The DOBlog

Category: Quality Management/Information Quality

  • Dell Build Quality

    So, I’ve recently invested in a new laptop for work. I got it on Tuesday. Today I noticed that the “J” key on the keyboard had come loose. That’s after less than a week of average use in my home office. The laptop hasn’t been out on the road (yet) and as it is performing well I haven’t had to bash the keyboard in frustration at a 20 minute hang for no reason (like on my old laptop).

    It is probably an easy fix, but it does raise a question about the build quality on Dell laptops when one of the “home” keys for touch typing can come loose so easily.

    But it is just one key. Surely not a big thing? I suppose that is a valid view. But often quality and perception of quality hangs on how the small stuff works.

    • The hotel might be great, but there’s no coffee with the in-room tea and coffee facilities (I like to make a cup of very strong coffee first thing in the morning when travelling for work)
    • The flight might be fine, but the hot sandwich you wanted to order from the attendants wasn’t in stock
    • A broken keyboard stops you typing “jumping jeosophat”

    A while ago I wrote an article for the IAIDQ about the “long tail of risk”, or the long tail of quality. My basic premise in the article was that as you tackle the big issues of quality and risk in Information, the smaller issues become increasingly important, so there is increasing value to be found in the “long tail” of issues.

    That’s why “Zero Defects”, while in part a wonderful slogan, is in fact a valuable goal to set for Quality Management. Setting your sights lower means you are accepting inevitable mediocrity. Why do I say this? Well, simply because the common argument against zero defects is that it is unattainable as a goal (it’s not) and compromises need to be made (they often do). However, if you set your target at 99.9% defect free, you’ll still find compromises being made (“we’ll aim for 60% this quarter and increase again next quarter”) and fudges being introduced.

    I saw a great presentation a few weeks ago from a Clinical Quality lead from the UK NHS. He gave some great statistics as to what 99.999% quality means:

    • 6200 ATM errors per week in the UK
    • 18 fatal airline crashes per year, in the UK
    • 2 children given to the wrong parents every day, in the UK

    So. My faulty key might be one component out of 108 on the keyboard and many thousands in the laptop. But it being broken has soured my experience and reduced my perception of quality of the laptop as a whole. While it isn’t up there with a fatal airline crash, it does bug me.

    (As an aside, it’s interesting to note that Qantas are considering suing Rolls Royce for a minor defect in the engines of the A380 Airbus which lead to oil leakage and an engine fire. It’s only a small thing, but…)

  • I’ll review you tuesday for a book today…

    I have noticed that I’ve been neglecting book reviews recently. This is in part due to other things eating up my time (such as my day job, my family and other extra curricular things) and in part due to my not having had time to put my reviews of the books I have been reading into a human-readable (as opposed to Daragh-readable) form.

    Among the books that I really want to get reviews up for are:

    Improving Data Warehouse and Business Information Quality by Larry P. English.

    this is one of the first and best books on Information Quality that I read. It sets a clear vision and roadmap for improving Information Quality in a sustainable way which challenges us to think bigger and better… I’ll say more in the full review.

    Data Quality for the Information Age by Tom Redman.

    This is the second book I read on Information Quality (Tom calls it Data Quality). The book is quite strong on real world case studies drawn from Dr Redman’s experiences and presents another robust framework for sustainable improvements in the quality of information. Again, once I get the full review blocked out I’ll say more.

    Information Quality, edited by Wang, Pierce, Madnick and Fisher

    A more ‘academic’ focussed book, this is a collection of papers more than a consistent narrative exposition of a methodology or framework. Some sections are very academic focussed and are of limited immediate practical benefit (note -immediate) while others present very interesting approaches to presenting and measuring the importance of information quality to your organisation. Again, the review is still in jottings stage but I’ll say more when I get a chance, hopefully over Christmas.

    Quality – 2nd Edition by John Beckford

    Quite possibly the best crash course primer on the fundamental teachings of Quality Management from Crosby to Stills Nash and Young Deming to Taguchi and beyond. I’m a proud owner of both the first edition (as an ebook) and the second edition (paperback) and the coffee stains on the book are a badge of honour. Summarises core practices and principles of various Quality teachers in a succint and readily digested manner. Again, I’ll say more when I have the time to put the full review together.

  • Another Book Review…

    After my Dell rants of the last few posts I thought it appropriate to put up something that people might actually want to read. So I’ve plumped for another book review, particularly given the Quality Management focus of my tirades against the sheer ineptitude of Dell.

    The books I’ve chosen to review this time out are The Deming Management Method by Mary Walton and Out of the Crisis by W.Edwards Deming. I’ve also included a nod to Deming’s other major book The New Economics These are three classics of Quality Management literature and are well worth picking up if you can as an understanding of Deming is a good foundation for improving quality of pretty much anything.

    The Deming Management Method
    Deming_management_method_imageThis book is an excellent initial primer in the work of W. Edwards Deming. It covers off a biographical note on Deming, his 7 Diseases of Management, his 14 Points of Transformation and the infamous Red Beads experiment. It also contains case studies of a number of companies that applied the Deming methods.

    It clearly and concisely runs through a number of the key principles of Deming’s management philosophy and provides some good case study examples.

    One criticism is that it is showing its age somewhat (it was first published in the US in 1986) and some of the firms used in the case studies have not sustained the successes that they had achieved. This should not be taken as a criticism of Deming’s methodology however as it is clear from the history of Ford (for example) in recent years that they may not have maintained the constancy of purpose needed to truly embed quality practices in.

    However, as a quick introduction to the life and work of W.Edwards Deming this 244 page book is worth a look.

    Out of the Crisis
    On the other hand, if you want a more in-depth study of Deming’s management philosophy then the classic work is Out of the Crisis, Deming’s seminal work on the subject of Quality Management.
    out of the crisis image

    This book is a detailed treatise on the 7 Deadly Diseases of Management (see page 36) and the 14 Points of Management which counter those diseases. One draw back of this book is that much of the content is has its focus on manufacturing quality and less on service industry or non-physical product manufacturing. These issues were addressed by Deming in later books (which I will review in time). However the fundamental principles are well laid out and this book is a constant reference for me in my personal library.

    Overall – it is not possible to give a true assessment of Deming’s impact in just a few paragraphs. Those companies who have adopted and built on his 14 points have had great success. Dell might do well to order a few copies to see how they can constantly improve the quality of their products and services.

    The New Economics Image“The ideal companion to “Out of the Crisis” is Deming’s last book The New Economics. This is described by one reviewer on Amazon as Deming’s “spiritual legacy”. I can’t comment on that but what I will say is that this book represents a further maturing of the concepts in “Out of the Crisis”. However to fully grasp the concepts my personal feeling is that you need to read both books. Amongst other things, in The New Economics Deming changes “Plan Do Check Act” to a “Plan Do Study Act” cycle – for reasons he explains in The New Economics.

    Put this on your wishlist!