Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs, December 2018

Welcome to December, 2018 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

This is the last issue of 6^th annual period of our blog carnival of quality management articles and blogs. We have taken up Sustained Success of an Organization as our key topic for discussion.

ISO 9004: 2018 goes on to state that “Factors affecting an organization’s success continually emerge, evolve, increase or diminish over the years, and adapting to these changes is important for sustained success. Examples include social responsibility, environmental and cultural factors, in addition to those that might have been previously considered, such as efficiency, quality and agility; taken together, these factors are part of the organization’s context.”

We will pick three different articles that individually links up efficiency, quality and agility respectively with the sustained success.

Efficiency and Sustained Success:

Building Efficient Organizations – An efficiency mindset is the key to long-term gains. – Ryan Morrissey, Peter Guarraia, Véronique Pauwels and Sudarshan Sampathkumar – There is no fixed blueprint for embedding efficiency in an organization’s DNA. In our experience, however, successful companies share a common overarching approach: They make sure their efficiency effort spans five critical areas: strategy, metrics, commitment, behaviors and culture. Tenacity and a sustained investment in these areas create the best chance of success.

There is an interesting white paper – Capturing Operational Efficiency and Sustainable Value through Claims – by Capegemini and Guidewire,which studies the business case for claims transformation and paying specific attention to the critical factors that generate benefits, insurers can capture substantial operational efficiency and sustainable value for the insurance companies..

Quality and Sustained Success

ISO 9004 goes beyond product quality concept of consistently meeting the requirements of customer and stresses on two key concepts for of an Organization:

• focus on the concept of “quality of an organization”;
• focus of the concept of “identity of an organization”

The relationship between efficiency, effectiveness, sustained success and the quality of management in terms of immediate and final results.

The Figure here above shows a diagram describing the company’s hierarchy. It includes the company’s embedded resources, processes, immediate results (produced goods and services), as well as final results and impact (strategic effect). Immediate results should be presented in vector form

Agility and Sustained Success:

The leaders of organization design at McKinsey, principals Wouter Aghina and Aaron De Smet, explain what agility means and how organizations can evolve to thrive in an environment that demands constant change in the article, The keys to organization agility. Agility is when you thrive on change and get stronger and it becomes a source of real competitive advantage. (For more on the importance of being both agile and stable, see “Agility: It rhymes with stability.”)

There are a few more, general, articles which helps in understanding how to build sustained success:

• Dorie Clark, in her article, The Secret to Sustained Success draws on Chris Zook, co-head of Bain & Company’s Global Strategy Practice to state that the best companies focus on identifying and leveraging their core strengths, rather than chasing random new acquisitions and opportunities. (See her previous article on “Why You Should Kill Your Ideas.”)
• A winning culture …can be the catalyst that ignites an organization into truly becoming a “best place to work!”. The article offers 5 keys:
  • Establish a corporate set of core values that highlights being a champion for doing the right thing and taking care of people.
  • Communicate the values through the behavior and actions of the management.
  • Hire people who fit your values – Invest the resources – time, money, energy – to determine if a candidate fits with your values.
  • Enhance employee sense of ownership– This ownership is derived from opportunities that enable employees to know their leaders, to being informed on the success of the company, to know who their customers are, and future plans for the company.
  • Assess employee passion and satisfaction – and act on results.
• How to Create Sustained Success is a rapid-fire summary of Jim Collins’ famous first book, ‘Built to Last‘.

Recognizing the limitation of what can be covered in an article like ours, one can find good deal of highly useful literature on the subject.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up William Cohen, Ph.D.’s article The Focus on the Customer and What the Customer Values @ Effective Management topic of Management Matters Network….At the strategic level this could mean an important differential advantage in positioning against competitors to win customers.

We now watch two videos of the ASQ TV, one of which is related to quality improvement and other one containing the year-end message:

• Enhancing Quality through Improved Quality Reports : Gregory (Grisha) Gorodetsky, Safety, Environmental & Quality Manager, Wipro Givon, discusses the importance for organizations to format all documents, such as quality reports, in an identical way.
• 2018 Year-End Message: Elmer Corbin, ASQ Chair : In his year-end video message, ASQ Board of Directors Chair Elmer Corbin highlights significant accomplishments in 2018 and acknowledges contributions of the Board, GCC, TCC, member leaders, members, and staff.

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems posting for November, 2018 is:

• Success makes us feel good, but failures teach us valuable lessons – Certainly, negative results are never fun, but they shouldn’t become demoralizing. What innovative people realize is that negative results are signaling that something different and new needs to be done…It is easier to understand the concept of productive mistakes when the situation is reversed…When the project is successful. In this situation, your assumptions were correct, you most likely took the standard approach to getting the tasks done and did a good job managing the project…While completing a successful project is something to feel good about, there may have been a missed opportunity to get breakthrough improvements from the project. Was it your objective to simply get the job done, or was it your goal to take some risks that could take the business to a new level of performance?.. Think about this for a moment to consider how you can adjust your mindset. Most likely you won’t become another Thomas Edison, but there’s no doubt you can find ways to make your life more productive.
• Personal GPS – May be you’ve never thought of your roadmap for success being like a personal Goal Projection System (GPS) but it is much the same. Let’s see if we can connect the dots…Ask yourself, what would you like the outcomes to be for yourself at the end of one, five, ten and twenty years? Once you have that outcome, what will you see? What will you hear? What will you feel? Be as specific as possible, as you write the answers down…After this is done which as much honesty as possible, examine current reality…This process isn’t easy and will take some time but stay with it. You also should revisit this on occasion to ensure you’re staying on tract. Once you have everything recorded, you’ll have a roadmap you can use to guide you to a very personal kind of success.

On that note I take your leave for the year.

Trust you had had a great year and wish that your 2019 also is more productive, more successful, and above a thoroughly enjoyable year of your personal and career life journeys.

 

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

 

P.S. All episodes for the year 2018 of this quality blog carnival can be accessed at  / downloaded from Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs, 2018.

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – September, 2018

Welcome to September, 2018 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

In our present September, 2018 issue, we will expand the new principle –  Risk Based Auditing –  propounded in ISO 19011: 2018  We have found a few good articles on this subject from the field of financial auditing, too.

What is risk-based auditing? – Meaning, process and importance of risk-based auditing has presented the subject in a non-technical language.

Risk-based Auditing – Staying vigilant to change and risk is a top priority of good corporate governance and the internal audit function. In his latest InternalAuditor.org video blog, IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers discusses the risk-based audit approach, including three components of risk-based auditing and three strategies for monitoring risk.

Managing Risks in Management Systems Auditing Frameworks – Jacob McLean

ISO 19011: 2018 version now explicitly focuses on Risk-based auditing – or focusing audit effort on matters of significance to the management system.

Exploring the revised ISO 19011:2018 – Hope Kiwekete

• This time around, appreciation of the risk-based approach will essentially be a critical determinant when scheduling, conducting and reporting of audits.

This will prompt auditors to overcome the dilemma of hastily jumping into auditing without familiarising themselves with the means that management uses to control their functions.

• As shown in figure 1, clause 5.3: Determining and evaluating audit programme risks and opportunities, forms part of audit programme process.
• The planning of the audit (clause 6.3) also raises the bar up and makes use of high degree of professional judgement by the internal auditor now a very important attribute of the auditor.
• There has been a significant improvement on what constitutes essential competencies that management-systems’ auditors need to possess or acquire. Hence auditors need to continually upskill and remain relevant while adding value to their clients.

Incorporating Risk-Based Thinking into Internal Quality Audits for ISO 9001 – In this webinar by expert speaker Duke Okes will explain how to use risk-based thinking in the quality management system. You will get simple tools for assessing risks within a QMS process. Further, you will understand how to report audit nonconformities from a risk-based perspective.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up Jim Champy’s article Keeping it Simple

@ Essential Management for Doers, Doubters and Darers column of Management Matters Network….One of Peter Drucker’s great virtues was the simplicity with which he articulated management principles. For instance: he defined “strategy” as: (1) understand where your company is today; (2) where you want it to go; and (3) how you are going to get there. Here are some rules that spell importance of simplicity and directness in presenting ideas and communicating them to others:

1. Know what you’re talking about
2. Forget the jargon and code words
3. Own your ideas
4. Make your ideas real

We now watch one of the latest ASQ TV  episodes:

• Blockchain and Quality – One of the terms you often hear when discussing Quality 4.0 or Industry 4.0 is blockchain. Maybe its most well-known use currently is for bitcoin, the crypto-currency. But what is blockchain exactly and how does it, or will it, relate to the quality industry? Let’s take a look.

“Quality and Innovation with Blockchain Technology”, Software Quality Professional Magazine, 2017

“Blockchain for Supply Chain: Improving Transparency and Efficiency Simultaneously”, Software Quality Professional Magazine, 2018

• Digital Transformation – When we hear terms like Industry 4.0 and Quality 4.0, they may seem too broad for you and your organization to be able to take any specific action. Where do you start? One place to start is by doing what’s called a digital transformation.

Quality Experience Telemetry

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems posting for August, 2018 is:

• Commit to Success – Success requires discipline, hard work, perseverance, tenacity, will, courage and faith. It’s the quality of their commitment that separates the good players from the great ones. People who are committed to success are willing to do whatever it takes, as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else. Everything they do reflects their commitment.
• Creativity – The mind is like any other muscle: the more we use it, the stronger it gets. Creativity is simply doing something differently. Bottom line, if we want to be more creative, all we have to do is increase our idea failure rate.

I look forward to your inputs / criticisms/ observations to enhance the utility of our Quality Management Blog Carnival.

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

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – August, 2018

Welcome to August, 2018 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

ISO 9004 and ISO 19011, the two important guidelines standards in the ISO family of standards have been recently revised. Therefore, we will take a quick recap of Changes in ISO 9004: 2018 as well as in ISO 19011:2018 in our August, 2018 issue.

ISO 9004: 2018 cancels and replaces the third edition (ISO 9004:2009), which has been technically revised. The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:

• alignment with the concepts and terminology of ISO 9000:2015 and ISO 9001:2015;
• focus on the concept of “quality of an organization”;
• focus of the concept of “identity of an organization”

[Note: We will cover the concepts – “quality of an organization” and “identity of an organization” in our subsequent issues.]

Secrets of business success in new ISO standard – The 2018 Corporate Longevity Forecast lists new technologies, economic shocks, disruptive competitors and failure to adequately anticipate and prepare for future challenges as some of the key reasons cited for the demise of the organizations sooner than later..IS0 9004:2018 intends organizations not only to survive, but achieve “sustained success”, by addressing topics such as the alignment and deployment of strategy, policy and objectives within the broader context of the organization’s vision, mission, values and culture.

ISO 9004:2018 – Sustaining Success – ISO 9004:2018 has taken a major step in defining itself as a standalone document that is related to—but separate from—ISO 9001:2015. It’s all about business, with a primary focus on organizations’ sustained success…The words “sustained success” have been chosen carefully and may be confusing to some people because ISO and quality management system-related standards consistently promote improvement in their titles. ISO 9004:2018 broke with that tradition to convey the message that no matter what an organization attempts, it must first adopt sustainability as a bedrock principle.

ISO 19011:2018 was updated to ensure it continues providing effective guidance to address changes in the marketplace, evolving technologies and the many new management system standards recently published or revised.

The main differences compared to the 2011 edition are as follows:

• addition of the risk-based approach to the principles of auditing;
• expansion of the guidance on managing an audit programme, including audit programme risk;
• expansion of the guidance on conducting an audit, particularly the section on audit planning;
• expansion of the generic competence requirements for auditors;
• adjustment of terminology to reflect the process and not the object (“thing”);
• removal of the annex containing competence requirements for auditing specific management system disciplines (due to the large number of individual management system standards, it would not be practical to include competence requirements for all disciplines);
• expansion of Annex A to provide guidance on auditing (new) concepts such as organization context, leadership and commitment, virtual audits, compliance and supply chain.

With these improvements, ISO 19011:2018 still details the principles of auditing, managing an audit program, and conducting management system audits. It also details guidance on evaluating the individuals managing the audit program, auditors, and audit teams.

ISO 19011:2018 provides valuable information on how to improve an audit program systematically, just as other departments in an organization are expected to improve… Organizations, in pushing for auditing improvements, should consider the needs of customers and other interested parties…An area of increasing importance in auditing management systems and business in general is the concept of risk. As of the 2011 edition, risk has been integrated throughout the audit program management section of the ISO 19011:2018 standard.

[Note: We would take up ‘concept of risk’, as ingrained into the auditing process, in our next issue.]

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up William Cohen, Ph.D’s article How to Avoid Inevitable Failure Through Innovation @ Lessons From Drucker column of Management Matters Network….’If any organization continued to do what in the past had made it successful, it was certain that it would eventually go under’ was one sure way that Drucker knew that an organization was going to fail…Avoiding failure requires innovation, and innovation is one of two primary tasks of any business, the other being marketing…He also understood that resources in time, talent, capital, and facilities are needed every time an innovation is initiated and exploited. This led Drucker to a very important concept which has come to be called “abandonment.”… Drucker saw that logically this meant that an organization must be prepared to abandon everything it does at the same time that it must devote itself to creating the new. So that abandonment must simultaneously be executed along with continuous improvement, exploitation of past successes and innovation.

We now watch one of the latest ASQ TV  episodes:

• Implementing a Continuous Improvement Program – Chris Moustakas, CEO, DevonWay, discusses the strategy behind implementing an org-wide continuous improvement program.

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems posting for August, 2018 is:

• Organizational Excellence in Quality Management – The basic element is people who care. – People who care understand the negative impact of doing less than their best…Caring isn’t a new concept. The late Dr. W. Edwards Deming called it “pride in workmanship”…. If their employees really do care, it is so tangible it can be felt and detected in many ways. There’s a foundation of caring permeating throughout the organization. However, if people don’t care, it really doesn’t matter what kind of products or system they have or how many plaques are hanging on the walls, they will never achieve the level of performance needed for all to succeed.

I look forward to your inputs / criticisms/ observations to enhance the utility of our Quality Management Blog Carnival.

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

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – July, 2018

Welcome to July, 2018 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

In our previous issue, we had briefly talked about Hidden Factory in ASQ TV section. Hidden Factory is so very relevant to the Quality Management, that we would discuss more about the subject in our present episode.

Hidden Factory, The – The hidden factory is the extra useful, positive output that would theoretically be possible if the energy directed at creating waste were released and directed instead at making good quality items.

Lean Six Sigma – Hidden Factories is video presentation to understand the concept of Hidden Factory.

This image puts the subject in a rather stark context:

‘What is the Hidden Factory?’ explores the hidden factory from the broader perspective, specifically focusing on the four areas of lost (or hidden) production potential from an equipment perspective:

• Schedule Loss (time where production could be running – but is not scheduled)
• Availability Loss (time where production should be running – but is not)
• Performance Loss (time where production is running – but not as fast as it should)
• Quality Loss (time where production is running – but one or more pieces are not good the first time through)

The following table shows the four major loss factors, their impact on the hidden factory, and the associated Six Big Losses.

Loss Factor	Impact on Hidden Factory	Six Big Losses
Schedule Loss	Time where production could be running but is not scheduled. The largest component of the hidden factory for most one- or two-shift operations. Typically addressed with overtime (short-term) or additional staff (long-term) to defer capital expenditures.	Does Not Apply
Availability Loss	Time where production should be running but is not. The largest component of the hidden factory during scheduled production time for most companies. Two best practice techniques for unlocking Availability Loss are SMED (for Planned Stops) and TPM (for Unplanned Stops).	Planned Stops Unplanned Stops
Performance Loss	Time where production is running but not as fast as it should. This is truly a hidden loss for many companies as it is not nearly as visible as Downtime. Small Stops can be caused by misfeeds, material jams, misaligned sensors, etc. Slow Cycles can be caused by incorrect settings, worn equipment, substandard materials, etc.	Small Stops Slow Cycles
Quality Loss	Time where production is running but one or more pieces are defective the first time through. Gets a lot of focus because of potential customer impact, but usually has the smallest impact on the hidden factory. Best practices for addressing include error-proofing equipment and creating standardized work instructions.	Production Rejects Startup Rejects

Some important tools to understand how each loss factor impacts the hidden factory are:

• TEEP (identifies losses due to time that is not scheduled for production)
• OEE (identifies losses during scheduled production time)
• Six Big Losses (provides more detail on losses during scheduled production time)

In an HBR article, The Hidden Factory, Jeffrey G. Miller and Thomas E. Vollmann observe that overhead costs rank behind only quality and getting new products out on schedule as a primary concern of manufacturing executives. These can be:

• Logistical transactions, which order, execute, and confirm the movement of materials from one location to another.
• Balancing transactions, which ensure that the supplies of materials, labor, and capacity are equal to the demand. These result in the movement orders and authorizations that generate logistical transactions.
• Quality transactions, which extend far beyond what we usually think of as quality control, indirect engineering, and procurement to include the identification and communication of specifications, the certification that other transactions have taken place as they were supposed to, and the development and recording of relevant data.
• Change transactions, which update basic manufacturing information systems to accommodate changes in engineering designs, schedules, routings, standards, materials specifications, and bills of material.

There are three general approaches to managing overhead costs more effectively: (1) analyzing which transactions are necessary and improving the methods used to carry them out, (2) increasing the stability of operations, and (3) relying on automation and systems integration. Of the three, U.S. manufacturers seem most enamored of the last.

Six Sigma, Measurement Systems, and the Hidden Factory – If correctly implemented, measurement systems can help determine the current state of a process and provide information leading to breakthrough performance; however, ineffective measurement systems can contribute to the overall hidden factory. The paper defines how the measurement system is a part of the hidden factory. The key result from this work is to think of the measurement system as a process.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up the article Think You Know What Your Customer Wants? Think Again @ Strategic Marketing column of Management Matters Network….To solve this famous puzzle, you need to put yourself in the driver’s seat….

The authors point out that Peter F. Drucker taught for over 70 years the importance of  getting on the same side of the desk as your customer. He always taught there is no such thing as irrational customers: only lazy manufacturers. The article goes on to illustrate why “from the inside it is not easy to find out what a business gets paid for…Organized attempts to look at what his own business are needed.”

We now watch one of the latest ASQ TV  episodes:

• Process Mapping and Architecture:  In this episode, learn process map and flowchart basics and how to use a process architecture map to improve the process and identify lean wastes. Sandy Furterer’s Full Interview – Process Architecture Map : Learn how to use a process architecture map to improve the process and identify lean wastes.

Please also refer:

• A Simple Process Map
• Process Flowchart

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems posting for June, 2018 is:

• Power of Imagination : It is a safe bet that change, or the concept of change, surrounds a good portion of your daily thought, consciously or subconsciously: change within ourselves, our surroundings or those in our immediate circle…What makes people really want to change is pressure coming from inside. Most important is the desire to move toward greater experiences of pleasure. The change that has come from within is more likely to be long lasting. A technique that’s useful when it comes to creating positive and lasting change is the power of your imagination.

• The Power of Yet: There is a rule in software and systems design called the principle of good enough. It simply indicates that customers will accept products that are good enough for their needs. In many industries that same principle applies. ..If that’s the expectation of products we purchase, does it translate to people themselves?.. You might want a particular job or position or might want to accomplish something, but think to yourself, “I’d like to do that kind of work, but I’m not good enough.”. This thinking can be very negative because it sets up a psychological roadblock to your achievement and success…Just one little word added to the thought can change your world. In almost every line of work, the phrase should be, “not good enough, yet.”.. It might be that you don’t care enough to put out the effort to do it all the time…It may be true that you’re not good enough, yet. Few of us are. But if you commit to trying hard enough and long enough, you’ll get better and that’s the secret of becoming great!

I look forward to your inputs / criticisms/ observations to enhance the utility of our Quality Management Blog Carnival.

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

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – September, 2017

Welcome to September, 2017 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

Our topic for September 2017 is Industry 4.0. This was a concept that had been mentioned in our July, 2017 post for further discussions in the next issue. We will take a quick look at the first few articles appearing in Google search.

Industry 4.0 is a name for the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing…Industry 4.0 creates what has been called a “smart factory”. Within the modular structured smart factories, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized decisions.

Industry 4.0 – The future of the Factory: The fourth industrial revolution has been introduced in recent years. It’s said that Industry 4.0 is the future of the factory where both the objects, which will be equipped with RFID devices, and the machines, will intelligently to communicate with each other in a secure networked environment. In the smart factory, intelligent machines can perform complex tasks while communicating with other machines. The machines will be able to detect mechanical issues or material shortages and then send instant messages to a live person for immediate troubleshooting.

What Everyone Must Know About Industry 4.0 – Bernard Marr – The question, then, is not if Industry 4.0 is coming, but how quickly.

5 things you should know about Industry 4.0 – Jamie Hinks – First things first – this isn’t a new technology. Nor is it a business discipline. It is in fact a new approach to achieve results that weren’t possible 10 years ago thanks to advancements in technology over the past decade.

Industry 4.0: Building the digital enterprise – This PwC research shows that first movers are transforming into digital enterprises. Industrial companies need to act now to secure a leading position in tomorrow’s complex industrial ecosystems.

Manufacturing’s next act – Cornelius Baur and Dominik Wee – A closer look at what’s behind Industry 4.0 reveals some powerful emerging currents with strong potential to change the way factories work. It may be too much to say that it is another industrial revolution. But call it whatever you like; the fact is, Industry 4.0 is gathering force, and executives should carefully monitor the coming changes and develop strategies to take advantage of the new opportunities.

Industry 4.0: It’s all about the people– Douglas K. Gates   : The adoption of i4.0 will have a profound impact on the manufacturing workforce. Organizations should start planning the transition today.

We back up these this broad overview with a few video clips:

Industry 4.0 – Germany’s 4th industrial revolution

Industrie 4.0 – The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Documentary | The Fourth Industrial Revolution

The next manufacturing revolution is here | Olivier Scalabre

Implementing Industrie 4.0: This is how it works!

The World In 2050 – Future Earth – BBC Documentary 2017

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up one article The 3 Reports Every Manager Should Use To Identify High-Performers @ the column Measuring Performance (People & Enterprise) @ Management Matters Network. The article is an excerpt originally published on Entrepreneur and is from Riaz Khadem and Linda Khadem’s book Total Alignment. The Focus Report shows an employee’s performance as it relates to the actual status of each of the process indicators assigned to them. The Feedback Report is a summary of the “good news” and the “bad news” based on the status of your employee’s indicators. It illustrates the factors that have fallen below the unacceptable range in status and those that are above the satisfactory level. Those that fall in between the two are considered in the acceptable range. And the third report is The Management Report, which gives you a quick overview of the highlights of the Feedback Reports of everyone in your pyramid of responsibility, people reporting to you directly as well as indirectly. This approach is “management by exception.”

From Ask The Experts, I have picked up a question – Special Process NCRs During Audit – that relates to a very specific set of qualifications for special processes. The answers are affirmatives Nos, as long as The organization has a process, and if it is effectively implemented that should be satisfactory evidence of conformity.

ASQ CEO, Bill Troy seems to have gone into an irregular mode. Therefore, we will take up one of the recent article post form the ASQ Home page every month now.at present.

We will begin with: Why Customer Service Teams Are Crying Out for Artificial Intelligence. The article presents certain basic advantages and needs to supplement “Why’ of the title of the article. The conclusion of the article sums to message in no uncertain terms: “There is no reason to fear AI, but neither is there any choice. If your business doesn’t utilize the technology, your competitors will. Chatbots and virtual assistants may be limited now, but they’re constantly evolving, and the potential impact they could have on your customer service team is staggering. Experts are all in agreement: AI is here to stay.”

We now watch one of the latest ASQ TV  episodes:

Supply Chain Management: Building a Stronger Supply Chain – In this episode, learn how to build a better supply chain by implementing supplier metrics and a supplier scorecard.

Additional references:

• Supplier Risk Management Webinar, Steven Walfish
• Scorecard Article 1
• Scorecard Article 2 
• Scorecard Article 3

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems for the month of August, 2017:

The Role of Specification Limits – Determine if a process is in a state of statistical control- In the previous column Jim Smith discussed the role of specification limits in manufacturing, which led to thoughts about process control limits. When there are data points falling outside the control limits, there is an indication of a special-cause event, so the process should be discontinued until the issue’s root cause has been found and resolved which will then return the process to a state of statistical control. With that said, however, it seems that effective implementation of process control charts remains elusive to many. The control limits provide information about process behavior and have no intrinsic relationship to engineering specifications. Control charts shouldn’t be used without first performing process capability studies to determine the relationship between natural process limits and engineering specification. When capability is known the purpose of control chart limits is to permit simple detection events that are indicative of actual process change. When significant change (special cause variation) is detected the culprit must be identified and eliminated with affected data points eliminated from control chart limit calculation…..Bottom line, after the process capability study has been conducted, engineering specification limits are infrequently consulted by the manufacturing process personnel.

I look forward to your active participation in enriching the blog carnival as we pursue our journey in exploring the happenings across quality management blogs…………

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