What is the new paradigm in product quality?

The current product quality paradigm is founded upon a customer-focused product development process, in which the functionality and behaviour of a product are designed to fulfil the needs of customers, and technological innovation is used to expand the capability and enhance the performance of the product. However, this view of product quality does not reflect the current practices of today's leading manufacturers, who now offer "total solutions" based upon an integrated package of products and services with well defined characteristics tailored to individual needs. Concepts such as globalisation, mass customisation, product branding, e-commerce, and sustainability suggest that a new product quality paradigm is evolving. This paper will discuss our current understanding of product quality issues and outline our vision of the new quality paradigm for product developers

Solution oriented partnerships - A new business model for integrating global-production efficiencies with sustainability

A business model for integrating global-production efficiencies with sustainability is discussed. Two trends that emulate some of the aspects of the wealthy are the increasing willingness of many to pay extra for customization such as clothes, of kitchens and the increasing acceptance of purchasing a service as a product substitute. Two final trends that are also based in the attitudes of people is an increased awareness of the value of local culture and an increased concern with issues of sustainability. The results show that the goal congruence between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations puts emphasis on value and belief of the organization

NMR-Based Metabolomic Study on Isatis tinctoria: Comparison of Different Accessions, Harvesting Dates, and the Effect of Repeated Harvesting

Isatis tinctoria is an ancient dye and medicinal plant with potent anti-inflammatory and antiallergic properties. Metabolic differences were investigated by NMR spectroscopy of accessions from different origins that were grown under identical conditions on experimental plots. For these accessions, metabolite profiles at different harvesting dates were analyzed, and single and repeatedly harvested plants were compared. Leaf samples were shock-frozen in liquid N2 immediately after being harvested, freeze-dried, and cryomilled prior to extraction. Extracts were prepared by pressurized liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and 70% aqueous methanol. NMR spectra were analyzed using a combination of different methods of multivariate data analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA), canonical analysis (CA), and k-nearest neighbor concept (k-NN). Accessions and harvesting dates were well separated in the PCA/CA/k-NN analysis in both extracts. Pairwise statistical total correlation spectroscopy (STOCSY) revealed unsaturated fatty acids, porphyrins, carbohydrates, indole derivatives, isoprenoids, phenylpropanoids, and minor aromatic compounds as the cause of these differences. In addition, the metabolite profile was affected by the repeated harvest regime, causing a decrease of 1,5-anhydroglucitol, sucrose, unsaturated fatty acids, porphyrins, isoprenoids, and a flavonoid. © 2015 The American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy