The use of quality tools and techniques in product introduction: an assessment methodology

The use and application of the 7 new quality control tools in the manufacturing sector: a global study

Purpose

The main objective of this study is to investigate the 7 new quality control or the 7 new management tools and their use in manufacturing organisations. This research investigates the understanding, knowledge of the tools and the level of application of the tools within the manufacturing sector. In addition, this paper aims to identify the benefits, challenges and critical success factors (CSFs) for the application of the 7 new quality control (QC) tools.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey instrument was developed, and data collection was performed utilising a stratified random sampling strategy. The primary strata/clusters were formed by quality professionals working in all aspects of manufacturing organisations and functions. A total of 86 participants from different countries responded to the survey.

Findings

The main finding of this study is that 10% of participants within the manufacturing sector perceived that the 7 new QC tools could solve above 80% of organisational problems. Another relevant finding presented in this paper is that tree diagrams were the most utilised of the 7 new QC tools within the manufacturing sector. The least utilised tools are arrow diagrams. The common benefits of using 7 new QC tools in the manufacturing sector are helping people define, measure and analyse the problem areas or even prioritises them and providing some form of structure to the problem-solving efforts. This paper also revealed that the 7 new QC tools were most used in the manufacturing area but least utilised in the new products and research and development (R&D) functions. This work also presents a list of CSFs and challenges required to properly apply the 7 new QC tools in the manufacturing sector.

Research limitations/implications

This study was just carried out in manufacturing organisations. It would be interesting to try and expand to services sectors and compare use within the services sector.

Originality/value

Authors understand that this is the very first empirical study analysing the use and understanding of the 7 new QC or management tools within the manufacturing sector. The results of this study represent an important first step towards a complete understanding of the applicability of these tools in continuous improvement programs on a global scale and the context in which they can be utilized.

An empirical study into the use of 7 quality control tools in higher education institutions (HEIs)

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to revisit Ishikawa's statement: “95% of problems in processes can be accomplished using the original 7 Quality Control (QC) tools”. The paper critically investigates the validity of this statement in higher education institutions (HEIs). It involves analysis of the usage of the 7 QC tools and identifying the barriers, benefits, challenges and critical success factors (CSFs) for the application of the 7 QC tools in a HEI setting.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey instrument was developed, and as this is a global study, survey participants were contacted via social networks such as LinkedIn. Target respondents were HEIs educators or professionals who are knowledgeable about the 7 QC tools promulgated by Dr Ishikawa. Professionals who work in administrative sectors, such as libraries, information technology and human resources were included in the study. A number of academics who teach the 7 basic tools of QC were also included in the study. The survey link was sent to over 200 educators and professionals and 76 complete responses were obtained.

Findings

The primary finding of this study shows that the diffusion of seven QC tools is not widespread in the context of HEIs. Less than 8% of the respondents believe that more than 90% of process problems can be solved by applying the 7 QC tools. These numbers show that modern-quality problems may need more than the 7 basic QC basic tools and there may be a need to revisit the role and contribution of these tools to solve problems in the higher education sector. Tools such as Pareto chart and cause and effect diagram have been widely used in the context of HEIs. The most important barriers highlighted are related to the lack of knowledge about the benefits and about how and when to apply these tools. Among the challenges are the “lack of knowledge of the tools and their applications” and “lack of training in the use of the tools”. The main benefits mentioned by the respondents were “the identification of areas for improvement, problem definition, measurement, and analysis”. According to this study, the most important factors critical for the success of the initiative were “management support”, “widespread training” and “having a continuous improvement program in place”.

Research limitations/implications

The exploratory study provides an initial understanding about the 7 QC tools application in HEIs, and their benefits, challenges and critical success factors, which can act as guidelines for implementation in HEIs. Surveys alone cannot provide deeper insights into the status of the application of 7 QC tools in HEIs, and therefore qualitative studies in the form of semi-structured interviews should be carried out in the future.

Originality/value

This article contributes with an exploratory empirical study on the extent of the use of 7 QC tools in the university processes. The authors claim that this is the first empirical study looking into the use of the 7 QC tools in the university sector.

A study on Ishikawa’s original basic tools of quality control in healthcare

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to investigate Ishikawa’s statement that “95% of problems in processes can be accomplished using the 7 Quality Control (QC) tools” and explore its validity within the health-care sector. The study will analyze the usage of the 7 QC tools in the health-care service sector and the benefits, challenges and critical success factors (CSFs) for the application of the 7 QC tools in this sector.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to evaluate Ishikawa’s statement and how valid his statement is for the health-care sector, an online survey instrument was developed, and data collection was performed utilizing a stratified random sampling strategy. The main strata/clusters were formed by health-care professionals working in all aspects of health-care organizations and functions. A total of 168 participants from European health-care facilities responded to the survey.

Findings

The main finding of this study is that 62% of respondents were trained in the 7 QC tools. Only 3% of participants in the health-care sector perceived that the seven tools of QC can solve above 90% of quality problems as originally claimed by Dr Ishikawa. Another relevant finding presented in this paper is that Histograms, Cause and Effect diagrams and check sheets are the most used tools in the health-care sector. The least used tools are Stratification and Scatter diagrams. This paper also revealed that the 7 QC tools proposed by Dr Ishikawa were most used in hospital wards and in administration functions. This work also presents a list of CSFs required for the proper application of the 7 QC tools in healthcare.

Research limitations/implications

This research was carried out in European health-care facilities – and there is an opportunity to expand the study across global health-care facilities. There is also an opportunity to study the use of the tools and their impact on hospital performance using the Action Research methodology in a health-care organization.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the very first research within the health-care sector that focused on investigating the usage of all the 7 basic tools and challenging Dr Ishikawa’s statement: “95% of problems in processes can be accomplished using the 7 Quality Control (QC) tools” from his book “What is Quality Control?” The results of this study represent an important first step toward a full understanding of the applicability of these tools in the health-care sector.

A study on the Ishikawa's original basic tools of quality control in South American companies: results from a pilot survey and directions for further research

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to revisit Dr. Ishikawa's statement: “95% of problems in processes can be accomplished using the seven quality control (QC) tools” from his book “What is Quality Control?”. The authors are interested in critically investigating if this statement is still valid nowadays. It involves the analysis of the usage of the seven QC tools in the manufacturing and service sectors and the benefits, challenges and critical success factors (CSFs) for the application of the seven QC tools.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to evaluate Kaoru Ishikawa's statement and how valid his statement is for manufacturing and service industries nowadays, an online survey instrument was developed, and data collection was performed utilising a stratified random sampling strategy. The main strata/clusters were formed by senior quality professionals working in operational excellence, quality consultants, quality directors, quality engineers, quality managers and quality supervisors working in both manufacturing and service sectors from South American companies. A total of 97 participants from different countries in South America responded to the survey.

Findings

The main finding of this study is that only about 20% of respondents felt that the original seven basic tools of QC can solve above 80% of quality related problems in their businesses. This is quite different from the findings reported by Dr Ishikawa in his work in between 1970 and 1980s. Another relevant finding presented in this paper is that Pareto analysis, histograms and cause and effect analysis are the most used tools in both manufacturing and service sectors. This paper also revealed that the seven QC tools proposed by Dr. Ishikawa were least used by human resources (HR), information technology (IT) and finance functions. This work presents a list of critical success factors required for the proper application of the seven QC tools.

Research limitations/implications

All data collected in the pilot survey came from professionals working for South American companies. So, this paper does present limitations in terms of generalisation of the results. Also, data were collected at an individual level, so parameters such as the inter reliability of judgements on a particular survey item could not be evaluated. It is important to highlight that n = 97 is a low sample size, enough for a preliminary survey but reinforcing the limitation in terms of generalisation of the results.

Originality/value

Authors understand that this is the very first research focused on challenging Dr. Ishikawa's statement: “95% of problems in processes can be accomplished using the seven quality control (QC) tools” from his book “What is Quality Control?”. The results of this study represent an important first step towards a full understanding of the applicability of these tools in manufacturing and service industries in a global scale.

The Delphi hierarchy process-based study of quality engineering in Malaysia and Indonesia automotive companies

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to empirically evaluate the critical factors for successful quality engineering (QE) implementation in automotive-related companies in Malaysia and Indonesia. The existence of these critical factors for the successful application of QE would help the automotive industries, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, to be able to investigate their current QE practices and how they could be improved.

Design/methodology/approach

– Delphic hierarchy process (DHP) methodology is used in this study. The DHP method is a combination of the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach for determining the ranking of the factors and sub factors needed for successful QE implementation. The Delphi method is employed to gather data from automotive experts in both countries and the AHP approach is used to rank the critical factors for success of QE practices.

Findings

– The findings of this study showed that the automotive industries in Malaysia and Indonesia stressed the importance of management responsibility and people management for the successful implementation of QE. Strategic quality planning, continuous improvement, and technology- and production-related resources are the most important sub factors for successful QE in both countries.

Research limitations/implications

– The series of rounds that took place during the Delphi method increased the length of time required for data collection and the follow-up process. On the basis of the consideration given, the limited resources included time, financial resources, and technical availability for this study, which resulted in the small sample sizes used.

Practical implications

– The ranking of the critical factors and sub factors for QE implementation could be useful for automotive-related companies in Malaysia and Indonesia to create action plans for improving their QE implementation.

Originality/value

– The instrument that was developed is a contribution toward characterizing critical factors for QE. Using DHP methodology, nine factors and 31 sub factors have been validated through a series of rounds of the Delphi method. It was developed based on industry experts’ inputs. Therefore, the critical factors represent actual situation for QE success.

A survey of total quality management in Iran

PURPOSE

The objective of this research is to investigate the success of TQM and barriers to its successful implementation in health care services organizations in Isfahan province, Iran, 2004.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

This descriptive and cross-sectional research was done via two questionnaires (TQM success and its barriers). The statistical population of this research consists of all managers of health care services organizations who implemented TQM in their organizations (90 managers).

FINDINGS

TQM success in Isfahan health care organizations was high. In correlation analyses between the success of TQM and its principles, success, process management and focus on employees had a positive and the greatest effect and focus on material resources and on suppliers had a lower effect. In correlation analysis between the barriers to TQM and the problem dimensions, human resource, strategic and structural problems were the most important obstacles and barriers to TQM successful implementation respectively.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS

Although conducted in Iran, it is anticipated that the findings may well have relevance on a broader scale.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

By replicating this study in different countries and contexts the results could be very fruitful for developing a model of TQM that can be implemented easily, effectively, efficiently and successfully in a cross-cultural context.