Entries by Steve Williams

Implementation Guides for ISO & Lean

PRESS RELEASE March 7, 2014 Steve Williams Publishes Practical Implementation Guides for ISO & Lean Best practices guru writes blueprints for implementing lean practices & an ISO quality system. DB Publishing announces the publication of two new eBooklets by industry icon Steve Williams. The books are the latest addition to the company’s eBooklet series, called […]

Printed Circuit Board Industry: Lessons Learned from 2013

In Summary After a very challenging 2012 for the domestic PCB industry, global business conditions are slowly improving. Let’s take a look back at 2013 and what we can expect as we move into the new year. Like many of you, I grew up in this business. I cut my teeth (and more than a few […]

Is 2014 the Year to Retrench?

As we all return from the holiday break and get back to business, is it time to take a hard look at what it will take to be successful in 2014? With an economy that is showing little ability for sustainable growth, at least for the foreseeable future, will 2014 be the year that US […]

Need to Get “Lean” after the holidays? It’s Just Common Sense!

Most lean principles fall under a very old-fashioned ideal that some of us still remember; common sense. During another recent visit with a wire harness and cable manufacturer, I had a great discussion with a fellow old-school manager on the merits of lean. He told me “Steve, I really don’t know what all the fuss […]

Steve’s Particular Set of Skills

One of the most important decisions a company can make is the selection of the person that will be lead the quality organization. This person will most likely be the face of the company with customers, suppliers, and your ISO registrar as the organization’s ISO Management Representative. To differentiate yourself as a world-class organization, the […]

Can America Survive a $15 Minimum Wage?

To paraphrase the great John Houseman, I grew up in an environment where you make money the old fashioned way, you earned it! What will be the impact on our business if the fast food protestors lobbying for a $15 minimum wage actually win? Old School I remember starting off in the manufacturing industry earning […]

Steve’s Top 10 Thanksgiving Quotes

10 “Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.” – Johnny Carson 9 “If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to […]

Struggling With Organizational Change?

I was enjoying a fine cigar with an old friend a number of years ago when the discussion turned to organizational change. I asked my friend, whose opinion I greatly respect, “How do I begin to steer a company in a new direction that is so transformational it is sure to meet a heavy dose […]

150 Years Later: Worth Another Read

The Gettysburg Address  Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can […]