Planning of product quality is the key requirement for any business engaged in selling products and services.  Continuous improvement in quality is the need of current business scenario.  Advanced product quality planning utilizes the Control Plan methodology.  This methodology outlines the control plan to be used, and also discusses the relevant data required for constructing and determining the control plan parameters.  It lays emphasis on the role of control plan in the continuous improvement cycle.

The control plan methodology is split into five phases, which are outlined below:

Phase 1  -  Plan and Define Program

• Determine customer needs and expectations by utilizing tools such as QFD
• Review of the whole quality planning process for enabling quality program implementation
• Define product inputs and outputs and to set their parameters

Phase 2  -  Product Design and Development

• Review product inputs
• Design the execution of outputs, which include DFMA, FMEA, design reviews, design verification, engineering and material specifications

Phase 3  -  Process Design and Development

• Identifying features for developing manufacturing systems and their related control plans
• This phase is dependent on the successful execution of phase 1 and phase 2

Phase 4  -  Product and Process Validation

• Conduct product run evaluation and validate the selected manufacturing process along with its control plans
• Outline the necessary production conditions and requirements
• Identify needed outputs

Phase 5  -  Launch, Feedback, Assessment, and Corrective Action

• Reduce variations
• Launch continuous improvement
• Identify outputs and links which meet customer expectations
• Outline future product programs

These are the five phases of the control plan methodology, which brings about continuous product quality improvement.  This methodology is essential to any organization which wants to have a competitive edge over others in the market.

After World War II, the dominating American market saw major changes.  Japanese manufacturers were dominating the consumer market utilizing the techniques they learnt from Deming and others.  American and German cameras were replaced by Canon and Nikon.  Zenith and RCA were replaced by Panasonic and Sony in consumer electronics.  This was not all.  The major shock, which sent shock waves throughout the American automobile industry, came along with the Oil Crisis, when Americans were forced to look for fuel-efficient and smaller cars.  The nation’s attention was turned towards Toyota, and everyone realized that cars made by Toyota were less expensive, more reliable, and had greater levels of quality when compared to cars manufactured in America.

In 1979, W. Edwards Deming was interviewed by Claire Crawford-Mason for an NBC White Paper program called “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?”  And Deming became increasingly popular with that.  He was hired first by Ford, and later by General Motors.  Deming re-introduced statistical methods to American industries by bringing in Statistical Process Control experts and systems thinkers, and the quality and productivity of these industries greatly increased – quality  was reborn.  Three-day public seminars were attended by millions of engineers, executives, and others.  ASQC saw remarkable increase in their membership.

Examples of consumer products which were made with poka-yoke principle (in Japanese, it means mistake-proof) are:

• 3.5” Floppy Disks  -  In these disks, the top-right corner is designed in such a way that the disk cannot be inserted upside down.
• Automatic Transmissions  -  In a car, if the automatic transmission is not put in the “Park” position, then the car key cannot be removed from the ignition switch.  It is designed so that the car cannot be left in unsafe parking condition.  This utilizes trapped key interlocking.
• High-security padlocks  -   In these type of padlocks, it is impossible to remove the key unless the shackle is closed.  The key could be removed only on locking.  This design ensures that the key is not left in an unlocked padlock, or a padlock is not left unlocked after opening, or the shackle of a padlock is not partially closed.  These types of padlocks are used in military installations, prisons, armories, bonded warehouses, etc. where high security is crucial.
• UK 13 amp electric plugs  -  Due to their design of three rectangular pins, these plugs cannot be inserted wrongly into the socket.
• Microwave ovens  -  The door is designed in such a way that it automatically disconnects the cooking process when the door is opened.  Cooking with door open may lead to spreading of microwave radiation, which are harmful to those in the immediate surrounding.  The door contains a Faraday cage for blocking microwaves.
• SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards  -  These cards are designed in such a way that their upper left corner is trimmed diagonally for proper positioning in cellular phones.

These examples highlight the important role Lean and Six Sigma have played in the consumer manufacturing industries.