quality

Mobile Technology: a FATAL error

Posted on by f1212ekuduzovic

Mobile technology exists almost anywhere we go today. Whether we carry it with us or whether we just interact with it at work or school, mobile technology is a big part of our daily lives. But what happens when mobile technology takes complete control and affects the quality of our work?

The healthcare sector is one area where mobile technology is making a major impact. While hospital, physicians, and nurses have adopted mobile technology to help reduce errors, mobile technology seems to be doing just the opposite in this field.

More doctors and nurses are relying on mobile technology for day to day tasks. The technology is meant to help prevent common types of errors. However, some doctors have reported that there is a lack of control on these mobile devices. Doctors and nurses are using mobile phones and iPads to browse the internet at their own convenience. Anything from checking personal email, browsing Facebook, and shopping online goes. What is even scarier is that this is occurring during important surgeries and when attention should be on the patients – and not mobile technology.

Already, medical errors due to mobile technology have occurred. A neurosurgeon was making personal calls during a surgery. This resulted in the patient being paralyzed. In another report, 55% of technicians who monitor bypass machines during heart surgeries said they talked on their phones and half said they texted.

Some doctors are outraged by the abuse of mobile devices in the medical world. While some are trying to implement some kind of control, it seems to be a hard effort. Most medical schools now encourage students to use iPads while in schools. Some schools like the Stanford Medical School are even giving students free iPads. Once they begin their professional careers, it becomes hard to decrease dependence on such devices.

Personally, I think that this is a very scary situation. I understand that technology is just about everywhere, but to have doctors and technicians use mobile devices while a surgery is being performed – seems very frightening to me. There needs to be a stricter control system in place that monitors what devices can be brought into an operating room. Doctors should not be making personal phone calls while operating on someone and technicians should not be texting while monitoring operating machines.

With the types of quality control standards that we discussed in class (ISO 9000, Six Sigma, and the Baldrige performance) I think that hospitals should look at Baldrige criteria. One of the criteria in Baldrige performance is workforce focus. Workforce focus deals with the workforce environment and building an effective workforce environment. It also looks at how you can engage your workforce to achieve organizational and personal success. Mobile technology could be monitored by Baldrige criteria. By looking at these types of issues, hospitals could improve how technology in the work environment affects quality and success outcomes.

What do you think? What kind of measures could be implemented so that mobile technology is controlled better in hospitals?

Source:   http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/health/as-doctors-use-more-devices-potential-for-distraction-grows.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Which Japanese company should I analyze for quality management, Atlas Copco or Mr. Sparkle?

Posted on by f1223zmoy

Even though I am a big Simpsons fan, I will have to choose Atlas Copco. I will analyze an Atlas Copco’s Japanese division’s emphasis on quality, which in turn is related to how the factory addresses prevention cost.

My primary source for this post is this two and a half minute video, entitled “A career at Atlas Copco: Quality Control engineer.” The interviewee’s name is Shinpei Muto and he works in an Atlas Copco surface drilling factory in Japan.

A career at Atlas Copco: Quality Control engineer

As the 34 second mark shows, Atlas Copco’s first priority is customer satisfaction. Furthermore, at the 39 second mark, the mission of this factory “is to provide world-class safety and top quality, as well as an environmentally friendly product and service” (AtlasCopcoGroup). One way the factory addresses customer satisfaction, and thus their mission, is through quality control. As the quality control engineer, Mr. Muto’s duties include inspecting the “incoming parts[,] as well as the final check on the product before shipping” (AtlasCopcoGroup).

Mr. Muto’s job is important because in order for the customer to be satisfied, the customer must receive a fully functioning, Atlas Copco drill. The customers presumably have high expectations as they are expecting a top quality drill equipped with world class safety. As our book’s pages 190-191 discusses, quality improves reputation and reduces the risk of product liability. At the bare minimum, Atlas Copco wants to maintain its reputation as a world class company. At the 1:16 mark, Mr. Muto raises the concern that a product with a loose bolt could be a serious problem. The serious problem is of course costly litigation that will most likely involve the international courts. Mr. Muto wants to prevent this because product liability lawsuits will hurt the Atlas Copco image, as well as cost him his job.

At 1:38, we learn that Atlas Copco provides the opportunity for employees to take 40 hours of training per year. From this fact, I assume Atlas Copco as a whole does this and not solely Mr. Muto’s factory. By offering training, Atlas Copco is addressing one of the four major categories of costs that are associated with quality; prevention cost. Prevention costs are costs that are “associated with reducing the potential for defective parts or services” (Heizer and Render 192). By offering training, Atlas Copco is reducing the likelihood for defective parts, and thus live up to their mission.

Questions

How can you compare Atlas Copco’s emphasis on quality with that of your job?

Does your workplace account for any of the four major categories of costs associated with quality? (Prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal failure, and external costs).

 

Works Cited

AtlasCopcoGroup. “A Career at Atlas Copco: Quality Control Engineer.” YouTube. YouTube, 02 May 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDp2SDhzMmQ>.

Heizer, Jay H., and Barry Render. “Managing Quality.” Principles of Operations Management. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2011. 207. Print.

The Dark side of Drugs

Posted on by f1222cgaspar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the past few years, drug companies have been neglecting their factories and operating under illegal conditions. Six of the major drug companies for injectable drugs have been warned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about serious violations of manufacturing rules. Four of these six have actually been forced to close factories and significantly slow production in order to fix the problems. A few of the extreme violations include inspectors finding bugs floating in viles of drugs, morphine containing up to twice the labeled dosage, manufacturing plants with rusty tools and mold in production areas, and in one extreme case- a barrel of urine in the midst of the operating facility.

A lot of these violations have caused drug companies to produce faulty product, which in in turn results in a recall of their drugs; costing the company thousands of dollars in lawsuits and causing the factories to work over time to make up for the lack of product from the recall. So, why are these problems  not getting fixed?  It sounds like cleaning a factory or shutting it down for a bit in order to fix problems to meet healthy and safety codes can’t be too difficult, right?  Well, the drug companies keep brushing their violations under the rug and biting the bullet and paying for the fines because stopping production for them is too costly. The drug companies would rather pay the fine and keep producing rather than shut down for a couple days. In a business where profits are driven by volume, shutting down means huge losses. Many of the basic drugs are already selling for less than a dollar a vile and are made in batches of tens of thousands of viles. Many times, these viles run on lines that operate for 24 hours at a time.

This problem is then made even worse when patents on drugs expire, causing other companies to make the same drug and sell it at a lower price. This cut throat environment between companies competing for the lowest production costs is taking its tole by resulting in recalls of drugs and even outbreaks of sicknesses from various medicines produced in unclean manufacturing plants.

After learning about quality management in our last class, I think drug company standards need to change and laws should be put into place that require these companies to operate under six sigma or ISO 9000 quality standards. Recalls on drugs have the potential to be deadly, and drug companies should’t need to put profit above the importance of adhering to health and safety standards. After learning about quality management, inventory management, and operations strategy, do you have any ideas on a solution to this problem? Do you think that the FDA should enforce their laws in more standardized way? Will this become a never ending problem due to implicit conditions?

 

http://www.telegram.com/article/20121018/NEWS/110189772/1116

 

 

iPad’s Little Brother

Posted on by f1223hlodhia

Apple Inc., one of the world’s largest innovators, has, once again, announced the launch of a new product: a smaller version of their best-selling iPad Tablet. Once again, early adopters and loyal customers flock to see the newest hype that the company has to offer.

After being under the scope of the public for their iPad, Apple Inc. has decided to take on the challenge of creating a product that can compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, Google’s Nexus 7, and others. Previously, many customers had complained that the iPad itself was very large and heavy compared to its competitors., as well as being very costly. Although Apple has not commented about any specific features about the product itself, many excited and loyal Apple customers have come up with their own list of potential features and rumors of production that Apple may consider when creating the mini iPad since the company is known to put customer satisfaction at the top of their priorities.

First, a “major Apple investor” has publicly claimed that the iPad mini will be unveiled on October 17th, 2012 and that the official launch date of product will be November 2nd, 2012, which gives customers plenty of time to obtain the new creation for the upcoming holiday season.

Second, rumor has it that the iPad mini will have a 7.85 inch liquid crystal display (LCD) with a 2,048-by-1,536 pixel resolution, although the screen will not have the same retina display of the original sized iPad. This may be to simply keep the cost of the product lower and more affordable to the public.

Since the cost in the market is a major driving factor behind this new product, there has been some speculation that the cost and price was also very important to Apple. There were many concerns that the iPad was priced too high for many people, which is why Apple decided to come out with a newer, more cost effective alternative for those people who do not want to spend $399-$499 on the iPad. Instead, it is expected that the iPad mini will retail for about $249, which is slightly higher than the prices of its major competitors.

Along with the rumors of its features and displays, there have been some claims that people have obtained leaked photos of the final product. Some of the physical attributes that can be seen in the final product are:

  • Wi-Fi adaption
  • nano SIM tray for cellular connectivity (thought to be for a pricier model)
  • An 8-pin “Lightning” connector found
  • A microphone jack in the same upperleft corner as current iPads
  • Aluminum backing
  • volume buttons on the right side of the tablet with a switch
  • rear-facing camera
  • two speaker grilles at the bottom

The last major rumor about the iPad mini is the location of production. Although nothing has been confirmed by Apple, production has been thought to be in China and Brazil.

 

Potential leaked photo of the new iPad mini

More information about can be found at http://shopping.yahoo.com/blogs/digital-crave/ipad-mini-almost-know-162420535.html

Quality Pioneer in Trouble !!!

Posted on by f1213araza

 

When we discuss quality management philosophies, Toyota and Total Quality Management is always discussed. The name Toyota was synonymous with quality because they pioneered and mastered the philosophy of TQM. In management 301, TQM was introduced as the “Toyota Way”. So why is toyota in trouble? What happened?? what went wrong?

The Toyota quality lapse officially started in sep 2009 with Toyota recalling 3.8million US vehicles due to floor mat problems causing the accelerator to get stuck. Next official recalling was announced in 2010 for the same problem but this time without the presence of floor mats and included 4 models, Rav4, Corolla, Camry and highlander. Further more, the same year, jan 2010, Toyota temporarily suspended sales and production of the models involved in the pedal issue. Next on February 9 2010, Toyota recalls 437,000 prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix break issues. Same year, on 12th February recalls about 8000 tacoma pickup trucks to fix propeller shift problems that cause the vehicle to lose control.

Experts say that the company expanded rapidly over the past decade to capitalize on the strong demand but failed to train staff to meet the company’s high quality standards. Part of the reason for the quality lapse is directed towards the growing demand and shifting of production outside japan.  Koji Ando, An analyst at Advanced Research Japan says, “Toyota knows it can never go back to the things used to be. It is still going to cut costs; it is still going to localize manufacturing. Furthermore, Toyota is known as a follower of Demings philosophy which states improving quality lead to reduced costs due to less rework, fewer mistakes, fewer delays and better use of machine-time and material which in turn improves productivity. Which will furthermore lead to larger market share and more business. Again the same question, what happened?

If Deming’s was asked, he would say,” 94% of all the problems in the workplace are problems not with the workers, and not their performance but with the SYSTEM.”

What could be the reason behind the massive quality lapse in toyota production system? are the labors to be blamed or the management?

http://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota+voluntary+safety+recalls+certain+camry+venza+tacoma+march12.htm

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-10/us/timeline.toyota_1_toyota-recalls-high-profile?_s=PM:US

No Quality in Technology

Posted on by f1222akrippinger

It used to be that when we set out in to the marketplace in search of that new must have product there is one criterion that almost everyone has in common, we want something that is of high quality.  It goes with just about everything that we buy.  You want the car that is going to last you the longest, the produce that is the absolute freshest, or the clothing that is made of the finest fabrics. Now, in the market of technology, we seem to be putting this desire for quality on the back burner just as long as we have the technology before everyone else.

Just last week it was that time of year when Apple had their latest version of the iPhone come to market, the iPhone 5.  Over the years, without fail, the first round of phones had some type of defect ranging from a bad antenna to the latest problem of software that is just not ready for the consumer market. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444712904578024170366547916.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read  Although these problems occur time and time again people still flock to wait in line to be one of the lucky few that can say they have the latest version of the phone.  This makes me wonder how concerned our society is with the quality of the goods that they are purchasing.  We have created a market where it is no big deal if your company’s product works in the way that was promised, as long as it is a hot piece of technology.
http://allthingsd.com/20120930/apple-backs-away-from-earlier-map-claims-as-complaints-continue/?KEYWORDS=apple

Although our society states that it wants the highest quality of products our purchasing habits of technology tells a different story.  The biggest news stories on the technology market are the failures of Apple’s new mapping software and other quality issues.  Even so, Apple is having trouble keeping the new phones on the shelf.  The technology industry has become vital to almost everything we do on a daily basis, especially in the world of business, so why are we all so willing to cut the market so much slack when we hold others to such high standards?

 

Internet Too Slow? Google Says: Get up to Speed!

Posted on by f1212mgarcia

We live in an era in which information is sent and received at amazing speeds. However, one company has chosen to challenge today’s widely accepted internet speeds and has chosen to come up with a product that leaves other internet service providers in the dust. Google, has recently introduced their new form of internet called “Google Fiber”, and although it has not been introduced to a wide market it has had great success so far in their test location of Kansas City, MO. As with any other products that Google introduces, there has been quite a high demand for their new service. However, with a product like Google’s, how much exactly will their new product cost and will it be able to keep up with current market demand and current market prices? The answer however, is that Google’s new product will not only be just as costly as today’s Internet Service Providers, but they are also guaranteeing to be 100 times faster than current internet speeds. This currently means that loading and streaming time will suffer zero to no buffer time which is something that many Internet providers seem to frustrate their customers with. However, how exactly is Google setting up their prices in comparison to their internet speeds?  As explained by Google:

  • A one -time $300 Fiber install fee  and receive a  guaranteed Internet service for 7 years (No additional fees)
  • Waive the $300 , and it’s $70 per month for the super-fast Internet service (one gigabit upload & download; no data caps)
  • Top tier is $120 per month

As discussed in class, there are many different challenges for a company to break through barriers in a market. However, with Porter’s barriers to entry in mind, it seems that Google is the one raising the bar for all the other Internet Service Providers. With their new product being introduced and starting to become demanded by larger markets, it is not long before Google and their new internet service can take over and dominate the internet market. But what exactly is making Google’s new internet so special and so highly demanded? Is it simply because they are providing a brand new service that has higher quality fibers or simply because they are slow to release their product? It is without a doubt that Google’s new product may very well become the new standard, but how exactly will they be able to convince all the existing Internet Service Provider’s to change their entire system, for a higher quality data cable? Google is not only trying to raise the bar for all the other companies, but it seems that Google may very well be trying to drive out some of these companies as well.

http://business.time.com/2012/09/14/with-google-fiber-search-giant-issues-public-challenge-get-up-to-speed/

Quality Control Testing; Methods That Don’t Work

Posted on by f1211kdebiase

http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10336

“Study Suggests Raising the Bar for Olive Oil Quality Control”

Recently UC Davis conducted a study on the effectiveness of quality control tests for the commonly used food product Olive Oil. This seems like a small detail in food regulation and not something to think twice about, however the majority of oils sold to companies in the food-service industry was below standard. Researchers found that various brands of Olive Oils were able to pass the chemical tests that are used for quality control, however failed most sensory tests- done by blind tastings- where products were described as “rancid” and “musty.” Not necessarily the type of product you want to consume. Another fault that researchers discovered, was that most products did not list where or when the product was produced. This could lead to rotten oils or bad products being sold to consumers. Because of these results, researchers at UC Davis believe that quality testing of Olive Oils should be revised to create “more accurate and less expensive tests and to develop innovative packaging that will extend olive oil freshness” (www.news.ucdavis.edu).

This article reminds me of Deming’s Red Bead Experiment which we performed last week in class. The Quality Control for the test required two “Inspectors” to count all of the red beads that were produced in each workers batch and then have a “Chief Inspector” verify these results and submit them to be recorded. While there were always some defects in the batches produced, nothing was ever done to correct the process by which the product was created. The researchers at UC Davis mentioned that about 10% of the oils tested were “adulterated” and made of other oils such as canola oil, instead of pure olive oil. While the article did not say how many of the products tested did not pass the chemical tests, I would think that there were defective products in most batches- especially in the modified oils- that did not pass the chemical tests. I wonder how many Olive Oil companies then changed their processes and how many maintained the old process, factoring in defects as an expected occurrence.

The manufacturing of Olive Oil relates well to Deming’s Experiment. These companies may not realize that their production processes are flawed and are solely relying on the feedback of basic chemical testing for quality assessment. Two of Deming’s Fourteen Points for a better organization are “Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality” and “Constantly and forever improve the system of production and service.” It seems that based on the research done by UC Davis, most of the Olive Oil industry needs to look at Deming’s philosophies and revise their thinking on quality and the processes in production, something most companies may need to review in their operations.

Can you think of any other companies that base their quality measurements on testing that may not be relevant to the actual quality of their product?

Samsung Galaxy S III isn’t quite an iPhone Killer

Posted on by justinas301s12

Recently I have read a review article on the newest Samsung phone, the Galaxy S III which came out this month. The Galaxy S III is the latest and the most ambitious phone from Samsung, which is available in most of the US, carries such as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and a few others for around 200$ with a 2-year contract. While Samsung was aiming high with their newest phone and introducing a lot of new features, trying to cater to the customer’s wants and needs, according to the review it felt short due to some of its features not working properly.(http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/20/tech/mobile/wired-review-samsung-galaxy/index.html)

This week we have learned a lot about the design of goods and services, from the product decision process, to the ethical considerations involved in it. There are many decisions that have to be made and many aspects that have to be taken into consideration when creating something new or even when trying to improve a product. Samsung newest innovation the Galaxy S III has definitely undergone many decisions involving the price, software, design, as well as the different apps that are designed to use on only for this phone. The price of the phone is pretty affordable, as long as the customer would be willing to sign up for a contract with their service provider. The other good thing about the phone is that it is sold across the five US carriers. The phone also offers fast processing, a new voice recognition feature called S Voice, a display that is sharp and bright and a very light body. While this newer version of the Samsung Galaxy has been a big improvement, it still is not quite enough to over shine some other phones such as iPhone or One X. Some negative things that were pointed about the phone were, that the new feature S Voice is not really working properly and is no match to Apple’s Siri, also the sharing features are not really thought through out and could be improved upon. As many other phones out in the market place, this phone is not perfect, all of the phones have some features that still might need to be improved on. Even with its few flaws, I believe that this phone is a great new product that caters to most of the customers needs with its low price, easy accessibility and newly innovated features.

 

What do you think about the Galaxy S III?  Is it a product worth buying?

ROLEX: The Art of Watchmaking

Posted on by Ali Shubbar

Whenever you produce a product that is unique, there has to be something unique as well in the way of producing it.

Rolex came to my mind directly with a series of questions:
What makes Rolex watches unique from other brand watches around the world?
What are the distinctive features of the environment in which Rolex watches are manufactured?
What are the distinctive characteristics of the Rolex employees that make the watches?

 

At Rolex, men and women who service and produce these machines are considered artists, who blend both science and design to create these master pieces of art. They understand the interplay between all the materials used, and combine all the thoughts needed to create an object that is a reflection of care and intent. At the end, they believe that it is a piece of living art that is greater than the sum of its parts. Furthermore, and this is the heart of Rolex, people who work on watches are very passionate, have incredible ideas and are always excited to produce such products. Hence, when
you are caring, passionate and enjoying what you are doing, you will do it with the utmost attention and care. And that is the secret at Rolex when producing their luxurious watches. It is like producing a thing with pleasant feelings and creating another soul.

From another angle, the workshops where the watchmakers work are very much organized. Managers say that the person is expected to work in a library like atmosphere (i.e. clean and quite) that will enable the watchmaker to focus and to be comfortable. I believe, watchmaking is not for everybody, it requires talent, time management, commitment and patience.  What adds to all of this as well is dealing with very delicate and expensive products. Not to mention, adding the jewelry further pressurize the watchmaker.

At Rolex they will only bring people who believe that working as a watchmaker is the right career at the right time.

I searched until I found this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGd4XHfG-G8

Enjoy every bit of it!!