Management

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The traditional image of a quality department is rapidly becoming a relic of the past. Driven by the relentless march of digital transformation, escalating customer expectations, and a growing emphasis on holistic corporate responsibility, the quality department of the future will undergo a profound metamorphosis. 

Where SPC and heavy business focused analytics tools may be best fit in the enterprise software layer, Quality Management Systems (QMS) now have a lasting home in the MES/SCADA Layer.

Palletizing is difficult, dangerous work that sometimes takes workers many feet up into the air to stack products off the production line or service and maintain palletizing equipment. 

Michael Byrnes is the executive director of certification operations at ASQ and talks with Quality about certifications, and in particular, how certifications enhance people's careers, benefit the collective community, and really add value to society as a whole.

During a career in which I devoted a large portion to developing and implementing improvement programs, one thing became crystal clear. Improvement programs with a focus on sustained improvement were more valuable than speed of implementation.

When I was a college senior, I devoted much of my free time to searching for a job. Up until that point, I had believed that one goes to school, earns a degree, and then simply gets a job. 

In North America, the manufacturing industry has historically played a significant role in economic development and technological advancement. 

Syed Ahmed, a senior member of ASQ, shares his thoughts on the future of quality.

There will be more information about potential upcoming changes to the ISO Management System Standards (MSS). One topic of note is that of Continual Improvement (CI).

In 2026, quality manufacturing will focus on statistical process control (SPC) and on integrating AI and machine learning. However, outside of this industry hype, there is a focus on practical and sustainable progress.