International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management: Volume 13 Issue 2

Characteristics, benefits and shortcomings of four major quality awards

Abby Ghobadian, Hong Seng Woo

In an increasingly global and competitive environment, an organization’s long‐term survival may depend on improved quality, productivity and customer service. The pressing need to…

Trend testing in reliability engineering

George A. Bohoris

Considers trend testing in the context of reliability/survival applications. Suggests that the very common tendency in reliability testing to fit lifetime distributions to…

Quality management, problems and pitfalls: a critical perspective

Adrian Wilkinson, Hugh Willmott

Quality initiatives have become widespread in recent years. However, the diverse meanings attached to quality initiatives make it a seductive and slippery philosophy of management…

Transients’ effects on the reliability of programmable electronics

H.K. Tang, Brian Lee

Programmable electronics are particularly susceptible to transients, a form of electromagnetic interference. The widespread use of programmable electronics in many mass‐produced…

Generative and case study research in quality management: Part II: practical examples

Amrik Sohal, Alan Simon, Edmund Lu

Provides two practical examples of Australian quality management studies which have used generative and case study methodologies. Used the generative research strategy to study…

Reliability analysis of GFRP pultruded composite rods

M.H. Abdallah, Enayat M. Abdin, A.I. Selmy, U.A. Khashaba

The mechanical properties of FRP composites have a remarkable scatter, even when the specimens are prepared and tested under identical conditions. Proposes a new computerized…

The PCB industry in Hong Kong and China: A 14‐step implementation strategy for ISO 9002 certification

C.L. Tang, V.M. Rao Tummala

Develops a framework for planning, developing and implementing an effective quality management system to satisfy the ISO 9002 quality assurance standard for any medium‐to…

An improved minimal cut set algorithm

Chakib Kara‐Zaitri

Presents a new qualitative fault tree evaluation algorithm based on bit manipulation techniques for the identification of the largest independent sub‐trees and the subsequent…