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

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs, February, 2019

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

We have planned to stage-wise explore the subject of Quality Management – Road Ahead to Digital Transformation during the year 2019, by taking up brief, indicative, discussions on the different related issues every month. Our first step was to visit The Basics of Digitization, Digitalization and Digital Transformation in January, 2019.

Presently, we will lay the foundation of the Digital Quality Management.

A look at the ‘Industrial revolutions and future view’ embedded in the Wikipedia article Industry 4.0 also chalks the path of the development of the quality management in terms of its process of digital transformation.

As may be recalled during 3^rd phase of industrialization, the process of automating and digitalizing the quality management started taking roots. The process gained momentum at the level of higher-end, large and complex organizations, and had well permeated to the medium and smaller organizations by the time the winds of 4.0 stage had started blowing.

The organic digitization and the digitalization of the quality management, in effect, resembles the hierarchical model of Automation Pyramid, which  vertically cuts the systems of manufacturing operations into different levels that can be connected to certain types of information, systems, and time frames, which have been defined in a standard model by International Society of Automation (ISA) (ANSI/ISA, 2005) ^[1]

The automation pyramid according to the ISA 95 model. The five levels, 0-5, are defined in the middle. At each level, the typical system(s) used are showed to the right. Different levels are concerned with different time-frames which are visualized to the left.^[2]

resently, smaller organizations have reached the stage of maintaining most the critical data in the digital formats, medium organizations have reached a fair level of using various types of software applications and larger organizations have attained high capability to leverage software and tools that revolutionize the way companies operate; these solutions include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, Business Process Management (BPM), and Quality Management System (QMS).^[3]

The industry, thus, has reached the stage whereat the data collection is on digitized paper-based forms or is directly onto digitalized formats; data processing is through simple to sophisticated spreadsheet applications and the resultant information is accessed / transferred through the home-grown database systems.

Rapidly changing technologies primarily drive the Digital Transformation, but its adoption is dependent on a carefully planned out strategy. Real benefits of digital transformation do not lie in optimizing individual technologies used rather than the overall integration and dependencies of the whole system.^[4]

It would not be out-of-place to assume that, by now, most of the quality professionals have a fair degree of exposure to the different types and styles of digital quality management practices. So, in our next episode we will take a closer look at Quality 4.0, and then would take up different components that presently reside within Quality 4.0.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Jumping To Conclusions About Statistical Data & Events @ Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic of Management Matters Network, by MMN editorial staff, Ed’s Ink , ….Dr. Hamburg’s point: Even when statistical data are above reproach, much leeway still exists for individuals to interpret them in a manner that best supports their mindset and/or prejudices…”Just as the human ear,” Peter F. Drucker wrote, “does not hear sounds above a certain pitch, so does human perception all together not perceive what is beyond its range of perception.” …In his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Drucker reminds us, “When a change in perception takes place, the facts do not change. Their meaning does.”.

We now watch two videos of the ASQ TV, which are relevant to the topic of our discussions during the yea :

• Shared Meanings from Top to Bottom – Charlie Barton, President, Barton Consulting LLC, discusses the importance of shared meanings of words for organizations, and the negative business implications that could occur without that common knowledge.

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

• Plan and Execute – Goals give us a sense of accomplishment and reason to celebrate, because we know when we have arrived at our destination. It is important to know where we want to go in our life. If that’s not clear, it will be worthwhile to spend some time to find out.
• Positive Reinforcement – No matter what you are trying or wanting to do, if you rehearse the future over and over in your mind and see yourself performing perfectly, you will be dramatically increasing your chances of bringing that future into reality.
• Be Your Best – Focus on those aspects of yourself that you would like to see more of, but do it in a systematic way, and do it over and over, every day. Soon, being yourself will adjust automatically, to becoming your “best” self.

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]  Implementing Shop Floor IT for Industry 4.0 – Magnus Åkerman

^[2]  The-automation-pyramid-according-to-the-ISA-95-model

^[3]  How Digital Transformation And Quality management Play Important Roles In Optimizing Your Business

^[4] Digital Transformation Strategy for Next Generation eQMS

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – January, 2019

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

We plan to explore the subject of Quality Management – Road Ahead to Digital Transformation for the year 2019 by taking up brief, indicative, discussions on the different related issues every month.

We will begin first with The Basics of Digitization, Digitalization and Digital Transformation in our present episode of January, 2019.

Digitization refers to creating a digital representation of physical objects. Computer systems can then use it for various use cases.

Digitalization refers to enabling, improving or transforming business process by leveraging digital technologies and digitized data. That means that digitalization presumes digitization.

Digital transformation is the profound transformation of business activities, competencies, and business models to fully leverage the opportunities of digital technologies..[1]

In other words: Digitizing information makes the data easy to access, making it more efficient than when it was analog. Digitalization of a business process is use of technology to improve or transform it with the aim to generate more revenue and / or to reduce costs. Digital transformation is designing new ways of doing things that generate new sources of value. It is more related to effectiveness. Also, it encompasses all of the enterprise, not just a specific process or function. [2]

The difference between “Digitization”, “Digitalization” and “Digital Transformation” is explained in the chart herebelow:[3]

Digitalization, though, has different meaning to different people. On one hand, J. Scott Brennen and Daniel Kreiss of University of North Carolina School of Media and Journalism refer to digitalization as the way in which many domains of social life are restructured around digital communication and media infrastructures. On the other hand, according to Gartner, digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities,

Digital Transformation is not the sum of all the digitalization projects going on in the organization at any given time. In reality, digital transformation requires the organization to deal better with change overall, essentially making change a core competency as the enterprise becomes customer-driven end-to-end.

In the final analysis, therefore, we digitize information, we digitalize processes and roles that make up the operations of a business, and we digitally transform the business and its strategy. Each one is necessary but not sufficient for the next, and most importantly, digitization and digitalization are essentially about technology, but digital transformation is not. Digital transformation is about the customer. [4]

The Digital Transformation of a Business presents enormous opportunities for innovation and competitive advantages, which will require a complete rethinking of the organization: cultural, strategic, technological, operational changes … t will be necessary to respond to the new business models supported by new automated business processes that allow to offer the new offer of products and services to its customers.[5]

Digitization (the conversion), digitalization (the process) and the digital transformation (the effect) therefore accelerate and illuminate the already existing and ongoing horizontal and global processes of change in society.[6]

Layers of Digital Transformation for organizational considerations

In our next episode we will take a closer look at Digital Quality Management.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Where Most Companies Go Wrong In Digital Transformation @ Competitive Strategy topic of Management Matters Network, by Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Everest Group ….the mind-set of managing digital transformation as an event, rather than a multi-year journey, is where most companies go wrong. Success requires change in two key aspects: it must be budgeted and managed differently.

We now watch two videos of the ASQ TV, which are relevant to the topic of our discussions during the yea :

• Quality and Technology – This episode talks about how quality and technology can be woven together. Author Sunil Kaushik has found ways to use virtual reality applications to enhance current processes. Bill Hathaway says agile process helps process design keep up with technological advances.

“Virtual Reality for Quality”, Sunil Kumar V. Kaushik, 2017

Full Interview with Bill Hathaway

• 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 December, 2018 is:

1. Pursuit of Customer Satisfaction is not just about what is required to make improvement happen. It is also about the need to be dissatisfied with the status quo, to cause the organization to continuously seek change, and to stimulate the restlessness for the pursuit of improvement…It is part of management’s responsibility to keep the process of the pursuit as simple as possible, to maintain relevancy, and to keep the effort on track. If this doesn’t happen, the organization will likely become confused and improvement efforts fragmented and ineffective.
2. Expectations, in simple terms, are a strong belief that something will happen sometime soon or in the future…However, many people don’t realize that expectations also serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an event that, because it is predicted and expected, is therefore more likely to happen, and even caused to happen…Norman Vincent Peale, the late American minister and author famous for his concept of positive thinking, said, “We tend to get what we expect.”

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 Digital Transformation, Digitalization, and Digitization –  Amancio Bouza, PhD

[2]  Digital transformation of Procurement : a good abuse of language?

[3]  Digital Business Models and Platform Economy

[4]   Digitization, Digitalization, And Digital Transformation: Confuse Them At Your Peril

[5]  Process Digitalization in Digital Transformation

[6]  Leadership in the Digital Age – a study on the effects of digitalization on top management leadership – Shahyan Khan

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – November, 2018

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

Let us recollect from our August, 2018 issue that two of the three key changes that characterize ISO 9004: 2018 are:

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

We will expand the concept of Identity of an Organization in this November, 2018 issue.

Organizational Identity is not a new subject to the world of management academics and the practicing professionals. However with the introduction of the concept into the body of the revised ISO 9004:2018 standard, the subject opens up a very interesting dimension to the quality professionals too.

Organizational identity is a field of study in organizational theory that seeks the answer to the question: “who are we as an organization?” ..According to Whetten (2006) the attributes of an organizational identity are central, enduring, and distinctive/distinguishing (CED).

• Central attributes are ones that have changed the history of the company; if these attribute were missing, the history of the organization would have been different.
• Enduring attributes are ones deeply ingrained in the organization, often explicitly considered sacrosanct or embedded in the organizational history.
• Distinguishing attributes are ones used by the organization to separate itself from other similar organizations, but can also set minimum standards and norms for that type of organization.

Organizational Identity = Purpose + Philosophy – As a unit, the Purpose and the Philosophy are the central attributes of the Organizational Identity that have defined the character of the organization and the cause that it has served over the years. These elements of Organizational Identity serve as the basis for all aspects of the business.

Organizational Identity- From ‘Why we are’ to ‘Who we are – Organizational Identity also helps define the organization to Who Are We? And Why Are We?. Very few organizations actually know the answer to these questions – ’Who are we as an organization?’ ’What are we doing?’ ’What do we want to be in the future?’ An organization’s identity affects its actions, interpretation, and decision-making by its members and the management. This identity also has a huge impact on organizational change processes.

Is your identity given or created? | Marcus Lyon | TEDxExeter : Using Somos Brasil (We are Brazil), a multimedia photography, sound and DNA project, Marcus Lyon brings us images, stories and ancestral DNA to examine modern Brazilian identity. In turn he asks us to consider what drives us and what we can become.

IKEA is known as one organization that is strongly identified for the alignment of its organizational identity with its brand. For IKEA, its vision of creating a better everyday life for the many people also means making a difference for the people and communities where they work. The film – The IKEA Group – The Story of How We Work – lets you know more about how.

Finally, here is a Management system model to achieve sustained success

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up Joshua Spodek’s article The 20/80 Rule, Integrity, and the Opposite of the 80/20 Rule @ Leadership Step By Step column of Management Matters Network….Vince Lombardi says that paying attention to details always pays, i.e. paying attention to the last few percent. When you care about the 1 percent that others don’t, people look to you to lead. It is more important to get every detail right than getting it right most of the time.

We now watch one of the latest ASQ TV  episodes:

• Risk Intelligence for the Organization – Sanjeev Koshe, Vice President, Management Assurance Group, Tata Housing Development Company Limited, explains how to go beyond brainstorming identify risk, measuring it, and how best to deliver a risk report.
• Big Data – discusses Big data, data analytics, and predictive modeling, and how organizations and quality professionals can use all three. Additional reference – The Deal With Big Data

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

• Pursuit of Excellence – Like the old story of the race between the tortoise and the hare, it’s the slow, steady and continuous pursuit of excellence that wins the race, not the flashy sprint that can’t be sustained. Experience has taught me to believe that sustainable improvement requires an organizational culture change. Continuous improvement is more about rigor and discipline than technique. It is about the pursuit of excellence.

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 – June, 2018

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

A few days back I was reading the article Should Organizational Cuture Form Part of Your Quality Management System?. As I was reading through the article, I thought up of choosing Organizational Culture as our base topic for discussion this month.

The information that comes in a Google Search is simply overwhelming. I have selected a few articles here.

MSS 1000 defines organizational culture as group shared values and perceptions of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours.

NOTE 1: Culture is a socially driven phenomenon where people conform to norms to gain the acceptance of the group and resulting benefits.

NOTE 2: Culture cannot be directly imposed by the leaders of an organization – it establishes over time through the influence of a combination of leadership communication, example and compliance with the implemented management system. Behaviours that are encouraged or enforced over time influence and create the culture.

NOTE 3: A positive culture values justice, responsible questioning and equitably satisfying stakeholder needs and expectations.

What is organizational culture – Torben Rick broadly identifies it as

• Culture is how organizations do things
• The values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization
• Organizational culture defines a jointly shared description of an organization from within
• Organizational culture is the sum of values and rituals which serve as “glue” to integrate the members of the organization
• Organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs how people behave in organizations
• Organizational culture is civilization in the workplace
• Organizational culture refers to the philosophies, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and practices that define an organization
• Culture is the organization’s immune system
• It over simplifies the situation in large organizations to assume there is only one culture … and it’s risky for new leaders to ignore the sub-cultures

At its worst, corporate culture can be a drag on productivity and performance. At its best, it is an emotional energizer….Corporate culture is like an iceberg, with most of its weight and bulk below the surface. Don’t leave the organizational iceberg unattended!…

And let’s not forget that the culture of any organization is shaped by leadership.

“The best definition of the word culture (workplaces included) that I’ve heard is that it’s how people behave when nobody is watching.” — Gwyn Morgan

Michael D. Watkins, in his article ‘What Is Organizational Culture? And Why Should We Care?’, narrates perspectives that provide the kind of holistic, nuanced view of organizational culture that is needed by leaders in order to truly understand their organizations — and to have any hope of changing them for the better.

10 Principles of Organizational Culture by Jon Katzenbach, Carolin Oelschlegel, and James Thomas :

Three dimensions of corporate culture affect its alignment: symbolic reminders (artifacts that are entirely visible), keystone behaviors (recurring acts that trigger other behaviors and that are both visible and invisible), and mind-sets (attitudes and beliefs that are widely shared but exclusively invisible). Of these, behaviors are the most powerful determinant of real change. What people actually do matters more, than what they say or believe. And so to obtain more positive influences from your cultural situation, you should start working on changing the most critical behaviors — the mind-sets will follow. Over time, altered behavior patterns and habits can produce better results.

“Culture eats process for breakfast.” If you don’t work as hard on creating new culture, a culture supported by systems, structure, skills and style—your culture will eat your process. — Unknown

Here are a few representative articles on impact of organizational culture on the effectiveness of the management systems:

• How corporate culture affects performance management?
• Organizational culture and safety performance by Zack Mansdorf, Ph.D.
• The influence of organizational culture on Management Information System – Arlis Dewi Kuraesin
• Culture and QMS implementation
• Organizational Culture for Knowledge Management Systems: A Study of Corporate Users – Andrew Ciganke, En Mao, Mark Srite
• The Relationship Between Organizational Culture and ERP by Joey Benadretti

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up Bruce Rosenstein’s article ‘How To Be An Employee The Peter Drucker Way’ @ Competitive Strategy column of Management Matters Network….“There are many skills you might learn to be an employee, many abilities that are required. But fundamentally the one quality demanded of you will not be skill, knowledge, or talent, but character.”…The author presents similar selected quotes from that 1952 article of Peter Drucker, all of which remain as relevant today as they were in 1952.

We now watch one of the latest ASQ TV  episodes:

• The Hidden Factory – In this episode, learn about the concept of the hidden factory and how it can affect any organization regardless of industry. And discover how it can create misleading metrics that cause productivity to outrun quality.

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

• Solving Difficult Problems – Dr. Peter Carruthers, one-time head of theoretical physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory, said that our unconscious is an important factor in solving problems….This means that while you certainly need to collect all the information possible, at some point it’s important to back off, relax, and trust that creative, productive mental work will continue even if you’re not aware of it. Sometimes “letting off the gas pedal”, leaves space for creative juices to flow….People who won’t relax their dependence on concrete, countable information often just can’t see possibilities that don’t fit into what they already know.

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 – May, 2018

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

We have chosen – Process Cycle-time Improvement – as our base topic for discussion this month

The natural starting point is to get get a solid grasp of these three common time metrics.: Takt Time vs Cycle Time vs Lead Time  – Takt time equals the time between starting to work on one unit and starting the next. Cycle time equals the average time it takes to finish one unit. Lead time equals the total time it takes from receiving an order to delivering an item.

Overproduction vs. Fast Improvement Cycles –  Mark Rosenthal–  if you want fast changes to last, you have to work speeding up the organization’s cycle time for testing improvement ideas. Part of this is going to involve making that activity an inherent and deliberate part of the daily work, not a special exception to daily work.

Part of that is going to be paying attention to how people are working on testing their ideas. The Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata are one way to learn how to deliberately structure this work so that learning takes place. Like any exponential curve, progress seems painfully slow at first. Don’t let that fool you. Be patient, do this right, and the organization will slingshot itself past where you would be with a liner approach.

Small changes applied smoothly and continuously become big changes very quickly.

Quality Digest Live presents the issue in this video:

How to calculate Cycle Time provides the basic insight into different ways of calculating the cycle time.

Cycle time reduction is the strategy of lowering the time it takes to perform a process in order to improve productivity. In addition, cycle time reduction often improves quality.

Process Cycle Time Reduction  is about ‘Why measure and seek to reduce cycle time?’ and   ‘Methods to investigate and reduce cycle time.’ 

Process Cycle Time Reduction by Bjørn Andersen is a back-to-basics look at removing bottlenecks

Improve Process Cycle Time:

• What steps can we take out?
• What steps can we do in parallel?
• Can we improve hand-offs?
• Are there any air gaps?
• Is there information starvation?
• Are there any skill bottlenecks?
• Is there any duplication?

These questions might not reveal everything you need to do in order to improve process cycle time but these do provide a useful starting point. There are lots of ways to improve processes. You can find out more by watching other videos in this series.

90-Day Cycle Handbook – Sandra Park and Sola Takahashi – The 90-Day Cycle has emerged as an invaluable method for rapidly developing innovative approaches to support practice improvement. Generally, 90-Day Cycles are a disciplined and structured form of inquiry designed to produce and test knowledge syntheses or prototyped processes or products in support of improvement work.

The 90-Day Cycle Handbook serves as a comprehensive guide to the purpose and methods of this disciplined and structured form of inquiry. This handbook is an introductory document that delineates the purpose and process for this method. It is sprinkled with helpful tips and illustrative examples from previous successful cycles.

The Power of a 90-Day Cycle – “Success doesn’t happen right away, it happens in increments of 90-day cycles.” -Danny Morel

In the conclusion, I would only add that any method or improvement initiative is useful only if it is a well-aligned component of a broader long-term strategy. Also,  in order to succeed, these initiatives should not be implemented as stand-alone discrete additional activities, but must be integrated  into the normal routine.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up Aileron Blog’s white paper Create Your Future The Peter Drucker Way @ Strategic Leadership » Whitepapers column of Management Matters Network…. Drucker’s teachings center on how to manager others as well as how to manage onself…Part of the report explores Drucker’s time-tested principles, including how leaders can continue to improve themselves, and their organizations, with an eye for the future.

We now watch one of the latest ASQ TV  episodes:

• Last-Minute Advice for a Successful Transition – Consider a few practical tips for a smooth transition from the QP article Under the Wire.
• Big Data – Big data, data analytics, and predictive modeling, and how organizations and quality professionals can use all three. The Deal With Big Data

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems postings for April, 2018 are:

Strategy and Tactics– It’s worth it to understand the difference because strategy can save us when tactics fail to deliver. This is true in our personal as well as our professional world. If a tactic fails, we should consider abandoning it. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with our strategy. The tactics are more short-term, therefore disposable, but strategy is for the long haul. Focus on what’s really important and supportive of the strategy.

Avoid the Blame Game: Root Cause Analysis(RCA) can solve problems effectively – RCA, when fully utilized, can eliminate defects occurring in operations as well as defects inherited from suppliers, ultimately helping to maintain satisfied customers,

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 – March, 2018

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

We have chosen – Behavior-Based Quality – as our base topic for discussion this month. We have picked up the topic from Arron Angle’s article A Different Kind of BBQ from March, 2018 issue of Quality Progress.

We begin with ‘An Introduction to Behavior Based Quality (BBQ)’.   Liam Turley believes that having a strong positive Quality Culture is good for business and generally good for the human condition. He also believes that deep-down people truly want to do what is right. It is just “other stuff” that gets in their way. He has lucidly explained the concept over Part I, Part II and Part III. The statement, Change the behavior then you change the attitude, can be a one-line take away from the article.

Arron Angle writes in his article: When people think of quality, the words “control” and “assurance” usually comes to mind. These are not behaviors. Control refers to a reaction to post-event issues, and assurance attempts to address events before they happen by ensuring quality practices, policies and procedures are in place and followed…Quality doesn’t just happen. You must take the initiative (in priority order) to comply with requirements, prevent errors and improve processes. These are behaviors that drive a culture of BBQ….BBQ is not a quality management system. It’s bigger than that…You will know BBQ is happening if:

• Every department has a set of monetized metrics against each of the Compliance –Prevention-Improvement (CPI) elements.
• Process owners accept accountability for CPI performance.
• Metrics are used as positive reinforcement for change.
• Anyone can stop a product, process or service delivery because of a quality issue with no recrimination.
• Your customers recognize and support the efforts that you are putting into cultural change for quality.
• Continued learning of improvement tools and methods is taking place.
• Suppliers are asking for help with their quality programs.
• Executives take time to recognize CPI behaviors and team contribution.

Listen to a webcast featuring Arron Angle and the concept of behavior-based quality and how to use the approach to drive a culture of quality. Visit https://tinyurl.com/asq-webcast-bbq.

Let us, then, first look at what is Quality Culture vs, Traditional Culture –

In the webinar, Changing GMP Behaviors and the Quality Culture, Martin Lush, Global Vice President of NSF Pharma Biotech and Medical Devices, gives his insights on how companies can go about changing GMP behaviors and in doing so change quality culture.

A couple of videos on Quality Culture may be in order to broaden our thinking related to our present subject of BBQ:

Creating a Culture of Quality by Antonius Pompi Bramono

Martin Lush explains How to Fix Quality Culture

If you have been trying to connect our present subject with a similar subject – Behavior Based Safety (BBS), probably that is right path to know about the present concept and draw parallels with many well-known implementations of BBS.

We will take up the subject of Behavior Based Safety next month to coincide with the publication of ISO 45001.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article Results, Perception, Learning: What Makes a Truly Effective Executive @ Effective Management column of Management Matters Network…. In essence, Drucker said, management’s effectiveness derives from two major tasks: “Deciding what is to be done and deciding how to do the job, organizing and controlling its execution, and measuring its results.”

We now watch one of the latest ASQ TV  episodes:

• Applying Agile Principles in a Non-IT Industry – Fabrice Bouchereau, Senior Systems Improvement Facilitator, ProcessZen Consulting, discusses how Agile, a common project management method used for IT and software projects, can be used in other industries.

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems postings for January, 2018 are:

• Focus on Strengths : Abraham Lincoln once said, that if you “look for what’s wrong, you will surely find it.”….This is as true today as it was in Lincoln’s time. The perceived imperfections, commonly thought of as discrepancies, in ourselves mean we can always find areas in which we fall short of perfection….In order to reverse your thinking, you must transform your negative habits that say it is better to carry rocks than diamonds. Instead, begin focusing on your strengths. Try this and see how much different it can make.
• Reframing: Have you ever heard of a technique called reframing? It’s nothing more involved than altering perspectives…Our past experiences influence our ability to see what’s happening in the world and to interpret it. However, there are many ways to experience a situation. One of the keys to living a successful life is to consistently interpret your experience in ways that support you in getting the results you want…With both content and context reframing, the techniques that can be used will help us look at things from a different perspective—from negative to positive….Content reframing is to give another meaning to a statement by recovering more content.,, Context reframing is the second technique. It involves taking an experience that seems to be negative and imagining how the same experience can be an advantage if you see it in another context.

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.