Take a look at the cover of this book, particularly the two images you see there. One image is of electronic components, which makes sense-quality management has been an important tool in the electronics industry for some time now. The other image however is a little more surprising. What does a short-order cook have to do with quality? The answer is simple-quality is needed everywhere, from high-tech manufacturing to pancakes. In fact, quality management is vital to the production of just about any goods, services, or information products you can imagine. This book is all about quality-how to achieve it, how to measure it, how to maintain it. In it, you'll explore all aspects of quality, from quality of goods and services to the processes that are necessary to achieve quality. Plus, this book will show you quality management in action. A series of real-life cases illustrate how theory hits the workplace, including:* The Pancake Dilemma, in which you are asked to determine a pancake quality improvement plan* Acme Electronics, in which you are asked to critique their new quality programs, and list some specific steps to take to improve them.
