For a robust quality environment to exist and prosper there has to be teamwork. However, there are misunderstandings about the team of teamwork. For many organizations, it means launching and maintaining teams for isolated projects to improve various outputs.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, NDT methods have grown smarter and smarter. New methods have been developed and old methods have been improved. Some of today’s NDT is leaps and bounds ahead of where it used to be. 

For anyone who’s worked in product or service industries, it’s a safe bet that you’ve encountered situations in which problems, once thought to be resolved, resurfaced later.

Demonstrated by Dr. Joseph M. Juran’s Spiral of Progress, implementing quality is an evolutionary process. This point is so important that countless books and articles have been written on this subject.

It’s a rare company that doesn’t want to implement a better quality system, resulting in performance excellence for their company, employees, customers and stockholders. However, the pursuit of quality is easier said than done.

If you ever get a chance to watch an aircraft being built, take it. Walking through the aircraft hangar at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, CA, facility, you will see two unmanned aircraft, each with a 130-foot wingspan, parked behind yellow tape. The scale of the aircraft and the desert setting make it feel like a movie set.

Undoubtedly, you have heard—perhaps spoke—the first two statements. You are in the business of process improvement, after all. You want to be sure you have an effective quality management system (QMS). 

If you subscribe to Quality, it seems safe to assume that quality is a priority for you. But even when it is a priority, achieving high levels of quality is an ongoing challenge that requires effort from every member of the organization every day.

The issue of implementing a lasting, meaningful quality transition is so important that I wanted to continue this discussion from last month.

Manufacturers focus on reducing their operating costs, but cannot afford buying more productive machinery.