The Quality Improvement Field Guide: Achieving and Maintaining Value in Your Organization covers the key aspects that quality professionals must know to attain mastery in their field. After reading this book, readers will not only gain an understanding of the key quality improvement concepts, but will gain the practical insight required to implement them correctly. The book starts with a brief history of quality and quality management, including the necessary quality documents. It describes key quality standards, including ISO 9001:2008, the upcoming ISO 9001:2015, and ISO 9004:2008. Next, it explores quality deployment concepts such as capturing the voice of the customer, the Kano model, quality function deployment, and quality policy deployment. SMART goals, SWOT analysis, and key process indicators are also addressed. The book covers the seven classic quality tools: flowchart, Ishikawa diagram, Pareto diagram, scatter diagram, histogram, check sheet, and run chart. It also identifies the seven new management and planning tools: affinity diagram, tree diagram, process decision program chart, matrix diagram, prioritization matrix, interrelationship digraph, and activity network diagram.Presenting methods for failure prevention and detection, the text explores measurement system analysis, gage repeatability and reproducibility studies, and the basics of maintaining a calibration system. It examines the various aspects of continuous quality improvement, complaints management, and the use of 8D reports for reporting on failures. The book describes the four types of measurement scales and various measuring devices a quality professional may encounter and also contains a glossary that explains the basic quality-related terminology. Describing each quality method with sufficient detail so that readers can immediately apply them, this book is an ideal guide for anyone new to the field of quality as well as experienced qu

Although there are many books on root cause analysis (RCA), most concentrate on team actions such as brainstorming and using quality tools to discuss the failure under investigation. These may be necessary steps during RCA, but authors often fail to mention the most important member of an RCA team-the failed part. Root Cause Analysis: A Step-By-Step Guide to Using the Right Tool at the Right Time provides authoritative guidance on how to empirically investigate quality failures using scientific method in the form of cycles of plan-do-check-act (PDCA), supported by the use of quality tools. Focusing on the use of proven quality tools to empirically investigate issues, the book starts by describing the theoretical background behind using the scientific method and quality tools for RCA. Next, it supplies step-by-step instructions for performing RCA with the tools discussed in the first section. The book's clear examples illustrate how to integrate PDCA with the scientific method and quality tools when investigating real-world quality failures. This RCA guide provides root cause investigators with a tool kit for the quick and accurate selection of the appropriate tool during a root cause investigation. It includes an appendix with a guide to tool selection based on the intended use of the tool. There is also an appendix that defines the terminology used in the book. After reading this book, you will understanding how to integrate the scientific method, quality tools, and statistics, in the form of exploratory data analysis, to build a picture of the actual situation under investigation that will lead you to the true root cause of an event. The tools and concepts presented in the text are appropriate for professionals in both the manufacturing and service industries.