Dr. Sophronia Ward

In today's tech-driven world, companies use software to collect data, but the analysis can be flawed. Charts with only specification limits, arbitrarily chosen warning and action limits, and misused Process Behavior Charts contribute to misinterpretation.

In their day to day work activities, both quality and manufacturing professionals are involved in conducting audits; collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data; plus preparing a variety of reports and summaries of the data to document product quality. 

All quality professionals, regardless of educational background and/or experience, will at times find a need to consult their network of resources to get answers to questions, determine how best to collect and analyze data, or resolve different interpretations of a given analysis. Recognizing this need, Quality is launching a new column entitled “Ask the Expert: An Interactive Q&A Section” with topics that come from readers.