Quality Management : Continuous Improvement
3.4 per Million: Digging the Holistic Approach
Few will argue we live in a dynamic world where change is accelerating. What often goes unnoticed is that along with this rapid change, there is the opportunity and the need to improve....
Know Thyself
There are two schools of thought when it comes to improvement: project-centric improvement and culture-centric improvement. Traditional thought says these approaches have their separate places. But PCI and CCI are inextricably linked....
Keep on Truckin’
In July 2005, a transportation representative at Bayer MaterialScience identified a potential problem with the way the company chose its shipping carriers. Bayer, a global manufacturer of polymers used as raw materials for products such as compact...
Volviendo a los Fundamentos: Día de la Capacitación
Es difícil en cualquier industria, capacitar eficazmente al personal del proyecto y también difundir y capturar la experiencia....
Back to Basics: Improve a Nonconforming System
When we think of nonconforming material, we think about scrapped and reworked material or products that directly cut into a company’s bottom line. But a closer look shows that a nonconforming material system can provide a wealth of information....
3.4 per Million: Putting It All Together
For companies that have been asking themselves how to achieve even more improvement, the answer lies in developing a comprehensive process management system that integrates three critical components....
Classroom Lessons Learned
Public education often tries to emulate the successful methods of industry. However, the experience of a school district in California offers several lessons about achieving continuous improvement in the corporate world....
Benchmarking in Hospitals: More Than a Scorecard
The term “benchmarking” as mentioned in hospital quality literature is not true benchmarking, but simply a comparison of outcome measures with industry averages. Benchmarking is an improvement process that measures an organization’s performance...
Back to Basics: It's Just Paperwork?
Understanding the need for document control
When I was a teenager, my mother gave me a diary and a bit of advice: "Say what you think, but be careful what you
write."...
Volviendo a los Fundamentos: ?Es solo papeles?
Entendiendo la necesidad de controlar los documentos
Cuando era adolescente, mi madre me dio un diario y un pequeño consejo: “Di lo que piensas, pero ten cuidado con lo que escribes.” Ella se estaba refiriendo a la permanencia de las palabras escritas...
Quality Goes to College
Higher education is seeing increased interest in quality management methods in response to the federal government's recommendation that they embrace the culture of continuous innovation and quality improvement. An overview is given of the types of...
Quality in the First Person: Quality on the Front Lines
"Always remain in a rigid state of flexibility" is the one thing about quality that has definitely stuck with me all these years. After checking the internet and finding no information on who might have coined that phrase, I shall claim it as mine....
In this month’s QP, A.V. Feigenbaum outlines five areas quality professionals must focus on to help their companies succeed as the economy recovers. The article is based on remarks he presented at ASQ’s World Conference on Quality and Improvement in May 2009. For a preview of this article, listen to an interview with Feigenbaum from earlier this year and see his conference presentation. You can also check out his past QP articles.
65th Annual Deming Conference of Applied Statistics
December 7–11 | Atlantic City, NJ
Call Walter Young at 610-989-1622 or e-mail demingchair@gmail.com.
Lean and Six Sigma in Product Development Conference
December 8–10 | Miami, FL
Call Worldwide Conventions and Business Forums at 800-959-6549 or visit www.wcbf.com/quality/5101.
ASQ members exchange comments, suggestions, questions and ideas inspired by articles or letters in Quality Progress.
