Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – December 2019

Welcome to December 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, Industrial Internet of Things  and Horizontal and Vertical System Integration.

We will now take up last of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 –– Cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes…A successful cybersecurity approach has multiple layers of protection spread across the computers, networks, programs, or data that one intends to keep safe. In an organization, the people, processes, and technology must all complement one another to create an effective defense from cyber-attacks.[1]

Cybersecurity in Industry 4.0 has an immediate effect on CPS, the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Services (IoS).

Industry 4.0 and its connection with Internet and Information and Communication Technologies. (Source: Germany Trade & Invest. 2013)-

Each brings its own range of threats, vulnerabilities and possible challenges/safeguards with regard to cybersecurity. Below, a number of these are outlined:

Cybersecurity must therefore be thought of as a protective mechanism, but also, especially, as a basic requirement in order for business to continue.[2] That is where the quality management core principles come into the play and so-called traditional quality people need to learn these new concepts so as to help build good practices, work groups and reference architectures.

The seven steps of a cyber-attack, which can lead to dire consequences. To prepare oneself against such an attack and to reduce the attack vector, one should design a six-step approach.

The three-pillar approach to cyber security consists of people, process, and data and information.

The first pillar is people. People are an easy target to pick the bite of the phishing bait, Through frequent exposure and regular training, your organization will develop a culture of cyber security awareness. The second of the three pillars is process. The process pillar is made up of multiple parts: management systems, governance, policies and procedures and managing third parties. All of these parts must be addressed for the process pillar to be effective.

When all is said and done about Industry 4.0 or Quality 4.0 in these sets of episodes, the message that very clearly seems to come out is that Quality 4.0 Takes More Than Technology – To effectively implement Quality 4.0—the technological as well as the non-technological aspects—companies should take a structured approach that includes the following elements:

• • Prioritize pain points to address first on the basis of potential to unlock value and reduce risk;
  • Identify, test and scale up use cases. Begin implementation with proof-of-concept (PoC) pilots that focus on high-value use cases.;
  • Develop a vision and road-m which articulates how Quality 4.0 promotes the company’s overall business strategy and how it contributes to creating a sustainable competitive advantage.
  • Establish technology and data enablers of Quality 4.0, including the IoT infrastructure and data architecture;
  • Build the required skills – whether by upskilling or retraining the current workforce or by recruiting digital specialists;
  • Manage the changes across the enterprise, including the implementation of a comprehensive digital strategy;
  • Foster a quality culture through an across-the-organization involvement in the necessary changes to the context in which people work, addressing topics such as metrics and incentives, role mandates, and organizational structures.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Digitizing Culture: Are You Doing It Wrong? on Insights and Analysis From Gallup column of Management Matters Network ….

• • • It’s crucial for companies to create an effective digital workplace culture
    • Digital culture is even harder to get right than in-person culture
    • Culture tools are only as good as the way they’re used

We also have one more article  that deals with the process of (digital) transformation – Thawing the frozen middle – As businesses put trillions of dollars into digital transformations, they need a plan to ensure that middle management is helping make the most of the investment… Transformation failures are not caused by one person or one single issue. By understanding the psyche of the middle management layer, CEOs can identify the levers that will work and unlock the benefits of transformation. It’s a matter of focusing on human capital and valuing the skills that their people have and can develop. They can then redeploy their creative, resilient, upskilled people to tackle more problems and create more value. Technology fundamentally changes the role of middle managers, but it simultaneously makes them even more important.

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

• • Cybersecurity in Retail – What is cybersecurity? Learn what it is, why it’s important and how it can make or break your business.
  • Protect Your Organization From Cyber Attacks – Dave Nelson, Founder, Pratum, offers practical suggestions to protect your organization from cyber-attacks. Nelson suggests using gap analysis and process mapping to make sure you have adequate security and, in case of an attack, have sound processes in place to mitigate the damage.

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

• • Excuses – It’s a safe bet that everyone has used excuses to avoid doing something or to delay the inevitable… It is much easier to give in to the excuses. However, when you do give in all you’re left with is regret…Rather than take the easier path by using the excuses, it is more difficult to do those things you know you’re capable of doing. From that difficulty, however, comes the golden experience of the life you were meant to experience… All you have to lose are those excuses and a lot of regret but there is so much more to be gained.
  • Growth – In some way, personal growth is almost always uncomfortable. However, refusing to grow is often, in the long run, much more uncomfortable… To grow, it requires that we admit where we’re weak and then work to strengthen those aspects of our life – personal and professional… Whatever is going on in our life this very moment offers valuable opportunities for us to grow stronger, more effective, and more positively directed toward real fulfillment…. Embrace these opportunities even though they may seem a little uncomfortable… And as we grow, the positive possibilities will grow even more superlative in our world.

This brings us to the end of our journeys to the Carnival of Blogs on Quality Management for the year 2019. Till we meet to resume our journey in 2020, with a fresh look on the fundamentals, I wish you all a great year-end that provides a strong jumping board to more challenging, more fulfilling and more satisfying 2020.

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

[1] What Is Cybersecurity?

[2] Cybersecurity in Industry 4.0

P.S. – All episodes of Quality Blog Carnival 2019 edition can be viewed / downloaded in a unified file by clicking the hyper link.

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

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – October, 2019

Welcome to October, 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 and Additive Manufacturing.

We will now take up fourth of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Industrial Internet of Things IIoT)

The industrial internet of things (IIoT)[1] is the use of smart sensors and actuators to enhance manufacturing and industrial processes. The driving philosophy behind IIoT is that smart machines are not only better than humans at capturing and analyzing data in real time, they are better at communicating important information that can be used to drive business decisions faster and more accurately.

IIoT holds great potential for quality control, sustainable and green practices, supply chain traceability and overall supply chain efficiency. In an industrial setting, IIoT is key to processes such as predictive maintenance (PdM), enhanced field service, energy management and asset tracking.

Each industrial IoT ecosystem consists of:

• • • Intelligent assets that can sense, communicate and store information about themselves;
    • Public and/or private data communications infrastructure
    • Analytics and applications that generate business information from raw data; and
    • People.

While the word “industrial” may call to mind warehouses, shipyards and factory floors, IIoT technologies hold a lot of promise for a diverse range of industries, including agriculture, healthcare, financial services, retail and advertising.[2]

Here are a few examples of current and upcoming IIoT technologies and concepts:

• Digital twins – The practice of creating a computer model of an object such as a machine or a human organ or a process like weather. By studying the behaviour of the twin, it is possible to understand and predict the behaviour of the real-world counterpart and address problems before they occur.

• Electronic logging device (ELD) – Onboard sensors that monitor speed, driving time, and how often individual drivers use their brakes, helping to conserve fuel, improve driver safety and reduce idle resources. If the driver makes a dangerous manoeuvre or is at the wheel for too long, the driver is alerted and the dispatcher is notified. This technology can replace the paper logs that drivers were once required to fill out every day.

• Intelligent edge – The place at which data is generated, analysed, interpreted and addressed. Using the intelligent edge means that analysis can be conducted more quickly and that the likelihood that the data will be intercepted or otherwise breached is significantly decreased.

• Predictive maintenance – A system that involves a machine or component with sensors that collect and transmit data and then analyse that data and store it in a database. This database then provides points of comparison for events as they occur. The system eliminates unnecessary maintenance and increases the likelihood of avoiding failure.

• Radio-frequency identification (RFID) – A system that involves tags and readers, like a smarter version of barcode technology. Readers identify RFID tags using radio waves, meaning the tags can be read by multiple readers at once and over a longer distance than traditional UPCs. RFID tags make it possible to easily track and monitor the things on which they are attached.

The advent of the IIoT is a once-in-a-lifetime business disruption—one that requires new capabilities and will provide incredible opportunities.

To truly leverage its new direct customer relationship and make the full transition to an IIoT-enabled, customer-centric and service-orientated organisation, a manufacturing business must fundamentally transform its strategy and organisational culture.[3]

Drivers of IIoT[4]

• Technology of Smart Sensors, Robotics & Automation, Augmented/Virtual reality, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Integration, Software applications, Mobile, Low power Hardware devices and Scalability of IPv6-3.4X 10^38 IP address, etc.is a major driver for the Industrial Internet.
• Customer Behavior: The edge that IIoT gives to enterprises over their competitor helps them achieve better customer satisfaction and retention through value addition.
• Macro-Economic Drivers: Government policies like Industry 4.0, Smart Factories, Make In India, Make In China 2025 & Smart Cities, Japan’s Industrial Value Chain Initiative Foum, Support of Green initiatives, Rising Energy & crude oil prices, Favorable FDI policies, Policies by regulatory bodies, etc. works totally in favour of the IIoT evolution.

Introduction to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) – Head of the Institute of Manufacturing (IfM)’s Distributed Information and Automation Laboratory (DIAL), Professor Duncan McFarlane, is a pioneer of the internet of things (IoT) and was part of the research team that coined the term “internet of things” 20 years ago. In this webinar Professor McFarlane provides an introduction to the IoT and the IIoT and the opportunities and challenges facing industry.

IIoT currently is focusing on either managing or affecting the quality of the products via improved asset performance management, process-oriented analytics, or smart manufacturing environments which are placed to make excessive gains in bringing down the operating costs and better upliftment.[5]

The ways and factors how IIoT has been affecting the Quality of production

It’s all about the analytics when discussing the impact Big Data and IoT will have on manufacturing quality. In fact, the biggest payback of Big Data and IoT from an ROI perspective ties directly into advanced analytics. The fact of the matter remains that IT – like you – must do more with less resources. Having a holistic quality management system in place will help your company set the stage for IT to deliver the analytical tools necessary to yield actionable insights. To benefit the value chain, insights from data collected via IoT must be actionable – and more importantly, automated.[6]

In 9 ways the IoT is Redefining Manufacturing, Brian Buntz succinctly enumerates examples of companies who are implementing or benefiting from IoT capabilities. Each example shows how IoT is reshaping or redefining industry practices. One example of particular interest is Proactive Quality Assurance, enabled by placement of sensing and measuring devices in critical areas throughout the supply chain and production process…With IoT, the ability to monitor and analyze process and product quality at critical points in the supply chain and production processes, and detect when sub-standard materials are introduced or product attributes deviate from specifications promises significant cost reductions.[7]

The organizations that have already deployed and embedded enterprise quality management software (EQMS), have utilized the right metrics to measure quality or are on the right path need to note that the next wave is something entirely different than the health and performance of the QMS. The next wave is actionable data direct from the product in the field.

The question being asked by every organization with awareness and understanding of IoT today is how will we capture, process and derive meaningful intelligence from this stream?[8] This is reasonable as there will be significant volume looping back but this is not big data per se since it is not unstructured–quite the opposite. The incoming stream is by design and is therefore structured originally by us, the OEM. The real question is how do we take the stream and drive accurate and meaningful outcome in the form of improvement?

The answer is to approach the IoT with the mindset that it will supercharge the quality management system by tightening the closed-loop approach so that engineering is more closely connected with the rest of the value-chain than ever before. Improvement action or CAPA as we know it today becomes the vehicle for designing for quality based on the new channel of intelligence.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Peter F. Drucker On Doing The Right Thing  by William Cohen, Ph.D. on Decision Making column of Management Matters Network …. “Drucker felt that managers should incorporate the ethics of responsibility enunciated by the physician Hippocrates, which in turn is validated by the test of seeing in the mirror,  into their personal philosophy and professional lives.”

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

• • Winning the Race to Quality 4.0 — Part 1 – In this episode, Bill Brody, ASQ’s Market Research Manager, summarizes the five key themes found in the Winning the Race to Quality 4.0 study, while diving deeper into a topic of interest to all quality professionals: future skills.
  • Winning the Race to Quality 4.0—Part 2 – In this episode, Dave Ryeson, Associate Director of Boston Consulting Group, describes the keys for success with Quality 4.0. These findings are based on the Winning the Race to Quality 4.0 research conducted by ASQ, BCG, and DGQ.

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

• • Stick-to-itiveness – The ability to demonstrate persistence or perseverance – Charles Monroe “Sparky” Schulz became widely regarded as one of the most influential cartoonists of all time! But he had faced an all-round. lack of success in school and whose work was repeatedly rejected. He created the “Peanuts” comic strip and Charlie Brown was the little cartoon character whose kite would never fly and who would never succeed in kicking a football. Sparky had stick-to-itiveness. He never gave up.
  • Effective quality auditors are catalysts for change – It’s rare that managers, or even most quality auditors, discuss how closely tied the findings of manufacturing audits are to the long-term ability of their companies to compete in this highly competitive market…To be truly effective, quality auditors must throw off their perceived notions of how their information is being used. Instead, they must see it as a way to revolutionize how their companies can compete in a global economy. There is no turning back from this challenge.

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] industrial internet of things (IIoT)

[2] What is IIoT?

[3] Industrial Internet of Things

[4] What is Industrial Internet of Things?

[5] Knowing the IIoT affect on Quality Management System

[6] How Does Quality Management Link into the Internet of Things?

[7] From reactive to proactive quality management with IoT

[8] Internet of Things: Why Quality Management Leaders Need a Strategy Now

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – September, 2019

Welcome to September, 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 and Simulation.

We will now take up fourth of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Additive Manufacturing (AM).

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an appropriate name to describe the technologies that build 3D objects by adding layer-upon-layer of material, whether the material is plastic, metal, concrete or one day…..human tissue.[1]

Common to AM technologies is the use of a computer, 3D modelling software (Computer Aided Design or CAD), machine equipment and layering material.  Once a CAD sketch is produced, the AM equipment reads in data from the CAD file and lays downs or adds successive layers of liquid, powder, sheet material or other, in a layer-upon-layer fashion to fabricate a 3D object.

The term AM encompasses many technologies including subsets like 3D Printing, Rapid Prototyping (RP), Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM), layered manufacturing and additive fabrication.

AM application is limitless. Early use of AM in the form of Rapid Prototyping focused on preproduction visualization models. More recently, AM is being used to fabricate end-use products in aircraft, dental restorations, medical implants, automobiles, and even fashion products.

Some envision AM as a complement to foundational subtractive manufacturing (removing material like drilling out material) and to lesser degree forming (like forging). Regardless, AM may offer consumers and professionals alike, the accessibility to create, customize and/or repair product, and in the process, redefine current production technology.

Additive manufacturing makes it possible to create objects with complex geometries. Credit: MIT Sloan School of Management

Additive manufacturing first emerged in 1987 with stereolithography (SL), a process that solidifies thin layers of ultraviolet (UV) light‐sensitive liquid polymer using a laser. Since then, various other technologies have been invented such as fused deposition modelling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), PolyJet, Electron Beam Melting (EBM), etc.

Selecting the right additive manufacturing machine is vital to achieving the desired quality and lead time. However, the part is only as good as the design. A typical design process involves defining the design space, fixing the boundary conditions, applying loads, defining manufacturing constraints, running topology optimization, and analysing the optimized design to match the desired performance.

The primary hurdle for AM today is the fabrication and post-processing times which are not suitable for high-volume production. The fabrication lead time can be addressed by adding machines. However, the post-processing times are significant and increase with part complexity.[2]

In a TEDxYoungstown Additive Manufacturing, Brett Conner discusses 3D printing and additive manufacturing.

ANSYS Additive Manufacturing Simulation inside ANSYS Workbench 19.0 – Example 1 – The video shows the whole process to build a simulation model for Additive Manufacturing with ANSYS Workbench 19.0.

 

3D printing and additive manufacturing: one and the same? The experts say no. Though these two terms are often used synonymously, there are key differences between the two. While 3D printing is the motor behind additive manufacturing, additive manufacturing in and of itself is much more than just 3D printing. Additive manufacturing often involves product design, development of innovative technologies to create even greater manufacturing efficiency, enforcing quality assurance measures, and more![3]

America Makes and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) joining forces to establish the Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC). The AMSC is a body comprised of the full array of interested stakeholders worldwide—including OEMs, government, academia, standards consortia—and aims to create a road-map assessment of the state of standards and standards gaps in AM.⁶ In early 2017, AMSC published its initial draft of this assessment—Standardization road map for additive manufacturing, version 1.0 (hereafter referred to as “the AMSC road map”).⁷ [4]

While AM brings valuable opportunities to the industry it also comes with a series of challenges for the engineers: the reliability of the mechanical properties of the final part still has some uncertainty and is not fully supported by standard engineering tools…. Comprehensive data collection, management, and traceability across multiple batch is required to address these challenges. This enables the correlation between the manufacturing process parameters and part performance, which can reveal the key influences in the variability of the process; in addition, collecting the process data can provide predictive part performance using statistical models. Finally, the data traceability can be used to calibrate and account for variation between two printing machines, to insure quality control.[5]

As manufacturing becomes more responsive, connected, quick and customizable, new and more flexible metrology techniques for machined, molded, cast and AM parts will become more important.[6]

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Abandon The Unproductive & Obsolete: A Surefire Way to Increase Productivity, Spark Innovation & Reduce Costs, by Editorial Staff,  on Decision Making column of Management Matters Network …. “If effective management of capital resources was Drucker’s first test for improving corporate productivity, systematic abandonment of the unproductive and obsolete was his first law of implementation.”

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

• • How BBQ Can Help in a Technologically Disruptive World – In a culture of behaviour based quality (BBQ) all employees work in harmony to improve the number of successes versus non-successes – to create a set of planned, expected and measurable outcomes.

The full presentation of the Webinar can be viewed here.

• • Become a Better Quality Leader – Learn about the different levels of leadership that an organization needs to succeed, as well as four key ideas that will help you become a more effective manager and leader.

Mike Turner’s Full Interview – HERE

David Deacon’s Article – HERE

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

• • • Beliefs and Expectations – We move forward and become like that which we think about. We behave not in accordance with the truth but with the truth as we perceive and believe it to be. Therefore, when you expect the best from yourself and others, you behave in ways that almost guarantee you are going to get it…However, the same seems to be true when you expect trouble. You set yourself up for trouble in numerous little ways and sure enough, trouble comes knocking at your door.

  

  • Customer-Focused Environment – Organizations must extend their definition of customers – The quality standards, issues and performance are goals people can rally around, unlike other goals like cost reduction or productivity improvement. The purpose of all work and all improvement effort is to better serve the customer. Just as some people are apt to translate quality too narrowly, so too may we consider customers in the same restrictive sense. One of the single most powerful revelations has been that customers are not only external but internal as well…The focus on internal customers and satisfying their needs toward improving external customer satisfaction has the potential to transform the organization from one of departmental boundaries and barriers into one of complementing rather than competing activities…The organization that is capable of multi-department, cross-functional teamwork on a daily basis is one where processes are seen as related parts of the total quality system. People working in such an environment better understand not only the organization’s mission, but their own role toward its accomplishment. Consequently, people are better able to fulfill their tasks and to improve on them.

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] What is Additive Manufacturing?

^[2] Additive Manufacturing: The “Cool Factor” in Manufacturing

[3] 3D printing and additive manufacturing are not quite the same

^[4] 3D opportunity for standards

[5] Big Data Management in Additive Manufacturing

[6] A new joint whitepaper from Autodesk and Faro examines smart metrology for additive manufacturing

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – August, 2019

Welcome to August, 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 and Augmented Reality.

We will now take up fourth of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Simulation.

The simulation hypothesis is the idea that reality is a digital simulation. Technological advances will inevitably produce automated artificial superintelligence that will, in turn, create simulations to better understand the universe. This opens the door for the idea that superintelligence already exists and created simulations now occupied by humans. At first blush the notion that reality is pure simulacra seems preposterous, but the hypothesis springs from decades of scientific research and is taken seriously by academics, scientists, and entrepreneurs like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk.[1]

Techopedia defines Simulation as ‘any research or development project where researchers or developers create a model of some authentic phenomenon. Many aspects of the natural world can be transformed into mathematical models, and using simulation allows IT systems to mimic the outcomes that happen in the natural world.’[2]

The word “simulation” is sometimes also defined as “the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time.”[3]… Imitating a real-world process or system allows experts to study the process or system they are interested in within a controlled, repeatable environment… Since commissioning of new manufacturing facilities, production lines, and processes is often costly and capital-intensive, applying simulation methods to manufacturing can yield enormous benefits.

The most important objective of simulation in manufacturing is the understanding of the change to the whole system because of some local changes. It is easy to understand the difference made by changes in the local system, but it is very difficult or impossible to assess the impact of this change in the overall system.[4]

For example –

ANDRITZ AUTOMATION Scada in P&P Balematic with INLINE Simulation tool, helps in testing the functional behavior of a machine is against the application design prior to manufacturing.

The first step on the 4.0 factory path is simulation.[5] 3D inspection, integral in the Smart Factory, should be simulated, providing greater productivity, efficiency and smarter part programming –

• • Because when metrologists program offline inspection tasks on complete simulated twins of their actual environment and equipment, the actual physical equipment is free to continue measuring and monitoring.
  • Because when inspection programs have been simulated and virtually tested, they are error and collision-free when applied to the manufacturing process.
  • Because, an offline simulation program can work directly with native or neutral CAD files and automatically interpret Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).

One can find several research papers dealing with subject of use of simulation in the quality management. Since these papers require very specific access approvals, we have picked up two representative papers here for the illustrative purpose–

• • An Application of Computer Simulation to Quality Control in Manufacturing – The company was using a standard skip lot procedure with a single sampling by attributes plan at the initiation of this study. An analysis of the situation revealed that the complex skip lot procedure was inappropriate and that the use of multi-stage attribute sampling plans could improve inspector productivity by lowering the average sample number per lot undergoing inspection. To demonstrate these proposals to management, a computer simulation model was developed which simulated the system in use by the company and a variety of other possible systems. Based on the simulation results, the management decided to implement a system employing uniform skipping between lot inspections and multi-stage attribute sampling plans. The system resulted in marked improvements in operating performance as measured by six month’s actual results.
  • Simulation in Quality Management – An Approach to Improve Inspection Planning – Production is a multi-step process involving many different articles produced in different jobs by various machining stations. Quality inspection has to be integrated in the production sequence in order to ensure the conformance of the products. The interactions between manufacturing processes and inspections are very complex since three aspects (quality, cost, and time) should all be considered at the same time while determining the suitable inspection strategy. Therefore, a simulation approach was introduced to solve this problem.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, The “Curiosity” Disconnect Between Executives and Employees, by Editorial Staff , on Innovation & Entrepreneurship column of Management Matters Network …. “Most of the breakthrough discoveries and remarkable inventions throughout history, from flints for starting a fire to self-driving cars, have something in common: They are the result of curiosity.”

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

• • • • Improve Process Design at Your Organization – William Hathaway, President, Moresteam, discusses current process tools and agile process to help bring improved process design to your company.

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

• Resilience means being able to cope with situations in spite of setbacks or barriers. Essentially, resilience refers to our ability to recover from adversity….This quality of resiliency, or the ability to suffer loss and recover from devastation, has a lot to do with our overall feelings of self-worth. It also has a lot to do with our belief about whether our life is largely controlled by us, or by forces outside our self…There are four major cornerstones to learning resilience. First, avoid feeling that you’re a victim. Second, accept that change is constant so it’s part of life so there’s no escaping it. Third, avoid seeing obstacles as being insurmountable. Forth, focus on the positive.
• Persistence Pays Dividends – Many experts say that most people try eight, nine, or ten ways to make a change, and when they don’t get the desired outcome, they give up! …What most people miss is that the key to success is to decide what’s most important to them and then take considerable action, each day, to make it better, even when it doesn’t appear that progress is being made.

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] Simulation hypothesis: The smart person’s guide

[2] What does Simulation mean?

[3] Manufacturing simulation for Industry 4.0

[4] Simulation in manufacturing systems

[5] Simulation is Corner Stone of The Smart Factory

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – July, 2019

Welcome to July 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 and Robotics.

We will now take up fourth of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Augmented Reality (AR).

Augmented reality (AR)[1] is a type of interactive, reality-based display environment that takes the capabilities of computer-generated display, sound, text and effects to enhance the user’s real-world experience.

A view of the physical real-world environment with superimposed computer-generated images, thus changing the perception of reality, is the AR.[2]

AR apps typically connect digital animation to a special ‘marker’, or with the help of GPS in phones pinpoint the location. Augmentation is happening in real time and within the context of the environment, for example, overlaying scores to a live feed sport event.

There are 4 types of augmented reality today:

• Markerless AR – A.k.a. location-based or position-based augmented reality, that utilizes a GPS, a compass, a gyroscope, and an accelerometer to provide data based on user’s location. This data then determines what AR content you find or get in a certain area. With the availability of smartphones this type of AR typically produces maps and directions, nearby businesses info. Applications include events and information, business ads pop-ups, navigation support.

• Marker-based AR – Some also call it to image recognition, as it requires a special visual object and a camera to scan it. It may be anything, from a printed QR code to special signs. The AR device also calculates the position and orientation of a marker to position the content, in some cases. Thus, a marker initiates digital animations for users to view, and so images in a magazine may turn into 3D models.

• Projection-based AR – Projecting synthetic light to physical surfaces, and in some cases allows to interact with it. These are the holograms we have all seen in sci-fi movies like Star Wars. It detects user interaction with a projection by its alterations.

• Superimposition-based AR – Replaces the original view with an augmented, fully or partially. Object recognition plays a key role, without it the whole concept is simply impossible. We’ve all seen the example of superimposed augmented reality in IKEA Catalog app, that allows users to place virtual items of their furniture catalog in their rooms.

Some Industrial Applications[3]

• Introducing AR to industrial markets will likely change how many jobs are performed. Technicians in the field will be able to receive live support from remote staff, who can indicate markings, point out issues, superimpose models over items like vehicle engines and the like, and more..
• Industries in the design and creative spaces will likely be some of the markets most positively impacted by the introduction of augmented reality.
• AR allows companies to develop training that’s consistent for each employee and enables the employee to develop competence and confidence in their role.

Industry 4.0 by Immersion: Augmented Reality & Connected Factory for Sunna Design – Sunna Design, a company created in 2011, conceives and produces autonomous solar lighting solutions for emerging countries. Immersion, by providing an augmented reality tool with the collaborative solution Shariiing, allowed Sunna Design to reduce costs and generate value through its connected factory of the future.

Augmented Reality Training Demonstration – by Scope AR using the Epson Moverio BT-100 – Described by a visitor to Epson’s I/ITSEC 2012 booth as “…the most practical application of augmented reality that I’ve ever seen,” this video demonstrates how Epson partner ScopeAR (scopeAR.com) modified the Epson Moverio BT-100 to be used for self-guided training. By adding a camera to the Moverio platform and taking advantage of its transparent display, trainees are allowed hands-free opportunities to learn.

The following articles provide a detailed view of applications of AR in the fields of quality assurance and inspection:

How Augmented Reality is Improving Quality Assurance Measures for Manufacturers briefly describes a couple of applications developed by Light Guided Systems, designed to streamline and simplify complex manual assembly, inspection, part kitting, sequencing and training processes, while establishing a new baseline for quality.

Accelerate the quality assurance process with Augmented Reality – Ypsomed is the leading developer and manufacturer of pens, auto-injectors and pump systems for administration of liquid medication. Ypsomed was the first industry partner of Swisscom to test the new 5G mobile communications generation in ongoing production. ..As part of the pilot project, Ypsomed has digitalised its production processes for injection pens across the entire value chain. Open Web Technology was approached to support Ypsomed to reach the targeted digitisation with the help of Augmented Reality (AR).

These two videos provide the visual summary for what AR can do for quality-related functions:

Augmented Reality Software System for Quality Inspection – CAQ AG – The augmented reality technology permits the real-time supplementation of the user’s field of vision with additional computer-generated information and superimposed virtual objects.

Augmented Reality for Quality Inspection – ESA – This is a prototype demo for an Augmented Reality application for tablet that was developed in collaboration between the European Space Agency (PA&S Division), The Open University and Perey Consulting, in the context of ARPASS Research Project. The object under inspection is an IoT-enabled satellite mockup that communicates with the AR application using standard a IoT Protocol (MQTT). The demo app simulates circuit boards and wire harness configuration control as well as step-by-step guidance for maintenance and repair operations.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article,  Help people understand “why” before you tell them “what” or “how” , by Kepler Knott on Competitive Strategy column of Management Matters Network …. If you believe that ideas rule the world and that stories – your story for your company, product or service, for example – are the best way to convey those ideas, then it pays to really think about your story and how you tell it. You’ve got to make it matter to your audience… Learn to tell the story behind your work and why it involves and impacts all the people involved….

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

• Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Workplace – This episode dives into augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)—what they are, how they’re used on shop floors, and some organizations implementing these advanced technologies.

Additional reading : Sunil Kaushik’s full case study

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

• Trust – In any situation, your influence is enormous if you are trusted. But if you are not trusted, it doesn’t matter what your title is or how much authority you are supposed to have, your influence is virtually zero….You build trust by keeping your word, doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it…If you make a mistake, you don’t cover it up or try to make it look like someone else’s fault, even if it’s going to make you look bad. And when you make decisions, you make them after thoughtfully considering alternatives and consequences… When you are worthy of that trust, you feel accountable to use your influence responsibly.
• Metamorphosis – All meaningful and lasting change starts on the inside and then works its way out. In other words, a total transformation….Essentially, what you think and truly believe turns into behavior. The late Lou Tice, founder of the Pacific Institute, stressed the use of affirmations and visualizations as an excellent way to change your internal pictures and make sure that your new behavior lasts to make your transformation complete. They help you create your reality from the inside out, which is the absolute best way (maybe the only way) to do it.

I look forward to receive 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]  Augmented Reality (AR)

[2] What is Augmented Reality (AR) and How does it work

[3] Augmented Reality In Business: How AR May Change The Way We Work

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – June 2019

Welcome to June 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 and Cloud computing.

We will now take up third of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Robotics.

Robotics is a branch of engineering that involves the conception, design, manufacture, and operation of robots. This field overlaps with electronics, computer science, artificial intelligence, mechatronics, nanotechnology and bioengineering. Today, robotics is a rapidly growing field, as technological advances continue; researching, designing, and building new robots serve various practical purposes, whether domestically, commercially, or militarily. Many robots are built to do jobs that are hazardous to people.[1]

Industry 4.0 enables a model that’s built on a new paradigm for automation: one that taps the power of software to orchestrate the actions needed…. With performance, task data collection and introspection built into the design – not as an add-on or layer that sits on top of the design – manufacturers no longer will find themselves drowning in a sea of data. Instead companies will have a powerful way of making sense of the data, and more importantly, deriving value from that data. In the race to build the digital factory, manufacturers will find robots the perfect physical and cognitive partner.[2]

Thus the robots do not merely automate the work they also work autonomously, i.e. from working at the fixed station, now they move the work as well. The autonomous robots can independently navigate in a dynamic environment thanks to their sensor systems and security algorithms without interfering with the infrastructure of production facilities. This enables them to operate safely side by side with humans.[3]

These types of collaborative robots are also known as cobots. For example, Welding is a discipline that typically requires advanced training and extensive safety precautions; robots can eliminate the need for trained professionals while minimizing the risk of an accident on the job….[4]

Cobots now serve as colleagues to many workers. Humans are able to get out of “3D jobs” – jobs that are dangerous, dirty, or dull. People can now focus on more financially and mentally-rewarding tasks. No prior programming experience required! Collaborative robots are capable of cranking up production levels, but they also are able to add value to existing jobs. This lets humans once again find passion and amass knowledge about what they produce.[5]

Asides is a more vivid example of (not-so-distant) future Industry 4.0-enabled using cobots alongside the human beings[6]:

The following figure depicts the growth curve of Robots and industry 4.0[7]

Robotics is penetrating the field of quality management fast enough, in applications where movement of parts accurately on the test beds is involved or where inspection is carried out by human eye by replacing or supporting it with machine vision.

Implementing or integrating an automated quality inspection system can be a daunting task. To justify the cost, the system must be highly accurate, provide analytical insight, and allow the operator to communicate with and control the system. These are the Three Tiers of Quality Inspection.

We have listed a few representative articles that gives us the overview of the subject:

• • Robot, Robots, Everywhere!
  • Quality control testing role for robot
  • Increasing Productivity in Manufacturing: Quality Control
  • BMW – Automated Robot Inspection Cell for Quality Control on Sheet Metal Components
  • Automated quality control at Opel for car body engineering quality assurance.
  • How Automated Quality Control Reports Improve Efficiency and End Paper Processes

Here are a few video clips, too –

Robotic Inspection: The Future of Flexible Manufacturing – This is the first robot-integrated inspection system that digitizes and simplifies quality control while improving cycle times. It consists of a 3D white-light scanning sensor mounted to the arm of an ABB robot, relying on the agility of the robot to provide the precise movements necessary for the sensors to access most areas of both simple and complex parts from the optimum angle.

Robotic 3D Scanning System for Manufacturing Quality Control – ARIS Technology developed this automated robotic 3D scanning solution to utilize the versatile and compact FANUC LR Mate 200iD robot for manufacturing quality control. The system performs complex 3D inspection of parts in four simple and easy steps.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, The Key to Powerful Leadership Presence, by Marshal Goldsmith on Things Manager Should Know column of Management Matters Network …. It is the capacity to be fully present. …True leaders are present for a task, for a conversation, for the moment, for an opportunity. Present for their larger purpose in the world.

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

• • • Effective 21st Century Quality Leadership – Mike Turner, Managing Partner, Oakland Consulting, discusses the business challenges of the 21st century, and how quality professionals should respond in order to meet them. He focuses on three key areas: accelerate change, reduce costs and protect reputation. He would like to see development of effective leadership model rather than the leaders, be it at strategic level or team /local level or at any level… People should be proud of what they do.

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

• • Importance of Psychology – Many managers seem to think they can forget it and run their business by numbers alone…Malcolm S. Forbes, the late American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of Forbes magazine, once said “There are those of us who think that the psychology of man, each and together, has more impact on markets, business, services, construction, and the entire fabric of an economy than all the more measurable statistical indices.”… The best evidence tells us that quality, productivity, and customer service are the results of beliefs, attitudes and expectations as much, or more, than the good skills and systems. It is the people working within the organization who really define your organizational culture, and psychology lies at the very foundation of your people.
  • For a Robust Quality Environment There Has to Be Teamwork – Teamwork, however, is much more than a few isolated teams. James Cash (JC) Penney said “the best teamwork comes from people working independently toward one goal in unison.”.. It is important to recognize that teams are not an end to themselves. Teams are a vehicle to take an organization toward the goal of true teamwork and a robust quality environment. As Andrew Carnegie said, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

I look forward to receive 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] Robotics

[2] The role of robots in Industry 4.0

[3] The autonomous way to Industry 4.0 – Mobile Robots: the backbone of the factory of the future

[4] The rise of robots in Industry 4.0

[5] Cobots empowering humans in manufacturing

[6] Examples of Industry 4.0 technology we are watching

[7] Robots and industry 4.0

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – May 2019

Welcome to May 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 in January 2019;
  • The foundation of the Digital Quality Management.in February 2019.
  • Quality 4.0 in March 2019
  • Big Data Analytics in April 2019

We will now take up second of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing[1] is the delivery of computing services—servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, intelligence and more—over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources and economies of scale.

Types of cloud computing solutions[2]

1. 1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will deliver pre-installed and configured hardware or software through a virtualized interface.
   2. Platform as a Service (PaaS) offer a computing platform and solution stack as a service.
   3. Software as a Service (SaaS) provide fully functionally web-based applications on demand to customers. The applications are mainly targeted at business users and can include web conferencing, ERP, CRM, email, time management, project tracking among others.
   4. Recovery as a Service (RaaS) helps companies to replace their backup, archiving, disaster recovery and business continuity solutions in a single, integrated platform. RaaS providers protect and can help companies recover entire data centers, servers (OS, applications, configuration and data), and data (files and databases).

Cloud computing as the ideal data storage resource for proliferation and research within the interconnectivity of Industry 4.0.[3]

There are ten critical ways cloud computing will drive manufacturing growth[4]–

• • Quality is no longer siloed. – Cloud platforms and applications make it possible for the quality strategies to be synchronized all locations with real-time data.
  • Manufacturing cycle times are accelerated. Cloud-based execution models enable the seamless handover of data to enterprise applications and to achieve real-time visibility, supply chain integration, and increased operational flexibility.
  • Insights into overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) get stronger. Cloud platforms enable a system of record that includes OEE to the machinery and tool level, providing insights into which areas are performing well and which need to improve.
  • Automating compliance and reporting saves valuable time. Cloud-based compliance applications that are capable of producing federal device history records (DHRs) remove the burden of associates having to manually catalog and report records to prepare industry and government filings.
  • Real-time tracking and traceability become easier to achieve. – Cloud-based applications handle tracking and traceability and can scale across supplier networks save many manufacturers from the high, unpredictable expenses of a product recall by catching product quality problems early.
  • APIs let help scale manufacturing strategies faster than ever. – Serving as the glue between diverse applications, databases, and systems, APIs create real-time integration links to enable more efficient data sharing, collaboration, and greater transaction accuracy and efficiency.
  • Cloud-based systems enable higher supply chain performance. Cloud-based inventory management system (IMS) and ERP systems over time generate data sets that tend to show patterns, making it possible to anticipate shifts in demand.
  • Order cycle times and rework are reduced. Automating pricing, quoting and customer approval workflows using a cloud-based application helps to reduce order cycle times and improve quality.
  • Integrating teams’ functions increases new product introduction success. Cloud-based applications are integrating product development, engineering, supply chain management, and production planning teams on a single platform and on a global scale to reach higher product quality levels.
  • Perfect order performance is tracked across multiple production centers for the first time. The more complex the product lines and configuration options —including build-to-order, configure-to-order and engineer-to-order workflows — the more challenging it is to attain a high, perfect order level. Greater analytics and insights gained from real-time integration of cloud-based ERP solutions, which serve as the system of record, and monitoring help complex manufacturers attained higher perfect order levels over time.

The following diagram puts across the cloud computing adoption model:

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Ruined by Success, by Les Trachtman on Innovation and Entrepreneurship column of Management Matters Network …. The important lesson for entrepreneurs is not to neglect your own success. Celebrate heartily! But afterwards, be prepared to strap on your shoulder pads for the battles to come from even unlikely competitors.

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

• • Basic Tools, New Applications – The experts advise not to overlook the basic tools and fundamental approaches when taking on new and complex problems.
  • Effective 21st Century Quality Leadership – Mike Turner, Managing Partner, Oakland Consulting, discusses the business challenges of the 21st century, and how quality professionals should respond in order to meet them.
  • Strategic Financial Metrics for Quality – Loran Cox, Director, Global Business Solutions, One Tower, discusses the financial metrics involved in successful project planning.

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

• • Quality is Evolutionary – The pursuit of quality is a never-ending process. – Demonstrated by Dr. Joseph M. Juran’s Spiral of Progress, implementing quality is an evolutionary process. It cannot, therefore, be left to chance; it must be taught. Humans learn through repetition so it must be repeatedly reinforced.
  • Taking Responsibility – Taking responsibility for your life gives you the freedom to take risks and make mistakes, and that’s a great feeling. Of course, it also means you need to be prepared to take the consequences of your risks and mistakes…If you don’t accept responsibility for your life, you are likely to just shrug off your failures thinking you have nothing to learn from them. But if you don’t take full responsibility for your life, you will never be happy, because no one can make you truly happy but you…If you take responsibility for your life and your decisions and your actions, then you have the power to take active control of your life.
  • Positivity – Many people, when they encounter a stumbling block or an obstacle in their path (personal or professional), become discouraged and quit. However, successful people learn how to turn those stumbling blocks into steppingstones on their path forward to achieve their goals…Positivity is the practice of being positive or at least having an optimistic attitude. Positive thinking is when we consciously cultivate positivity in our minds so that we think we can get through anything. And it’s been scientifically proven to improve your work life, physical and mental health, and relationships.

I look forward to receive 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] What is cloud computing?

[2] Understanding different types of cloud computing and their benefits

[3] Why Cloud Computing is Crucial for Industry 4.0

[4] 10 Ways Cloud Computing Will Drive Manufacturing Growth In 2018

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – April 2019

Welcome to April 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 in January 2019;
• The foundation of the Digital Quality Management.in February 2019.
• Quality 4.0 in March 2019

Presently we will take up first of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Big Data Analytics, wherein we will first look at Big Data and Analytics separately, then take a collective look and then connect it up with its use in the manufacturing.

Gartner defines (circa 2001) Big Data as data that contains greater variety arriving in increasing volumes and with ever-higher velocity.

Put simply, big data is larger, more complex data sets, especially from new data sources. These data sets are so voluminous that traditional data processing software just can’t manage them. But these massive volumes of data can be used to address business problems you wouldn’t have been able to tackle before.[1]

But it’s not the amount of data that’s important. It’s what organizations do with the data that matters. Big data can be analyzed for insights that lead to better decisions and strategic business moves.

This is where the Big Data Analytics comes into play.

Big Data analytics refers to the use of powerful tools and techniques to leverage data insights, trends and patterns from huge – often unstructured and disparate – data sets and make them easily and quickly accessible to business leaders, managers and other key stakeholders. These insights are used to inform and develop business strategies and plans (Bertolucci, 2013a; Zakir et al., 2015).[2]

Even in the 1950s, decades before anyone uttered the term “big data,” businesses were using basic analytics (essentially numbers in a spreadsheet that were manually examined) to uncover insights and trends. [3]

The new benefits that big data analytics brings to the table, however, are speed and efficiency. Whereas a few years ago a business would have gathered information, run analytics and unearthed information that could be used for future decisions, today that business can identify insights for immediate decisions. The ability to work faster – and stay agile – gives organizations a competitive edge they didn’t have before.

4 Big Data Use Cases in the Manufacturing Industry [4]are:

1. Improving Manufacturing Processes
2. Custom Product Design
3. Better Quality Assurance
4. Managing Supply Chain Risk

There are dozens of others. If you can narrowly define the problem and assemble the right data you can harness big data to address almost any manufacturing problem.

By incorporating robust analytics and visualization tools, you can build a more granular understanding of how your production line operates, and how you can streamline it further.[5]

At both strategic and tactical levels, only a small percentage of organizations’ data is actually converted to useful information in time to leverage it for better insight and decisions. Much of this gap can be explained by the fundamental disconnect in goals, objectives, priorities, and methods between IT professionals and the business users they should ideally serve. [6]

The other challenge facing leadership is the rapid evolution of the data platform (see below.)  How do you create strategies that adapt to a changing landscape?

The figure below from Data Management Association (www.dama.org) captures the data management foundational elements and the overarching management elements that need to be in place to pull it together.

Given the understanding of data as a strategic resource for the digital economy, the structure of the data management framework builds on the principles of performance management and the logic of management cycles.

Given the understanding of data as a strategic resource for the digital economy, the reference model specifies design areas of data management in three categories: goals, enablers, and results, which are interlinked in a continuous improvement cycle.[7]

Data Excellence Model

5 Ways Big Data will Impact Quality Management

1. Correlating performance metrics across multiple plants
2. Perform predictive modeling of manufacturing data
3. Better understanding of supplier network performance
4. Faster customer service and support
5. Real-time alerts based on manufacturing data

LNS Research’s new paper discusses  “Big Data: Driving Quality Intelligence at the Speed of Manufacturing.” Click here to get the paper

We may sum up our discussion on the subject by noting that you get realistic and attainable results when you look more closely at the data you’re already collecting.

Fully leveraging data requires a comprehensive model

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Finding Insight in a Digital Sea of Information, by Josh Steimle, …. As we embrace the power of data-driven decision-making, we move into an age of limitless connection, that will inevitably alter the way we think about the world for all time….Today’s generation of children are born into the digital age….Tomorrow’s generation will be born into the age of big data.

We now watch ASQ TV, wherein we look at videos related to Big Data Analytics:

• Big Data looks at Big data, data analytics, and predictive modeling, and how organizations and quality professionals can use all three.
  Additional reference: The Deal With Big Data
• New Era of Quality: Big Data and Predictive Analytics – Nicole Radziwill, Quality Practice Leader, Intelex Technologies Inc., discusses big data and predictive analytics, and the opportunity to augment human intelligence to help people become more capable in their own jobs.

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

• Pursuit of Quality – Beware of pitfalls, disguises and misconceptions – Many organizations continue to pursue improvement using traditional approaches. Some of those approaches might be based on concepts that surfaced decades ago…Many organizations become short-sighted. They often repackage old beliefs focusing on quality improvement…Among the most challenging hindrance to quality improvement is cost reduction in pursuit of short-term profit. More recently cost reduction is known as productivity improvement… Let it be understood by one and every body that Improvement endeavors have their greatest potential when they are understood and accepted by everyone…In order to properly convey this seemingly simple rationale for improvement, managers must first understand why, and when, to communicate the rationale. This is much more than trying to achieve buy-in.
• Imagination – Take a few minutes to stretch your imagination to see what you can discover. Perhaps share what you see with others as you must be able to visualize this future world before it can ever be created, but it’ll take change…Change, however, can be intimidating; but using your imagination can present all sorts of possibilities. William Arthur Ward, American author and educator, said “if you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.” The challenge is to fine tune your imagination. The sooner you begin, the greater your possibilities.
• Say Bye to Negativity – Successful people, however, have learned how to quickly get rid of their negative thoughts when they do surface.

1. 1. 1. identify the thought that is bothering you.
      2. remind yourself that a very high percent of the time, things that we dread (fear), never materialize.
      3. interrupt the worry by a visualization technique.
      4. reject the negativity.
      5. replace the negativity. Instead of negativity, put a positive affirmation in its place and repeat it several times.

I look forward to receive 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] What is Bid Data?

[2] Big Data Analytics

[3] Big Data Analytics – What it is and why it matters?

[4] 4 Big Data Use Cases in the Manufacturing Industry

[5] The Future of Manufacturing and Big Data By Mark Samuels

[6] BI, Analytics, Reporting Center of Excellence (CoE) by Ravi Kalakota

[7] Data Excellence Model

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs, March, 2019

Welcome to March 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 in January 2019;
• The foundation of the Digital Quality Management.in February 2019.

Presently we will take up one of very-oft heard term Quality 4.0

Quality 4.0 blends new technologies with traditional quality methods to arrive at new optimums in Operational Excellence,[1] For the quality professionals, these technologies are important because they enable the transformation of culture, leadership, collaboration, and compliance.

The webinar- It’s Time for a QMS Revolution with Quality 4.0 – provides insightful information on how Quality 4.0 will revolutionize the QMS implementation process. Moreover, the presenter discusses on how the emergence of social media platforms will play a role in the organization`s ability to achieve results.

Quality 4.0 can also be represented as[2] :

Quality 4.0 = Connectedness + Intelligence + Automation (C-I-A)
for Performance Innovation

What Are the Four Things Quality Isn’t?[3]

#1 Quality 4.0 is not separate from traditional quality:

#2 Quality 4.0 is not EQMS

#3 Quality 4.0 is not all about technology.

#4 Quality 4.0 is not just the job of IT.,

Quality 4.0 is closely aligning Quality principles and Standards with the predicted challenges of the new Industrial Revolution, to enable innovation and better business models[4].

There is one more implication for the quality professionals – It is about new skills to keep one of the LESSER more SKILLED JOBS that will be available. In a complimentary webinar – The Smart Factory, Industry 4.0 And Quality – presented by Dr. Joseph A. DeFeo, wherein he discusses how to get on board with Quality 4.0 and lead it!

Nine disruptive technologies are involved in the Industry 4.0[5]

What do the digital technologies bring in terms of performance jump across functions? Let’s start by looking at the operations, where McKinsey & Company experts have shown that the impact potential is significant across all functions.[6] In so far as quality is concerned, This survey expects a decrease in costs related to suboptimal quality of 10 to 20%, by through Industry 4.0 Quality levers such as SPC, advanced process control (APC), and digital performance management.

Before we look at the strategy to transform traditional quality management practices into Quality 4.0-driven culture, we will take a closer look at the nine disruptive technologies, in our forthcoming articles.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Despite Technology’s Hype, Business Remains a Human Enterprise,by Jim Champy , …. The challenge today is increasingly to digitize work while still paying attention to the skills and values of the people who will make the enterprise work… There may be fewer people in digitized enterprises, but …they will have to be more skilled. And if they misbehave, their bad actions will impact the enterprise all the more quickly… The masters of the digital enterprise must become contemporary masters of the whole – and learn to balance the hard and the soft (sides of the business).

We now watch Why You Should Care About Quality 4.0 in ASQ TV, which looks at importance of Quality 4.0.

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

Commitment and Discipline :

• Quality Requires a Team Effort – Achievement of a robust quality culture is an outcome of the combined efforts of the minds and hearts of everyone working together toward a common cause. Involving the combined efforts of the organization into the pursuit of a common goal can be challenging…The sustenance of quality environment in the organization needs pervasive evidence of a continuous commitment and disciplined pursuit of quality excellence. A committed and disciplined organization begins with individual effort, and so too does it continue, sometimes through the pure willpower of those who understand the importance of achieving a substantive quality environment…Implementing a true quality environment which might go ‘against the grain’ can be daunting To do so takes courage and fortitude to be in pursuit of a quality movement. It takes sustained commitment and discipline, and these attributes come from within…To be a change advocate is to break from the past and maybe from organizational tradition. It requires an inner strength. It requires commitment and discipline…It (also) requires a team effort, beginning at the top, but mobilizing everyone. Every person is a stone of the organizations’ foundation.
• Quality implementation requires ongoing support. – Unless there is an increased focus given to a collaborative team endeavor toward a common goal, a quality environment will not be achieved…Implementing quality means change, and change is difficult for many. It takes a special kind of management to lead, manage, and support the organization if there is to be substantive movement toward a quality environment…When applied to the organizational setting, discipline means requiring management to light the way and to stay on course…Positive, sustainable change can only happen if there is a special spirit in the way it is approached. Certainly, senior management plays a critical role in creating and sustaining a true quality environment. They provide the impetus, funding and ongoing support.

I look forward to receive 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] What is Quality 4.0?

[2] Quality 4.0

[3] What Are the Four Things Quality Isn’t?

[4] Industrial Revolution 4.0 – The future is here!

[5]  Industry 4.0

[6] Industry 4.0: How to navigate digitization of the manufacturing sector