Knowledge Center

More Quality Classics

This collection contains some of the most popular articles ASQ has published since 1946. Many are offered here for the first time in electronic form, created from the best available copies. We have attempted to make the text searchable wherever possible.

Analysis of Destructive Measuring Systems
by Beryl Spiers
Annual Quality Congress, 1989
A statistical approach for dealing with the fact that you can't really reproduce testing results with destructive testing... because the sample is destroyed!

Attributes Control Charts with Large Sample Sizes
by Peter A. Heimann
Journal of Quality Technology, October 1996
This paper discusses the different types of variation that affect control charts for large bodies of attributes data and the relative merits of plotting the proportion nonconforming as attributes (P chart) versus variables (individuals chart).

Break Out of Your Rut: Creative Thinking in TQM
by Terry Ehresman
ASQC 49th Annual Conference Proceedings, 1995
How, and why, to stimulate creative thinking within your organization.

Creativity and Strategic Thinking: The Coming Competencies
by Ann Herrmann-Nehdi
From the Association for Quality and Participation's Annual Spring Conference, 1983
Insights into understanding the thinking styles involvedin different phases of the creative and strategic thinking processes.

Customer Satisfaction: How Good Is Good Enough?
by Pete Babich
Quality Progress, December 1992
An analytical approach to customer retention.

Don't Let Your Customers Fool You
by Hollis R. Lipscomb and John R. Lipscomb
1992 ASQC Quality Congress
A more sophisticated approach to soliciting and interpreting customer feedback.

"Fun Times at Auditing High"
by Harry Ainscough and Peter Gauthier
This paper, delivered at a Quality Auditing Conference in 1999, presents four terrific "war stories" about times when, in the diplomatic words of the authors, "disruptive events" reared their heads during auditing processes. PDF format, 530 KB, Open Access.

The Future of Quality Control
by George D. Edwards
In 1946 Edwards, director of quality assurance for Bell Telephone Laboratories, sought to identify some future trends in quality. The article includes discussion of the relative merits, costs and benefits of different sampling techniques and how they might be applied in "the future." A fascinating, and far-seeing, look at quality from a perspective as old as ASQ itself.

Giving New Meaning to the Competitive Edge
by Wayne Burkan
The Journal of Quality & Participation, March 1998

Only sustainable competitive advantage can maintain market share and retain margins beyond the measure of months.

How to Conduct an Internal Quality Audit and Still Have Friends
by Craig M. Rice
Quality Progress, June 1994
How interpersonal skills, trust and good communications can minimize the disruption, and ill feelings, surrounding an internal audit. Open Access

Hypothesis Testing: Guilty or Innocent
by James M. Kenney
Quality Progress, January 1988
There's a remarkable set of parallels between hypothesis testing, as practiced by quality professionals, and the criminal justice system.

Innovation Creation: Six Business Strategies that Build Breakthrough Thinking
by Ken Blanchard
The Journal of Quality & Participation, November/December 1999
Even in 1999, innovation was on the front burner for successful corporations. Here's a look back at the best thinking of the time around how and why to make innovation a central part of business processes.

The Many Faces of the Quality Engineer
by Bernard Ostle
Quality Progress, May 1978
This 1978 article explains that the quality engineer must have the ability to insist that people use proven disciplines in performing their jobs.

Methodology for Developing a Quality Plan Within a Manufacturing Company
by Jill A. Swift and Timothy J. Flynn
Quality Engineering, January 1989
The authors make a point that was as true in 1989 as it is today: If you want to survive, pay more attention to quality.

Principle-Centered Leadership
by Stephen R. Covey
Journal for Quality and Participation, July 1992
Covey addresses the concept of True North and the responsibility of leadership for establishing organizational identity, including the mission and vision of an enterprise. 

A Proposed Vendor Evaluation Profile
by J.B. O'Heara, O.D. Belden, and G.O. Hawley
1966 Technical Conference Transactions
A prescienct "look ahead" from more than 40 years ago that nails down key dynamics of vendor evaluation.

Quality Management and Sustainability
by Raymond F. Gorman and Timothy C. Krehbiel
Quality Management Journal, July 1997
The authors contend that quality management is an important part of the concept of sustainability, but that sustainability is a broader concept encompassing other perspectives such as ethics, quantifying externalities, and systems integrity and resilience.

Repeatability and Reproducibility
by John Mandel
Journal of Quality Technology, April 1972
A simple method for evaluating repeatability and reproducibility.

Robust Control Charts
by David M. Rocke
Technometrics, May 1989
How to move past standard-issue charts, and why.

Software Engineering: Future or Oxymoron?
by James Cusick
Software Quality Professional, September 2001
This article discusses the possibility that the term “software engineering” is an oxymoron and then discusses if, instead, software engineering is the future for the design and construction of software.

Statistical Thinking and Its Contribution to Total Quality
Ronald D. Snee explains the crucial role statistical thinking plays in achieving total quality when the focus is on the development of systems rather than on tools and problem solving. The Statistics Division makes this article from the 34th Fall Technical Conference available to the public in its online library.

Teaching Engineers Experimental Design with a Paper Helicopter
by George Box
Quality Engineering, September 1992
How a simple toy helps advanced students grasp a difficult concept.

The 10 Commandments of Quality
by Richard M. Balano
Quality Progress, January 1994
Some reminders that can help keep even the most diligent quality professional on track.

The Ten Traits of an Innovation Mindset
by Thomas Kuczmarski
The Journal of Quality & Participation, November/December 1998
Why you want your organization to develop an innovation mindset, and some basic guidelines for making it happen.

The Use and Abuse of Cpk, parts 1 - 4
by Berton H. Gunter
Quality Progress, January 1989 through July, 1989
A multi-part look at the good, bad and ugly of process capability indexes, saved as a single document.

12 Requirements for Six Sigma Success
by Lennart Sandholm and Lars Sorqvist
Six Sigma Forum Magazine, November 2002
The important things to watch while designing and adapting a Six Sigma program to suit your organization's needs.

W. J. Youden - The Man and His Methodology
by John A. Cornell
ASQ Statistics Division, 1993 Youden Address
Read a tribute to Jack Youden and his contributions in experimental design and statistical analysis.

When Murphy Speaks -- Listen
by George Box
Quality Progress, October 1989
Could "Murphy's Law" be good news in disguise for your organization?

Zero Defect Sampling
by Elmer "Bud" Gookins
ASQC 50th annual Quality Congress Proceedings, 1996
An alternative to the Mil Std.105E sampling scheme and the subsequent ANSO Z1.4-1993.