Checklist

Check Sheets “record data on a form that readily allows interpretation of results from the form itself” (Hodgetts 89). As one of Ishikawa’s basic quality tools, Check Sheets are an effective means of gathering data in a helpful, meaningful way.

Kaoru Ishikawa is often credited with “democratizing statistics.” This relates to his desire to spread quality control ideas throughout the workplace. His tools make it easier to comprehend raw data, making quality improvements simpler. Check Sheets are a perfect example of this. Although they can vary a good deal depending on the type of data being collected, the purpose of the check sheet is always the same.



“The Check Sheet is used to facilitate the collection and analysis of data. ‘Garbage in, Garbage out’ is an old cliché, but it is true. Therefore, the purpose for which data is being collected must be clear. Data reflects facts, but only if they are properly collected. The number of defects and where they are found can be recorded and analyzed for causes” (Soin 297).



There are a few steps for constructing a check sheet. Since they are used for “determining the occurrence of events such as non-conformities, including the position in which they appear on the non-conforming item”(Bunney), the first step is to identify what problems, or “non-conforming items” occur often. The next step is to construct the table, which will become the actual sheet. Usually the defects/problems/”non-conforming items” are the titles of the different rows on the left side. The top of the sheet contains columns that usually are the time periods in which the problems may occur. Once all of the rows are ready, the only thing left to do is implement the check sheet in the workplace. This means checking off the type of defect that occurs when it happens. This data can then be analyzed for trends using histograms, Pareto analysis, or in obvious cases just by eye
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This definition closely parallels Dr. Shewhart’s opening statement for his (1939) book Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control:
“Broadly speaking there are three steps in a quality control process: the specification of what is wanted, the production of things to satisfy the specification, and the inspection of the things produced to see if they satisfy the specification.”



This idea of an operational definition, which Shewhart and Deming popularized from the work of the philosopher C. I. Lewis, provided the seed for what grew into the Shewhart or PDSA Cycle.

Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle does form a powerful framework for any improvement effort, it has often been reduced to a checklist to be followed mechanically. This has led to a proliferation of “expanded” PDSA cycles where each of the steps on the checklist are specified in ever increasing detail.
But before we go down this path, I would like to back up and generalize a bit.

In Dr. Deming’s own conversations, when individuals would start telling him about what they or their organization were planning to do, he would invariably have one of two responses for them:
“By what method?” or “How will you know?”
Either one of these questions would generally end the conversation since the individual would have no answer. After discerning this pattern to Dr. Deming’s responses, it finally occurred to me that these two questions corresponded to the last two parts of an operational definition. This realization, in turn, resulted in a generalization of an operational definition to become:

1. What do you want to accomplish?
2. By what method will you accomplish it?
3. How will you know when you have accomplished it?

Whatever you may be doing, until you can answer all three of these questions, you do not have an operational definition but merely a basis for an argument. Shewhart understood this, and in his work he used the concept of an operational definition in the development of the “operation of statistical control.”

Orginal and full text is on SPC Press online

The project committee developing the standard, ISO/PC 239, Network services billing, met for the first time in June 2009, in London, United Kingdom (UK).

Participants from around the world actively discussed the scope of the future standard (ISO 14452), which will promote more customer-oriented billing practices and service provision.



Although billing systems vary from country to country, and from industry to industry, participants agreed to target utilities such as electricity, water, gas and communications, with the support of the International Electrotechnical Commission and the International Telecommunication Union, as well as other key organizations in the field.

The committee also issued an open call for interested parties wishing to get involved (through the ISO member of their respective country). Already, seven countries have participant status in ISO/PC 239, while an additional five are observers. Among its members, Israel (who holds the Secretariat), the Republic of Korea (who holds the Chair), the Netherlands and the UK were present at the first meeting, together with an Asian consumers group.



ISO/PC 239, Network services billing, was established following a proposal from the ISO Committee on consumer policy (ISO/COPOLCO), which noted that billing makes-up a substantial part of overall consumer complaints against utilities. A study carried-out in 2004 by Energywatch, the gas and electricity consumer council in the UK, suggested that up to a third of customers regularly contact their energy suppliers to query or complain about their bills. According to the study, this could amount to as many as 60 million unnecessary contacts per year.

full story on ISO.ORG

However, the skills required to work in a virtual environment differ somewhat from that of a worker in a more traditional environment. The skills listed below may assist human resource professionals in the recruitment, assessment, and selection of effective virtualteam members.



1. Proficiency with technical tools and electronic etiquette:

• e-mail;
• collaborative software systems;
• Internet;
• Intranet;
• destop videoconferencing sytems;
• non-desktop videoconferencing sytems;
• teleconferencing.

2. Ability to form team relationships quickly and effectively:

• entering new teams via introduction of self, asking questions to help the team get organized, and showing interest in others;
• quickly ascertaining other team members’ preferred work styles and adapting their own accordingly;
• being aware of one’s interpersonal style and planning experiences which lead to improvement;

3. Ability to communicate in a virtual environment:

• command of written communication skills for utilization via e-mail and collaborative software systems;
• communicating effectively via videoconferencing for team meetings;
• making formal presentations through videoconferencing;
• managing guidelines about when to see people face-to-face,
• when to send them email vs. voicemail messages, and when to avoid them altogether.

4. Ability to access, analyze, and manage data.



5. Project management capabilities:

• planning and organizing individual work to correspond to team schedules;
• developing and using methods to report progress and problems;
• monitoring and controlling costs;
• taking actions to get back on track;
• documenting and sharing individual learnings.

this is just snipet
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Experiments, Randomization, and Observational Studies

Clearly, process behavior charts were intended for use with observational studies. Since it will generally be much easier to obtain data as a side effect of operations, this alone makes the process behavior chart one of the most important tools in your data analysis tool kit.



However, as is shown in the several of my books, process behavior charts may also be used with experimental data. In fact, they will often be the only analysis technique that will reveal certain aspects of your data (such as a lack of homogeneity where the data should be homogeneous). However, by the very nature of an experiment, experimental data will be collected under two or more conditions. This characteristic of experimental data places restrictions on how the data may be analyzed.

read full text on SPC Press Reading Room

Statistical Process Control has been around for over 70 years.
However, there is today considerable confusion about the nature and purpose of SPC. I believe this is because many have sought to reshape SPC according to their own background and experience. Some hear the words Statistical Process Control and immediately think of classical statistical procedures.
They try to fit SPC into this framework of parameters, distributional assumptions, tests of hypotheses, and confidence levels. Of course, when this group tries to share their version of SPC they are met with that same total lack of comprehension which is the fate of classical statistics. But statisticians are accustomed to rejection, so this is nothing new.



Others hear the words Statistical Process Control and think of process control techniques. SPC is thought of as a manual process-control technique to be used to maintain the status quo for a process. It is merely a process monitoring technique, to be used after you have already gotten the process into a satisfactory state. “And, since this is what SPC is about, wouldn’t you like to know about some of the neat algorithmic process-control techniques and process modeling techniques that have been developed in the past few years?” This group would be glad to give you a course or sell you some software. But once again, there is a hurdle of truly mathematical proportions to be overcome. The faint of heart need not apply. Those without calculus should not enter in to this door.



A third group uses the word “control” to denote conformance to specifications, and so when they hear the words Statistical Process Control they think about trying to produce product within specifications. Given this perspective, they think of SPC as a complex route to a simple objective, and accordingly they try to simplify SPC. This group tends to want to bypass the computations based on the data and instead use the specifications to set action limits. While this simplicity sells well, it has the unfortunate characteristic of completely misrepresenting what SPC is all about. Those who use these simplified approaches may meet with some limited success, but because their objective falls short of what can be done, because they do not seek to get the most out of their processes, they do not reap the benefits available from SPC. The reality falls short of the promise, and the users return to sorting as a way of life—make enough stuff and some of it is likely to be good.

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EOQ wants to show them recognition and thank them for their contribution.

A Quality Leader is a Leader in an organization having succeeded in moving the organization to success for the different stakeholders through his leadership and through the change and Quality Processes he has implemented directly through his team.

EOQ is proud to announce the winner for the European Quality Leader Award 2009 Mr Jos Corstjens from Tbp in Belgium



Jos Corstjens is an Industrial Engineer, he has a master in business Administration and is currently a manager in industrialization, Co-engineering, SHEQ at Tbp electronics Belgium NV

On May 1, 2007, Jos was one of the managers who took the factory over from Alcatel-Lucent, this was done together with Dutch partner tbp electronics.
On top of this job, he also is a manager of process engineering and maintenance teams. He introduced lean and 6 sigma. He is also a business development manager of electronics development teams both in the Netherlands and in Belgium. And last but not least he is managing quality in Belgium.

The EOQ President, Mr Viktor Seitschek handed the European Quality Leader Certificate to Mr Corstjens during the Gala Dinner of the EOQ Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia on May 13, 2009.



The European Quality Leader Award is in recognition of the outstanding individuals, who devote their time, energy and knowledge in sharing their beliefs to the benefit of the European Society. “This year, we nominated Jos Corstjens for the award due to his unique experience in Quality and entrepreneurship within SME’s, his ability to implement quality systems with creativity tools and innovative methods which are in line with the EOQ views on the human element making the difference in all Quality actions” commented Mr Viktor Seitschek, EOQ President and member of the jury of the European Quality Leader Award 2009.

The two other finalists are high valuable persons acting in different fields of activity: Mr Ramon Robles from SGS in Spain and Mr Kostas Adamopoulos from TNT in Greece.

SailingAlthough statistically sailing is one of the safer leisure activities, a number of incidents, sometimes fatal, have been reported involving trapeze wires.

A trapeze consists of a harness worn around the waist and attached to the upper mast by a wire, which allows sailors to hang outside the boat. Many models of sailing dinghy and catamarans include trapezes, as they are widely used to increase control and speed of a craft. But sailors must be able to detach themselves at any time, or they risk becoming trapped underwater or in dangerous conditions.



The new standard, ISO 10862:2009, Small craft – Quick release system for trapeze harness, provides requirements and test methods to ensure the correct operation of safety release devices, enabling the wearer to unhook rapidly in the event of an emergency.

Such a device should be easily accessible and able to be operated in all conditions, even when a craft is capsized or inverted.



“ISO 10862 includes a number of important features which could save a sailor’s life” said Ken Kershaw, a recreational craft safety expert, actively involved in the development of ISO 10862 and other small craft ISO standards.
full story on ISO.ORG pressrelease

As part of the Toyota Production System, a kamishibai board is used as a visual control for performing audits within a manufacturing process. A series of cards are placed on a board and selected at random or according to schedule by supervisors and managers of the area. This insures safety and cleanliness of the workplace is maintained and that quality checks are being performed.(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Kamishibai System Strengthens ISO 14001 and Heightens Environmental Awareness at TMMWV (Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia, Inc.)

Although ISO 14001 certification was a milestone to be celebrated, the challenge to maintain this high level of intensity requires constant monitoring and kaizen of the Environmental Management System (EMS).



In order to integrate EMS to standard work practices, TMMWV created environmental kamishibai consistent with the Toyota Production System. The establishment of the kamishibai system began with a list of all the tasks that could be audited.
Included in these were questions and answers; document control; proper paperwork; record retention; objectives and targets; and area inspections.

These tasks were then broken down into groups and assigned to numbered cards. ISO Area representatives took on the responsibility of performing weekly assessments to ensure these items are kept up to standards. While many of the cards are completed each month, this system ensures that even those low frequency items, completed on a quarterly basis, are not missed out. With the kamishibai system of assessments, TMMWV’s momentum is never lost. TMMWV’s environmental actions are steadily being promoted.

read full text on gembapantarei.com