Quality engineering question
Please read the pages and make a short and clear summary of them with your own words please. Mention only the necessary important parts
Also, you will put your comments and ideas about the topic briefly
It is what you understand
You must prepare neat the summary
Thank you
Transcribed Image Text: Basking in their prosperity, U.S. manufacturers were slow
to catch on that the game had changed from mass produc-
their productivity by making t
leaders to help level the playing field among nations by
correcting the inhibitors explained in this section. These
inhibitors fall into the following categories: business- and
government-related factors, family-related factors, and ed-
ucation-related factors.
individual worker more ef-
tion with acceptable levels of waste to quality production ficient. Most new entrants into the workforce during the 1970s
and 1980s were people who had not worked previously, primar-
ily women. This influx of new workers helped the United States
maintain its traditionally high level of productivity. However,
by the 1990s, the gains that could be made by increasing the
number of people in the workforce had been made.
with things done right the first time every time to provide
superior value for customers. The old game was best cost.
had become best cost and best quality.
When
hew game
foreign
companies-through a combination of better train-
ing, better technology, and better management-began to
cat away at markets, U.S. companies, mistakenly seeing cost
Business- and Government-Related Factors
From 2010 to the foreseeable future, the number of
Those U.S. companies trying to compete in the global mar-
ketplace are rowing upstream while dragging an anchor.
Actually, they drag three anchors. This was pointed out
many years ago by W. Edwards Deming when he first set
forth his Seven Deadly Discases. His second, sixth, and sev-
enth deadly diseases are as follows:
rather than quality as the issue, began sending work offshore people in the prime working-years age groups in the United
to hold down labor costs. By the time U.S. companies learned States will be on the decline.' As the size of the workforce
quality and value were key to success in the global mar-
ketplace,
major inroads into global markets previously dominated by
U.S. manufacturers
consumer electronics). In a relatively short period of time,
the United States went from the world's leading lender and
exporter to the world's biggest debtor, with a huge balance-
of-trade deficit. By 1980, the United States was consuming
continues the downward trend that began in the early
1990s, the only way to improve productivity will be to do
what other industrialized countries have done-concentrate
on improving the efficiency of individual workers, In other
words, businesses in the United States will need to more
that
Jaрan,
Germany, Taiwan, and Korea had made
s (e.g., steel, automobiles, computers, and
get
work out of fewer workers. As some businesses have already
learned, the best way to do this is to adopt the total quality
- Emphasis on short-term profits fed by fear of unfriendly
takeover attempts and pressure from lenders or
shareholders
philosophy.
. Excessive medical costs
. Excessive costs of liability inflated by lawyers working on
contingency fees
Figure 2.2 contains several vignettes relating to the quality
of life in the United States. This figure presents either a bleak
picture of bad times to come or an unprecedented national
challenge. To meet the challenge, companies in the United
States will have to produce world-class value, which will re-
quire a commitment to superior quality, cost, and service.
more than it produced and the trend continues to this day.
Impact of Competitiveness on Quality of Life
Each of these diseases adds cost to a company's products
without adding value. Nothing could be worse when viewed
from the perspective of competitiveness. A company might
equal all competitors point for point on all quality and pro-
ductivity criteria and still lose in the marketplace because
it is a victim of deadly discases that drive up the cost of its
product.
Excessive medical costs and litigation, primarily re-
lated to workers' compensation, have also slanted the play-
ing field in favor of foreign competitors. The annual cost of
workers' compensation to U.S. businesses is almost $30 bil-
lion. This is a non-value-added cost that increases the price
these businesses must charge for their products. Litigation
and the associated legal costs have made tort reform an issue
in the U.S. Congress and in the legislatures of most states.
However, intense lobbying by trial lawyers has prevented any
A nation's ability to compete in the global marketplace has
a direct bearing on the quality of life of its citizens. Because
the ability to compete translates into the ability to do a better
job of producing quality goods, it is critical that nations and FACTORS INHIBITING
individual organizations within them focus their policies, COMPETITIVENESS
systems, and resources in a coordinated way on continually
improving both quality and
The United States began the first decade of the new cen-
Improving competitiveness on a national scale is no simple
matter. Much can be done at the level of the individual com-
competitiveness.
on the precipice of a growing gap between the pany, where the total quality approach can be applied to
have-nots. While Canada, France, Germany, great advantage, but competitiveness on a national scale re-
poised
haves and
Italy, Japan, Sweden, and Great Britain have taken steps to quires more than just total quality. Students of quality man-
link economics, education, and labor market policy in ways agement must understand this point. Failure to understand
that promote
bating the need for an industrial policy and struggling to re-
verse the decline of its public schools.
During the 1980s, the United States improved productiv-
tury
competitiveness,
the United States is still de- the limits of total quality has caused some business leaders to
expect too much too soon. This, as a result, has turned them
into detractors.
COMPETITIVENESS
AND THE U.S. ECONOMY
significant tort reform.
Overcoming these business-related inhibitors will re-
quire business and government to work together in a posi-
tive, constructive partnership to enact policies that will
This section describes factors that can inhibit competi-
The United States came out of World War II as the only major Hy by putting more people to work. Other countries improved tiveness but are beyond the scope of total quality They are
industrialized nation with its manufacturing sector completely
intact. A well-oiled manufacturing sector and the availability of
abundant raw materials helped the United States become the
world leader in the production and export of durable
This resulted in a period of unparalleled prosperity and one of
the highest standards of living ever experienced by any country.
While the United States was enjoying its position as
the world's preeminent economic superpower, the other
industrialized nations of the world, particularly Japan and
Germany, were busy rebuilding their manufacturing sectors.
As Japanese and German manufacturers rebuilt, two things
became apparent to them:
socioeconomic and sociopolitical in nature and are indig-
enous to the United States. In the age of global competi-
tion, managers should apply the principles of total quality
to help make their individual organizations more competi-
tive. Simultaneously, they should work through the politi-
cal and social systems as private citizens and community
reduce these non-value-added costs to a minimum. To ac-
QUALITY TIP
complish this goal, the United States will have to under-
take major restructuring of its financial, legal, and medical
goods.
The United States and the Global Marketplace
systems.
Companies in the United States have had to learn the hard way
that the key to winning in the global marketplace is consistently
providing superior value for customers. Superior value consists
of superior quality, cost, and service. By the time this realiza-
tion set in, the U.S. companies in such sectors as automobiles
• Many of the higher paying manufacturing jobs are being exported to foreign
countries.
• The number of people having to work at more than one job to maintain their
quality of life has increased continually since the 1960s.
• The most financially rewarding work years have historicaily been those between
ages 40 and 50. In the 1950s, people in this age bracket experienced a 36%
increase in real income. By 2008, their counterparts had experienced a decline in
real income and the trend continues.
and consumer electronics had lost substantial market share to
their competitors in Japan, Korea, and such emerging industrial
nations as China and indonesia. The companies, regardless of
their country of origin, that will survive and thrive in the global
marketplace are those that can (1) achieve consistent peak
performance from people, processes, suppliers, managernent
systems,
liver superior value and (2) continually improve what passes for
peak performance.
1. To succeed, they would have to compete globally.
d ll
that can
ability
• The gap between the haves and have-nots is growing
2. To compete globally, they would have to produce goods
of world-class quality, which meant producing better
goods but at reasonable, competitive prices.
FIGURE 2.2 Quality of Life Issues in the United States.