Basic Quality

The Quality Trilogy is a three-pronged approach to managing for quality. The three
legs are
1. Quality PlanningDeveloping the products and processes required to meet
customer needs.
2. Quality ControlMeeting product and process goals.
3. Quality ImprovementAchieving unprecedented levels of performance.
The quality improvement process involves the application of quality tools to generate
ideas, analyze, develop and evaluate, processes, and collect data.
Seven Tools of Quality Improvement
1. Flowcharts/process mapA graphical representation of the steps in a
process. Flowcharts are drawn to better understand processes.
2. Check sheetsA simple data recording device. The check sheet is custom
designed by the user, which allows him or her to readily interpret the results.
3. Cause-effect diagramsA tool for analyzing process dispersion. It is also
referred to as the "Ishikawa diagram," because Kaoru Ishikawa developed it,
and the "fishbone diagram," because the complete diagram resembles a fish
skeleton. The diagram illustrates the main causes and subcauses leading to
an effect (symptom).
4. Pareto chartsA graphical tool for ranking causes from most significant to
least significant. It is based on the Pareto principle, which was first defined by
J. M. Juran in 1950. The principle, named after 19th century economist
Vilfredo Pareto, suggests most effects come from relatively few causes; that
is, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the possible causes.
5. HistogramsA graphic summary of variation in a set of data. The pictorial
nature of the histogram lets people see patterns that are difficult to detect in
a simple table of numbers.
6. Control chartsA chart with upper and lower control limits on which values
of some statistical measure for a series of samples or subgroups are plotted.
The chart frequently shows a central line to help detect a trend of plotted
values toward either control limit.
7. Scatter diagramsA graphical technique to analyze the relationship
between two variables. Two sets of data are plotted on a graph, with the y-
axis being used for the variable to be predicted and the x-axis being used for
the variable to make the prediction. The graph will show possible relationships
(although two variables might appear to be related, they might not be: those
who know most about the variables must make that evaluation).

Cost of Quality
Costs of poor quality are the costs associated with providing poor-quality products
or services. There are four categories of costs: internal failure costs (costs associated
with defects found before the customer receives the product or service); external
failure costs (costs associated with defects found after the customer receives the
product or service); appraisal costs (costs incurred to determine the degree of
conformance to quality requirements); and prevention costs (costs incurred to keep
failure and appraisal costs to a minimum). ASQ's Online Glossary


Gage Repeatability & Reproducibility
(GR&R)
Repeatability is the ability of one observer to obtain consistent results measuring
the same part (or set of parts) using measuring equipment.
Reproducibility is the overall ability of two or more observers to obtain consistent
results repeatedly measuring the same part (or set of parts) using the same (or
similar) measuring equipment. The Quality Technician's Handbook, 4th ed.
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000), p.472.
Gauge (or gage) repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R) is the evaluation of a
gauging instrument's accuracy by determining whether the measurements taken
with it are repeatable (i.e., there is close agreement among a number of consecutive
measurements of the output for the same value of the input under the same
operating conditions) and reproducible (i.e., there is close agreement among
repeated measurements of the output for the same value of input made under the
same operating conditions over a period of time). ASQ's Online Glossary


History of Quality
Quality did not begin in the 1980s when the American Automotive industry finally
noticed that Japanese cars were selling well. It did not begin in 1942, when
America's entry into World War II led to the military demanding weapons and
vehicles that worked. It did not even begin at the dawn of the Industrial Age.
According to A History of Managing for Quality (J. M. Juran, ed.-in-chief), China had
instituted quality control in its handicrafts as early as the Western Zhou dynasty in
the eleventh to the eight centuries BCE, and Scandinavian shipbuilders were using
quality improvement techniques over the whole first two millennia BCE and the first
millennium CE. Examples of specifications and inspection can be found in the Bible
dating from at least 500 BCE, and at about the same time Greeks were using tight
quality control methods in the building of their temples. India had strict standards for
working in gold in the fourth century BCE, and the Romans standardized nearly
everything they touched from 300 BCE to 300 CE.
Guilds and governments carried on quality control during the Middle Ages, while
consumers carried out informal quality inspections during every age of humanity.
The desire for products that do as well as, or better than, the customer's needs and
requirements is a constant in human history matched only by the determination of
builders and makers to meet that desire.

Quality Auditing
Quality audits are used to determine the following about organizations and their
processes:
1. The sustainability of documentation as it applies to systems, products,
services, processes, and overall management practices
2. The conformity of the operations to established documentation
3. The effectiveness of the documentation and its implementation to achieve
intended results

Service Quality
The principles and tools of quality management can be implemented and integrated
in organizations that have a service as the primary product. These organizations
want to improve their customer service, focus on customer requirements, and
building customer loyalty.
ASQ's Six Sigma Portfolio
of Products and Services

As the only nationally recognized third-party certification body for Six Sigma, ASQ is
committed to providing you with the very best of Six Sigma. With networking,
education, training, certification, and publications, the portfolio at left constitutes the
most comprehensive curriculum of Six Sigma resources available. We're confident
that you'll find any or all components indispensable to your professional success.
Software Quality
ASQ understands software quality. We know what it takes to succeed in this field.
Inspections, standards, metrics, testing, ethics, verification, evaluationwe
understand its complexities and demands, its pitfalls and perils.

Statistical Quality Control
Statistical Quality Control is the application of statistical techniques to control
quality. Often the term "statistical process control" is used interchangeably with
"statistical quality control," although statistical quality control includes acceptance
sampling as well as statistical process control. ASQ's Online Glossary