The Asq Quality Improvement Pocket Guide

This pocket guide is designed to be a quick, on-the-job reference for anyone interested in making their workplace more effective and efficient. It will provide a solid initial overview of what “quality” is and how it could impact you and your organization. Use it to compare how you and your organization are doing things, and to see whether what’s described in the guide might be useful. The tools of quality described herein are universal. People across the world need to find better, more effective ways to improve the creation and performance of products and services. Since organizational and process improvement is increasingly integrated into all areas of an organization, everyone must understand the basic principles of process control and process improvement. This succinct and concentrated guide can help. Unlike any other pocket guide on the market, included throughout are direct links to numerous free online resources that not only go deeper but also to show these concepts and tools in action: case studies, articles, webcasts, templates, tutorials, examples from the ASQ Service Division’s Service Quality Body of Knowledge (SQBOK), and much more. This pocket guide serves as a gateway into the wealth of peerless content that ASQ offers.

The ASQ Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA) certification introduces the basics of quality to organizations and individuals who are new to quality. This book, and the Body of Knowledge (BoK) it supports, form a foundation for applying proven quality principles and practices that are used around the world. This handbook follows the CQIA span in both content and sequence. Let it serve as your guide in preparing for the ASQ CQIA examination, and refer to it frequently as you learn and implement these ideas and tools in your organization.

Little in the current world is simple. Nothing comes in a box for us to add water and stir. There are those, however, who have been successful and who are willing to share their success. The messages in The Public Health Quality Improvement Handbook are from leaders, physicians, practitioners, academics, consultants, and researchers who are successfully applying the tools and techniques they share. The chapters are written to support the leaders and workforce of our public health community. This book, a collaboration between ASQ and the Public Health Foundation, is an anthology of chapters written by subject matter experts in public health who are successfully meeting client needs, working together to maximize outcomes, and expanding their collaboration with community partners to encourage better health within neighborhoods, counties, and states. There has never been a better time or a more needed one for us to harness the energy, enthusiasm, hard work, and dedication of our public health workforce to make a lasting difference. By effectively using quality improvement tools and techniques, we can and will improve our nation’s health.

This handbook is a comprehensive reference designed to help professionals address organizational issues from the application of the basic principles of management to the development of strategies needed to deal with today’s technological and societal concerns. The fifth edition of the ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Handbook (CMQ/OE) has undergone some significant content changes in order to provide more clarity regarding the items in the body of knowledge (BoK). Examples have been updated to reflect more current perspectives, and new topics introduced in the most recent BoK are included as well. This handbook addresses: • Historical perspectives relating to the continued improvement of specific aspects of quality management • Key principles, concepts, and terminology • Benefits associated with the application of key concepts and quality management principles • Best practices describing recognized approaches for good quality management • Barriers to success, common problems you may encounter, and reasons why some quality initiatives fail • Guidance for preparation to take the CMQ/OE examination A well-organized reference, this handbook will certainly help individuals prepare for the ASQ CMQ/OE exam. It also serves as a practical, day-to-day guide for any professional facing various quality management challenges.

ASQ’s Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA) certification is designed to introduce the basics of quality to organizations and individuals not currently working within the field of quality. This book and the Body of Knowledge (BOK) it supports are intended to form a foundation for further study and application of proven quality principles and practices worldwide. The book follows the CQIA BoK in both content and sequence. The intent is that this book will serve as a guide to be used in preparation to take the CQIA examination given by ASQ. Each chapter stands alone, and the chapters may be read in any order. Some material reaching beyond the content of the BoK has been added. Supplemental reading suggestions are provided. An online, interactive sample exam and a paper-and-pencil sample can be found on the ASQ website (http://asq.org/cert/quality-improvement-associate/prepare).

The concept of process monitoring and improvement applies to any type of industry: automotive, textiles, food, pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, electronics, aerospace, banking, educational institutions, service providers, and so on. The focus of this book is to identify and apply different process monitoring and improvement tools in any organization. This book is aimed at engineers, scientists, analysts, technicians, managers, supervisors, and all other professionals responsible to measure and improve the quality of their processes. Many times, these professionals do not have a formal education on the use of these tools but learn about them throughout the different improvement projects in which they are involved in their work environment. This book is intended to fill the gap between the lack of formal education in the tools and the need to implement those tools in an improvement project. The book can also be used as a refresher course for those professionals who did learn about these tools as part of their educational background.

The benefits of using quality improvement techniques are well documented, and there are numerous books on the market explaining how to use these techniques in nearly every industry. But the world of quality is rife with unique and specific terminology, acronyms, catchphrases, theories, and noteworthy individuals. The breadth of material can be very confusing to anyone, and outright intimidating to those just beginning in the quality profession. Finally there is help!!--nl--Novices as well as seasoned quality professionals will find The Quality Improvement Glossary to be the definitive source for quality-related terms, concepts, persons, and acronyms, making it an invaluable addition to any quality library. Written to serve as an easy-to-use guide to the often confusing world of quality improvement, it provides solid and concise explanations of more than 2,500 terms, as well as references to related concepts and information on how to uncover more in-depth information. Also included in its several appendices are noted influential persons in the quality field, a separate list of acronyms, SPC symbols and common formulas. With a plethora of quality-related knowledge at readers’ fingertips, this book is also very helpful when preparing for certification exams PRAISE FOR The Quality Improvement Glossary "I currently hold three ASQ Certifications and I have to say that the easy access and reference to terms helped in my success in passing these exams." Earl Wells First Vice President, Quality & Research Allen Canning Company

All organizations experience unintended variation and its consequences. Such problems exist within a broad range of scope, persistence, and severity across different industries. Some problems cause minor nuisances, others leads to loss of customers or money, others yet can be a matter of life and death. The purpose of this pocket guide is to provide you with easily accessible knowledge about the art of problem solving, with a specific focus on identifying and eliminating root causes of problems. Root cause analysis is a skill that absolutely everybody should master, irrespective of which sector you work in, what educational background you have, and which position in the organization you hold. The content in this little pocket guide can contribute to disseminating this skill a little further in the world.