- Cost of Quality
- Customer Satisfaction and Value
- Data Quality
- Engineering
- Human Resources
- ISO 14000
- ISO 9000
- Leadership
- Lean
- Metrics
- Metrology
- Problem Solving
- Process Management
- Project Management
- Quality Control
- Quality Management
- Quality Tools
- Safety
- Sampling
- Six Sigma
- Social Responsibility
- Software Quality
- Standards
- Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- Statistics
- Teams
- Theory of Constraints
- Career Development
- Risk Management
- Food Safety
- Economic Case for Quality
- err
- Continuous Improvement
Career Corner: Where Have All the CQOs Gone?
Two weeks ago, I got a call from an acquaintance who said he’d have to find a new job during the next six months or so. He is the chief quality officer (CQO) of a major company. He’s getting a great severance package, but it was still unexpected...
Starting Line
So, you’ve volunteered (or, as one of my coworkers says, you’ve been “volun-told”) to lead your company through the implementation of ISO 9001. Now what do you do?...
Critical Stage
Has Six Sigma been a good thing? While this is a straightforward question, there isn’t a simple answer....
Expert Answers: September 2009
Accountability ... defining cost reduction ... honing in on confidence intervals....
Online Figures Kenett
com 2 Bar chart Bayesian network on Eurobarometer survey data / ONLINE FIgurE 2 SGIquaW Fairly bad 5% Fairly good 54% Very bad 1% Very good 40% SGIquaE Fairly bad 4% Fairly good 55% Very bad 1% Very good 40% SGIquaG Fairly bad 4% Fairly good 55% Very bad...
Back to Basics: Table Talk
There are many ways to determine how successful a process or project is. These methods normally involve detailed metrics and may include cycle-time reduction, number of process steps and customer satisfaction. However, the more improvement projects there...
A Frank Discussion
The Pittsburgh section has been an ASQ stalwart. It was one of a handful sections that co-founded ASQ in the 1940s. Because of the concentration of manufacturing in the area, Pittsburgh has always been home to many ASQ members—and a hotspot for quality....
Volviendo a los Fundamentos: Grafico que habla
Hay muchas maneras para determinar cuan exitoso es un proceso o proyecto. Estos métodos implican habitualmente indicadores detallados y pueden incluir la reducción del tiempo de ciclo, el número de etapas del proceso y la satisfacción del cliente....
Expert Answers: June 2009
Auditing management systems ... ISO 9001 trouble ... Crunching the numbers for product specifications....
In a Perfect World
During an interview with QP, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill speaks about the U.S. healthcare system, the signs of economic calamity everyone ignored, and the U.S. government's resistance to the quality way of thinking....
Pyramid Power
The next evolutionary step for Six Sigma could be a method called 6TOC (pronounced “six-tock”) that combines principles of lean Six Sigma with the theory of constraints....
Riding the Storm Out
Virtually everyone and every organization has been touched in some way by today’s turbulent economy. Smaller budgets, unexpected layoffs and workplace shake-ups have become commonplace....
Online Sidebar Creasy
The evolution to 6TOC includes its predecessors, Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, lean Six Sigma and the theory of constraints...
Expert Answers: May 2009
Design deviation ... Choosing your chart ... Studying sigma shift...
Back to Basics: Sample Wise
Selecting the correct sample size is often the most difficult aspect of any project. Rules of thumb are important because they promote discussion that facilitates the selection of a more optimum sample size....
Volviendo a los Fundamentos: Muestreo Sensato
La selección del tamaño correcto de la muestra es a menudo el aspecto más difícil de cualquier proyecto....
Online Figures Jing
QP 2 Pure bonding / online Figure 5 Part one Part one Part two Part two Left distance Right distance Step one Step two Heat DMAIC Mind- set / online Figure 4 30- 50 10- 15 4- 8 KPIVs 8- 10 KPIVs Critical KPIVs 3- 6 Key leverage KPIVs Inputs variables Mea...
Online Back to Basics Figures
com 1 Column name Task Methods and Systems Sheet / online figure 1 Task Instruction Sheet / online figure 2 No. Operation Software and other tools Important steps Key points Reasons Logical segment of task process to advance the work. 2. Stop the flow ...
Online Sidebar 3.4 per Million: Nine Steps to Align Projects With Business Needs
To achieve maximum efficiencies and financial results in turbulent business and financial markets, executives and senior managers must revisit their business models to make certain measurements lead to the right behaviors....
Building From the Basics
Quality control is about models, methods, measuring and managing. It’s about uncovering a problem and finding the solution. It’s about using the right techniques at the right time to make things better....
Building From the Basics-Online Figures
com 3 Fishbone diagram example / ONLINE FIGURE 4 Measurement Lab error Improper calibration Calculation In lab Supplier Supplier Calibration Not followed Dirty bottles Iron tools At reactor E583 E470 At sample point In lab AKW- 2 DBT Water Analyst Solven...
Online (Back to Basics)
registrada en aquellas empresas que han implementado la norma ISO 9001:2000 o tienen un sistema de gesti.n de calidad (SGC ) similar. Dos partes de la informaci.n transforman a un SGC (QMS) que satisface o que contiene los elementos de una norma internaci...
Salary Survey 2008: Seeing Green
Significant salary discrepancies exist among quality professionals depending on where they work, their gender and whether they supervise others, according to an analysis of QP’s 2007 and 2008 salary surveys. Part 1, section 1 leads off the salary survey p...
One Good Idea: A Tasty Comparison
The objective in this article is to test the hypothesis that the actual distribution matches the hypothesized distribution provided by Mars. The underlying distribution, called the multinomial distribution, is an extension of the binomial distribution. Be...
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 4: Salary by ASQ and RABQSA International Certification
When it comes to ASQ certification, one is good, but more is better....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 8: Salary by Number of Years in Current Position
No matter how you look at the data, job seniority has little effect on salaries....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 2: Salary by U.S. Regions and Canadian Province
In the United States, the East South Central region is home to the lowest-paid quality professionals....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 14: Salary by Organization's Quality Infrastructure
More than 80% of the U.S. and Canadian survey respondents are members of their organizations’ quality department. The size of that department varies, depending on the size of the organization and division in which the respondents work....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 12: Salary by Industry
U.S. and Canadian survey respondents are a lot alike when it comes to the industries in which they work....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 3: Salary by Number of Years Experience in the Quality Field
Year in and year out, general salary survey results have shown respondents’ salaries increase as their experience in the quality field increases. This year is no exception....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 10: Salary by Number of Employees Overseen
In the United States, 54.1% of the respondents indicated that their job duties include overseeing other employees. In Canada, the percentage is slightly higher at 59%....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 9: Salary by Number of Years in Current Position and in the Quality Field
Like many professionals in other fields, quality professionals typically have spent quite a few years working in quality, but not necessarily a lot of years at their current job....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 20: Size of Raise and Additional Payments
This year, 72.5% of the U.S. respondents and 72.1% of the Canadian respondents expect to receive bonuses (which include other types of additional annual payments such as profit sharing and deferred payments but not overtime or insurance)....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 2, Section 22: Base Earnings by Consulting Experience and RABQSA International Certification
Section 8 in the regular employee results reveals that the number of years spent in a position has little impact on regular employees’ salaries. What about self-employed consultants?...
Salary Survey 2008: Part 2, Section 23: Hourly and Daily Rates
When the self-employed consultants were asked in last year’s salary survey whether they charge clients by the hour, day or some other way, many consultants noted that they charge by the hour and day, and they charge by the project....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 15: Salary by Extent of Quality Responsibilities
What percentage of employees have quality responsibilities stated in their job descriptions where you work? If it’s below 26%, your organization is a lot like the organizations that many of the survey respondents work for....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 19: Salary by Gender and Age
When QP first began publishing the salary survey two decades ago, only 13.1% of the U.S. respondents were women. Since then, the percentage of women in the quality field has increased significantly....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 16: Salary by Highest Level of Education
More than 90% of all the survey respondents have furthered their education past high school. Most often, they reported that their highest level of education is a bachelor’s degree, with 44.7% earning one....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 11: Salary by Division Size, Organization Size and Location of Headquarters
Most often, the survey respondents work for small divisions in small organizations with headquarters in North America....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 1: Salary by Job Title
The vast majority of respondents who participated in this year’s salary survey are full-time regular employees—in other words, they work 36 or more hours per week for a company or organization....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 2, Section 21: Base Earnings by Quality Experience, Education, ASQ Certification and Six Sigma Training
In 2002, QP started tracking whether self-employed consultants wore one hat or two—that is, whether they worked as self-employed consultants only or whether they worked for a company and offered consulting services outside their company-related duties....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 5: Salary by Six Sigma Training
Putting down that you completed Six Sigma training looks good on a résumé, but does it result in higher pay? There’s a good chance it will....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 17: Salary by Highest Level of Education and Number of Years in the Quality Field
The salary survey results show that respondents’ salaries typically increase as their level of education increases (see Section 16) and as their level of experience in the quality field increases (see Section 3)....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 7: Salary by Nonexempt vs. Exempt Status
Overall, 85.3% of the U.S. respondents and 73.4% of the Canadian respondents don’t get paid for overtime (they are exempt employees)....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 2, Section 24: Base Earnings and Rates by Age, Gender and Geographic Location
The profiles of self-employed consultants in the United States and Canada are pretty similar. The U.S. consultants are mostly men who are 46 to 55 years old, whereas the Canadian consultants are mostly men who are 36 to 55 years old....
Salary Survey 2008: Part 1, Section 6: Salary by Number of Work Hours
If you work more than 40 hours per week, you’re not alone....
Salary Survey 2008: Looking at the Numbers
Mean salary: The mean salary is the average salary for that particular group. Manager: Ensures the administration of the company’s quality, process and business improvement efforts within a defined segment of the organization. Quality engineer: Designs, i...
Salary Survey 2008: The Complete Report
51 Section 6 Salary by Number of Work Hours Online Section 7 Salary by Nonexempt vs. Exempt Status Online Section 8 Salary by Number of Years in Current Position Online Section 9 Salary by Number of Years in Current Position and in the Quality Field Onli...
Online Figures Schooley
Radiology transport w/ o phone calls Map emergency downtime plan for TSystem Midlevel in Triage, Improvement Measurement: # MLP Discharges daily Action Item List from 2/ 6/ 08 National MD goals Room to MD ( 22 min), MD to dispo ( 74 min) Post times in ME...
Statistics Roundtable: More is Not Always Better
All other things being equal, if offered a choice between small or large sample sizes, the larger sample size is preferred. Or is it?...
Expert Answers: September 2008
Information management systems ... The benefits of binomial probability plotting....
Volviendo a los Fundamentos: Una Nueva Afinidad
En el siguiente ejemplo, 14 iglesias líderes utilizaron el análisis de afinidad para la planificación estratégica y análisis de brechas en su esfuerzo por cumplir con el objetivo de la organización para convertirse en una congregación saludable. Lluvia de...
Starting From Scratch
Graduate students studying quality developed the Quality Systems Development Roadmap to help organizations do this, using application templates from the Lean Six Sigma Quality Transformation Toolkit. However, new companies, organizations without an enterp...
From the President: Quality and the Three Conversations
For generations of authors, that intimidating D-word—deadline—makes even the bravest among us cringe. So when QP’s editor reminded me at a recent board meeting that the due date of this column, my first as ASQ president, was quickly approaching...
Volviendo a los Fundamentos: Logros y Resultados
When project objectives are set, the term “deliverables” is often used to specify those tangible things produced by the project. Two key factors, however, are often overlooked....
Online One Good Idea
com 2 Column name Data for creating a scatter plot / onlne Table 1 Temp Rank Sorted data Plot position Std dev 79 1 67 0.014 - 2.21 87 2 75 0.041 - 1.74 84 3 79 0.068 - 1.49 86 4 79 0.095 - 1.31 87 5 79 0.122 - 1.17 80 6 79 0.149 - 1.04 79 7 80 0.176 - 0...
Online Expert Answers
QP 4 Defect Type Number of defects Number of units Opportunities per unit Total opportunities Defects per opportunity Defects per million opportunities Cross- threaded screw 124 500 25 12500 0.00992 9920 Torque exceeds 2 foot- pounds 210 500 25 12500 0.0...
Map Quest
Raytheon Six Sigma is a proprietary six-step process that Raytheon Co., a defense and aerospace systems supplier, has embedded into its culture. It was developed by an internal team that was guided by the company’s top leadership....
Standards Outlook: Hazardous to Your Health
One hospital chain in my area has a snappy ad saying your selection of a hospital could be the most important choice you will ever make. This might be true—going into the hospital these days can be hazardous to your health....
The Architect of Quality
Joseph M. Juran 1904 - 2008
Pioneer. Teacher. Consultant. Guru. Each of these words describes Joseph M. Juran, the man who became a giant in the world of quality management and changed how companies do business....
Example Calculations Part I
Simple linear regression equation is of the form Y = mX + b....
Example Calculations Part III
Quantity (6), the sum of the squared residuals, is a summary measure of how well the model fits. Other things being equal, small values of (6) are preferred to larger ones....
Example Calculations Part II
A 95% confidence interval does not mean there is a 95% chance the particular interval you calculate captures the true value....
Career Corner: Don't Settle for Shortcuts
Although they have been around for years, diploma mills are increasingly gaining exposure in the internet age, using technology to bombard us with offers for quick degrees that can be obtained with little or no academic effort. People who obtain degrees f...
Ghysels Online Sidebar: What Students Think
Jan. feature/SD EDUCATION School District Offers Ideas for Continuous Improvement by Maurice Ghysels In 50 Words or Less In implementing a process of continuous improvement, a California school district learned lessons that are applicable to industry. M.G...
Career Corner: Ready, Aim, Fire
Within an organization, the three elements and the outcome are typically something like policy + strategy + tactical plan = goal attainment. Specifically, “ready, aim, fire.” Think of this approach as you would an arrow hitting a target. You might say a w...
Expert Answers: January 2008
Soft dollars and the bottom line ... Process maps: Where do you end?...
Navigate Your Career Path With QP’s Annual Salary Survey
45 Section 6 Salary by Number of Work Hours Online Section 7 Salary by Nonexempt vs. Exempt Status Online Section 8 Salary by Number of Years of Quality Experience and Highest Level of Education Online Section 9 Salary by Number of Years in Current Posit...
Salary Survey-Regular Employee and Self-Employed Consultants Results
45 Section 6 Salary by Number of Work Hours Online Section 7 Salary by Nonexempt vs. Exempt Status Online Section 8 Salary by Number of Years of Quality Experience and Highest Level of Education Online Section 9 Salary by Number of Years in Current Posit...
Part I Section 4 Salary by ASQ and RABQSA Certification (Regular Employees)
Certified quality engineer 23.9 Certified quality auditor 23.3 Certified manager of quality/ organizational excellence 12.3 Certified quality technician 7.7 6.9 Certified Six Sigma Black Belt 3.9 Certified quality inspector 3.5 Certified quality improvem...
Just the FAQs
Some of the basic questions are covered about how ASQ's annual salary survey was conducted and how the information is presented....
Part I Section 2 Salary by Geographic Location
Table 3 shows the average salaries of the other eight regions and compares M PART 1. REGULAR EMPLOYEE RESULTS Section 2. Salary by Geographic Location Count Percentage United States 6,896 92.90% Canada 428 5.77 Puerto Rico 57 0.77 Mexico 19 0.26 Iraq 4 0...
Part 2 Section 1 Base Earnings by Quality Experience, Education, ASQ Certification and Six Sigma Training (Self-Employed Consultant Results)
In all, 20 part- time U. S. consultants reported no base earnings for the period between June 2006 and June PART 2. SELF- EMPLOYED CONSULTANT RESULTS Section 1. Base Earnings by Quality Experience, Education, ASQ Certification and Six Sigma Training FIGU...
ASQ Team Says QMS and EMS Standards Support SOX
The intent of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was to make the financial system of control more transparent and to reduce the incidence of corporate fraud. It soon became evident, however, that compliance with the law’s auditing requirements would be...
Avoid Random Acts of Improvement With Baldrige
Organizations can use the best project execution methods, such as Six Sigma and lean, but be disappointed with the results if key strategic goals are not addressed. Improvement efforts should begin by first considering the characteristics of the...
Annual Quality Awards 2007
The annual quality awards listing is a guide to automotive, government, international, national, and state quality related awards, organized by type, the award’s name and sponsor, criteria, contact information, and notes. Awards in the form of...
Career Corner: Adapt to Today's Risk Based Environment
Not long ago, during a discussion about innovation, a nontraditional student of mine told me that if my ideas were more than 18 months old, they were probably out of date....
Nanotechnology: A Big Little Frontier for Quality
Nanotechnology is a field of applied science that deals with arranging particles...
Career Corner: The Making of a Knowledge Worker
Add value, become indispensable, be willing to be itinerant, and you will prosper.
This is the story of Dan Sawyer. Sawyer is an expert in the emerging areas of engineering and technology governance and the application of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to technology....
Quality Focus Good for Business
Premier Inc., a San Diego-based healthcare alliance, is a 2006 recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) in the service category. The firm credits employee involvement, experience gained while earning a state quality award, and...
Know and Follow ISO 19011's Auditing Principles
The auditing principles of ISO 19011 call for ethical conduct, fair presentation, professional care, independence, and an evidence based approach. The ethical conduct principle is realized throughout the standard because it is the cornerstone of...
Salary Survey – 2006
Regular Employee - Section 3. Salary by Highest Level Of Education
org PART 1. REGULAR EMPLOYEE RESULTS Section 3 Salary by Highest Level of Education FIGURE A Salaries of U. S. Respondents By Highest Level of Education Highest level of education ( percentage of respondents) 58,417 39,558 Less than high school ( 0.1%) H...
Salary Survey – 2006
Full Survey
44 Section 6. Salary by Number of Work Hours Online Section 7. Salary by Nonexempt vs. Exempt Status Online Section 8. Salary by Number of Years' Quality Experience and Highest Level of Education Online Section 9. Salary by Number of Years in Current Pos...
Salary Survey – 2006
Regular Employee - Section 4. Salary by ASQ and RABQSA Certification
70,278 69,878 71,960 82,944 75,000 Number of ASQ certifications ( percentage of respondents) One ( 70.7%) Two ( 19.9%) Three ( 5.6%) Four ( 3.4%) Five or more ( 0.4%) $ 0 $ 20,000 $ 40,000 $ 60,000 $ 80,000 Average salary ( Canadian dollars) $ 100,000 FI...
Salary Survey – 2006
Self-Employed Consultant - Section 1. Base Earnings by Quality Experience, Education, ASQ Certification and Six Sigma Training
org PART 2. SELF- EMPLOYED CONSULTANT RESULTS Section 1 Base Earnings by Quality Experience, Education, ASQ Certification and Six Sigma Training TABLE B Standard Minimum Maximum deviation Count Mean Median Part- time Number of years' experience in the qu...
Statistics Roundtable: Improving Reliability Through Warranty Data Analysis
Today's emphasis on proactive improvement calls for building high reliability into products at design. The goal is to avoid field failures during a product's estimated lifetime....
Extending School Improvement Beyond Curriculum
Successful schools must meet the needs of multiple stakeholders - students, parents, teachers, administrators, taxpayers, and the community in general. And all this must be accomplished at different grade levels and divergent subject areas. Therefore,...
Career Corner: Career Management for Engineers
Engineers - particularly electrical and electronic engineers - were once insulated from outsourcing. In fact, it could almost be said electrical engineers were recession and outsourcing proof. That's no longer true....
Documenting a Process - With a Side of Cole Slaw
Barbecue is an art, but it is also a process that can be documented and perhaps even reproduced. A dedicated group of friends conducted a controlled barbecue experiment in an effort to document the cooking method that has guided their efforts over the...
Annual Quality Awards
The Annual Quality Awards Listing is a guide to automotive, government, international, national, and state quality related awards. The list is organized by type, the award's name and sponsor, criteria, contact information, and notes. To be included in...
Make Healthcare Lean
The principles of lean manufacturing are as applicable to healthcare as they are to the automobile industry. However, unlike manufacturing, healthcare management structures are not usually hierarchical, and hospitals generally are not-for-profit. Value...
One Good Idea: 'QP' Goes to School
The Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Brampton, Ontario, offers an introductory fundamentals of quality course as part of its postgraduate degree in manufacturing quality....
Standards Outlook: Circling the Wagons
The U.S. technical advisory group to International Organization for Standardization technical committee 176 (ISO/TC 176) recently released a document called Quality Management Systems—Advice From ISO/TC 176 for Sector Specific Applications.1...
Measure for Measure: Improved Gage R&R Measurement Studies
Many manufacturers are using tools like statistical process control (SPC) and design of experiments (DoE) to monitor and improve product quality and process productivity. However, if the data collected are not accurate and precise, they do not...
Standards Outlook: QMSs and EMSs Support Financial Management Systems
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was adopted in 2002 in response to scandals, such as the ones at Enron and WorldCom, and other misuse of corporate resources. In 2003, Paul Palmes and I started an effort to integrate...
Project Teams: How Good Are They?
Project teams have become the basic work units for most enterprises, but there are tough challenges, as illustrated by notable project failures featured in the media in recent years. A recent Quality Progress survey revealed a conflicting picture of...
Rapid Knowledge Transfer: The Key to Success
Rapid knowledge transfer (RKT) involves the discovery, learning, creation, and reuse of knowledge that becomes intellectual capital that can be converted into value and profits. The concepts of RKT are applicable to quality management because its four...
3.4 per Million: Put the Pieces Together
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This isn't a particularly new idea; it has been around for years. We even have an entire profession built around it....
Salary Survey – 2005
Full Survey
45 Section 6. Salary by Number of Work Hours Online Section 7. Salary by Nonexempt vs. Exempt Status Online Section 8. Salary by Number of Years' Quality Experience and Highest Level of Education Online Section 9. Salary by Number of Years in Current Pos...
Change Healthcare Organizations From Good to Great
The Institute of Medicine estimates that the cost of the medical errors resulting in thousands of deaths each year and injury to thousands more is over $20 billion annually. While these figures are unacceptable, the good news is that the application of...
