Books & Standards

A Q&A with Neetu Choudhary, a continuous improvement leader.

Recommendations on quality destinations for your next road trip.

LSSR’s editor asks, “Why don’t we need to use the advanced tools and methods in our lean and/or Six Sigma toolboxes more often?” and “Why do we learn advanced tools in our training if we’re not going to use them?”

This article summarizes a recent benchmarking study, conducted by Firefly Consulting, organizations that had successful lean Six Sigma deployments to find out what makes them tick and what advice they would offer others. The responses collected from ...

Full issue PDF for August 2020 Lean & Six Sigma Review.

Keeping others motivated when lean initiatives fall short of expectations.

Revisiting the Ishikawa diagram as a change management dashboard.

The value of the  ASQ Certified Quality Auditor Handbook, Fifth Edition , is clear. It is designed to help new auditors gain an understanding of the field and prepare for the ASQ CQA exam. In addition, experienced auditors can refer to it as a ...

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After most travel and in-person events halted earlier this year, it’s likely you were invited at some point to attend virtual events geared toward continuing education needs (I know ASQ has offered several, with more in the works). I’ve a...

When assessing the effectiveness of an organization’s quality management system (QMS), it is important to first understand the organization leadership’s process for setting performance expectations, engaging customers so their expectation...

The value of the ASQ Certified Quality Auditor Handbook, Fifth Edition , is clear. It is designed to help new auditors gain an understanding of the field and prepare for the ASQ CQA exam. In addition, experienced auditors can refer to it as a helpf...

Member Price: $94.00
List Price: $135.00

This standard provides principles and practices that address the definition, attainment, verification and validation of the quality of:  2.1. Initial conceptual, systems and detail design of the energy source, such as an energy facility, inclu...

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In this research and executive brief, Forbes Insights, in partnership with ASQExcellence (ASQE) and ASQ, examines how quality initiatives are progressing in the digital era, based on the views and experiences of 1,036 executives and quality professi...

Arguably, the ability of Six Sigma to significantly enhance the bottom line was the characteristic that caught many executives’ attention. It is well-known that Jack Welch, retired CEO of General Electric (GE), did not have a lot of value for q...

Because this month’s QP theme focuses on quality basics, it’s worthwhile to revisit the innovation management principles. I first wrote about these principles in January 201 after they were drafted at the outset of writing the ISO 56000 ...

The absence of a business impact and inclusion of excessive industry-specific jargon is common in almost every subject matter expert résumé I review. The problem with this myopic detail in your résumé is that it doesn&rsqu...

There are several reasons that explain why the COVID-19 pandemic analyses of the number of deaths and new cases can deceive. 

Undoubtedly, we are in the midst of a digitalization revolution. Everyone—finance, travel, consumer goods, hospitality, healthcare and more—is transforming their processes into digital and mobile. This is due to technological and social m...

This column highlights the importance of having a full understanding of the quality management principles (QMP) and definitions of quality and quality management in ISO 9000:2015—Quality management systems—Fundamentals and vocabulary. W...

Newly released products and tools.

Have you ever been performing a root cause investigation and the cause was operator error? I think anyone who has ever led an investigation has come across the dreaded operator error. But is operator error ever a true root cause?

Additions to your quality library.

Subject matter experts take on your quality-related queries.

Reader reactions from around the world.

QP looks at the lighter side of quality in this comic strip, featuring the always quality-minded character and his circle of friends.

Various quality gurus, researchers and professionals have defined quality by the different ways they have experienced it. However, most of them have defined quality in terms of one or a combination of the following: Quality of design—the salien...

There are many occasions when a project leader will preside over a team meeting that ends up falling short of the desired outcomes. Entering a room full of people who are expecting you to guide them to results can be a source of tremendous pressure, ...

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There are many occasions when a project leader will preside over a team meeting that ends up falling short of the desired outcomes. Entering a room full of people who are expecting you to guide them to results can be a source of tremendous pressure, ...

Member Price: $28.00
List Price: $40.00

As the healthcare industry continues to evolve and financial constraints increase due to lack of reimbursement, healthcare organizations are being forced at a record pace to pivot from traditional operating models to high-performance systems. One of ...

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 17025:2017—General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories is the preeminent global standard for calibration ...

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong supply chain. An important aspect of supply chain management is the supplier audit process. With several travel restrictions and social distancing requirements in place...

No matter what problem-solving process you use, it should end by answering the question “What are we going to do differently so that this doesn’t happen again?” Often, in many organizations, the answer to this simple and probing que...

This article proposes a sampling technique that delivers robust designs, that is, point sets selected from a design domain in the shape of a unit hypercube. The designs are guaranteed to provide a statistically uniform point distribution, meaning tha...

Computer simulations often involve both qualitative and numerical inputs. Existing Gaussian process (GP) methods for handling this mainly assume a different response surface for each combination of levels of the qualitative factors and relate them vi...

We propose an approach for fitting linear regression models that splits the set of covariates into groups. The optimal split of the variables into groups and the regularized estimation of the regression coefficients are performed by minimizing an obj...

Multivariate testing is a popular method to improve websites, mobile apps, and email campaigns. A unique aspect of testing in the online space is that it needs to be conducted across multiple platforms such as a desktop and a smartphone. The existing...

We develop a Bayesian nonparametric joint mixture model for clustering spatially correlated time series based on both spatial and temporal similarities. In the temporal perspective, the pattern of a time series is flexibly modeled as a mixture of Gau...

Expensive black box systems arise in many engineering applications but can be difficult to optimize because their output functions may be complex, multi-modal, and difficult to understand. The task becomes even more challenging when the optimization ...

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 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 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 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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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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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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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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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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Find the most recent (fourth) edition of this book, released June 2020, here . ASQ’s Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA) certification is designed to introduce the basics of quality to organizations and individuals not currentl...

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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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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...

Member Price: $42.00
List Price: $60.00

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

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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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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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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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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 ...

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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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**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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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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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 patie...

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There are many occasions when a project leader will preside over a team meeting that ends up falling short of the desired outcomes. Entering a room full of people who are expecting you to guide them to results can be a source of tremendous pressure, ...

Member Price: $28.00
List Price: $40.00

There are many occasions when a project leader will preside over a team meeting that ends up falling short of the desired outcomes. Entering a room full of people who are expecting you to guide them to results can be a source of tremendous pressure, ...

Member Price: $28.00
List Price: $40.00