook accounts to advertise to their customers. The article stated that Facebook has many features that allow businesses to advertise and get their product noticed (Stay). Not only can businesses advertise on facebook, but they can also conduct voting polls that allow the business to receive user information back about their product (Stay).

I believe Facebook offers an effective way to communicate because it allows companies to directly communicate with their customers. Facebook also allows the business to interact with the customer without much effort. This is a good idea because if a company would come out with a new product they can get it exposed easily. Also, advertising on Facebook is relatively low cost and since it is digital, no trees are cut down for paper advertisement. A company is able to advertise to a wide range of people only at the click of a button.

What do you think? Should Facebook be limited to only people or should companies be allowed to use Facebook for advertisement?

By: T.S.

Stay, Jesse. "Facebook for Business: Opportunities and Limitations." Inside Facebook (2008): n.
pag. Web. 13 Sep 2010. <http://www.insidefacebook.com/2008/07/28/facebook-for-business-what-it-needs-what-it-has/>.