Quality, Reliability, and Maintenance in Engineering Management - Term Paper Example

The paper “Quality, Reliability, and Maintenance in Engineering Management” is a forceful example of the term paper on engineering. The quality movement started in medieval Europe where craftsmen started unions called guilds. In the mid-1750s - the factory system in Great Britain started emphasizing product inspection.

The early 1800s
The product inspection grew into the Industrial Revolution.

Early 19th Century
The manufacturing industry started following the craftsmanship model. In 1980, Deming was hired by Ford as a quality consultant. U.S. Government designated "October" as "National Quality Month".

Early 20th Century
Manufacturers started including quality processes and practices.

Post World War II
US armed forces used sampling techniques for inspection, the publication of military-specification standards, and training courses in statistical process control techniques for use of bullets manufacture. This gave birth to total quality in the US and the quality revolution in Japan. The Quality Gurus of USA - Juran, and Deming came to the surface. Japan welcomed its statistical process control techniques to focus on improving organizational processes through the people using them instead of concentrating on inspection.

The 1970s
U.S. Automobile and Electronics industry faced tough competition from Japan’s high-quality products. The US responded to this competition by emphasizing statistics and quality approaches covering the entire organization. This was called Total Quality Management (TQM). The result was Japan became a leader in both quality and productivity in the world.

The 1990s
TQM became a buzz-word and every industry started practicing it. The proliferation of Quality programs like TQM, QFD, Six Sigma, Kaizen, Poke Yoke, Taguchi Methods, Benchmarking, CQI, FMEA, etc

The early 2000s
The quality movement has matured beyond Total Quality Management. Quality foundations of the American and Japanese Gurus have evolved new quality systems. Now quality has moved beyond manufacturing in the product life-cycle. Quality has made its way into the service industry, healthcare, and education sectors as well as the government.