1.

Discuss the eight principles of the ISO 9000 standard

a. According to, www.the9000store.com;
i. Customer Focus
1. Trying to exceed the need of your customers. Focusing on
customer expectations and customer specifications.
ii. Leadership
1. This is important to drive success and achieve the
companys organizational goals.
iii. Involvement of People
1. Employees get trained in ISO9000
iv. Process approach
1. Use a process to get results.
v. System approach to management
1. Process may effect one another. It is important to take
into account the entire system. This is easier said than
done. Especially when they effect different departments.
vi. Continual improvement
1. To continually improve is a very important part of a
successful company. It is also a great keyword to use with
auditors and customers.
vii. Factual approach to decision making
1. CAR and PAR are important in order to not make the same
mistakes twice. It is always important to improve your
technology.
viii. Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
1. Both parties want to create value for one another. This is
great in premise but when it comes down to it your
company must look out for itself. If a supplier is
struggling, do everything to help but do not force the
mutually beneficial card unless they are on the verge of
bankruptcy or losing the project.
2. Discuss Pareto Charts
a. Pareto charts are histograms that are organized from greatest to least.
Quite simple. Useful for showing certain sets of data. This can be very
useful in order to determine what data sets to focus on during process
improvement projects. They are also very useful to determine how to
best improve quality of a product by identifying the defect that is most
common and focusing on that.

b.

3. Discuss fishbone diagrams

a. Also known as an Ishikawa diagram, the fishbone diagram is a way to
determine the causes of failure or potentially detrimental to the project
or process. It is useful to see all issues in one place, along with
associated problems that could arise. There are many other ways to
display this information but the fishbone diagram is one of the most
common and easy to use.

b.

4. Discuss histograms
a. These are also known as bar graphs and can be useful to visualize data
easily. This is one of the most common ways to visually represent data.
Often used in industry to display efficiency, scrap rates and sales

numbers, they are very useful to display these numbers to the masses.
This includes production level personnel all the way up to executives
during their quarterly meetings. Histograms are one of the first types
of charts taught to students in grade school, along with the Venn
Diagram.

b.
5. Discuss control charts for variables
a. You set up upper and lower controls limits to help determine when a
process is out of control. It is useful in process control studies and new
process studies. This can be used to reduce scrap, reduce efficiency or
reduce cost. There are ways to tell if the process is in or out of control.
These rules are used to determine if a process change is in order.

b.
6. Discuss flowcharts and give a simple example
a. Flowcharts can be useful to visualize an entire process. It shows
decision points and branching paths. It also can be useful to streamline
processes by identifying waste and making processes simpler by
reducing steps and reducing branching paths. It is also a good tool to
teach new employees processes in a neat and tidy manner.
b. A very simple example of a flow chart would be;

i.
7. Explain what is an FMEA
a. Failure mode effect analysis. This is a way to determine the most
critical issues with a project or product. It assesses each issue with a
risk number and severity and gives the user a tool to determine what

issues they should focus on. This is very popular with auditors and is
more commonly used now than ever. It is a very powerful tool.

i.
8. Provide an overview of the Toyota practical problem solving process

a.
b. It is the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) system at play. This is a lean and
six sigma tool that can be very useful to solving issue you may
encounter. It gives you a process oriented way to solve issues.
9. Explain a total quality decision making process
a. It is important to back up your decisions with data. It is in this way that
you can defend and support your arguments when they are challenged

by a customer or superior. It is also important to make sure that you do

not take this judgement personally, it is just a way to make sure that
everyone is accountable for the decisions they make.
10.Explain why quality tools are important
a. They help standardize a project or process. They allow for a way to
repeatedly investigate issues and a repetitive way to display those
findings. Examples would be fishbone diagrams, Pareto charts and
PFMEA or FMEA. When it comes to solving issues it is important to use
these tools to ensure a thorough analysis of the issue and its possible
solutions. It also helps ensure that you are taking into account the
entire system instead of just the process.
11.Social networking
a. Article 1
i.

b. Article 2

c. Article 3
i.