Basics of Quality
A Short History
of Quality
An overview of how
the concepts and processes of quality have evolved from
the craft guilds of medieval Europe to the workplaces
of today.
Continuous Improvement
How to take your products, services and processes to the
next level through an ongoing cycle of activities that
capitalize on improvement opportunities.
Cost of Quality
Quality doesn’t cost money. It’s poor-quality
products and services that pile up extra costs for your
organization. Here’s how to get started eliminating
these expensive shortcomings.
Customer Satisfaction
Tips and resources for helping you identify your customers
and what it will take to satisfy them.
Glossary
A handy guide to the unique terminology of quality.
Problem Solving
Using four basic steps to implement solutions by accurately
defining problems and identifying alternatives.
Process View
of Work
Analyze how work gets done so that you can increase efficiency,
effectiveness, and adaptability.
Quality Assurance
and Quality Control
What’s the difference? In the world of quality,
these terms have very different meanings.
Supplier Quality
The quality of what goes into a product or service determines
the quality of what comes out. Here’s how to keep
costs low and quality high.
Variation
Variation represents the difference between an ideal and
an actual situation.
Quality
Tools
Cause
Analysis Tools
Tips and tools for the first step to improvement: identifying
the cause of a problem or situation.
Evaluation
and Decision-Making Tools
Making informed decisions and choosing the best options
with a simple, objective rating system, and determining
the success of a project.
Process
Analysis Tools
How to identify and eliminate unnecessary process steps
to increase efficiency, reduce timelines and cut costs.
Seven
Basic Quality Tools
These seven tools get to the heart of implementing quality
principles.
Data
Collection and Analysis Tools
How can you collect the data you need, and what should
you do with them once they’re collected?
Idea Creation
Tools
Ways to stimulate group creativity and organize the ideas
that come from it.
Project
Planning and Implementing Tools
How to track a project’s status and look for improvement
opportunities.
Seven New
Management and Planning Tools
Ways to promote innovation, communicate information and
successfully plan major projects.
Quality Applications
Environmental
Management and Sustainability
Ways to identify environmental concerns that serve business
and customer interests and demonstrate these links to
others in your organization.
Project Management
Different projects have different needs. Here’s
how to follow the five stages that every project goes
through and tailor them to your project.
Safety
How using a quality approach can eliminate accidents and
improve workplace safety.
Software Quality
Ways to ensure quality in software products by managing
defects. Includes how to apply six software quality attributes.
Global Quality
Quality principles and practices are used around the world.
Here’s how to begin addressing the challenges associated
with the international application of quality.
Reliability
Will the quality of your product or service hold up over
time? Here are some ways to tell.
Small Business
Understanding the different rewards and challenges that
small businesses face when they apply quality principles
and practices.
People Create Quality
Change Management
Change is a fact of life. Here are ways to make sure that
changes can take root and lead to increased success.
Leadership
Practical advice on approaching leadership from both strategic
and operational points of view.
Quality Professionals
Explore the many roles that quality professionals can
play in their organizations.
Teams
How you can use teams to capitalize on individuals’
strengths and minimize their weaknesses.
Employee Involvement
and Empowerment
Employees can usually take on more responsibility and
authority than they’ve traditionally been given.
Here’s some guidance on how to avoid overlooking
your most valuable resource.
Organization-Wide
Approaches
Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award
Here’s how you can apply the seven criteria for
the Baldrige Award to your organization’s daily
operations.
ISO 9000 and
Other Standards
Ways to harness ISO 9000 to achieve the base level of
quality management or a quality system, and how other
standards address the needs of specific industries.
Six Sigma
Use the Six Sigma philosophy to drive customer satisfaction
and bottom-line results by reducing variation and waste.
Benchmarking
How to harness the process of searching for industry leaders
and their best practices: Find out what makes them work
and implement those practices to make your organization
an industry leader.
Lean
The fine art of eliminating non-value adding activities
and waste from your processes and products.
Total Quality
Management
How all members of an organization can participate in
improving processes, products, services and the culture
in which your people work.
Courtesy:
ASQ (American Society for Quality)
