What Bloggers Are Saying...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Topic of the Week: Quality Around the World

In the U.S. we tend to think that the way we do business is the same no matter where you go. It's an interesting phenomenon called "self reference criterion". However, it could not be further from reality.

In China one of the biggest issues is the protection of intellectual property. Everything from patents down to copying business processes. In other areas of the world governments are very involved in the common business and there are no anti-trust laws protecting anyone.

View the video below about quality in Africa.

It's all something very interesting to think about given that many U.S. businesses these days are in business in more than just the U.S. market. Are Quality professionals prepared to address these issues in their organizations?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Quality at the Pump???

Well, it's that time I guess. When gas prices soar so high that people revert to cutting corners. Check this out: http://tinyurl.com/5cvo8o

Quality News Today (a publication of the American Society for Quality) reports that gas stations are reported to be cheating the public by substituting ethanol for regular fuel.

ABCs of QA Models: Theory of Constraints

The theory of constraints is best applied to manufacturing but it can also be used in a service environment. Invented by Dr Eliyahu Goldratt this model focuses on an organization as a series of processes.

Generally speaking, this model has to do with analyzing the variations in a process with a particular focus on amount of material batched through production, the variation in the process, and JIT delivery from suppliers balancing holding costs with set-up costs. Overall, it has to do with how fast or slow material is put through the plant and what processes are the "bottleneck".

Here is a good site for further research: http://www.dbrmfg.co.nz/Overview%20Introduction.htm

ABCs of QA Gurus: Deming

It seems that one thing this blog is missing is some basic info on QA Gurus and their contributions since so many organization are still referring to their work. So, I'll start with Walter Deming. More to come after this...

Deming was one of the original Gurus of Quality Assurance in the U.S. - following on the heels of Showalter. Of all the Gurus he is one of the most known. His claim to fame was a rework of an earlier model of QA entitled, "Plan-Do-Check-Act" which he revised to, "Plan-Do-Study-Act". His primary point was that once an initiative has been planned and implemented it is not enough to simply check that the implementation meets the plan; instead, it's important for an organization to analyze the effectiveness of the implementation effort.

In addition, Deming proposed 14 points of Quality Management. Learn more about Deming on this site: http://deming.eng.clemson.edu/pub/den/deming_map.htm

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Topic of the Week: Quality in Education

Where is Quality Assurance in U.S. education?

A huge portion of QA is the concept of managing variation in a process. Yet, in my experience there is huge variation in the delivery of higher level education. Instructors deliver material according to the learning style they themselves have and, although there are a few exceptions, most do not consider what teaching style they have.

For example, the university that I currently attend is big on group projects; there is one in every class. They are all very similar: requiring a company analysis and a group paper to be written. Yet, every single class has a different method for analyzing the group's effectiveness, for paper format and content, and for process employed to develop the paper. It's not at all unusual for a group to have a couple of "slackers" who just slide by. In fact, not all that long ago one student graduated and hosted a huge party inviting all the people who'd been on the project with them stating that he couldn't have done it at all without them; if not for the other members work he would have failed. Some statement, eh?

Aside from that there is the registration process, the GPA calculations (which are specific to a campus size), and the programs themselves which vary from university to university. That's not the extent of it either as the variation is seen in secondary ed as well as elementary ed. So... with at all that, I ask again:

Do we have quality in U.S. education?

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Topic of the Week: Differentiator or Just Standard Practice

As a Strategic Management instructor recently stated in one of my classes: In the mid-80s quality assurance was a big thing. It used to be huge way for companies to differentiate themselves.

Key words: used to be. Apparently now, it's just expected standard practice. Or at least so the Prof says. hmmm...

Being a "re-entry" student (very PC way of saying you ain't 20 no more), I have had the interesting experience of sitting in a class of energetic bright young minds and listening to what they have been taught about quality. So many of the students talk about having to have quality in business but yet, I see very few of the textbooks from this program really doing it justice. A little scarey actually. How many higher education institutions even have a segment of their business programs talking about quality assurance anyway? Would be an interesting data point to investigate. I'd guess very few.

At any rate, the view seems to be that quality is real important but no one can really tell you how to get there. Gee, wonder where I've heard that before.

It really is a sad statement of affairs that in the U.S. we are not focusing more on this very basic topic: how do you get there. Has quality assurance become such a buzz word that it has lost all meaning?

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

What subjects about quality are of the greatest interest to you...

Influence of internal culture on quality initiatives?
Lean enterprise systems? Six-sigma?
Quality in news... which subjects?

Blog here...!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Topic of the Week: What is QA?

When I first started working in Quality Assurance, what seems like a hundred years ago to me now, I was asked what quality meant. Seems like an easy question. Especially when it's posed to a new Quality Manager. While I stumbled around the definition and managed to mumble my way past a definition of sorts, the truth is, I really had a tough time with that question.

That was 20 years ago. Since then I've found that most people have a tough time with that question. But, the good news is, I have learned a lot. Mostly I've learned that there's a lot to this subject. Good quality or bad quality, be it in the process or in the product, can mean life or death to an organization. The trick is to quantify what it specifically means to your organization at the onset and then again in the planning stages of each and every initiative.

That starts with first asking the organization what it really wants to do. What exactly is the business strategy? It's surprisingly how many CEOs falter when you ask them to nail down a specific strategy beyond the obvious: make money. It's not all that uncommon for them to defer to a yellow'd paper up on the wall entitled, "mission statement", mutter something about being late to a meeting, defer you to the Quality Manager (if there is one) and dash swiftly out the door. As if a statement alone could truly serve as a means to answer the big "what is quality" question. If that's what you're getting then basic education is in order. That CEO needs to understand that quality is not a function. It's a way of doing business. And you need to know where the business is headed.

From there it's establishing measures for quantifying quality based on the stategy. Once established measures become self-sustaining - you just have to use them and be sure to adjust them as business needs change. Make sure that perfomance is routinely measured and that when the targets aren't met there is action to address them.

So, that my friend, in it's most diluted form, is basic quality 101. But is that really it? I think not. I'm sure we could all agree that this blog could go on adnosium about the subject. Many people have attempted to do just that. The thing is, there hasn't been a new idea out of quality in 50 years or more. It's simply been a repackaging of the same old - same old. Call it TQM, call it 6-sigma, call it Lean. It's simply about making a product the customer wants at a price they can afford through effective and efficient processes. More basic than that is the question: What does quality mean to business excellence?

I plan on using this blog to share my thoughts on that and I invite you to do the same. Where is quality in relation to business excellence today? What is your latest challenge?

More to come...

Quality Around the World...

Africa


Australia