Content by William A. Levinson

Mon, 08/22/2022 - 12:03
Inflation has skyrocketed during the first half of 2022, which also saw a sharp downturn in the stock market in response to the Federal Reserve’s increase in interest rates to reduce demand. This resulted in a bear stock market and raised the…
Tue, 06/21/2022 - 12:03
Quality-related data collection is useful, but statistics can also deliver misleading and even dysfunctional results when incomplete. This is often the case when information is collected only from surviving people or products, extremely satisfied or…
Mon, 04/18/2022 - 12:03
Ryan Day1 describes how the rise of independent auto dealers is a “gray swan” event for the automobile industry. This was not only bound to happen, as observed by the author, but also long overdue. The article states, “...current state laws prohibit…
Tue, 01/25/2022 - 12:03
The U.S. Military Academy’s Honor Code says that “A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, the USMA’s superintendent, elaborated, “The tenets of honorable living remain immutable, and the outcomes…
Mon, 11/29/2021 - 12:03
Shigeo Shingo was able to summarize entire concepts in single phrases, such as “paint parts, not air.” This meant that paint which misses parts in a spray booth constitutes wasted material and also an environmental aspect. “Ship product, not air”…
Thu, 10/21/2021 - 12:03
Luddism is, as depicted by Henry Ford, “...the theory that there is only so much work in the world to do and it must be strung out.”1 This dysfunctional paradigm is shared today by otherwise highly capable people such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and…
Wed, 09/29/2021 - 12:03
This article contends that we should replace “quality” with “value” to address an enormous array of previously unaddressed risks and opportunities. Poor quality is only one of the Toyota Production System’s seven wastes, and it is rarely the most…
Tue, 08/24/2021 - 12:03
Part one of this article showed that it is possible, by means of a Visual Basic for Applications program in Microsoft Excel, to calculate the fraction of in-specification product that is rejected by a non-capable gage, as well as the fraction of…
Mon, 08/23/2021 - 12:03
IATF 16949:2016 clause 7.1.5.1.1 requires measurement systems analysis (MSA) to quantify gage and instrument variation. The deliverables of the generally accepted procedure are the repeatability or equipment variation, and the reproducibility or…
Mon, 07/12/2021 - 12:03
The first part of this series introduced measurement systems analysis for attribute data, or attribute agreement analysis. AIAG1 provides a comprehensive overview, and Jd Marhevko2 has done an outstanding job of extending it to judgment inspections…