Any project should have a quality plan. In reality, very few do. The two main reasons people don't produce a project quality plan are: It's too difficult and they are overwhelmed by the jargon of quality in relation to compliance with standards. So let's break this down into more simple terms to get a better understanding of how to run a plan.
First what is quality? This definition in every organization depending on their goals and mission. Quality has been defined by J.M. Juran simply as "fit for use". H. James Harrington states "Quality is customer satisfaction". Generally speaking we could all agree that the definition is to make sure whatever is delivered is within the quality expectations of the organization. If the quality of your goods are below acceptable quality standards you are on the fast track to closing shop. When your organization under performs there are consequences. Keeping an eye on quality will prevent any serious fatal mistakes. A project quality plan will help you know what you need to measure, what the acceptable outcomes are, and how to accomplish all of this. A project quality plan is how and when "Quality Events" and "Quality Materials" are applied to a project. They are the activities undertaken using "Quality Materials" to validate the quality of the project. The artifacts used within an organization to assist a Project Manager improve quality in the project e.g. Checklists. These materials are used in "Quality Events". Technical project quality is usually judged by asking three questions: Does the system comply with corporate standards for: user interface, documentation, naming standards etc.? Is the technology stable? Is the system well engineered so that it is robust and maintainable? By asking these questions you will get a better idea of where the quality of your program is. A project quality plan needs to includes a number of elements. You must identify what needs to go through a quality check? Typically what needs to be checked are the deliverables. Any significant deliverable from a project should have some form of quality check carried out. A requirements document can be considered significant. Also, what is the most appropriate way to check the quality? If the end result is that a particular deliverable should meet a standard, then part of the quality checking should focus on compliance with the standard. This would indicate a "Standard Audit" could be the best approach. When should it be carried out? Most "Quality Events" are held just prior to the completion of the delivery. If however there are long development lead times for a deliverable, it might be sensible to hold earlier "Quality Events". For example, if development of code for a particular module will take 10 weeks, it may be worth holding a code inspection after 4 weeks to identify any problems early and reduce rework. Before beginning your project quality plan you should also identify who should be involved and what materials are needed. Producing a project quality plan is not complex. It involves identifying all the deliverables at the start of the project and deciding how to best validate their quality. There is an overhead in undertaking quality checks but this is offset by not having to fix things further down the line. Inevitably, the later you find a problem, the longer it takes to fix.
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Feb 27, 2010
Lean Manufacturing
One of the earliest examples of lean manufacture is that of renaissance shipbuilding at the Arsenal in 16th century Venice. Over 3,000 workers and apprentices were organized by the state to manufacture boats that were part of the Venetians prosperity. The division of labour from expert trades to support roles and training programmes predated the industrial revolution in the 18th century.
War and the military took a huge part in the development of Lean Manufacturing. The 18th century saw the introduction of interchangeable parts for weapons. Prior to this gunsmiths and craftsmen made individual "one off" weapons, which either had to be repaired or discarded. In 1778 Honoré Blanc showed that muskets could be made from interchangeable parts. This was built on by many others including Simeon North and John Hall who produced complex machines having preformed castings that were then machined. Other supporting technologies such as measuring gauges were developed during the 19th century.
Simon Colt, famous for his revolver published a patent on the "improvement to firearms" in 1836 . The Colt Patent Arms Company Hartford gun factory was the prototype for America's Industrial Revolution. It had lines of steam powered belt driven machines with individuals working on one piece of it. Then these were taken to another part for assembly.
In the early 19th century, the father of the great British engineer Isambard Brunel, Marc Brunel introduced a new process for making rope pulley using machines and unskilled labour that was 10 times more productive.
Chicago developed cattle disassembly lines that reduced a butchers time of 3 hours to minutes. These lines had 120 workers that killed, cut up and packed. The supply chain of cowboys and railways brought in 10 million cattle a year. Henry Ford is believed to have studied the lines and based his lines on the principles.
At the end of the 19th century Sakichi Toyoda introduce the first automatic loom, that continually developed over the next three decades. The lean concept of Jidoka - or "automation with a human touch" was born. The looms stopped when there was a problem, so no defective parts and many looms could be run by one operator.
Frederic Taylor developed scientific management and many of the industrial engineering tools. He replaced old habits and rules of thumb by analysis and trials. One concept was understanding what a "first-class man" could do. His thinking included "time and motion" studies, standardization of tools and materials, method simplification, selection and training of workers, measurement and benchmarking of performance. He also spoke of his desire for management and labour to work together for their mutual benefit.
Taylors thinking was taken to the next level by Henry Ford. A great believer in continuous improvement the original 14 hours for a car was reduced to 1 hour 30 mins. There was great level of dedication in the lines, such that only one type of car could be produced - in black. However it did allow him to reduce the price of a car from $1,000 to $360. There were other issues with Fordism, the lack of flexibility, demeaning job roles and harsh management of worker. Other companies built on these weaknesses.
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Feb 24, 2010
Quality and Ethics
Quality appears to be good business. Quality is also good ethics. It is unethical to ship defective products knowingly to customers. Reliable products and low defect rates reflect an ethical approach of management’s care for its customers.
This ethic is stated in the well-known mission statement of New Bedford, Massachusetts, shipbuilder; “We build good ships. At a profit if we can, at a loss if we must. But, we build good ships”
Companies focusing on their customers often develop a set of ethics that includes valuing employees. They are seriously striving to improve the lives of their employees. This is reflected in education, training, health, wellness, and compensation programs that show empathy for the employees. Increasingly, environmental friendliness is seen as an ethical concern. As a result, more companies are implementing recycling programs and making efforts to improve environmental practices.
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This ethic is stated in the well-known mission statement of New Bedford, Massachusetts, shipbuilder; “We build good ships. At a profit if we can, at a loss if we must. But, we build good ships”
Companies focusing on their customers often develop a set of ethics that includes valuing employees. They are seriously striving to improve the lives of their employees. This is reflected in education, training, health, wellness, and compensation programs that show empathy for the employees. Increasingly, environmental friendliness is seen as an ethical concern. As a result, more companies are implementing recycling programs and making efforts to improve environmental practices.
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Leadership For Quality
Leadership is a key strategic variable for quality management. A leader organizes, plans, controls, communicates, teaches, advises, and delegates. The existence of a leader implies the existence of a follower. Therefore, the leading involves a power-sharing relationship between two or more individuals where the power is distributed unevenly. Leadership is the process by which a leader influences a group to move toward the attainment of super ordinate goals. Super ordinate goals are those goals that pertain to achieving a higher end that benefits not just the individual, but the group.
For followers to have power, leadership must share its power. As a result, leadership is about the sharing of power. This power takes many forms:
Power of expertise: Sometimes a leader has special knowledge (or is perceived to have special knowledge). Professors are leaders in the classroom as they have knowledge that they are sharing with the students. This type of power tends to have very narrow parameters in that the followers will follow only within the confines of the leader's expertise.
Reward power: If a leader has rewards that he or she can bestow on subordinates in return for some desirable action, the leader has reward power. This is often the case in the granting of raises, promotions, rewards, recognition, or a variety of other incentives.
Coercive power: If the leader has power to punish the follower for not following rules or guidelines, the leader has coercive power. Such power often results in unintended responses, such as the follower giving up or circumventing the leader's rule surreptitiously.
Referent power: If a leader is charismatic or charming and is followed because he or she is liked, then the leader has referent power. A case of referent power is the mentor who is admired by his or her protégées who want to be like the mentor. Often, people will follow referent leaders on the basis of reputation alone, imbuing the referent leader with qualities the leader may or may not possess.
Legitimate power: As a result of the positions that different people hold within an organization, the manager has the obligation to request things of subordinates, and the subordinates have the duty to comply with the request. Legitimate power comes with the position. It has certain responsibilities and authorities. A newly appointed leader may have to rely on this positional authority in the early part of his or her tenure as a leader.
Four important skills for leaders are:
1- knowledge,
2- Communication,
3-Planning, and
4- Vision
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For followers to have power, leadership must share its power. As a result, leadership is about the sharing of power. This power takes many forms:
Power of expertise: Sometimes a leader has special knowledge (or is perceived to have special knowledge). Professors are leaders in the classroom as they have knowledge that they are sharing with the students. This type of power tends to have very narrow parameters in that the followers will follow only within the confines of the leader's expertise.
Reward power: If a leader has rewards that he or she can bestow on subordinates in return for some desirable action, the leader has reward power. This is often the case in the granting of raises, promotions, rewards, recognition, or a variety of other incentives.
Coercive power: If the leader has power to punish the follower for not following rules or guidelines, the leader has coercive power. Such power often results in unintended responses, such as the follower giving up or circumventing the leader's rule surreptitiously.
Referent power: If a leader is charismatic or charming and is followed because he or she is liked, then the leader has referent power. A case of referent power is the mentor who is admired by his or her protégées who want to be like the mentor. Often, people will follow referent leaders on the basis of reputation alone, imbuing the referent leader with qualities the leader may or may not possess.
Legitimate power: As a result of the positions that different people hold within an organization, the manager has the obligation to request things of subordinates, and the subordinates have the duty to comply with the request. Legitimate power comes with the position. It has certain responsibilities and authorities. A newly appointed leader may have to rely on this positional authority in the early part of his or her tenure as a leader.
Four important skills for leaders are:
1- knowledge,
2- Communication,
3-Planning, and
4- Vision
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Feb 23, 2010
Quality Circle
Introduction:-
People are the greatest assets of an organization, because, through people all other resources are converted into utilities. However, management of ‘People Resources’ has always been a vexed problem ever since the beginning of organized human activities.
Quality Circle is one of the employee participation methods. It implies the development of skills, capabilities, confidence and creativity of the people through cumulative process of education, training, work experience and participation. Quality Circles have emerged as a mechanism to develop and utilize the tremendous potential of people for improvement in product quality and productivity.
Definition:-
It is "a way of capturing the creative and innovative power that lies within the work force".
Concept:-
The concept of Quality Circle is primarily based upon recognition of the value of the worker as a human being, as someone who willingly activates on his job, his wisdom, intelligence, experience, attitude and feelings. It is based upon the human resource management considered as one of the key factors in the improvement of product quality & productivity. Quality Circle concept has three major attributes:
1- Quality Circle is a form of participation management.
2- Quality Circle is a human resource development technique.
3- Quality Circle is a problem solving technique.
Benefits &Limitations of Quality Circles:-
It took more than two decades for the quality control concept to get acceptance in India, after its introduction in Japan. This may be due to the differences in the industrial context in the two countries. Japan needed it for its survival in a competitive market. India had a reasonably protected, sellers market, with consequent lethargy towards efforts to improve quality and productivity. However, with the policy of liberalization of economy and privatization of infrastructure development, contexts changed. The concept now needs to be looked upon as a necessity.
Conclusion:-
Quality Circles are not limited to manufacturing firms only. They are applicable for variety of organizations where there is scope for group based solution of work related problems. Quality Circles are relevant for factories, firms, schools, hospitals, universities, research institutes, banks, government offices etc.
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People are the greatest assets of an organization, because, through people all other resources are converted into utilities. However, management of ‘People Resources’ has always been a vexed problem ever since the beginning of organized human activities.
Quality Circle is one of the employee participation methods. It implies the development of skills, capabilities, confidence and creativity of the people through cumulative process of education, training, work experience and participation. Quality Circles have emerged as a mechanism to develop and utilize the tremendous potential of people for improvement in product quality and productivity.
Definition:-
It is "a way of capturing the creative and innovative power that lies within the work force".
Concept:-
The concept of Quality Circle is primarily based upon recognition of the value of the worker as a human being, as someone who willingly activates on his job, his wisdom, intelligence, experience, attitude and feelings. It is based upon the human resource management considered as one of the key factors in the improvement of product quality & productivity. Quality Circle concept has three major attributes:
1- Quality Circle is a form of participation management.
2- Quality Circle is a human resource development technique.
3- Quality Circle is a problem solving technique.
Benefits &Limitations of Quality Circles:-
It took more than two decades for the quality control concept to get acceptance in India, after its introduction in Japan. This may be due to the differences in the industrial context in the two countries. Japan needed it for its survival in a competitive market. India had a reasonably protected, sellers market, with consequent lethargy towards efforts to improve quality and productivity. However, with the policy of liberalization of economy and privatization of infrastructure development, contexts changed. The concept now needs to be looked upon as a necessity.
Conclusion:-
Quality Circles are not limited to manufacturing firms only. They are applicable for variety of organizations where there is scope for group based solution of work related problems. Quality Circles are relevant for factories, firms, schools, hospitals, universities, research institutes, banks, government offices etc.
Resource portal page offers direct links to financial managemnt and debt consultants- Loans, adjustments, refund agency, debtors, attorney, legal service
read more »
Feb 22, 2010
The 5S Method
What is The 5S Method
In a metal manufacturing setting, the Kaizen 5S scheme, which is an arrangement of five Japanese words beginning with the letter "S" can be implemented for the shop floor.
The first "S" is "sort." The shop floor in a metal environment should always be neat. Any parts not required for production need to be discarded. A way of recognizing unnecessary items is by "red tagging" them. The parts are then relocated to a location where they can be sorted out and either thrown away, used elsewhere.
The second "S" is "set in order." The shop environment should have everything organized. parts have to be stockpiled effectively and tagged so that employees can find them quickly and easily. If things are out of place, this will advance production time while workers look for components. It is important that all of the "S" steps go in order and that this step is done after sorting because time does not need to be wasted sorting items that need to be red tagged and disposed of.
The third "S" is "shine." Now that everything is put away, an exhaustive cleansing of the shop needs to be done. Equipment and areas should always be clean so they are working at their best so cleaning of areas should be done daily. Cleaning also helps employees notice if anything is not functioning optimally. Grim can hinder the performance of a machine in a metal manufacturing environment.
The fourth "S" is standardization. Standardization ensures that everyone is on the same page in what they should be working on and a standard form of procedures is always followed so that the 5S methodology is upheld. Straying from the steps or standards can squander valuable time. Prevention is important in this step so that a buildup of unnecessary materials is prevented, a dirty work environment is avoided, and the first 3 S's are maintained.
The final "S" is sustaining the discipline and continuing with the principles of Kaizen through continuous improvement. The aim is to make all of the S's a practice and to not revert to old habits and fail to remember the 5S methodology. Management follow-up and constant reminders are required to ensure that the 5S methodology is a success.
5S System in Practice
At my company (fac filter co.), we used the 5S system to better our working environment. We used metrics to evaluate efficiency and achievement in our production work environment as well as evaluated production quality levels. We also observed benchmarks of needed skill sets for employees working in certain areas so that they could determine which of their employees needed more training. The system let us to improve our business significantly by putting into practice the 5S system in a metal manufacturing setting.
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In a metal manufacturing setting, the Kaizen 5S scheme, which is an arrangement of five Japanese words beginning with the letter "S" can be implemented for the shop floor.
The first "S" is "sort." The shop floor in a metal environment should always be neat. Any parts not required for production need to be discarded. A way of recognizing unnecessary items is by "red tagging" them. The parts are then relocated to a location where they can be sorted out and either thrown away, used elsewhere.
The second "S" is "set in order." The shop environment should have everything organized. parts have to be stockpiled effectively and tagged so that employees can find them quickly and easily. If things are out of place, this will advance production time while workers look for components. It is important that all of the "S" steps go in order and that this step is done after sorting because time does not need to be wasted sorting items that need to be red tagged and disposed of.
The third "S" is "shine." Now that everything is put away, an exhaustive cleansing of the shop needs to be done. Equipment and areas should always be clean so they are working at their best so cleaning of areas should be done daily. Cleaning also helps employees notice if anything is not functioning optimally. Grim can hinder the performance of a machine in a metal manufacturing environment.
The fourth "S" is standardization. Standardization ensures that everyone is on the same page in what they should be working on and a standard form of procedures is always followed so that the 5S methodology is upheld. Straying from the steps or standards can squander valuable time. Prevention is important in this step so that a buildup of unnecessary materials is prevented, a dirty work environment is avoided, and the first 3 S's are maintained.
The final "S" is sustaining the discipline and continuing with the principles of Kaizen through continuous improvement. The aim is to make all of the S's a practice and to not revert to old habits and fail to remember the 5S methodology. Management follow-up and constant reminders are required to ensure that the 5S methodology is a success.
5S System in Practice
At my company (fac filter co.), we used the 5S system to better our working environment. We used metrics to evaluate efficiency and achievement in our production work environment as well as evaluated production quality levels. We also observed benchmarks of needed skill sets for employees working in certain areas so that they could determine which of their employees needed more training. The system let us to improve our business significantly by putting into practice the 5S system in a metal manufacturing setting.
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Feb 18, 2010
Kanban System
Kanban (kahn-bahn) is Japanese word that when translated literally means “visible record” or “visible part”. In general context, it refers to a signal of some kind. Thus, in the manufacturing environment, kanbans are signals used to replenish the inventory of items used repetitively within a facility.
The kanban system is based on a customer of a part pulling the part from the supplier of that part. The customer of the part can be an actual consumer of a finished product (external) or the production personnel at the succeeding station in a manufacturing facility (internal). Likewise, the supplier could be the person at the preceding station in a manufacturing facility. The premise of kanbans is that material will not be produced or moved until a customer sends the signal to do so.
The typical kanban signal is an empty container designed to hold a standard quantity of material or parts. When the container is empty, the customer sends it back to the supplier. The container has attached to it instructions for refilling the container such as the part number, description, quantity, customer, supplier, and purchase or work order number.
Kanbans serve many purposes. They act as communication devices from the point of use to the previous operation and as visual communication tools. They act as purchase orders for your suppliers and work orders for the production departments, thereby eliminating much of the paperwork that would otherwise be required. In addition, kanbans reinforce other manufacturing objectives such as increasing responsibility of the machine operator and allowing for proactive action on quality defects. However, kanbans should not be used when lot production or safety stock is required because the kanban system will not account for these requirements.
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The kanban system is based on a customer of a part pulling the part from the supplier of that part. The customer of the part can be an actual consumer of a finished product (external) or the production personnel at the succeeding station in a manufacturing facility (internal). Likewise, the supplier could be the person at the preceding station in a manufacturing facility. The premise of kanbans is that material will not be produced or moved until a customer sends the signal to do so.
The typical kanban signal is an empty container designed to hold a standard quantity of material or parts. When the container is empty, the customer sends it back to the supplier. The container has attached to it instructions for refilling the container such as the part number, description, quantity, customer, supplier, and purchase or work order number.
Kanbans serve many purposes. They act as communication devices from the point of use to the previous operation and as visual communication tools. They act as purchase orders for your suppliers and work orders for the production departments, thereby eliminating much of the paperwork that would otherwise be required. In addition, kanbans reinforce other manufacturing objectives such as increasing responsibility of the machine operator and allowing for proactive action on quality defects. However, kanbans should not be used when lot production or safety stock is required because the kanban system will not account for these requirements.
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