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How Did You End Up in This Industry...

Well put together Greg. You have given us a bit of history into quality engineering is developing till today. You are mo...

by Jude Ayeni on Tuesday, August 30, 2011

How Did You End Up in This Industry...

That's a fair point Jude and I think you have helped redefine the question into one with more relevance. However, there...

by Gregory Stewart on Tuesday, August 30, 2011

How Did You End Up in This Industry...

Greg, I share your thought that quality is not a stand alone industry but a catalist to bring out the best in any indust...

by Jude Ayeni on Tuesday, August 30, 2011

How Did You End Up in This Industry...

An interesting topic might be to discuss the relationship between management, quality, and performance improvement. Qua...

by Gregory Stewart on Monday, August 29, 2011

How Did You End Up in This Industry...

While not part of the target audience for this network, I disagree with the premise of the question. Quality is neither...

by Gregory Stewart on Monday, August 29, 2011

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Donald Wall

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Spartanburg

Quality Planner

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Minorities in Quality

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The Minorities in Quality (MiQ) network has been designed to provide a structure to support the challenges of minority quality professionals. MiQ seeks to champion the interests of minorities in the quality profession and to improve participation of minorities in quality and related fields. The purpose of the MiQ network includes: * Issues – defining the issues facing minority quality professionals * Discussion – discussing the issues in an open and professional manner * Mentoring – provide an arena for informal mentoring * Diversity – bringing the value of diversity to ASQ, corporations and other organizations in the quality field * Outreach – recruiting students into quality and related fields * Connecting – with other organizations with similar missions * Best practices – share what has worked well and what hasn’t worked well * Support – provide a network to share ideas and concerns The concerns of the minority quality professional are different

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How Did You End Up in This Industry?

Posted by Donald Wall
Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Comments (6)

Hello again! Can you believe we are halfway done with August?? Where has this summer gone? I guess with that, it’s time for a new question.

In an effort to learn from each other, I will post a different question every few weeks. If you have your own question to ask, you can email our administrator, Maggie Joos, who will post it to the blog. Also, don’t forget you can add pictures or documents to our group by clicking on the appropriate link on the blue bar in the middle of the page.

Here’s our next question: Quality is a pretty specific niche. How did you end up working in this industry?

Please add your answer in the comments and get to know each other.

Gregory Stewart: Without comments, there is no conversation. Perhaps, you need to re-publish the post occasionally to "bump" it back to the top of the stack and keep it current.
Gregory Stewart: While not part of the target audience for this network, I disagree with the premise of the question. Quality is neither a niche or an industry. Instead, it is a function or priority applicable to every product and service industry. It is one of the few relevant factors for organizational survival in all time frames--short, medium, and long term. However, it is more pervasive in some industries than it is in others (e.g., regulated industries, such as pharmaceuticals, food, and medical devices). For those in manufacturing, people do not "end up" having quality as a concern. Production people not formally involved in the function will have to pay attention to it too if an organization is going to be successful.
Gregory Stewart: An interesting topic might be to discuss the relationship between management, quality, and performance improvement. Quality has contributed to improvement as a discipline, but does not "own" it. Management needs to have an interest in and support both.
Jude Ayeni: Greg, I share your thought that quality is not a stand alone industry but a catalist to bring out the best in any industry. Sometimes it may mean existence or non existence of a company in a regulated industry. Even nowadays, poor quality products or services is fast disapprearing due to force of competition, customers' improved taste and wide range of choices for needed goods and services. However, majority of those practicing quality functions today have not gone to university to study quality as a course, thus the question what motivates people from all fields of life into different quality roles. This knowledge may help motivate the next generation on the value of quality of goods, services and practices of quality functions.
Gregory Stewart: That's a fair point Jude and I think you have helped redefine the question into one with more relevance. However, there was a time when engineers did not pursue a four-year degree prior to beginning their career (much less education was required). Also, in my experience, quality engineering and technology programs are becoming more available. In my graduate work, the quality engineering discipline was taught within the industrial & systems engineering department. This seems appropriate as industrial engineering is where engineering and management meet. As to the greater question, don't many career paths develop by necessity? Employers tells individuals that they need quality engineers or improvement engineers (e.g., Six Sigma Black Belts) and employees accept these positions because they want to remain or become employed.
Jude Ayeni: Well put together Greg. You have given us a bit of history into quality engineering is developing till today. You are more than welcome to comment on my blog on the push and pull for quality engineering.
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