A Quality Engineering Primer: Quality engineering (QE) techniques enable engineers to develop products and processes in a fraction of the time required by conventional engineering…
Abstract
A Quality Engineering Primer: Quality engineering (QE) techniques enable engineers to develop products and processes in a fraction of the time required by conventional engineering practice, using the least expensive materials possible, and simultaneously achieving the lowest levels of product or process variability. QE started as a form of experimental design developed in Japan in the 1950s by Genichi Taguchi. In its current application in Japanese companies and many leading Western organizations, QE encompasses much more than experimental design.
In the past, automobile buyers had to choose between the ride of, say, a stretch limousine and the fuel efficiency or manoeuvrability of a small‐sized car. No longer. The emerging…
Abstract
In the past, automobile buyers had to choose between the ride of, say, a stretch limousine and the fuel efficiency or manoeuvrability of a small‐sized car. No longer. The emerging premiss of recent developments in flexible hardware, coupled with programmable electronics or software, is to allow buyers to customize their cars with the exact mix of “ride” and “feel” characteristics that they want — not those which automobile companies bundle into a limited number of available model types. Such a buyer‐driven approach to customization may, oddly enough, make Alfred Sloan's mass‐production model valid again. But this time, instead of the final assembly taking place in the factory, it will take place in the showroom or right in the driver's seat.
We all talk of logistical problems as if they were something which can be left to others ‐ you know, those less creative than ourselves; the slightly dull sorts withcomputer‐like…
Abstract
We all talk of logistical problems as if they were something which can be left to others ‐ you know, those less creative than ourselves; the slightly dull sorts with computer‐like brains who thrive on just this sort of basically mathematical problem. This may be an overstatement of the case, but how many senior executives regularly meet with the managers responsible for the movement of materials? And how often do the same executives physically visit the scenes of these activities? Often? Sometimes? Never? And how many equate the costs of logistics merely with warehouse rents plus road haulage or rail costs?
For those who like certainty, now is not a good time to be in logistics management ‐ for those who relish challenges, there are plenty to be had. There are challenges not just to…
Abstract
For those who like certainty, now is not a good time to be in logistics management ‐ for those who relish challenges, there are plenty to be had. There are challenges not just to the old certainties, but the new certainties which replaced them. Companies have, in recent years, looked to Japan for inspiration, only to find the Japanese economy beginning to falter. Japanese management practices were endorsed by, and imported into, many Western organizations and, when these transplanted practices failed to work, cultural difficulties were cited. It then becomes something of a shock, for example, to see the keiretsu distribution system fall into disrepute, and lean production methods become modified or abandoned by those who developed them.
Ford of Europe has as its mission ‘to continually improve our products and services to meet our customer needs’. The company is adopting Taguchi's philosophy of Loss Function…
Abstract
Ford of Europe has as its mission ‘to continually improve our products and services to meet our customer needs’. The company is adopting Taguchi's philosophy of Loss Function analysis and the Quality Function Deployment planning tool to support its Total Quality culture.