Deming - A Living Article. Welcome to ASQ San Diego Welcome to San Diego, California's Section 703 of The American Society for Quality. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ASQ is the world's leading membership organization devoted to quality. We have the knowledge, tools, expertise and resources to inspire you and your organization. Join ASQ and we'll help you achieve ASQ's registered motto "Make Good Great®".
ASQ traces its beginnings to the end of World War II, as quality experts and manufacturers sought ways to sustain the many quality-improvement techniques used during wartime. Our section (703) was formed January 1, 1952 by a group of aerospace workers and other quality professionals sponsored by General Dynamics in Kearny Mesa, San Diego, California. Our Vision is to make quality a global priority, an organizational imperative, and a personal ethic, the American Society for Quality becomes the community for everyone who seeks quality technology, concepts, or tools to improve themselves and their world. Quality America Document Control and SPC Software, Lean Six Sigma Training. Deming's Funnel Experiment Simulator: Training through Simulation: Symphony Technologies: Informal organizational Structure.
The big contribution of the late 19th century to organizations was the notion of rationality. The essence of what Weber, Fayol, Taylor and all those other classical theorists were saying was try to organize in a rational manner. Rather than make your brother vice-president of finance, put in somebody who is actually qualified to do the job. Instead of moving pig-iron the traditional way, work out the bio-mechanics of it and develop a work style that maximizes output. A part of this rationalist perspective (particularly Scientific Management) was a simple motivational theory, based ultimately on Adam Smith and utilitarianism. The idea is that people work best when they are maximizing self interest. But there is more to formal organizations than purely formal behavior, and more to human motivation than just pay. Whenever a set of people get together and starts interacting on a long term basis, they start to form an informal group. Organizations contain lots of informal groups.
Lean Six Sigma - Inventory is Evil. Home » Lean Six Sigma Articles » Inventory is Evil I just finished reading an article about Time Cook, the operations guru for Apple Computers. I was struck by his statement that "Inventory is fundamentally evil. " Over production which creates excess inventory is one of the seven speed bumps of Lean. However, my mind seems to respond with more energy to the phrase "Inventory is fundamentally evil. " The article goes on to say that "There are two basic ways to great profit margins: Charge high prices or reduce costs...Cook's operational savvy keeps costs under control. " How Stale is Your Inventory? According to the article, Apple's days of total inventory has been as low as 0.4 days and now stands at 10. What Kind of Inventory? Raw Materials Work in Process Finished Goods If you warehouse or store any of these types of inventory, then there are costs associated with managing, moving, rearranging, and tracking them.
Inventory is fundamentally evil!