Blogs

Meet Our 5/22/24 Speaker - Nancy Sperliing

By Janet Lentz posted 4 hours ago
On 5/22/24 Philly ASQ will have the honor of hearing Nancy Sperling speak about Counterfeit Drugs as part of Philly ASQ's new "Members Teaching Members initiative. Nancy will speak just prior to our monthly meeting program, Incorporating Risk Management into Process Improvement with Tony DiMarinis. This is a FREE webinar open to everyone. 5/22/24 5:30 - 6:30 pm EDT Nancy Sperling Counterfeit Drugs 6:30 - 8:30 pm EDT Tony DiMarinis Incorporating Risk Management into Process Improvement Register for BOTH webinars with one convenient link. Register Here. ABOUT OUR SPEAKER Nancy is a Quality Assurance and Regulatory ...

Meet Our 5/22/24 Speaker with Registration Link - Tony DiMarinis

By Janet Lentz posted 4 hours ago
Next month Philly ASQ will have the honor of hearing Tony DiMarinis speak about I ncorporating Risk Management into Process Improvement . This is a FREE virtual meeting open to everyone. May 22, 2024 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm EDT Registration Link Here Note: Earn additional RUs by joining early at 5:30 PM EDT to hear Nancy Sperling speak about Counterfeit Drugs. ABOUT THE TOPIC Effective Risk Management (RM) involves a systematic, data-driven approach to monitoring trends and identifying and mitigating risks before they result in costly delays, rework, product recalls or other unwelcome surprises. Many RM webinars focus mostly reviewing the ...

Another Successful Philly ASQ Women in Quality Event!

By Janet Lentz posted yesterday
Another successful Philly ASQ Women in Quality event completed! Many thanks to our panelists Geneva Bowman and Alex Williamson. We enjoyed collaborating with our friends at RAPS.

Philadelphia ASQ WIQ 2024 Is Sold Out!

By Janet Lentz posted 7 days ago
Philadelphia ASQ 2024 Women in Quality is sold out. Thank you to everyone who registered.

You Haven't Missed It! Register soon for WIQ 2024 with Philly ASQ.

By Janet Lentz posted 17 days ago
You haven't missed it! There's still time to register for the joint, in-person meeting of Philadelphia ASQ and RAPS. Don't wait, registration closes soon. Women in Quality Panel Discussion: Women in Healthcare featuring the experience and expertise of Alexandra Williamson and Geneva Bowman, MS, ASQ CQA, ASQ CMQ-OE. Learn how women can support women to be successful in the healthcare field. This event is open to everyone. There is a registration fee of $30 per person, which includes dinner. Students are $20. Wednesday, April 17, 2024 5:00 - 9:00 pm Best Western Plus 3499 Street Road Bensalem, PA 19020 Agenda 5:00 - 6:00 pm Networking ...

Meet Our Panelists - Alexandra Williamson

By Janet Lentz posted 03/15/24
Join Philadelphia ASQ and RAPS for our in-person joint meeting! Women in Quality Panel Discussion: Women in Healthcare featuring the experience and expertise of Alexandra Williamson and Geneva Bowman, MS, ASQ CQA, ASQ CMQ-OE. Learn how women can support women to be successful in the healthcare field. This event is open to everyone. There is a registration fee of $30 per person, which includes dinner. Students are $20. Wednesday, April 17, 2024 5:00 - 9:00 pm Best Western Plus 3499 Street Road Bensalem, PA 19020 Agenda 5:00 - 6:00 pm Networking 6:00 - 7:00 pm Dinner (there is a vegetarian option) 7:00 - 8:30 pm Panel Discussion 8:30 ...

Meet Our Panelists - Geneva Bowman

By Janet Lentz posted 03/15/24
Join Philadelphia ASQ and RAPS for our in-person joint meeting! Women in Quality Panel Discussion: Women in Healthcare featuring the experience and expertise of Alexandra Williamson and Geneva Bowman, MS, ASQ CQA, ASQ CMQ-OE. Learn how women can support women to be successful in the healthcare field. This event is open to everyone. There is a registration fee of $30 per person, which includes dinner. Students are $20. Wednesday, April 17, 2024 5:00 - 9:00 pm Best Western Plus 3499 Street Road Bensalem, PA 19020 Agenda 5:00 - 6:00 pm Networking 6:00 - 7:00 pm Dinner (there is a vegetarian option) 7:00 - 8:30 pm Panel Discussion 8:30 ...

Save the Dates! 2024 Philly ASQ Programs

By Janet Lentz posted 01/04/24
Hello Philly ASQ Members, Our Program Committee has been working hard to put together some fantastic programs for 2024. Here's the plan so far, so save the dates! We are always looking for good speakers, so if you'd like to present, let us know. We'll give you all the help you need to put on a program. January 17th - Failure Modes & Effects Analysis with ASQ Fellow Denis Devos. February 21st - Baldrige: Changes, Communities of Excellence, and New Approaches with MAAPE CEO Bob Bitner https://asq.webex.com/weblink/register/r994659893c8f8d177a3e9326a8267bc6 March 12th - Joint Meeting with ASCM, Voice of the Customer with Tony Belilovskiy ...

You Choose

By Janet Lentz posted 12/26/23
Sometimes life stops you in your tracks. You can sit there, fuming, frustrated, worried, or angry you’re no longer in control of a situation. Or - What an opportunity! To relax. Listen to music. Feel gratitude. Learn something new. Be creative. You choose.

Philly ASQ 2023 Women in Quality is a success!

By Janet Lentz posted 11/16/23
We had a great time at Philly ASQ’s 2023 Women in Quality event. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Marnie Smith, Sr. Director of Quality at Network Partners who spoke about quality culture, and Divya Gowder, CEO of NubGenix who spoke about medical device classifications. We enjoyed the networking and great food. Can’t wait until next year

Worth the Effort

By Janet Lentz posted 11/15/23
WORTH THE EFFORT Yesterday I acquired a heavily tarnished silver plate and two silver cups from Goodwill. It took time and more than a little elbow grease, but eventually I got them to glow. Turns out the plate has a beautiful pattern engraved on it. It’s quite lovely. One of the cups is engraved with a date - 1952. Someone else must have used them, and loved them, long ago. As I scrubbed away the years of neglect, I had time to reflect on how my life is like this silver. My skills and knowledge will tarnish with age unless I continually work to keep them shiny and new. My body will certainly deteriorate unless I live a healthy lifestyle. My relationships ...

Auditing Basics: Interviewing and Data Analysis

By Janet Lentz posted 10/26/23
We had a fabulous response to our October webinar, Auditing Basics: Interviewing and Data Analysis, f eaturing the expertise of Dr. Betsy Macht. The role playing was especially fun. Here's a link to the recording and slide deck in case you missed it: Auditing Basics Webinar Recording Thank you Betsy, for a great presentation.

Meet Our Speaker - Women in Quality 2023

By Janet Lentz posted 09/18/23
We are fortunate enough to have Marnie Smith as one of our speakers for 2023 Women in Quality. Link to registration is on our events tab. Marnie is the Senior Director of Quality and Network Partners. In her role, she leads the Quality team and brings to Network Partners over 15 years of medical device experience. Marnie has experience in sustaining design, project management, supplier quality, quality management systems, CAPA, audit management, design controls, complaint handling, recalls, and manufacturing impacts on quality in a variety of class II electromechanical devices. She has her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University ...

Meet Our Speaker - Women in Quality 2023

By Janet Lentz posted 09/18/23
We are fortunate enough to have Divya Gowdar as one of our speakers for Women in Quality 2023 on November 15th. Please visit our events tab for registration. An experienced Quality and Regulatory Professional, Divya has worked across multiple product portfolios in both large and small Medical Devices and Combination Product Organizations. She offers a proven track record of achievement and successful contribution in the quality management system, end-to-end product development lifecycle, risk and process management, regulatory compliance, and manufacturing operations in compliance with US FDA and other international regulations. Divya strongly believes ...

Quality Detectives Rule

By Janet Lentz posted 08/23/23
QUALITY DETECTIVES RULE. I admit it. I’m one of those true crime fans glued to forensic shows from time to time. What fascinates me is not just human nature, but the process of investigation and the tools that are used to determine the truth of events. As a Quality professional, I was often called upon to investigate why a problem occurred and to lead efforts to ensure it never happened again. Defining the problem can be tricky. Facts can be hidden. Records can be incomplete. You might get conflicting information. People can lie to avoid making themselves look bad (thank you, Joe Kenda). I found a good way to start is to answer who, what, when, where, ...

Quality Rocks

By Janet Lentz posted 08/17/23
I was continuously employed for 43 years. I’m not special. I’m probably “average” by most measures of talent and knowledge. If I were completely honest, I’d even say I’m a little on the lazy side. My secret? It’s no secret. I spent my entire career working in Quality Control, Quality Assurance or both, once with EHS thrown in for good measure. We all know that job security doesn’t exist. But working in Quality turned out to be the closest thing you can probably get. My career spanned many different types of industries, from construction to aerospace. Different businesses, different requirements, ONE skill set applicable to all. A skill set that was ...

Gearing Up for Fall

By Janet Lentz posted 07/29/23
It’s hard to believe that summer is already half over. Time seems to go so fast. Section elections are just around the corner. Keep an eye out for future communications about nominations for section officers. Interested in serving as a member leader for Philadelphia ASQ? Just drop me a line at jlentz@memberleader.asq.org and I’ll see you get an invitation to our next Section Leadership Meeting. How have you been spending your time this summer? Got any big plans for the fall? We’re looking forward to putting together some great programs for our members.

Communicating Criticism

By Janet Lentz posted 07/25/23
Today Lesley Worthington posted about giving constructive feedback on LinkedIn as part of a robust Quality culture. If you don’t know Lesley, she is a consultant who helps Quality professionals communicate better. She is definitely worth following. One of the most amazing things I ever experienced was when one of my bosses was promoted and leaving our site. He had some anger management issues, was not particularly liked by everyone, and did not always apply his vast skill set in the best way. He asked everyone who reported to him to honestly tell him what he should do better to be successful in his new role. He sat, without comment, while people took the opportunity ...

When It Comes to Auditing, No Suprises

By Janet Lentz posted 07/24/23
When it comes to auditing, it’s best to have no surprises. If any of your auditees feel blindsided in the closing meeting, you haven’t done your job as an auditor. I don’t know any executive who likes to feel as though they haven’t been kept in the loop during an audit. Verifying and discussing findings of nonconformity ahead of time can go a long way to getting agreement and having a smooth audit conclusion. You don’t want to get on the bad side of bosses by keeping your findings to yourself until the end. Have you ever been surprised at an audit finding in the closing meeting? What did you do about it?

Monitoring vs. Measuring

By Janet Lentz posted 07/21/23
MONITORING VS. MEASURING ISO 9001 requires that you plan what monitoring and measuring activities you perform and that you consider it when conducting Management Reviews. But what's the difference between them? I confess the first time I read ISO 9001 I found that a bit confusing. An online dictionary defines monitoring as: "to observe and check the progress or quality of (something) over a period of time; keep under systematic review." Measuring is defined as: "to ascertain the size, amount, or degree of (something) by using an instrument or device marked in standard units or by comparing it with an object of known size." Think of monitoring ...