Quality Management

[quote="lazerus"]Hi,
Can anyone recommend a good book on Quality Management in manufacturing? [/quote]

One that comes to mind is The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. It's more about ongoing improvement in manufacturing, but has some very wise thoughts about quality management as well.

You can read a brief synopsis at [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal[/url] or [url]http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884270610[/u…]

I hope that helps you get started.

I'll have more answers shortly, but for now, I must agree with the recommendation of the Goal. It's certainly the only book about manufacturing that made me nearly cry, it's such a great story. It deals with Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC), and while that may not be how this person chooses to attack his issues, it's a powerful book with many lessons.

AND the easiest - it's told as a story, and as simple as it is, it's pretty darn gripping.

Mark

[quote="lazerus"]Hi,
Can anyone recommend a good book on Quality Management in manufacturing? [/quote]

I like W. Edward Deming. Read "Out of Crisis" and you'll discover where the Toyota methods come from. Out of Crisis seems a bit preachy at times, but the foundation that it can give you is good.

A very sharp friend and client of mine who is a plant manager sent me the following. If he says it, it's good.

"I would recommend "Lean Thinking" by James Womack. He also has a website called the Lean Institute. The url is: http://www.lean.org/. It is free and can provide regular emails with updates."

Mark

Hi all,
Thanks so much for the ideas. I'm off to the library!

Maybe your question is a bit too broad. Qualitymanagement has many different/additional schools of thinking (Iso, BPR, ToC, EFQM, Lean, CMMi, 6 sigma) although the godfather is almost always Deming.

How knows a good book on management, or are we all waiting :wink:

Kaspar

Kaspar is correct, quality management is a huge subject. If it is LEAN thinking then Mike's suggestion regarding Womack and the Institute is a good one. You will find articles, books reviews and a very well used forum.

I enjoyed 'The Goal' - it's just great reading decent fiction about management or business (sad or what!). But I found it a fantastic way to explain the Theory of Constraints but short on the actual 'how to'.

A lean version of the The Goal is [url=http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Mine-Novel-Lean-Turnaround/dp/0974322563]The Gold Mine[/url]. This explains LEAN and has a good 'how to' element.

I generally agree with all the books mentioned above. If you want to understand LEAN's origins read the Machine That Changed The World. It's the classic that first documented what Toyota did and gave it the term LEAN.

[quote="JohnGMacAskill"]
I enjoyed 'The Goal' - it's just great reading decent fiction about management or business (sad or what!). But I found it a fantastic way to explain the Theory of Constraints but short on the actual 'how to'.

A lean version of the The Goal is [url=http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Mine-Novel-Lean-Turnaround/dp/0974322563]The Gold Mine[/url]. This explains LEAN and has a good 'how to' element.

[/quote]

I enjoyed all the ToC books but they did come across as a bit of a hook to sell consulting services on implementation.

[i]The Toyota Way[/i] is a good read... I did not like [i]LEAN thinking[/i] very much, but I thought the [i]The Toyota Way [/i] was very good. I have to say though, [i]The Goal [/i]is the best book on manufacturing I have ever read and should be on everyones must read list.
- Ben

Greetings,
I read "The Goal", and "Lean Thinking". Both have concepts which are applicable, especially "Lean Thinking". I also have read a lot of articles from the Lean Enterprise Institute.

At a large company, small process improvements get multiplied across a large volume to produce economy of scale. So implementing ToC or Lean practices produces big measurable results. We are a small company, and implementing quality management doesn't appear at first to have the same impact as it would at the large company. However, there is another economy of scale that goes on here. What might be a small error, or a slower than neccessary process, at a large organization, is a BIG error at the small company. The error takes up a larger total percentage of available resources, increasing its importance to the whole. One employee affects a total of 50 more than one out of 50,000. I mention this idea because one of the resistance issues for change is the old "we don't have time, we're a small company, we have to keep the work moving, etc." But relative to total throughput, if one does the math, process improvement could potetially have a much bigger impact in the small business.

I will read "The Toyota Way". Thanks for the suggestion!

[quote="JohnGMacAskill"]If you want to understand LEAN's origins read the [i]Machine That Changed The World[/i]. It's the classic that first documented what Toyota did and gave it the term LEAN.[/quote]

I agree this book is the start of the Lean interpretation of Toyota's management system into the English language. But it is a hard read. specially compared to the other books mentioned.

Kaspar

 Well,
My first posting at manager tools.  Here is my recommendation.
Juran's Quality Control Handbook - McGraw Hill.  I know..... I know.... it is outdated. But it has been on my desk (3 editions) at every job for 30 years. Through all the new programs of Quality Assurance..... Zero Defects, TQM, ...... ISO ... Six Sigma et al. It is my first reach when I am faced with a new industry or process that needs Quality attention.  Lean, Six Sigma, Continual Improvement come after I understand the industry and quality requirements of the customer.
Good Luck. 
DickGent