Quality Control – OM in the News

Inside Your Running Shoe

Could top quality products be within everyone’s reach?

Think how nice it would be if all the little defects inside your running shoes could be identified and eliminated before you buy them. No more rubbing, burning, itching, aching. This attention to design and quality control may soon become the norm even for ordinary consumer products. Lumafield has designed a CT scanner that enables engineers to see inside their products and identify problems and opportunities for improvement. Their product may not be […]

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2022-05-03T20:52:52+00:00May 6, 2022|Tags: competitivness, product design, product quality, productivity, quality assurance, respsonsive supply chain design, value analysis|

Hot off the Press: How a Book Is Made

There is something special about the look and feel of a printed book.

Before you hold that book in your hands, it goes through a long fabrication process in which creativity, art, technology, craftsmanship, and operations management come together. The interactive article describes and illustrates the steps of this fabrication process. It also details the quality control checks needed to ensure the quality and visual appeal of a commercially produced hardcover book.

Video Spotlight: How Are Books Made? […]

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2022-03-06T20:30:03+00:00March 8, 2022|Tags: manufacturing processes, process selection, quality assurance|

NAND Memory Loss due to Contamination

As if the shortage of computer chips was not enough, flash memory is now also in short supply.

Contamination issues were reported in two factories making NAND flash memory for Western Digital and Xioxia. The contamination affected a large amount of the production output, further disrupting the supply chain of solid-state drives and NAND flash-based products. The costs of poor quality are substantial for both companies. Combined with a squeezed supply, these higher costs will likely push prices […]

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2022-03-02T22:04:59+00:00March 4, 2022|Tags: costs of quality, lead time, product quality, quality control, short term capacity, shortage, six sigma|

Defective Souvenir Is Unexpectedly Popular

Tea sets, mugs, and plates are sporting a royal goof. In the run-up to Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, the celebration the 70 years since her ascension to the throne, a Chinese manufacturer produced 10,800 items for an online trader wanting to sell mementos.

These keepsakes bear the humorous inscription of “Queen’s Platinum Jubbly” or “Queen’s Platinum Jubblee” instead of “Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”

Brits are finding this goof especially humorous because a famous comedic TV character, “Del Boy,” has a favorite catch phrase, “lovely […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2022-03-03T05:48:39+00:00March 2, 2022|Tags: cost of quality, defects, outsourcing, product design, quality control|