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QICID: 10799
Title: The Inspector's Role in Organizational Quality
Copyright: 1999, ASQ
Author: Durkee, Dale; Gookins, Bud
Organization: Strategic Quality Consulting, Grafton, OH
Subject: History,Inspection,Process management;
Series: Annual Quality Congress, Anaheim, CA, Vol. 53, No. 0, May 1999, pp. 117-121
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Abstract: The nature of inspection has evolved through four stages. The early stage of awareness lasted for hundreds of years about two millennia ago, perhaps reaching its peak on the Nile during the time of Caesar. Though primitive, the role of inspection was to evaluate the quality of agricultural products and other barter items. In the crafts stage, the craftsman was the inspector. Around 1900, companies began to hire inspectors to evaluate product conformance or nonconformance. Inspection was done at the end of a process, and, as in all stages, the inspection was based on the comparison of product characteristics to criteria for a desired result. The third stage was mass production, beginning in the early twentieth century. This stage was characterized by statistical tools, planning, and other improvements that increased the effectiveness of inspection. Nevertheless, there remained a conflict between production and inspection, as seen in the judgment not only of processes but also of the people who ran the processes. The current stage is the lean production stage. Changes during this stage have been dramatic and ongoing. These include shifts from process management to functional management, from problem solving to problem prevention, and from push production to pull production. Models like the ISO standards and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award have aided the pursuit of quality excellence. Other changes include the use of computer-based inspection, 360-degree feedback initiatives, and the feasibility of 100% inspection. No longer placed at the end of a process, inspection is integrated into the process. The nature of inspection continues to evolve; the next challenge is to adapt inspection services to world-class production.
Number of pages: 5
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