Do You Know Where Your Quality Is?, 1997 Process & Product Quality Conference Proceedings

It’s the 90’s! Companies downsizing, work loads increasing, customers more demanding, quality expectations intensifying, production rates accelerating,...; where does it end? How do you balance these sometimes conflicting demands on your time while providing your customers with the type service and product you expect from others? Dum-da-dom - Technology to the rescue. You’ve heard it before but in this case it’s true. Computer, communication, and information technology have attained levels of reliability and sophistication to allow quick, accurate assessment of paper quality in a cost effective manner and quickly communicate that to users in the proper format. Most Mills have invested heavily in the infrastructure for automation - control systems, computerized lab equipment, millwide networks, PCs on the desktop, training, and on and on. Surprisingly, even with this degree of connectivity, many departments are still parochial in their thinking and planning with scarcely any movement toward integration of these technologies to solve everyday business issues. This paper focuses on three scenarios faced by quality professionals and how to apply the previously mentioned technologies to achieve improvements in customer service and operating efficiencies. These scenarios include: how to minimize shipment of off-spec paper; how to provide prompt, comprehensive feedback to customers on inquiries concerning paper quality; and how to utilize integrated process and quality data to analyze operations.