QUALITY AND INNOVATION ENGINEERING

a.y. 2017 - 2018

EXAM METHOD
The exam consists of a 1.5 hours written test.
There are three open questions on wide topics, each one contributing up to 10 points to the final
score. Two question are on wide topics explained by Prof. Petri. One question is on topics
explained by Eng. Marchi.
This last question can be substituted by an original report on a project proposed by Eng. Marchi.
The document must be submitted no later than 10 days before the date of the written test
and, in any case, within the end of February. All students are informed that copy/past
paragraphs from the web is not allowed. Any references to published works must be properly cited.
If the written test is assessed at least 18/30, the exam is passed. On student request, the final
score can be integrated with the result of a short interview; the interview typically contribute to
the final score up to a maximum of 2-3 points, either positive or negative.
If the evaluation of the written test is between 15/30 and 17/30, the interview is mandatory to
pass the exam. Again, the interview contribute to the final score up to a maximum of 2-3 points.
If the evaluation of the written test is below 15/30, the exam is failed and must be repeated in a
later exam session.

COURSE CONTENTS
FUNDAMENTALS
The concept of quality
- popular views of the concept
- professional view of the concept: classic and modern
- organization view of the concept: quality and customer satisfaction
- general definition of quality according to the ISO 9000 standard: discussion about
requirements, characteristics (elementary qualities), measurement
- evident quality; hidden quality
- quality perspectives cycle:
- expected, required, planned, achieved, delivered, experienced and perceived qualities;
inter-relations among different perspectives
- Kano model: comparison between experienced quality and expected quality and customer
satisfaction
- product life cycle perspectives: big quality and small quality; quality perspectives chain
- quality management process: PDCA cycle
- data acquisition: v-assignment (and measurement):
- entities involved and structure of a v-assignment
- usefulness to support decisions
- quality of a v-assignment: objectivity, inter-subjectivity, representativeness
- v-assignment of intangible properties
- measurement as a particular v-assignment
- reporting a measurement result
- modeling:
- model definition;
- components of a model: characteristics, inter-relations, specifications
- concept of model validation
- modeling the measurement context: components of the context, influence properties,
uncertainty of the context model, types of uncertainty sources, target uncertainty
EVOLUTION OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT PARADIGMS
Main organizational evolution levels with respect to the quality factor:
- managed objects
- management methods
- market orientation

Craft production:
- key characteristics: managed object, market relationship
- key characteristics of the organization subsystems (management, production, social)
- quality management methods
- strengths and weaknesses

Mass production:
- key characteristics: managed object, market relationship
- key characteristics of the organization subsystems (management, production, social)
- quality management methods: definition of product quality control
- strengths and weaknesses

Quality assurance:
- key characteristics: basic concept, managed object, market relationship
- quality management methods: definition of quality assurance
- concept of organization qualification: certification
- strengths and weaknesses

TQM:
- key characteristics: main goal and basic concepts, managed object, market relationship
- quality management methods: possible definitions of TQM
- strengths and weaknesses
- typical performance evolution in the application of the TQM approach
- relationship between TQM and successful organizations in a competitive market
- the 7 TQM principles according to the ISO 9000 standard
- critical factors for a successful TQM application

Regional eco-systems:
- relevance of the TQM approach for the competition capability of a geographic region
- key factors for a region being successful
- industry 4.0: the next industrial revolution; key technologies and quality management

Cost and value of quality

- definition of the Cost of Quality (related to conformities and non-conformities)
- relationship between CoQ and product defects

ISO 9000
- evolution of the ISO 9000 family with respect to the quality management approach and market orientation
- organization of the ISO 9000 family of standard and main goals of each single standard
- different perspectives of the ISO 9000 family
- the management principles of the ISO 9000 standard: short description of each principle
- discussion about the ISO 9000 interpretation in Europe
- critical analysis of the ISO 9000 standard
- possible evolution and improvement of the ISO 9000 standard

Models of TQM
- structure of the QMMG model
- quality awards: assessment method and goals
- structure of the European Quality Award (EQA): enablers and results
- critical factors of the EQA assessment and assessment validation
RISK MANAGEMENT
- definition of risk and related comments
- ISO 9001:2015 and risk-based thinking
- ISO 31000: structure of the standard
- ISO 31000: 7 steps of the risk management process: communicate and consult, establish the
context, identify the risks, analyze the risks, evaluate the risks, treat the risks ,. monitoring
and review
- ISO 31000: risk severity, likelihood of occurrence, criticality level; risk criticality matrix
- definition and purpose of FMEA; assumptions when using FMEA; different scopes of FMEA
- FMEA procedure: establish the context, identify failure modes, analyze failure modes
(severity, occurrence likelihood, detection likelihood), evaluate criticality and prioritize,
improve reliability and update FMEA, monitoring and review
- ISO3100 and FMEA: strengths and weaknesses

SEVEN BASIC TOOLS OF QUALITY CONTROL

- description and goals of data sheet, histogram, scatter (or correlation) diagram, control
charts, Pareto charts, cause and effect diagram, stratification.

PROCESS MANAGEMENT
- Company and processes: advantages of a process based organization
- definition of process; process general goal
- definition of process performances
- process classification: project, batch, mass, continuous
- project management vs process management
- definition of the context of a process
- critical factors of a process context (S.C.O.R.E.)
- relationship between product quality and process variability: importance of monitoring and
measurement
- process analysis
- process management phases: definition, execution, data interpretation, control, improvement
- definition of process stability: common causes and special causes; tools to check process stability
- definition of process compliance
- definition of process capability; tools to check process capability
- process capability analysis; capability indexes
- concept of sigma level; six-sigma process management
- process control: definition, goals and main actions performed
- process improvement: definition, goals and different kinds of improvement

STATISTICAL INFERENCE
Fundamentals
- goals of probability and statistics
- the general problem of parametric estimation
- problem formulation: estimator performances
- adopted optimality criteria: minimum mse, unbiased estimators, minimum variance estimators

Maximum likelihood estimator (MLE)

- definition of likelihood function
- determination of the ML estimator
- efficiency of the MLE
- asymptotic properties of the MLE
- MLE of a DC value immersed in white Gaussian noise
Fisher information and Cramér-Rao Lower bound
- the observed and the expected Fisher information
- the Cramér-Rao theorem
- statistical efficiency of an unbiased estimator
- CRLB for the estimation of a DC level immersed in white Gaussian noise
- CRLB for a function of a parameter

Confidence intervals
- definition of confidence interval
- confidence interval for the mean of independent Gaussian observations with know variance
- asymptotic confidence interval for MLE

Statistical Hypothesis testing

- Problem formulation
- Testing procedure
- Decision errors of the I and II kind. Power of the test
- Uniformly most powerful test

FUNDAMENTALS OF INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

- Relevance of technology innovation in the global competitive market
- Definition of innovation:
- different steps of the innovation process;
- the relevance of new knowledge and of knowledge management
- Technology maturity
- Social expectations of technology: the hype cycle
- Relationship between quality and innovation
- Innovation development models:
- technology/science push
- demand pull
- chain-linked model
- process integration model
- networked model
- ecosystems model
- Technology transfer
- The concept of open innovation
- Advantages and disadvantages w.r.t. closed innovation
- Sources of innovation
- Promoters of innovation
- Risk of failure in innovation: factors of success in innovation
- Categories of innovation according to:
- nature: technological vs social
- form: product, process, marketing, organizational, distribution channel, business model, …
- timing: first to market, secondo mover, …, late follower
- degree of novelty: incremental vs radical
- systemic: modular vs architectural
- effect of organization competences: enhancing vs destroying
- Technology innovation life-cycle:
- performance trajectory and diffusion trajectory:
- description and motivation of the behavior
- interaction between the two curves
- Definition of emerging technology and technology discontinuity
- Technology versions cycles and market segmentation
- Technology cycles:
 - description and characteristics of the different phases
- dominant model
- exceptions to the evolutionary model of innovation

MODULE: QUALITY MANAGMENT SYSTEMS (Eng. Attilio Marchi)

This module introduces students to the realities of problem identification and solution design
within the complex world of the quality and during the class students are placed at the center of
their own learning.
The learning materials are text, videos and case studies and at the end is organized a factory
visit.
The learning process is consolidate through some games and this is the core and the strenght of this
module. Students apprehend through the process of playing the quality's concepts, new ideas and take on
different perspectives. The class can experiment with new variables or options and through engaging,
students can learn a variety of important skills useful in the future job context too: teamwork, cooperation
and problem solving.

At the end of this module students are urged to write a report on a quality management problem as
final examination. This could be a case study invented or they can get inspiration from previous
work experiences, summer job, internship or the games proposed in the class.

Learning objectives

- Creativity, innovation and quality.

- What is quality? Definition and meaning. The power of clients
- The 7 principle of quality
- Context and risk analysis
- Resource management, situational leadership, team work
- Customer's needs and requirements
- Design and development
- Purchasing and outsourced processes
- Traceability
- Analysis of data, validation
- Correction, corrective and preventive actions
 WRITTEN TEST OF QUALITY AND INNOVATION ENGINEERING
EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS
(accuracy, completeness and synthesis of answers are assessed)
each question is assessed max 10 points

DEFINITION OF QUALITY
- write and discuss the ISO 9000 definition of quality (3 points)
- definition and characteristics of required quality, planned quality, achieved quality and perceived
quality (4 points)
- describe the Kano model of quality (3 points)

EVOLUTION OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT PARADIGMS

Describe, using also a qualitative diagram, the main organizational evolution levels with respect to the
quality factor. In particular comment about:
- managed objects
- quality management methods
- market orientation

QUALITY MANAGEMENT PARADIGMS

- Key characteristics of craft production: (5 points)
- Managed objects, quality management methods, market relationships
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Key characteristics of mass production: (5 points)
- Managed objects, quality management methods, market relationships
- Strengths and weaknesses

TQM
- Key characteristics of TQM: managed object, market relationship (2 points)
- The TQM principles according to the ISO 9000 standard (5 points)
- Strengths and weaknesses (3 points)

QUALITY MANAGEMENT
- Relevance of quality management for competition (2 points)
- List and short comment about the main quality management paradigms (6 points)
- cost and value of quality (2 points)

ISO 9000
- evolution of the ISO 9000 family with respect to the quality management approach and market orientation
- different perspectives of the ISO 9000 family
- the management principles of the ISO 9000 standard: short description of each principle

MODELS OF TQM
- Explain the assessment method and goals of quality awards (3 points)
- Describe the structure of the European Quality Award (EQA) (4 points)
- List and comment the critical factors of the EQA assessment (3 points)

PROCESS MANAGEMENT
- Definition of process stability: common causes and special causes; tools to check process stability (3 points)
- Definition of process compliance (2 points)
- Definition of process capability; tools to check process capability (3 points)
- Capability indexes (2 points)

RISK MANAGEMENT
- definition of risk and related comments
- ISO 9001:2015 and risk-based thinking
- ISO 31000: structure of the standard
RISK MANAGEMENT
- definition of risk and related comments
- definition and purpose of FMEA: the FMEA procedure
- ISO3100 and FMEA: strengths and weaknesses

SEVEN BASIC STATISTICAL TOOLS

- List the seven statistical tools describing briefly their use and objectives.
- Choose two tools has you want, declare which tools you choice and describe them with greater detail

FISHER INFORMATION AND CRAMÉR-RAO LOWER BOUND (

- Definition of The Fisher Information (3 points)
- Cramér-Rao theorem: statement and discussion (3 points)
- Efficiency of an unbiased estimator: definition and comments (2 points)
- Cramér-Rao for a function of a parameter (2 points)

MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATORS AND CONFIDENCE INTERVALS

- Definition of likelihood function (3 points)
- Determination of the ML estimator (2 points)
- Asymptotic properties of ML estimators (2 points)
- Definition of confidence interval (3 points)

CONFIDENCE INTERVALS
- definition of confidence interval
- confidence interval for the mean of independent Gaussian observations with know variance
- asymptotic confidence interval for MLE

STATISTICAL HYPOTHESIS TESTING

- Testing procedure
- Decision errors of the I and II kind. Power of the test
- Uniformly most powerful test

FUNDAMENTALS OF INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

- Definition of innovation: different steps of the innovation process;
- Technology maturity
- Social expectations of technology: the hype cycle
- Relationship between quality and innovation

FUNDAMENTALS OF INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

- Innovation development models: main characteristics of the different generations
- The concept of open innovation: advantages and disadvantages w.r.t. closed innovation

RISK OF FIAULURE IN INNOVATION AND CATEGORIES OF INNOVATION

- Risk of failure in innovation: factors of success in innovation
- Categories of innovation according to: nature, form, timing, novelty, systemic, organization
competences

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LIFE-CYCLE

- Performance and diffusion trajectories:
- description and motivation of the behavior
- interaction between the two curves
- Definition of emerging technology and technology discontinuity
- Technology versions cycles and market segmentation

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LIFE-CYCLE

- Performance and diffusion trajectories:
 - description and motivation of the behavior
- interaction between the two curves
- Technology cycles:
- description and characteristics of the different phases
- exceptions to the evolutionary model of innovation

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QUALITY CONTROL
(mandatory only for students who didn’t deliver the assignment)

Turning is a kind of machining and this is one of the most important process to manufacture mechanical
components with tight tolerances and high quality surfaces.
The process consist of removing material from a work piece by rotating.
The tool is stationary and the piece of metal rotates (see the figure below)
The data below are collected during a quality inspection, and the upper limit is 0.12 mm

0.14
0.12
diameter deviation (mm)

0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Batch

Look at the trend of the data. What's happening? (3 points)

Try to guess possible causes, using a quality tool discuss them (3,5 points)
Propose possible actions to resolve the problem (3,5 points)