Understanding Basic Quality Concepts (2/2)

In this lesson, you’re expected to learn about:
– quality engineering
– ISO standards

Sequential Engineering

Sequential engineering (traditional engineering or over the wall engineering) is an approach to product development process where each stage is carried out separately and where the next stage cannot start until the previous stage is completed. The entire process takes time and costs money because the communication and coordination flows are only in one direction and all changes and corrections are relayed back to the beginning of the process or previous stages.

The time-to-market for a new product is longer, expensive and inefficient with sequential engineering. Concurrent engineering approach is an improvement over the sequential engineering approach as the former approach improves timing, communication, and coordination problems encountered in the latter approach.

Concurrent Engineering

Concurrent engineering is defined as a systematic approach to the integrated and overlapping design of products and their related processes, including design, manufacturing, and support. It requires that, from the beginning, all elements of a product’s lifecycle be evaluated across all design factors to include user requirements, quality, cost, and schedule.

Industrial Engineering

Industrial engineering, also known as management engineering, ensures the economical, efficient, and effective utilization of an organization’s resources in manufacturing and service industries.

Industrial engineers (management engineers) are known as efficiency experts in manufacturing or service firms as they deal with the five-M of a company’s resources: men, machines, materials, methods, and measurements.

Specifically, industrial engineers perform the following functions: 

– participate in the design of jobs, products, and processes;
– schedule machines for greater utilization;
– schedule operators for maximum productivity;
– measure material-usage efficiency;
– measure labor productivity through motion and time studies;
– measure energy-usage efficiency;
– participate in layout design for equipment and facilities;
– analyze materials handling and warehousing operations for efficiency;
– analyze work steps to identify value-added and non-value-added activities;
– review product specifications for accuracy and improvement;
– enhance production systems, methods, and procedures to eliminate waste and duplication.

They approach production or service activities with an eye towards continual improvement using integrated systems, methods, and procedures.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 Standards

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 standards address quality system processes but not product performance specifications. In other words, ISO 9000 covers how products are made but not necessarily how they work.

ISO 9000 focuses on processes, not on products or people. It is based on the concept that one will fix the product by fixing the process. ISO 9000 is a standard by which to judge the quality of suppliers. It assumes that suppliers have a sound quality system in place and are following it. ISO 9000 can also be used as a baseline quality system to achieve quality objectives.

Two kinds of ISO 9000 standards exist: product standardsdealing with technical specifications and quality standardsdealing with management systems.

Four quality measures for ISO 9000 are: 
(1) leadership
(2) human resource development and management
(3) management of process quality
(4) customer focus and satisfaction

Environmental Quality Engineering 

Environmental quality engineering means designing products and their processes that are environmentally friendly using green manufacturing techniques, such as design for reuse (recycling), design for disassembly (repair), design for rework, and design for remanufacturing (restoration).

Design for recycling is an investment recovery and environmental improvement effort to recover revenues and reduce costs associated with scrap, surplus, obsolete, and waste materials.

In design for repair, a nonconforming product is fixed so that it will fulfill the intended usage requirements, although it may not conform to the originally specified requirements. A repaired product retains its original identity and only those parts that have failed or badly worn out are replaced or serviced.

In design for rework, a nonconforming product is taken back to
production line to fix it in order to meet the originally specified requirements.

In design for remanufacturing, worn out products are restored to like-new condition.

Complying with environmental quality standards such as ISO 14000 and 14001 is a part of the environmental quality engineering scope.

The goal is to reduce the potential legal liabilities and respond to regulatory requirements (e.g., EPA in the U.S.) addressing human safety and health issues.

The ISO 14000 environmental standards are divided into two broad categories:

(1) environmental management systems consisting of environmental performance evaluation and environmental auditing.

(2) lifecycle assessment consisting of environmental labeling and environmental aspects in product standards.

The ISO 14001 environmental standard is a framework for planning, developing, and implementing environmental strategies in an organization.

The framework includes a policy, a planning process, organizational structure, specific objectives and targets, specific implementation programs, communications and training programs, management review, monitoring, and corrective action in terms of environmental audit.

Total Quality Management (TQM) 

Total quality management (TQM) is an umbrella term and concept that focuses on doing things right in the first place, whether in producing goods or providing services. TQM encompasses the entire organization both internally from higher-lever employees to lower-level employees and externally from suppliers to customers.

A TQM strategy or program includes several elements such as quality concepts and tools, continuous improvement (kaizen),
PDCA, JIT, stakeholder empowerment, benchmarking, ISO, Six-Sigma, statistical process control (SPC), and Taguchi’s quality loss function. Contrary to the popular belief, quality decreases costs and increases profits.

Drivers of quality include:

– customers
– suppliers
– employees
– products
– services
– organizational culture
– organizational policies, procedures, and standards
– total organizational focus and commitment

Big Q, Little Q

Big Q, Little Q is a quality-contrasting term where Big Q focuses on all business products and processes in the entire company and little q focuses on all or parts of products and processes in one factory or plant.