Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – November, 2019

Welcome to November, 2019 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

Our core subject of Quality Management – Road Ahead to Digital Transformation during the year 2019, we have covered The Basics of Digitization, Digitalization and Digital Transformation, The foundation of the Digital Quality Management, Quality 4.0 and Industry 4.0 technologies Big Data Analytics, Cloud computing, Robotics, Augmented Reality, Simulation, Additive Manufacturing and Industrial Internet of Things..

We will now take up eighth of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Horizontal and Vertical System Integration –

The phrases “horizontal integration” and “vertical integration” are well known from a number of contexts. From the operational perspective, a horizontally integrated company focuses its techniques around its core competencies and establishes partnerships to build out an end-to-end value chain. A vertically integrated company, on the other hand, keeps as much of its value chain in-house as it can—from product development to manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution.

When it is about production, horizontal integration has come to refer to well-integrated processes at the production-floor level equally, while vertical integration means that the production floor is tightly coordinated with higher-level business processes such as procurement and quality control.

When it comes to horizontal integration, Industry 4.0 envisions connected networks of cyber-physical and enterprise systems that teach unrivaled levels of automation, flexibility, and operating effectiveness into production processes – on the shop floor, by connecting machines and production units as an object with well-defined properties within the production network;  across multiple production facilities, by sharing the production facility data seamlessly all over the whole enterprise and  across the entire value chain, by data transparency and high levels of automated collaboration over the upstream supply and logistics chain that provisions the production processes themselves in addition to the downstream chain that gives the finished products to market.

Vertical integration in Industry 4.0 endeavors to tie together all logical layers inside the organization from the field layer (i.e., the production floor) up through R&D, quality assurance, product management, IT, sales and marketing, et cetera. Data flows freely and transparently up and down these layers to ensure both strategic and tactical decisions can be data-driven.[1]

Vertical and horizontal integration under Industry 4.0 (graphic by [VDI-Wissensforum]

Given the increasing complexity of operations, many companies find Lean techniques are not enough to address competitive pressure. By deploying the right combination of industry 4.0 technologies, manufacturers can boost speed, efficiency, and coordination and even facilitate self-managing factory operations.[2]

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Every Leader Has to Start Somewhere! by Marshall Goldsmith. on Things Manager Should Know column of Management Matters Network …. “Every leader has to start somewhere. This is just the fact of the matter. And, another fact? Not every leader, even some of the greatest leaders of our time, start off with flying colors.[3]”

We now watch ASQ TV, wherein we look at a few recent videos:

• • Customer Expectations: Quality and Technology – In this episode of ASQTV looks at us, the customer. However, the discussions have full alignment w.r.t. meeting customer expectations. The discussion is applicable cases of all types customers, too.

Arun Hariharan Interview – HERE

Jim Duarte Interview – HERE

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems posting for October, 2019 is:

• • Mentor Effectively – It takes toughness to be effective- I’ve worked with managers who were reluctant to tell people they managed the tough but much needed advice that they were not doing well and that they needed to address their weaknesses. This reluctance to deliver “bad news” can be so pervasive that it has essentially become part of the culture.,,, The issue is two-fold—avoid correcting mistakes for fear of being seen as critical and may even avoid entire areas of development because the apprehension that it may lead to “negative” conversations… The result is an abundance of careers that are unsustainable—just waiting for the knockout punch of reality. That punch, maybe not foreseeable in the short-term, always comes!,, The ability to persevere and dedicate effort and passion to a task often outperforms pure talent. It is perseverance than unveils talent. What may look like a weakness may just be talent that is underdeveloped.
  • Thought Power – Henry Ford hit the target when he said “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” …The person that you are acts steadily and powerfully in accordance with your most genuine thoughts. When you think it, there is a part of you that immediately begins to make it happen.. Your thoughts control and direct the dynamic energy that is your life. In each moment, in each situation and in response to each challenge, you can choose the thoughts that serve you best… Your thoughts are actually paving the road for your life’s journey…. Mike Dooley, entrepreneur and best-selling author, says “Choose Them wisely: Thoughts Become Things.” This is called Thought Power.

I look forward to receiving your inputs / suggestions that can further enrich our discussions on the subject of Digitalization in the Quality Management

Note: The images depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images.

[1] Horizontal and Vertical Integration in Industry 4.0

[2] The new lean: how lean manufacturing meets industry 4.0

[3] A Conversation with Marshall Goldsmith and Sam Shriver