- Auditing
- Cost of Quality
- Customer Satisfaction and Value
- Data Quality
- Engineering
- Environmental Manag. and Sustainability
- Global Quality
- Human Resources
- Innovation
- Inspection
- ISO 14000
- ISO 9000
- Leadership
- Lean
- Metrics
- Problem Solving
- Process Capability
- Process Management
- Product Development and Recall
- Project Management
- Quality Assurance
- Quality Control
- Quality Management
- Quality Tools
- Six Sigma
- Software Quality
- Standards
- Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- Statistics
- Supplier Quality
- Teams
- Best Practices
- Theory of Constraints
- Total Quality Management
- AS9000
- TL 9000
- ISO/TS 16949
- Customer Experience Management
- Customer Requirements
Quality in the First Person: Who's On Top?
Leaders appear to encourage a fear-driven and reactive work culture by instituting limiting and detrimental work systems and policies. Throughout my career, I have witnessed these counterproductive efforts again and again....
Tangled Mess
Many of the world's factories are designed in ways detrimental or unhealthy to product quality. The typically complex and lengthy flow times multiply process variables, which can obscure and delay the discovery of defects and nonconformities....
Statistics Roundtable: On Overlapping
While teaching a workshop for a small manufacturing firm, two of the participants approached me to discuss what seemed to be a simple problem they had encountered at work....
Online Conklin: Baker’s Loaf
When recounting Plant Able’s successful struggle to implement process management, we compared it to raising children. That sums up the story when implementation is in your home plant....
Surf's Up
In essence, a disconnect within the Telefónica Group was throwing off and disconnecting its customers from the internet....
3.4 per Million: Firefighting With DMAIC
As quality professionals, we like to solve problems by finding root causes and putting fixes in place. As a rule, we don’t like to fight fires, but sometimes we have to....
Quality in the First Person: A Different Perspective
My journey in quality began 1996, when I was studying industrial engineering at Mexico City’s Autonomous Metropolitan University. I was attracted to this field because a friend’s father had a small voltmeter assembly factory, and to sell its products...
Window of Opportunity
By employing lean Six Sigma, a supplier for one of the Big Three automakers met its goals and developed technology that is projected to be applicable to any and every automobile—from two-door coupes to full-size vans—within five years....
Perspectives: In Crisis, Give Credit to Quality
The financial industry needs a quality framework for manufacturing and controlling complex mathematical models, technological systems and financial data. Therefore, if Congress enacted strict quality standards for financial data and its distribution, the ...
Quality in the First Person: Street Smarts
When I was 18, I started my career on a production line at my father’s place of employment. Up to that point, my father, an engineer, had always shown me how things were made and how they could be better....
Expert Answers: March 2008
Outlook on outsourcing ... When does Six Sigma suffice?...
Turbocharge Your Preventive Action System
A layered process audit (LPA) is an ongoing chain of simple verification checks to make sure a defined process is followed correctly. This powerful management tool can improve safety, quality and cost savings by amplifying problem solving systems and...
Build Loyalty Through Experience Management
Connecting emotionally with customers requires an organization to create a total customer experience that differentiates the organization from the competition. This is important because customers’ overall experiences with the organization and the...
Quality Glossary
Five years after it published its first glossary of quality terms, ASQ has revised that glossary with updated definitions and new entries, many from the lean glossary published in 2005. This reference of terms, acronyms, and prominent figures in the...
Lean Lessons: Moving and Controlling the Flow of Quality
Batch size reduction and rigorous inventory management are important in controlling costs and improving throughput. This can be achieved readily by converting a traditional manufacturing layout to a lean cellular/flow configuration....
3.4 Per Million: The Hard Part: Holding Improvement Gains
You've overcome the obstacles to launch your latest improvement initiative: scarce resources, time pressure, unforeseen glitches at every turn. Now comes the hard part--sustaining the gains....
Lean Glossary
A glossary defines terms commonly associated with lean...
Sarbanes-Oxley: Pain or Gain?
The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) regulatory requirements passed by Congress in 2002 ensures investors are provided with accurate and reliable financial data on all publicly traded companies. Implementation of these requirements can be expensive and difficult....
Stop Depending On Inspection
In today’s global marketplace, “better, cheaper, and faster” has become the mantra for manufacturers. Obviously, it would be better to build a product correctly in the first place, but making the transition from a traditional...
Lean and Six Sigma – Synergy Made in Heaven
The combination of Six Sigma and lean enterprise work can enhance the production experience. Workers have the empowerment and skill to recognize a problem and, if it cannot be resolved, shut down the line to eliminate the root cause. Six Sigma and lean...
ISO 9000 Makes Integrated Systems User Friendly
Organizations need management systems that are based on processes or activities that help personnel understand what is essential to achieving continual improvement on a consistent basis....
Capability Analysis of Complex Parts
Several years ago, Military Aircraft and Missile Systems Group (A&M), a division of the Boeing Company in St. Louis, made a strategic decision to focus on its main business—aircraft and missile assembly....
Systems Thinking – An Uncommon Answer
Some of the common problems to be found in many business failures include too much focus on short-term gains, too much focus on quarterly profit statements, and a prevalence of long-term losses. One possible solution to these problems is systems...
QOS – A Simple Method for Big or Small
Although there are many quality initiatives in the marketplace, many of them involve a degree of hype. Ford Motor Company’s quality operating system (QOS) is recommended as one offering the most value for the money. A QOS assessment looks at...
An Integrated Approach System
What’s the best quality system? How would you answer this question? How would your colleagues?...
Baldrige: It's Easy, Free and It Works
While many people consider the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria to be difficult, a harder task is learning how to manage opportunities for improvements instead of managing known strengths. While Baldrige may not have the answers, it...
Complexity Theory Simplifies Choices
Many business management and improvement methodologies provide finite structures for achieving success. Examples include the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award; the ISO 9001 standard; W. Edward Deming, who provided 14 points; and Six Sigma....
Quality Management Multiple Choice: What’s the best quality system?
Monitoring and recording the extent of transition experienced within a designated area assure Procedure ( general) Priority Reviewed Completed Record control Document control Internal audits Management review Corrective action Preventive action Monitorin...
Better Supply Chains with Baldrige
Demand for customized products with shorter life cycles requires companies to develop supply chain management concepts to help them maintain competitive advantages. The traditional competitive model that favored mass production has give way to a model...
Roadblocks to Quality
The automotive industry has developed state-of-the-art quality processes and procedures, yet many managers and engineers still do not understand or apply the concepts of variation reduction or trend analysis. This results in the poor quality that...
9 Reasons to Switch to a Single Supplier System
Airtel Mobile Phone Services in Chandigarh, India manufactures electronic assemblies for automotive customers with stringent quality requirements. To improve quality, the firm switched from a multiple supplier system (MSS) to a single supplier system...
Mooooving Toward Six Sigma
A modern dairy farm is a complex, highly integrated system that is capital and labor intensive with low profit margins. One of the largest expenses is purchased feed, yet current quality management practices on these farms fail to make use of analytical...
Exploiting the World's Most Recognized Standard
Tremendous progress has been made recently in the harmonization of world standards through the efforts of recognized standard-setting organizations. But it may not be possible in an era of expanding technology and diversified systems to achieve such...
Salary Survey – 2000
Inspectors See Big Increases; Ahead of Technicians
According to the 2000 Quality Progress salary survey, quality inspectors in the United States earn an average of $37,795, up nearly 9% from the $34,802 reported in last year's survey. At the top of the salary heap, quality vice presidents responding to th...
Too Many Types of Quality Problems
Categorizing problem types can help practitioners in the quality field to focus their attention on relevant past experiences and problem solving techniques. This approach requires the definition of appropriate problem categories and communicating them...
Management System Standards Poised for Momentum Boost
Growth in the standards industry is driven by: the ISO 9000 revision; proliferation of sector specific standards; the importance of environmental management; and the future of health and safety management standards. ISO 9000:2000 will be completed...
A New Definition Aims To Connect Quality With Financial Performance
Focus on the business relationship
Quality is a state in which value entitlement is realized for the customer and provider in every aspect of the business relationship. Instead of a singular focus on conformance to standards (a.k.a. customer satisfaction), Six Sigma companies strive to det...
Old Tools - New Uses: Equipment FMEA
A preventive maintenance program can benefit from the modification of process FMEA (failure mode effects analysis) into maintenance FMEA. Before implementing the FMEA itself, it is necessary to: assemble an FMEA team well represented and led by...
The Use and Management of Teams: A How-To Guide
The four basic types of teams are linked to four enabling conditions as well as to guidelines for team size and management tasks. The simple work team should be the choice when there is more work than one person can handle in the given time frame....
University, Inc.
Institutions of higher education can increase their competitiveness and product value by applying synchronization, zero-defect, and quality control techniques. Supporting such techniques is a systems view in which student education, courses, and...
Can Single Sourcing Work in R&D?
Research and development (R&D) organizations can benefit from long-term relationships with single suppliers for material purchasing and especially for contract research. The principle of single sourcing is linked to the fourth of W. Edwards Deming's 14...
Measuring Up in a Cincinnati Suburb
The Indian Hill public school system has used the framework of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) to improve itself. Indian Hill participated in a 1995 Baldrige Award pilot program for educational organizations. Only 19 applications...
Statistical Gymnastics Revisited
A debate on one approach to short-run control charts
Summarizing the results by the medians and the first and third quartiles, I found: 10 Subsamples true median Q1 Q3 x0 0.0027 0.0067 0.0028 0.0157 x1 0.2225 0.2289 0.1119 0.3962 x2 0.9295 0.9324 0.8460 0.9757 v0 0.0027 0.0029 0.0023 0.0054 v1 0.1177 0.122...
How to Fine-Tune Your Business Processes
Two tools for eliminating waste and managing handoffs between internal providers and customers are service-level agreements (SLAs) and internal service guarantees (ISGs). SLAs cover the delivery of support resources or services. The provider and...
Benchmarking Your Plant Against TQM Best-Practices Plants: Part 4 of 4
The Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Company of America plant in Newnan, GA is the fourth and final world-class operation described in a series of articles on quality practices. The quality organization at Newnan includes a quality manager who is a liaison...
Benchmarking Your Plant Against TQM Best-practice Plants: Part 3 of 4
The Tennant Co. plant is the third of four world-class operations described in a series of articles on quality practices. The total quality management structure at Tennant includes a quality manager, a senior vice president of industrial markets, and...
Insights Into Improving Organizational Performance
The continuous quality improvement (CQI) implementation at Cheshire Medical Center has produced its share of lessons learned. It is important for senior and middle management to buy into and lead the initiative. They can communicate by displaying...
Quality 1 On 1: A New Game Plan
Quality Forum XII was an opportunity to discuss the role of people, both customers and employees. Deborah L. Hopen, ASQC chairman of the board noted the importance of links between organizations and their customers. Understanding quality from the...
The Realistic Model of Higher Education
The primary customers of higher education are employers, while students are products. Accepting this model is a step toward implementation of total quality management in higher education. The model is appropriate for many technical, undergraduate...
Another Look at "A Graphical Exploration of SPC"
The authors of "A Graphical Exploration of SPC" (May and June 1996 issues of Quality Progress) comment on readers' letters about their two-part article. Among the responses by Hoyer and Ellis are the following. Their examples using the normal...
A Graphical Exploration of SPC Part 1: SPC's definitions and procedures
Special causes of control chart variation are identified by rules. Some of the rules are more sensitive than others, and their probabilistic relevance does not necessarily match the relevance assigned by many quality professionals. For example, it is...
Renewing American Civilization, Pillar Five: Quality as Defined by Deming
Empowerment is a key to societal quality. W. Edwards Deming has encouraged this by codifying the decency, hard work, integrity, and sincerity found in America. Other communicators who have increased the awareness of quality include Philip B. Crosby,...
Power in Organizations: A Look Through the TQM Lens
Successful relationships between empowered employees and their supervisors depend on judicious use of organizational social powers. These powers can help elicit commitment from employees in the TQM (total quality management) environment. The three...
What Makes American Teams Tick?
A team archetype analysis of 250 people examined their expectations and feelings about teamwork. G. Clotaire Rapaille, cultural anthropologist and marketing researcher, was the principal investigator. Archetype analysis looks at cultural patterns that...
