The Certified Quality Engineer Handbook

K. Narasimhan (Bolton Institute, Bolton, UK)

The TQM Magazine

ISSN: 0954-478X

Article publication date: 1 August 2005

234

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2005), "The Certified Quality Engineer Handbook", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 376-378. https://doi.org/10.1108/tqmm.2005.17.4.376.2

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


This handbook comprises 17 chapters and 20 appendices grouped into four parts, which are supported by 36 tables and 139 figures. Seven authors from both academia and the industry have contributed to this book, although there is not much information about the authors except the organization they work/worked for. However, the editors have acknowledged that Tom Pyzdek, the author of Six Sigma Handbook and a consultant in the field of quality has helped to define the contents of this book.

The two chapters of Part One deal respectively with the topics of quality leadership and quality management. Chapter 1 provides an overview of major issues such as the importance of developing and deploying quality policy, goal, and objectives; and transforming them into action plans to achieve performance objectives. Chapter 2 gives an overview of American Society for Quality Code of Ethics, basics of training, classifying and analyzing quality costs, various quality gurus' philosophies, application of quality function deployment to determine customer expectations and needs, and supplier relations and management.

“Quality planning, implementation, and control” is the theme of Part Two, which comprises four chapters. Chapter 3 presents elements and aspects of quality management systems, and a list of ISO 9000:2000 family of standards. In chapter 4, basics of strategic and tactical quality planning and the four phases (comprising 21 activities) of quality planning based on the Automotive Industry Action Group's advanced quality planning are briefly described. Chapter 5 deals very briefly with identifying individual items, lots and sub‐lots and tracking them. The topic of “Inspection, testing, and acceptance sampling” is considered in some depth in the following chapter, with a number of examples on sampling plans (variables sampling, sequential sampling, and continuous sampling).

Part Three comprises 3 chapters dealing respectively with measurement systems, reliability and maintainability engineering, and failure mode effects analysis (FMEA). In Chapter 7, different types of measurements' standards are first described; then the different concepts of measurement such as errors, sensitivity and readability, repeatability and re‐productivity, and evaluation of accuracy, calibration, etc, are defined. A review of basic measuring tools and an introduction to modern co‐ordinate measuring machines are also included in this chapter. In Chapter 8, definitions are provided for reliability for both repairable and non‐repairable systems and methods for identifying potential failures and their modes are discussed. Also discussed are three widely used maintenance and repair policies (corrective, preventive and predictive maintenance), and the conditions for their applicability. The final chapter briefly deals with terminology, theory, mechanics and applications of FMEA for product designs, process designs, and systems.

Problem solving is the theme of Part Four, which comprises three chapters. The first chapter introduces a seven‐phase problem solving method, which is followed by an introduction to different approaches to quality improvement (Kaizen, plan‐do‐check‐act cycle, and re‐engineering), and concludes with overcoming barriers to quality improvement. The second chapter deals with the application of traditional (or basic) problem‐solving tools such as flow charts, histograms, cause‐and‐effect diagrams. The final chapter deals with what are popularly termed “Quality management and planning tools” such as matrix diagrams (House of Quality), process decision diagrams, prioritization matrices, process value chain diagrams, and benchmarking.

Part Five comprises five chapters on statistical tools. The first chapter is an introduction to probability and statistics, which help to understand and analyze data. Chapter 14 explains how to deal with uncertainty involved in making inferences when samples are used and provides tools for understanding and quantifying that uncertainty. Design of experiments is briefly covered in the next chapter. Statistical process control and the basics of Six Sigma are dealt with in the following two chapters.

Finally, the appendices contain information on the American Society for Quality (ASQ) Code of Ethics, ASQ Certified Quality Engineer Body of Knowledge, and various formulae and statistical tables, and a list of National and International Quality System Standards. The book also contains a useful glossary of terms.

Although the book is aimed at individuals wanting to acquire certification, it is a useful selection on any one interested in improving quality of products or services. The chapters are structured well and include an introduction to each chapter, a summary at the end of the chapters, together with endnotes and references.

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