JUST PLANE CULTURE Some of these you recognize and have probably used
but maybe you don’t call them by the names I have listed. Being in aviation maintenance, you have defi nitely used check sheets in engine run/taxi and maintenance progressive signoff s. You see tree diagrams and process decision program charts in troubleshooting manuals. Others you have used unconsciously in making everyday decisions, like cause and eff ect and affi nity diagrams. You use others such as activity network diagrams and fl ow charts inherently because you know the fl ow of processes and the systems that utilize those processes. However, when you put this on paper you can detect duplications and gaps. Staying with the spirit of continual improvement, new tools are being developed almost on a daily basis, so it is hard to keep up. The techniques used are also being developed continually and range from the popular alpha/numeric variety: 5S, 5 why and 8D, to brainstorming, storyboarding, nominal group technique, benchmarking, mistake proofi ng and process analysis. Talking quality today is not possible without throwing in some Japanese terms. It does nothing to endear quality with the American worker and is used to show that the presenter has studied Japanese techniques — plug and play at its zenith. Here are some of the Japanese techniques: Kaizen, Poka-Yoke, Ishikawa and Kanban. Are you suffi ciently impressed? You shouldn’t be. Kaizen is continual improvement; Poka-Yoke is mistake proofi ng; Ishikawa is not a technique but a person more associated with the cause-
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and-eff ect diagram tool; and Kanban is simply a story board. Because these Japanese terms have been thrown around without understanding, they are used, misused and force fi t. I had trouble learning a foreign language in college and envy those who could, so I have a built-in bias in this forced Japanization of the American quality systems. This is a prime example of how we have adopted a technique and used plug and play, but failed to adapt it to our culture and climate. When I mention climate, I don’t mean the weather but the collective consciousness. We fail to recognize that those fabulous Japanese quality techniques were garnered from American precepts. They are successful in Japan because the Japanese took them adopted the principles and adapted them to their culture and climate. Here is an interesting aside story about executives from
Ford who went to Japan to learn fi rsthand how the Japanese auto manufacturers were so successful. Whenever the Ford executives asked the Japanese executives where they learned these techniques, they were told from ‘the book’. Finally they had to ask what ‘the book’ was and they were handed “My Life and Work” by Henry Ford. Whether this is a true story is unclear, but if it is, it can be viewed as either a slap in the face by the Japanese or an ironic twist. Do we have to keep reinventing the wheel? Criteria can be termed as a prescriptive process or a
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standard. ISO is a standard that has been around for a while and is as much a marketing impetus as a quality criterion because it has international recognition. Most are under the misconception that ISO stands for the International Organization of Standardization. If so, then wouldn’t it be IOS? In reality, it was decided that because every language would have a diff erent term, the Central Secretary in Geneva Switzerland used a derivative of the Greek word ‘isos’ meaning ‘equal’ so ISO would be understood internationally. ISO, recognizing that one size does not fi t all, has expanded to include specifi c standards designed to meet the variances of certain industries such as the AS90XX series for aviation. Another more encompassing criterion is Baldrige. Although the Malcolm Baldrige National Award is a national program and has limited award capabilities, there are a number of state programs that mirror Baldrige. One should view Baldrige, or its state equivalent, as a template and journey
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