This may sound familiar. Manufacturer’s efforts to do more for less have resulted in the purchasing department sourcing products to the cheapest provider. Such cost-cutting certainly makes purchasing groups look like heroes to management, but the effect on manufacturing and quality may be just the opposite.
How do you commit to realistic forecasts and timelines when resources are limited or gathering real data is too expensive or impractical? Can simulated data be trusted for accurate predictions? That’s when Monte Carlo simulation comes in.
In today's increasingly competitive manufacturing environment, the need to investigate and track quality related events is a crucial factor in the day-to-day manufacturing operations.
My first job after college was as product assurance engineer but quality did not become my career until I began associating with ASQ six years after graduation. Though I was able to adequately fulfill my job responsibilities, I lacked the overarching understanding of the quality professionals’ importance within an organization.
We’ve all heard about or experienced the blame game. The customer is upset because a product doesn’t meet expectations. Once notified, the manufacturer apologizes, makes restoration, but blames a supplier for poor workmanship. Soon the blame game between manufacturer and supplier restricts the flow of meaningful information.
Although he seems like the consummate quality professional, James Bossert ended up in the quality profession by chance. Today he’s spent more than 35 years in industries from automotive to cell phones to healthcare and consulting. His career has brought him around the country, and around the world. He’s worked in Texas, Michigan, Arizona, North Carolina and New York. Along the way, he’s written two books and edited four.
It’s intended to extend the benefits of a quality system.
April 2, 2018
Whether your business has a 50-year history or just opened last year, you need to make sure you have a system of sustained success. ISO Q9004: Quality Management Systems–Managing for the Sustained Success of an Organization “provides guidance to management for achieving sustained success of any organization in a complex, demanding, and ever-changing environment.”
Multi-vari and pre-control charts in our final Shainin column.
March 1, 2018
Multi-vari charts are a useful tool for presenting analysis of variance data in graphical form. They can identify patterns of variation, on a single chart, from many causes.
Greg Mann doesn’t want to brag. Although he’s proud of the company’s work, he isn’t satisfied. “We’re just getting started,” says Mann, the operations manager at Accurate Gauge & Manufacturing (Rochester Hills, MI).