#116 – WHY SHOULD A SUPPLIER WORK HARDER FOR YOU? – TIM RODGERS

Featured

AAAA recent LinkedIn discussion addressed the question of the best strategy for dealing with poor supplier performance. A lot of the respondents seemed to advocate a punitive approach, either threatening the loss of future business if performance doesn’t improve, or combing through the terms & conditions in the contract for enforcement language. I’ve always thought that there’s a lot of similarity between managing suppliers and managing subordinates, and I wonder if some of these same people threaten their teams with punitive actions when individual performance doesn’t meet expectations. Continue reading

#115 – PONTIUS PILATE MANAGEMENT (AVOIDING ACCOUNTABILITY) – MALCOLM PEART

Featured

Malcom Peart pixHow many times do we experience the situation when something bad happens and the manager who feels they may be responsible has his, or her, moral-fortitude challenged? The challenged manager inevitably goes into self-preservation mode. “Can I duck for cover?” and avoid the flak is their first question. But, and as with most bad situations, there is no time so how can blame be diverted? Continue reading

#115 – DOES A CERTIFICATION MAKE YOU A PROFESSIONAL RELIABILITY ENGINEER? – FRED SCHENKELBERG

Featured

ABC FredDoes a Certification Make You a Professional Reliability Engineer?

The short answer to this question is “No, it doesn’t.”

A certification is just a piece of paper that conveys that you have mastered some body of knowledge. You most likely also committed to abide by a code of ethics. You may also have committed to continuing education to maintain the certification. Continue reading

#115 – ISO 31000 – LET THE FUN BEGIN! – GREG HUTCHINS

Featured

Greg Hutchins pixFirst a confession.  We say that we’ve been using ISO 31000 for a ten or so years.

Say what?  ISO 31000 was developed in 2009.  How can you been using the standard since 2006.  OK, technically you’re right.  But, we’ve been using AS/NZS 4360 since 2006.  The Australian and New Zealand risk management standard was developed in 2004.  Most importantly, ISO 31000 has a strong ‘look and feel’ to AS/NZS 4360. Continue reading

#115 – USE OF UNTREATED SEWAGE AS FERTILIZER IN CANANA – DR. BILL POMFRET

Featured

AAA PomfretnUntitled1The headlines this week regarding Montreal’s eight-billion-litre untreated sewage dump came and went with a few large plumes of dark-brown water or white effluent witnessed in the St. Lawrence River and strong early morning odours in some quarters, but little visible sewage detected overall. Continue reading