Wed, 05/08/2024 - 12:03
The famous football coach Vince Lombardi purportedly said, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” (According to Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, in a 1962 interview Lombardi said, “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.”)
In…
Wed, 05/01/2024 - 12:03
The current alleged quality problems with the Boeing 737 underscore the importance of zero tolerance for poor quality. No manufacturing or quality professional should ever compromise on this issue. Most importantly, the potential consequences to…
Wed, 03/27/2024 - 12:03
What do quality and productivity have to do with World War III, which we all hope will never happen? The answer is everything. A massive loss of American manufacturing capability between 1945 and 2024 has conceded enormous advantages to aggressor…
Mon, 03/18/2024 - 00:03
In his Quality Digest article published in February 2023, Michael Mills1 reported that the next version of ISO 9001 will add to clause 4.1, “Understanding the organization and its context” the words, “the organization shall determine whether climate…
Thu, 10/12/2023 - 12:03
Valuable American manufacturing jobs were sent offshore under the dysfunctional belief that low-wage labor would result in lower product costs and higher profits. Although it may seem counterintuitive, manufacturers do better with high-wage workers…
Wed, 09/27/2023 - 12:03
The difference between common (or random) cause and special (or assignable) cause variation is the foundation of statistical process control (SPC). An SPC chart prevents tampering or overadjustment by assuming that the process is in control, i.e.,…
Mon, 09/18/2023 - 12:03
Inflation is a serious national issue. Credit agency Fitch Ratings just downgraded the U.S. credit rating—as in the “full faith and credit of the United States”—from AAA to AA+.1 This doubtlessly reflects the fact that our national debt exceeds $31…
Tue, 08/29/2023 - 12:03
Starbucks’ implementation of artificial intelligence coffee makers1 offers a simple and ideal case study that can illustrate the synergy between efficiency, wages, profits, and inflation. Even if we don’t know the actual cost figures, we can use…
Mon, 07/17/2023 - 12:03
‘Tech leaders issue warning: AI raises risk of extinction”1 comes across as another version of science fiction stories that have been around for decades about humans creating something greater than themselves that finally destroys them. Although it’…
Tue, 06/13/2023 - 12:03
Time value of money calculations, including net present value analysis, is important when selecting projects and investments. The calculations are part of the body of knowledge for some of ASQ’s certification exams. They also go a long way toward…