The price of petroleum fuels has affected attendance at regional manufacturing expos by quality professionals. Gasoline pump prices are past $4 per gallon, and national trade shows are feeling the effect. Conferences, seminars, and national trade shows aren’t necessarily deficient, but quality professionals return to local events with clear benefits because they are hands on, one-on-one experiences, concentrated interaction, and exchanges of ideas between the contract manufacturers and the quality professional.

Regulatory standards and compliance requirements are increasingly focused on chain of custody; chain of custody refers to the chronological documentation and/or paper trail, showing the seizure, custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of physical or electronic evidence. Managing these data is best handled at local or regional events.

There are interesting reasons that quality professionals are showing up with engineering staff at local manufacturing trade shows and expositions. As valued members of the lean team, the managers of quality control/quality assurance have been assuming a different role in the past 24 months.