Books & Standards

Ideas and tools for promoting change.

This article describes why profane knowledge is not an advisable basis for strategic decision making. Ultimately, if the strategic culture of an organization is based on profane knowledge, it is unlikely that a leadership position in a competitive in...

Editorial

This is the second article in a continuing series that will discuss reliability and risk management approaches. The second installment involves the use of preliminary risk analysis.

Having standardized processes is essential to achieving superior organizational performance. This article presents some concerns and recommendations related to developing successful standardized processes.

The practices of quality management have proven to be very beneficial for providing a framework for corporate efforts to create sustainability—regardless of the size of the organization.

In a world where change is constant, how can we protect our system designs from degrading? A special learning event which tackled the question of migration patterns and immigration issues provides a process for determining when design changes are ben...

The journey to becoming a great leader requires a willingness to identify opportunities for improvement and implement new practices that enhance relationships with employees and increase organizational performance.

This piece provides a closer look at the book, The Happiness Advantage.

This article illustrates the use of statistical thinking to assess the impact of adding another sensor in a monitoring application, such as detecting an illegal diversion of nuclear material in a reprocessing plant.

We develop a method for finding optimal designs in discrete choice experiments (DCEs). More specifically, we deal with individualized designs, which are sequentially generated for each person undertaking a survey, using, at each stage, responses from...

In recent decades, various manufacturing floors have followed lean initiatives. The focus of lean-initiative approaches is to improve efficiency by eliminating non-value-added activities. Value stream mapping (VSM) is one of the primary analytical to...

This paper studies the impact when the experimenter does not randomize the design for split-plot experiments when there is a linear trend. The paper uses both simulation and basic theory to explain the bias if we do not randomize the design and the i...

Organizations of all types have embraced lean practices and are developing their own programs for fostering education, training, and application of the associated concepts and methods. This is the first installment of a two-article series that presen...

In monitoring an ordered stream of discrete items from a repetitive process, the geometric CUSUM chart may be used to detect sudden shifts from an acceptable level for a process-proportion (p) such as fraction nonconforming. Much of the investigative...

This article interprets Taguchi’s quadratic quality loss function from a different viewpoint by considering the variance of quadratic loss as well as the mean of quadratic loss. The behavior of the variance of quadratic loss is characterized by the k...

Book review of "Process Capability Analysis: Estimating Quality."

An efficient variable selection technique for kriging in computer experiments is proposed. Kriging models are popularly used in the analysis of computer experiments. The conventional kriging models, the ordinary kriging, and universal kriging could l...

A constrained experimental region (CER) involving mixture variables or nonmixture variables is generally specified by lower and/or upper bounds on the variables and possibly by lower and/or upper bounds on linear combinations of the variables. Additi...

This article considers how to provide pure-error degrees of freedom for definitive screening designs (DSDs) through partial replication. We provide two methods for obtaining pure-error degrees of freedom while minimizing the additional cost. We compa...

Letter to the editor.

Tolerance limits for variances are useful in quality assessments when the focus is on the precision of a quality characteristic. Two-sided tolerance intervals (limits) provide insight into a process degradation as well as improvement, in terms of pro...

In this article, we propose the generalized one-tailed hypergeometric test with fuzzy hypotheses for both test methods: significance testing (by controlling the type I error) and hypothesis testing (by controlling both error types). With regard to th...

Nanotechnology is an era-defining breakthrough across science and engineering. For example, one-dimensional nanostructures such as nanowires, nanotubes, and nanobelts are widely regarded as critical building blocks for creating the next generation of...

In this article, we propose three nonparametric schemes based on the combination of p-values for simultaneous monitoring of shifts in location and scale parameters of a process. Li and Qiu first introduced the idea of dynamic nonparametric monitoring...

Acceptance sampling plans are used to determine whether production lots can be accepted or rejected. Existing tools only provide a limited functionality for the two-point design and the risk analysis of such plans. In this article, a web-based tool i...

Most methods for identifying location effects in unreplicated fractional factorial designs assume homoscedasticity of the response values. However, dispersion effects in the underlying process may create heteroscedasticity in the response values. Thi...

Full Issue PDF for JQP's January 2020 issue.

For a variety of linear and generalized linear models, there may be interest in evaluating whether the expected response values in two different populations are sufficiently similar to be considered practically equivalent. The probability of agreemen...

This study adopts two-stage methodology by capturing the present implementation level of quality management (QM) practices and developed a framework as suggestive ranking by deploying fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS to prioritize QM practices in context t...

Culture IS Everything. As organizational leaders and managers, we can successfully apply all of the Lean Six Sigma principles, quality ideas, and best practices we know and still fail because we have done so within a company culture utterly hostile to such endeavors. In this book, Jeff Veyera shows you how to diagnose your company’s culture in terms of its suitability for your preferred quality improvement approach and then offers guidance on how to either tailor your approach to that culture or change the culture to better suit your approach. If you’ve ever executed a brilliant initiative only to see it chewed up in the prevailing culture of your company, this book is your protection against such soul-crushing setbacks in the future.

“Kudos…The first book I’ve seen that approaches cultural transformation with an emphasis on process improvement, including rational how-to steps that quality geeks can relate to…. Jeff sharing his personal stories adds a richness to this book and certainly makes it relatable to the quality professional.”

—Laura Kinney, VP, Operational Excellence, Signature Healthcare

“The author delivers on his initial promise…providing a toolkit to help you evaluate, change, and sustain your company culture. Throughout the book the author discusses the concepts and a logical strategy and then provides the ‘how-to’ tools for implementation, giving readers actionable benefits from the book, not just theory…Veyera introduces the concept of using guerrilla warfare in the struggle between the culture lived and the culture desired. This is particularly appropriate, as the old culture is geared to protect itself, not to bring about its own demise. Organizations continually fall into the trap of letting the existing culture dictate how culture change will be carried out…Having been involved in a few change efforts, I found the discussion of steps to protect yourself especially valuable. I really could have used that back in the day.”

—Tom Bacus, Chief Executive Manager, Bacus & Associates, LLC

About the Author

Jeff Veyera is a career-long quality professional, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Certified Quality Manager, and Lean Leader with over 25 years of experience in healthcare, military, manufacturing, consulting, and supply chain management. He is a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality. He lives in Fort Lupton, CO, with his wife, four children, two cats, and one dog. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and is proud to be ’93. 

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Book review

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is one of the most widely used business improvement initiatives in both manufacturing and service organizations. For a modern organization to sustainably exist in society, the impact of business initiatives such as LSS should aff...

Editor's introduction to QMJ's Volume 27, Issue 1.

The ISO 9001 standard specifies requirements for quality management systems. All requirements of ASQ/ANSI/ISO 9001:2015, the American National Standard (ANS) version of ISO 9001, are generic and are intended to be applicable to all organizations.

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Also available as a PDF e-standard. This document provides guidance on auditing management systems, including the principles of auditing, managing an audit programme and conducting management system audits, as well as guidance on the evaluation...

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The ISO Lesson Guide translates ISO 9001 into easy-to-understand words. This pocket edition was designed as a quick reference for anyone to carry around conveniently.

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This reference manual is designed to help those interested in passing the ASQ's certification exam for Six Sigma Green Belts and others who want a handy reference to the appropriate materials needed to conduct successful Green Belt projects.

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Like the previous editions of The Certified Quality Engineer Handbook , this fourth edition is intended to provide the quality professional with a reference book aligned with the ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) Body of Knowledge (BoK). The boo...

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ASQ Auditing Handbook, Fourth Edition is a handbook that covers nearly all aspects of auditing & is a valuable resource for the CQA exam. Buy ASQ for savings!

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This best-seller can help anyone whose role is to try to find specific causes for failures. It provides detailed steps for solving problems, focusing more heavily on the analytical process involved in finding the actual causes of problems. It does...

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ASQ’s Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA) certification is designed to introduce the basics of quality to organizations and individuals not currently working within the field of quality. This book and the Body of Knowledge (BOK) it support...

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This book is primarily meant to aid those taking the ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) exam and is best used in conjunction with The Certified Quality Engineer Handbook.

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The best Six Sigma black belt handbook has been fully revised, updated, and expanded. This third edition has been updated to reflect the most recent ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge (BOK), released in 2015.

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This best-seller can help anyone whose role is to try to find specific causes for failures. It provides detailed steps for solving problems, focusing more heavily on the analytical process involved in finding the actual causes of problems. It doe...

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The purpose of this handbook is to assist individuals taking the Certified Supplier Quality Professional examination and provide a reference for the practitioner.

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The Quality Toolbox is a reference guide offering well-known and less commonly used quality control tools. Buy online at ASQ's bookstore, discounts available!

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Understanding and improving the CAPA system as a whole is the focal point of this book, the only of its kind dealing exclusively with this critical system within highly regulated industries.

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The Certified Manager of Quality Handbook, 4th ed. provides guidance for process improvement along with corresponding tools & techniques. Shop ASQ for savings!

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Six Sigma is a highly flexible methodology and tool set, but few practitioners have successfully transferred the early successes Six Sigma enjoyed in manufacturing to sales and marketing. The opportunities to use it exist, but the expertise on how to...

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Using ISO 9001 in Healthcare, Second Edition is a guide that outlines the methods of ISO 9001:2008 as a management system. Shop ASQ for discounts!

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Making Change Work is designed to help organizations prepare for and successfully implement change. This resource provides tools to measure your organization's readiness to change while effectively increasing performance.

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This training guide represents one way to look at the Baldrige criteria and use them to improve classroom systems. It is designed for classroom teachers at all levels as well as teachers in training. The approach described here has proven helpful to ...

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Customers demand and expect nothing less than great service, but try to get ten employees to agree on what great service means and you’ll find the definition to be elusive. Even though few of us personally make widgets, most change management and qua...

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Ellis Ott taught generations of quality practitioners to be explorers of the truth through the collection and graphical portrayal of data. From a simple plea to "plot the data" to devising a graphical analytical tool called the analysis of means (AN...

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Six Sigma Green Belts need support in applying new skills after training, yet there is little research about how this works and even less advice about what support looks like in the field. This book is that missing link in providing coaching tips to ...

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Six Sigma Green Belts need support in applying new skills after training, yet there is little research about how this works and even less advice about what support looks like in the field. This book is that missing link in providing coaching tips to ...

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This book is based on several years study of the nine Baldrige Award winners from health care. It describes how these organizations approached their “Baldrige journey” and what other health care leaders should do to reap similar benefits.

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Transformational Leadership is an e-book to guide organizational transformation, while delivering breakthrough results. Shop ASQ's bookstore for discounts!

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Transformational Leadership is a softcover book designed to help develop organizations of meaning by cultivating relationships. Shop ASQ for discounts!

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ASQ offers member discounts on Ellis Ott's latest edition of Process Quality Control. If you are a dedicated statistical engineer looking to expand your knowledge, then this detailed resource is designed for you.

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Søren Bisgaard was an extremely productive and insightful scholar of modern industrial statistics and quality engineering. He was amazing for both his breadth of interests and the depth of his scholarship. Søren was one of the very few people making substantial contributions in so many basic areas in statistics and quality engineering. This compilation collects 31 of his works .

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This book is written to address the most detailed level of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence — the 43 Areas to Address. I t is organized into five parts and is designed to help leaders and organization architects understand:...

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Sustainable Business & Industry is a guide to developing and implementing a successful program in sustainability and social responsibility. Buy ASQ for savings!

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This book is written to address the most detailed level of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence (CPE) — the 42 Areas to Address. It is organized into five parts and is designed to help leaders and organization architects understand: (1...

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Implementing ISO/IEC 17025:2005 is a book that gives a roadmap for organizations to receive/maintain accreditation for their laboratories. Buy ASQ for savings!

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This book is intended for small business owners and non-engineers such as researchers, business analysts, project managers, small non-profits, community groups, religious organizations, and others who want an assessment tool that can provide methods ...

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The book is provides a road map to help healthcare professionals establish a culture of patient safety in their practices, provide high quality healthcare and increase patient & staff satisfaction through communication between medical staff and patients.

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This is a book for principals, and it should also prove helpful to school leaders in central office or at the building level. The authors wrote it to build knowledge and give support to these principals because their experience shows that the Baldri...

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Statistical Process Control is a guide that helps practitioners understand & apply different SPC tools in a company regulated by the FDA. Shop ASQ for savings!

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The AS9100C, AS9110 & AS9120 Handbook discusses of each of the 3 standards’ clauses, & suggests best practices to comply with them. Shop ASQ for discounts!

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The primary purpose of this book is to enable you to implement a strategic KM program in your business and derive business results from it. The contents of this book are relevant to any business—manufacturing or service, and also in education, not-fo...

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The purpose of this book is to provide hands-on guidelines for using electronic communication tools as part of the auditing process. The pros and cons of conducting e-audits and their consequences will be reviewed. There are situations when e-audit...

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The Executive Guide to Understanding and Implementing Baldrige in Healthcare shows how to improve healthcare organization faster. Shop ASQ for discounts!

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NOTE: A new edition of this handbook is now available. The reliability engineer is a professional who understands the principles of performance evaluation and prediction to improve product/systems safety, reliability and maintainability. The st...

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**Updated for Minitab 18: more tools, improved graphics** This  guide explains Lean Six Sigma in a down-to-earth and practical format, and provides detailed Minitab instructions and screenshots throughout. Now in its 5th edition, with&nb...

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