Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XII – April 2024 Edition

Welcome to April 2024 edition of the XII^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XII^th volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – Raising The Bar.

For the present episode, we will take up knowledge sharing within and outside the stakeholders.

Knowledge sharing is capturing, managing, and distributing key information within an organization.

The gap between what the organization knows and what it needs to know to succeed can be reduced by:

• by encouraging communication between teams and departments.
• By creating central repository for knowledge and best practices whereat the employees document their knowledge and any essential information about their job
• By creating a centralized tool whereat all data is so stored that employees don’t waste time looking for what they need.[1]

A prerequisite to understanding the economics of Knowledge Management is to define the typical stakeholders in a corporation in the midst of a KM initiative.

The four levels of knowledge management[2]:

Level	Activity
1	Information Management
2	Knowledge Sharing
3	Sensemaking, Decision Making & Innovation
4	Agency and Communityship

While the difficulty of sharing knowledge is in transferring knowledge from one entity to another, it may prove profitable for organizations to acknowledge the difficulties of knowledge transfer and adopt new knowledge management strategies accordingly

Further reading:

What is knowledge management?

Becoming a knowledge sharing organization

Essentials of Knowledge Management by Bryan Bergeron

The Ultimate Guide to Organizational Knowledge Sharing

Next Level of Knowledge Sharing – Insights from an SME

We now turn to our regular sections.

Finally, we take up the article Lean with Lazarus: Don’t Close the Door on the Most Basic Quality Principles – If the culture in your organization is essentially “do the best you can,” then you really need to take a closer look at these methods – Airplane travel is indeed the safest way to get from point A to point B, with a 1 in 11 million chance of being involved in a fatal crash. But when the chair of the NTSB suggests the airline industry has a “quality control problem,” it’s fair to demand that the industry ensure some of the most fundamental practices are not just acknowledged, but put into practice every day. Here are a few practices that might benefit a process known to produce missing bolts.

Fewer handoffs: Labor intensive processes are already error-prone, and the likelihood of an error increases exponentially when one worker is handing off responsibility to another. Perform a thorough value stream or swim-lane analysis to reveal all the handoffs in your process. Then redesign the process to eliminate or at least minimize them. Solve this problem for the last time.

Error Proofing. Envision a process that is incapable of producing an error, and you have the right mindset to start. In actual practice, the goal is to “make it easy to do the right thing,” and that takes the form of unambiguous job aides, visual controls, and forced functions.

Mindfulness.  The purpose of mindfulness is to be in the present moment, free of distractions, with full concentration on the task at hand. Multi-tasking is inconsistent with mindfulness because while computers may be able to multi-task efficiently, human beings cannot. We ultimately sub-optimize most of the activities we are trying to accomplish when we are either multi-tasking, or otherwise not fully present.

Only a relentless quality team can ensure that when it comes to the bolts, they are in the right place, at the right time, and at the right tension.

 

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – Raising The Bar.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] 7 Best Knowledge-Sharing Tools in 2024

[2] Four levels of knowledge management

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XII – March 2024 Edition

Welcome to March 2024 edition of the XII^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XII^th volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – Raising The Bar.

For the present episode, we will take up managing the enterprise risks in the changing environment.

With the implementation of ISO 9001:2015, risks and opportunities have become the cornerstone of ISO standards. These standards define risk as “the effect of uncertainty on objectives, whether positive or negative.” This definition shifts the understanding of risk away from the possibility of a negative outcome and toward the uncertainty itself.

The world today is in the throes of permacrisis – a world in permanent crisis, grappling with profound, persistent, ongoing challenges.[1]

In the present-day world, the uncertainty comes not only from the changes but the rate at which these changes happen. The firms able to effectively deliver change will thrive and are more likely to emerge stronger from these changes. Effective change boils down to directing energy and aligning efforts toward three key elements:[2]

• The strategy and thinking (The Head)

• The people and behaviors (The Heart)

• The underlying infrastructure (The Guts)

The types of risks are normally classified as:

Of these risks, financial, economic and technological risks are the domains of specialists in the respective field. So, we will not include these in the discussions here. We ill take up the other three types – strategic, compliance and operational risks for brief discussion in the next episodes.

And, of course, the one related to climate change risks, too.

Further reading:

• • Risk management – Harvard Business Review
  • Managing risks in changing market landscape
  • Business Resilience – The world is experiencing a level of disruption and business risk not seen in generations. Some companies freeze and fail, while others innovate, advance, and even thrive. The difference is resilience. : Institutional Resilience | Financial Resilience | Operational Resilience | Technological Resilience | Organizational Resilience | Reputational Resilience | Business Model
  • The future of risk: New game, new rules
    • Resilience – When disruptions are ever present, organizations need the ability to respond to and recover from unforeseen challenges to get back to thriving. This resilience has become a key organizational attribute—and a skillset in its own right.
  • Risk management and compliance can do more than mitigate threats and safeguard a company’s operations and reputation—it can create value.
  • Future of Risk
  • Risk Management Forecast for 2024: Defining Trends and Ways to Prepare

We will now turn to our regular sections –

@ ASQ TV, we will listen to 2023 Most Viewed. The top one was Quality Culture.

More Material on the subject @ Culture

Finally, we take up the article Quality Headline: ISO now REQUIRES management to consider “climate change’ in your MSS By Roderick A Munro – Effective immediately, all MSS requirements have added two new statements to organization’s current registration.(These can be found across 35 standards with the notation of “Amd 1:2024 (amendment)” and are free to download..)

The additions are:

4.1 – Add the following sentence at the end of the subclause:

“The organization shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.”

4.2 – Add the following note at the end of the subclause:

“NOTE 2 Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.”

It appears that ISO has also released several free publications talking about how ISO is working with worldwide stakeholders to address climate change. Some of the free downloads include:

PUB100449 Climate change adaptation

PUB100271 Environment Climate Change mitigation

PUB100067 ISO and climate change

ISO Climate Action Toolkit

Climate action toolkit: case studies

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – Raising The Bar.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Trends in 2024

[2] Managing change risk – Ramy Farha, Chris DeBrusk, and Antonio Tugores

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XII – February 2024 Edition

Welcome to February 2024 edition of the XII^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XII^th volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – Raising The Bar.

In 2023, we had taken up the quality perceptions relating to competitiveness, continuous improvement and business purpose. For the present episode, we will take up quality perceptions in terms customer expectations.

The most important change in the customer expectation is that it has moved away from product quality as the differentiator of customer satisfaction to an increase in value as well as right performance, service, design as the basis of meaningful experiences that resonate with their values and aspirations.  The customers expect an experience – fast delivery, impeccable service, and a seamless, personalised user journey from start to finish.

The customer expectations are no more static now; they are perpetually evolving, influenced by a host of factors including technological advancements, social dynamics, and increased access to real-time information.

Further reading:

• • Customer Expectations: 10 Key Expectations to remember to have happy and loyal customers.
  • Learn why customer expectations are important to understand as a game-changer – Päivi Meriläinen – key takeaways found in the original Part 1: Chapter 3 of Services marketing: integrating customer focus across the firm, 3rd European edition.
  • Understanding customer expectations: Types, management tips, and examples – According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2023, 73 percent of consumers will switch to a competitor if they have multiple bad experiences. Prevent your customers from running for the exit by positioning yourself as a customer-first company.
  • The Hacker’s Guide to Customer Experience – The handbook for detailed understanding of Customer Experience – What it really is, how to implement it and above all, how to increase it using tested and concrete methodologies.
  • How Customer Expectations Are Shaping the Future of the Supply Chain – The modern supply chain is no longer merely a behind-the-scenes operational necessity; it has become a critical strategic asset for companies.
  • The Future of Supply Chain Quality Management – Use Quality 4.0 to enhance your customer experience – for quality leaders to understand the connection between shifting customer expectations and Quality 4.0.
  • (Customer) Experience is everything – Speed. Convenience. Consistency. Friendliness. And human touch—that is, creating real connections by making technology feel more human and giving employees what they need to create better customer experiences.
  • The secret ingredients of great hospitality – Will Guidara|TED@BCG – Restaurateur Will Guidara’s life changed when he decided to serve a two-dollar hot dog in his fancy four-star restaurant, creating a personalized experience for some out-of-town customers craving authentic New York City street food. In this funny and heartwarming talk, he shares three steps to crafting truly memorable moments centered in human connection – no matter what business you’re in.

We will now turn to our regular sections –

• • @ ASQ TV, we will listen to Customer Expectations: Quality and Technology.

More Material on the subject @ Customer Experience

Finally, we take up the article ‘From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand:

• • By Hook or By Crook: We often hear phrases like “gaining a competitive advantage,” or even words like “leverage,” which, along with “by any means necessary” are often ambiguous. It can often be difficult to determine where the line is between a positive advantage and cheating.

Quality—whether described as the measurement and inspection of parts and products or as process control and continuous improvement in manufacturing—can help before, during, and after such events. It can even go as far as to protect reputation, particularly with the ambiguity around the term competitive advantage.

It reminds me of yet another popular proverb. We need to go back even further than 13^th century England to the Roman Empire.

“Caesar’s wife must be beyond reproach.” It was said of Caesar’s wife, Pompeia. In her case, it meant, “If one is romantically involved with a famous or prominent figure, one must avoid attracting negative attention or scrutiny.” It is also true of the people and processes close to, or part of, a well-known entity, like a manufacturing operation, and those people and processes should be beyond reproach, far beyond merely protecting the brand, but especially if the “unthinkable” were to occur.

In fact, quality can even help in clearing up the ambiguity of cheating versus gaining competitive advantage. Take, for instance, DeflateGate: “Unraveling the Tom Brady DeflateGate” .

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – Raising The Bar.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XII – January 2024 Edition

Welcome to January 2024 edition of the XII^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XII^th volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – Raising The Bar. It in fact is the extension of the 2023 theme – The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

The 2023 remained under shadows of uncertainty caused by changing work place culture on account of latent and unforeseen effects of work-from-home practices, fluid global geo-political scenario, recession dominated thinking of the economic issues, etc. These issues remain even more relevant as we enter 2024. The unpredictability continues to define the trend.[1]

Predicting how things will evolve is challenging, and much will depend on the choices we make throughout the year. To mitigate this uncertainty, the world of quality management increasingly emphasizes the importance of the ‘best practice’ concept. Best practices refer to methods or techniques proven in practice as the most effective solutions to address specific problems. The constant pursuit of improvement and the ability to anticipate changing conditions and processes are key components for maintaining and refining these best practices. It’s an ongoing process, something we’ve become accustomed to, as quality management is inherently an ongoing process.

At the beginning of 2023 we had identified the following trends:

1. 1. Changes in quality perceptions and approaches in terms of product and system quality as well as customer expectations.
   2. Evolving of management of risks under constantly changing business practices
   3. Knowledge sharing within and across the departments as well with outside stakeholders.
   4. Increasing significance of decision intelligence
   5. Improving the quality and reliability of the supply chain.
   6. Defining quality standards and related job roles in view of increasing need for seamless blending of technical and cross-functional skills.
   7. Increasing significance of integration of QEHS
   8. Increased importance of quality management approach with enterprise-level strategic planning

We had covered the quality perceptions relating to competitiveness, continuous improvement and business purpose during 2023. We shall now take up more topics from the foregoing trends with a view to explore the inputs to the enhanced abilities of quality personnel to be able to anticipate the changing conditions and to maintain and refine the best practices related to it.

More reading:

• • • • • “What does quality management look like in 2025, and how do I prepare for it?” – Gartner webinar

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We take up Greta Cutulenco’s article – Shifting Left in Manufacturing Quality: The future of quality in manufacturing is predictive – this month:

Increasing pressures such as supply chain disruptions, accelerating product cycles, the greying workforce, and increasing consumer demand for complex electronic products mean that manufacturers must do more with less… and do it faster. Manufacturing quality teams are put in a tough position; they must improve quality while maintaining or increasing production volumes.

The truth is, quality teams are working with tools that were not designed to handle the speed and complexity of today’s manufacturing environment. In order to affect critical quality metrics like scrap, rework, or First Time Yield, they need a new method to manage quality. Not only that, but this new method must make enough of an impact to offset the cost of implementing it.

The methods used to manage quality today were largely introduced in the 20^th century. Incremental improvements have been made in areas such as the improved application of statistical process control (SPC), vision inspection, and automation, but the foundation – ? managing the quality primarily by detecting defects – of quality management is still the same.

A product is manufactured with no defects occurring, passing both quality gates.

A Product is manufactured with a defect occurring at Operation 3, and failing the final quality gate.

There is a lot of waste happening in the way quality is managed:

• • • • • Defects are often discovered long after they occur, wasting power and materials
        • Defects detected too late result in unnecessary scrap and rework
        • Data is being collected and stored from testing and process but it isn’t fully used
        • Resources are put toward root cause analysis but it doesn’t always improve the process

A new method to manage quality must not only offer improved value in the form of improving quality, but it must address these areas of waste. That new paradigm is called predictive quality. With predictive quality, quality management happens in real time during the manufacturing operations, not after it.

Traditional quality model vs Predictive quality model

With the help of predictive quality model, manufacturers will be able to see defects coming and intervene even before they happen. If a defect still managed to occur, the solution could also leverage the process data to run an automated root cause analysis report, reducing the time spent solving an issue by hours or days.

There are three critical Industry 4.0 technologies which, when combined, can bring the dream of predictive quality to life: data collection, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing.

In order to offer practical value, a predictive quality solution needs to be actively integrated into the shop floor ecosystem.

Like it or not, predictive quality is coming.

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – Raising The Bar.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] Unpredictability continues to define the trend