A. Blanton Godfrey

Ten Areas for Future Research in Total Quality Management

In the past 15 years, many companies in the United States have made significant changes in the management of quality. For some, these changes have helped the companies achieve stunning results. Some of the ways they have achieved these results are now c..

Joseph M. Juran, a perspective on past contributions and future impact

This paper combines presentations by the authors in a special session dedicated to the work of Joseph M. Juran at the sixth annual conference of the European Network for Business and Industrial Statistics in Wroclaw, Poland. The paper offers an historical perspective of the contributions of J. M. Juran to management science emphasizing aspects of cause and effect relationships and Integrated Models. Specifically, the paper presents the Juran concepts of Management Breakthrough, the Pareto Principle, the Juran Trilogy® and Six Sigma. The impact of these contributions, put in an historical perspective of key thinkers who investigated cause and effect relationships, is then discussed. The impact of these contributions to modern Integrated Models is then assessed. Copyright

Comprehensive insight into supplier quality and the impact of quality strategies of suppliers on outsourcing decisions

Purpose – This study aims to provide a comprehensive insight into the role of the quality management (QM) systems in international suppliers (e.g. ISO, Total Quality Management, Lean and Six Sigma) on outsourcing decisions of buyer companies with regard to reshoring activities. Design/methodology/approach – By the means of a comprehensive survey data collected within USA textile and apparel industry, the authors identify four quality factors and compare these factors for international and domestic suppliers by the means of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and consequently define a reshore vector. Next, the most-effective QM system within international suppliers is analyzed by the means of a new application based on LDA. Findings – The results reveal that international suppliers perform worse for all quality factors compared to domestic USA suppliers, which may leave the door open for reshoring activities. Furthermore, it is shown that Lean and Six Sigma within international suppliers lead to superior le...

LQL Indexed Plans that are Compatible with the Structure of MIL-STD-105D

Acceptance sampling plans indexed by Limiting Quality Levels (LQLs) are derived. These plans are compatible with the structure of MIL-STD-105D. The draft table of LQL indexed plans under discussion by the International Organization for Standardization (..

Integration of Six Sigma to traditional quality management theory: an empirical study on organisational performance

This paper integrates Six Sigma (SS) practices into traditional quality management (QM) theory by investigating its relation to traditional QM practices as well as its direct effect on organisational performance. This research used Path Analysis, a special case of SEM, through which the research hypotheses were evaluated. The paper uses survey data collected from US textile and apparel industry members. As an important contribution to previous literature, the results suggest that overall performance appears to be favourably and directly influenced by successful implementation of both SS and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Therefore, SS practices are concluded to directly impact organisational performance rather than being complementary to traditional QM practices. Considering the social and technical (soft and hard) dimensions of QM, our study has found a significant path to SS from process management (PM), but not from other soft aspects. This showed that textile and apparel companies’ SS applications are dominated by hard quality practices, but they have not been yet widely linked with social dimensions such as CRM or Employee Relationship Management (ERM). Results also indicate that ERM has a direct impact on PM and CRM, and Top Management has direct positive links to CRM and ERM.

The evolution of quality management within telecommunications

A look back over more than 100 years of progress in managing quality in telecommunications reveals several phases of focus: on product quality, on manufacturing processes, on ancillary services and products, on macro processes quality, and currently, on integrating strategic quality and business planning. The associated progression of managerial processes, such as inspection, quality assessments, and strategic quality planning are presented. The development of of tools and methodology, e.g., sampling plans, storyboards, robust designs, and quality awards are highlighted. Primary examples are presented of applications and results from the USA, Japan and the UK. Additional examples are drawn from the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany and Italy.<<ETX>>

Training & education in quality & reliability - a modern approach

United States industry is facing challenges in quality and productivity so great that unprecedented activities are underway to train every member of many companies in statistical quality control. Many of these programs are having immediate, significant payoffs; but other programs are not successful at all. In this talk we explore some of the basic tenets for an effective training and education program for quality and productivity. We outline the elements that we feel are absolutely necessary to accomplish quality and productivity improvements in the corporation. We give examples of how AT&T is approaching the difficult problem of developing and implementing good training and education programs for engineers and factory workers.

Impact of competitive strategy and cost-focus on global supplier switching (reshore and relocation) decisions

Abstract This study analyzes how global supplier switching decisions (reshore and relocate) are influenced by the buyers’ cost-focus and competitive strategies. Comprehensive survey data were gathered from US textile and apparel industry. The analysis revealed that the buyers with distinct competitive strategies such as Made-in-USA, speed-to-market are likely to have significantly higher proportions of reshoring activities. Furthermore, large companies and retailers are shown to be more cost-focused than small and manufacturing companies, respectively. Finally, cost-focused companies are shown to be more likely to switch their international suppliers. By analyzing the buyer side of supplier-switching and identifying the common features of companies engaging in reshoring or relocation, our analysis enables us to better interpret international supplier-switching. While other studies have regarded the superior performance of the prospective supplier or the external issues as the main factors, we emphasize the impact of internal dynamics of buyers on the international supplier-switching processes.

Innovation, entrepreneurship and textiles

Innovation and entrepreneurship have become increasingly important parts of economic development in almost every country, region, and community. In this research we investigate the reasons people become entrepreneurs in the textile and apparel industries and compare entrepreneurship in these industries with other industries looking also at the success factors for start up companies. During our research we found many disrupters, people entering the textile and apparel industries from outside often having no prior experience in textiles or apparel. We also investigate the impact of government intervention on entrepreneurship. In recognition of the large economic impact entrepreneurial companies have on economic development and job growth, almost all federal governments, regional governments, and community governments have created support for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Improving Health Care Quality. Is Standardization the Answer

The following is a commentary on Dr Charles Shaws article, “Accreditation and ISO—International Convergence on Health Care Standards”, Int J Qual Health Care 9: 11–13. We question the value of using the ISO 9000 series of standards in health care, discuss some of the limitations of any accreditation approach, and suggest a possible different approach to creating useful guidelines for health care quality management.