Since 1996, ASQ has published seven Future of Quality reports. The purpose of the report has always been to challenge the reader’s current ideas and expectations, open him or her to new opportunities, and spark action.

Our 15th Annual State of the Profession Survey offers a glimpse inside the minds of quality manufacturing professionals, from the equipment used and hours worked to salary and job satisfaction.

Management has an obligation to create an effective and sustainable quality culture. Quality professionals, however, have a significant responsibility to help the organization accomplish this goal.

Inspectors have a significant impact on the success or failure of an organization. These individuals are highly skilled, dedicated and motivated employees.

Jim Smith will make you believe in training. During his long career at Caterpillar, he signed up for every course he could, worked his way from the shop floor to senior management, and eventually developed training courses for others at the company.

Planned obsolescence. It’s an idea I’ve touched upon in a few of my columns in the past.

On company visits, Carmine Liuzzi says people will occasionally clean off the quality manual before they give it to him.

We’ve all encountered that argument, the one that is contentious and unmoving, ultimately resulting in one side uttering the phrase, “It’s apples and oranges.”

Do companies fail because of a lack of a robust quality system? During a recent quality discussion, a quality engineer asked a group of quality professionals if anyone knew of companies who had gone out of business due to quality problems.

The older generation always seems to rail about a decline in the quality of education today compared to when they were in school.