Traditional attribute control charts are based on the monitoring of the number of nonconforming items in a sample of fixed size. In modern manufacturing processes, since items can be checked automatically, use of samples of a fixed subjective size with traditional charts is not suitable for...

Control charts based on geometric distribution have shown to be useful when this is a better approximation of the underlying distribution than the Poisson distribution. The traditional c ‐chart, if used, will cause too many false alarms. It is noted that for geometric distribution, the control...

Ever since the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) was established in 1987, many other countries have developed their own version of a national quality award (NQA). These NQAs tend to follow the general framework of the MBNQA with different emphases on criteria items such as...

When objective decisions are to be made, statistical methods should be used based on any objective information in the form of data collected about a product or process. Statistical techniques such as control charts, process capability indices and design of experiments have been used in the...

Foreign manufacturing firms operating in mainland China face an adverse operational environment caused by poor quality management staff and the undereducated workforce. The implementation of TQM is particularly difficult in this environment. Based on case studies of 20 TQM firms and practical...

Efficient techniques of information collection and analysis are essential to all quality and productivity improvement studies. Most established concepts of quality control are passive in nature, intended more for the maintenance of the status quo than for purposeful changes. Statistical...

The attainment of superior quality and reliability in a manufactured product depends upon the existence of a framework integrating an organization’s capabilities in management, technology and information utilization. With respect to information utilization, statistical tools are particularly...

The key to increasing productivity in the manufacturing sector does not lie solely in high technology, but also in an environment in which personnel at all levels are operating with rational decisions and actions based on organised information. Inasmuch as uncertainties and changes are the...