Quality Management
Overview
Quality management uses tools and techniques that ensure products are manufactured without defects with the goal of meeting industry and government standards. Six Sigma is one of the most respected and widely accepted methodologies in quality management and improvement worldwide. Six Sigma utilizes the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) problem solving framework to improve system quality. Foundational concepts have much in common with Total Quality Management and ISO 9000, including cross-functional product design, process management, supplier quality management, customer involvement, information and feedback, committed leadership, strategic planning, cross-functional training, and employee involvement. A quality management system maintains the integrity of a company’s products to meet the expectations of the customer. Quality management encompasses a toolset that includes fundamental descriptive statistics as well as sophisticated statistical design of experiments.
Benefits of Quality Management
As a quality manager you will have the knowledge and skills needed to be more effective in the workplace by utilizing systematic process improvement tools and techniques. You will be able to:
- Improve the quality of products by implementing statistical control charts to monitor out of control data on critical to quality metrics.
- Make data driven decisions with a known confidence interval.
- Successfully identify and solve quality problems.
- Design products and services which are robust, reliable, cost effective, and customer- driven.
- Design sophisticated statistical experiments which glean the maximum amount of critical information from the smallest number of experiments to determine optimal design features and operating parameters.
- Participate in and lead major problem solving and quality improvement efforts.
Resources and Information
Courses
Students must successfully complete four courses (12 credit hours).
E M 538 Lean Tools for Systems Improvement
E M 570 Systems Improvement: Integrating TOC, Lean, and Six Sigma
E M 580 Quality Control and Reliability
E M 585 Quality Improvement Using Design of Experiments
E M 590 Leading Design and Innovation
Masters Program (METM)
The ETM program is specifically tailored for technical professionals who want to advance their careers while still working full time. METM Combines technical and business skill development meant for managing and leading engineering/ science/ technical teams, projects, and organizations.
Graduate Certificate Programs
The ETM graduate certificate program allows students to complete shorter professional blocks of coursework relevant to their specific needs.
Stories
Virtual Open House: Engineering and Technology Management
Faculty
To find out more, please fill in the form or email etm@wsu.edu.