A SIMPLE MODEL TO

CONFRONT CLIMATE CHANGE 04

SAVING THE PLANET
PROJECT BY PROJECT 24
BUILDING STRONGER
CULTURES OF SUSTAINABILITY 44
BLUEPRINTS FOR SMART CITIES
REQUIRE SUSTAINABILITY,
RESILIENCY

M A Y
QUALITYPROGRESS.COM

202 3
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CONTENTS
May 2023 VOLUME 56 NUMBER 5

COVER STORY

16 || Solid Foundation
The integration of sustainability
and resiliency must be part of
the blueprints for smart cities.
by Paul Doherty

16

DIGITAL
BILITY
S U S TA I N A

FEATURES
How quality
BILITY professionals can
help society and
S U S TA I N A

organizations
mitigate the
negative effects
of sustainability-
related risks and

EDITION
global mega forces

JUST THE FACTS

For organizations
to truly benefit
from sustainability
initiatives, leaders
must move beyond
net zero toward
absolute zero—zero
emissions, zero
defects and zero
harm.
The author outlines
the sustainability/
corporate social

24 || Project by Project
responsibility
index and presents
insights from the
ASQ Energy & Envi-
ronmental Division
Sustainability Sur-
vey Report showing
how organizations
can apply quality
management meth-
ods to sustainable

Efforts to save our planet and instill

development.
Quality manage-
ment is the missing
element of sustain-.
able development
It provides the tools
and techniques

sustainability principles into these plans

required to close
the gap between
inaction and sustain-
able action.

by Lowellyne James,
Mary-Jane Poku

are happening one project at a time.

and Mina Boulos

by John R. Dew
|| QP || 31
qualityprogress.com

30 || QP || May 2023

30 || The Missing Element

Insights from the ASQ Energy &
Environmental Division Sustainability
CLIMA
TE CHA
NG E
30
Survey Report, including how organizations CLIMA
TE CHA
NG E QP is now available in a
can apply quality management methods to convenient digital format
sustainable development. The reliability
to make it easier to access
the quality information
engineer’s

by Lowellyne James, Mary-Jane Poku and by Drew D.

role in reduci

Troyer
ng greenhouse
gases
Sustainability
social and
and environ
mental,

you need on the go.

governa nce

Mina Boulos
mance is a (ESG) perfor-
frequen
Concerns about t news headline.
conflict metals
JUST THE FACTS and other climate change
,
importa nce matters of
continue to great social
companies rise,
for ESG perform and pressure on industr
The subject ance continu ial
As pressure is presently
of great interest es to mount.
continues to tance to executi

Make sure to log in

for organizat mount ves and manage and impor-
The manufa rs in all industr
improve theirions to
envi- industries
cturing, process
, and mining ies.
ronmental, social are no excepti
on.
and metals
and governan ce
The greenho
use gas (GHG)
(ESG) performa climate change emissions
heavy industry nce, are of particu that fuel

36 || Confronting Climate Change

to action from lar interest
sectors bear investors is . The call
responsibilityatogreat improve ESG
perform
clear: Reduce
GHGs and
support initiatives Net-zero carbon ance if you wish to

to view the link.

such as reducing is a popular survive.
users of energy, call to action.
greenhouse the heavy
emissions andgas great respons industr y sectors As major
ibility to support bear a
achieving carbon article, we
explore the these objectiv
neutrality. consumption opportunity es. In this
in equipment to reduce
The author discusses tries and define asset-dependen energy
the t
ways to reduce targeting parasiti plant reliability enginee indus-

The responsibility of heavy industry sectors to

energy consump loss and electric c frictional loss, fugitive r’s role in
tion in equipmen - al heating emission
asset-dependent t controllable
with a focused
loss—all of
which are
industries and ing the plant’s effort. In addition highly
defines the plant GHG impacts to reduc-
also reduces , targeting
reliability engineer’ operating
costs and increas
these losses
role in targeting s availability.
es operatin
asitic frictional par- g
fugitive emissionloss, Industrial energ

address environmental, social and governance

loss and electrical
heating loss. Approximately y reduc
tion
36 || QP || the total energy
35% of end-use
energy and
May 2023 consumed 32% of

digital.asq.org/
powers industr in the United
ial operatio States
ns.1 Accordi
ng to the U.S.

issues, and ways to reduce energy consumption

36
qualityprogress/
qualityprogress.co
m || QP || 37

in equipment asset-dependent industries.

library
by Drew D. Troyer

qualityprogress.com || QP || 1
CONTENTS
May 2023 VOLUME 56 NUMBER 5

03 || Foreword

04 || Expert Answers Editor in Chief and Publisher Media Sales

Seiche Sanders SmithBucklin
A five-part model to address ssanders@asq.org 866-277-5666
climate change.
Senior Editor Editorial Offices
08 || Progress Report Mark Edmund
medmund@asq.org
414-272-8575

Shoring up reshoring plans. Mail

PLUS Assistant Editor Quality Progress/ASQ
Lindsay Pietenpol 600 N. Plankinton Ave.
Seen & Heard
Getting to Know ... Mr. Pareto
44 || The Download lpietenpol@asq.org Milwaukee, WI 53203
Quality principles to build stronger
Head Publications Specialist Telephone
cultures of sustainability. Valerie Ellifson 800-248-1946

11 || Mr. Pareto Head

47 || Standard Issues Copy Editor Amanda Hankel Fax 414-272-1734

ISO 9001 and the Great Resignation.

12 || Career Coach
Caring for the garden that is you.
50 || Six Sigma Solutions
The influences of available resources
14 || My Quality Story
around you.
Top 10 rules for being a quality
professional.
54 || Marketplace
56 || Back to Basics
Tools for risk identification
and mitigation.
Design Email vellifson@asq.org
GLC glcdelivers.com
Article Submission Process
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Translated into Spanish.
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2 || QP || May 2023

ASQ’s Vision
ASQ will be the thought
leader and community
of choice for individuals
and organizations seeking
excellence through quality.
ASQ Administration
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER Ann Jordan
CHIEF OPERATIONS
OFFICER AND CHIEF
OF STAFF
Sid Bhatnagar
CHIEF FINANCIAL
OFFICER Jim Monnat
CHIEF MEMBERSHIP
EXPERIENCE
OFFICER
Stephanie Denvir
ASQEXCELLENCE,
INC. CEO
Jim Templin
Senior Leadership
CHAIR
Francisco Santos, Metalsa
CHAIR-ELECT
Wanda Sturm, Resources
Global Professionals
PAST CHAIR
Blanton Godfrey, North
Carolina State University
TREASURER
Kerry Bass, Potential to
Reality Consulting, LLC
Members at Large
Sheronda Jeffries
Cisco Systems
Peter Merrill
Quest Management Inc.
Tracy Owens
The Ohio State University
Pedro Saraiva
NOVA University of
Lisbon
TCC
Polly LeBarron,
National Quality Review
Frank Murdock,
FKM Consulting, LLC.
Shawn Armstrong,
PakTech
Gain and
Sustain
Lisa El-Shall,
EAS Consulting Group, LLC.
Stephanie Gaulding,
Pharmatech Associates
Steven Schuelka,
California State
University-Dominguez Hills
GCC
Therese Steiner, Lexis Nexis
Nancy Nouaimeh, Abela & Co
Jose Carlos Flores-Molina,
Pontificia Universidad Catolica del
Peru (PUCP)
Sachin Garg, IndoSpace
“ESG Experience” taking place
Capital Advisors
Michael Kirchner, Retired
Dan Sniezek, Dynamic
Education Services
QP Editorial Review Board
Matthew Barsalou, Sureshchandar
G.S., Gary Jing, Trevor Jordan,
Scott Laman, Stephanie Parker,
Gene Placzkowski, Peter Pylipow,
Narahari Vittal Rao, Tiea Theurer
In this excerpt, author and smart-
QP Technical Reviewers
Ashraf Ali, Suresh Anaganti,
Zubair Anwar, M. Onur Artan,
N.T. Balakrishnan, Andy Barnett,
Bernie Carpenter, Ken Cogan,
Ahmad Elshennawy, Brian Galli,
T. Gourishankar, Tolga Göcer,
Roberto Guzman, Lynne Hare,
Bering He, Lou Ann Lathrop, Denis
Leonard, Pradip Mehta, Larry
Picciano, Ritam Priya, Imran
Ahmad Rana, James Rooney,
Ayman Sakr, Anusha Selvakumar,
Mahboubeh Shabani, Luigi Sille,
Herman Tang, B. Vaithiyanathan,
Manu Vora, Denise Wrestler
To promote discussion of issues in the
field of quality and ensure coverage
of all responsible points of view,
Quality Progress publishes articles
Tuesday, May 9.
representing conflicting and minority
views. Opinions expressed are those
of the authors and not necessarily of
ASQ or Quality Progress. Use of the
ASQ logo in advertisements does not
necessarily constitute endorsement
of that particular product or service
by ASQ.
F O R EW O R D
pring is here, and with
S
it the promise of new
beginnings. On the
heels of Earth Day
last month, and in
concert with ASQ’s Environmen-
tal, Social and Governance (ESG)
at this month’s World Confer-
ence on Quality & Improvement
(WCQI) in Philadelphia, this issue
is dedicated to environmental and
sustainability topics, and the quality
profession’s important role in these
critical initiatives.
In “Solid Foundation,” p. 16, get
a sneak peek of the newly released
Quality Press book, Smart Cities.
city expert Paul Doherty explains
why—and how—the concepts
of sustainability and resiliency
must be interwoven into the
planning and building of smart
cities. Proper preparedness can
shield urban areas from threats to
infrastructure, including systems
supporting transportation, energy,
water, waste management, public
safety, healthcare and education.
If you happen to attend WCQI,
stop by the bookstore in the ASQ
Center and meet Doherty during
his scheduled book signing on
Often, quality professionals have
emphasized that improvements
happen project by project. This cer-
tainly rings true when it comes to
the discussion of sustainability and
TH E QUAL IT Y INSIDE
QUAL IT Y PROGRE SS
All eyes on ESG
and sustainability
addressing the systemic challenges
for humanity. In “Project by Proj-
ect,” p. 24, learn why quality is the
answer to our most daunting envi-
ronmental challenges. Progress can
be achieved using quality methods
to reduce waste streams, improve
efficiency in material and energy
use, and in applying new technolo-
gies to problem solving.
In “The Missing Element,” p. 30,
see why organizations must push
beyond net zero to achieve absolute
zero—for emissions, defects and
harm. The authors explain how the
ASQ Energy and Environmental
Division’s Sustainability Committee
is working to arm members with
knowledge and tools in support
of strategic integration of quality
and sustainability management
within organizations.
ESG remains a focus for ASQ,
including at WCQI this year. On May
9, conference attendees can attend
sessions specifically designed to
help quality professionals under-
stand how they can contribute
to these efforts. Visit asq.org/
conferences/wcqi to learn more, and
discover more conference highlights
on p. 9. QP
Seiche Sanders
Editor in Chief
and Publisher
qualityprogress.com || QP || 3
EXPERT ANSWERS
S U B J E C T M AT T E R E X P E R T S TA K E O N YO U R Q U A L I T Y- R E L AT E D Q U E R I E S

THIS MONTH’S QUESTION

During a conference call with Wall Street analysts, our CEO was asked, “How will climate change affect
company stock?” Afterward, the senior vice president of my division asked me to come up with a plan
for addressing climate change. The topic is so big I don’t know where to start. Is there a simple model for
approaching this challenge?

OUR RESPONSE

fter retiring as a quality improvement (QI) practitioner,

A
FIGURE 1
I joined the Maryland Climate Leadership Academy and

Five teams for

earned a certificate as a Climate Change Professional.
Over the past three years, I’ve conducted more than 30
workshops with ASQ sections to introduce a climate
change model designed to piggyback on Six Sigma, lean and
other QI programs.
climate action
It’s a simple five-part model called Five Teams for Climate
Action—or 5T (see Figure 1).1 Complexity lies in the details, however. and sustainability
Here are the teams involved in the model:
1. Strategy team: Develops climate action/sustainability plan.
2. Adaptation team: Protects vulnerable assets. Adaptation
3. Mitigation team: Lowers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
4. Reporting team: Manages GHG data.
5. Opportunity team: Innovates new products and services.

Learn the lingo Mitigation

The best place to start is to build a climate change/sustainability
vocabulary and self-confidence. Use the list of resources in the Strategy
online sidebar “The Boss Gave You an Assignment” (which can
be found on this column’s webpage at qualityprogress.com) as a Reporting
study guide.

5T checklist
Skip or modify the steps in this 5T checklist based on the complexity
Opportunity
of your task and the competence of your staff. Also, it’s OK to have
some fun!

4 || QP || May 2023
 1. Strategy team (motivating the enterprise).
– Find senior managers who are predisposed to work
on climate change/sustainability. Learn the CEO’s
perspective.
– Run away and hide from climate deniers.
– Articulate your personal climate story. I have two: My
mom’s apartment was wrecked by Hurricane Wilma
and my high school buddy lost his home in Hurricane
Sandy. Encourage others to tell their climate stories.
– Study scientific reports to identify how climate
change will affect your business model, including the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report
assessment by international scientific community and
the National Climate Assessment by federal agencies.
– Consider financial risks such as business inter-
ruptions, cost of repairs and increased insurance
premiums, as well as regulatory, litigation and
reputational risks.
– Prepare a storyboard.
– How burning fossil fuel causes CO2 emissions.
– How CO2 emissions cause climate change.
2. Adaptation team (managing risk).
– Incorporate climate change into existing risk
management methods.
– Understand that anthropogenic (man-made)
climate makes it more difficult to rely on
historic climate data.
– Determine scope, including stakeholders
and interested parties.
– Identify potential climate hazards.
– Understand the vulnerability/risk relationship.
– Is the asset exposed to climate haz-
ard? Yes. > Is the asset sensitive to
a climate hazard? Yes. > Does the
asset have adaptive capacity?
iStock.com/Irina_Strelnikova
No. > The asset is vulnerable.
– Is a hazard likely? Yes. > Will
the effect be bad? Yes. >
The asset is at high risk.
– How climate change causes extreme
weather conditions.
– How extreme weather conditions disrupt
operations, suppliers and customers.
– Determine a process for empowering,
training and supporting project teams.
– Identify funds for team training and support.
– Training and quality budgets.
– Marketing budget (for low-emission
bragging rights).
– Energy budget (biggest budget and quickest
to show return on investment).
– Deliverables (business unit level).
– Storyboard describing how climate change
can affect company stock.
– Training and support plan for teams focusing on
adaptation, mitigation, reporting and opportunity.
– Team dashboards.
– Grade the risk of multiple assets (dashboard)
and select a demonstration project.
– Conduct a demonstration project.
– Identify high-risk assets.
– Investigate solutions. Explore industry litera-
ture. Conduct focused research (interviews with
subject matter experts and potential vendors).
Conduct a tabletop exercise to consider counter-
measures, technology, insurance and relocation.
Identify potential stranded assets. Document
new knowledge.
– Show alternative ways to protect asset. Capture
organizational learning. Prepare management
presentation.
– Deliverables: a plan to identify and protect
vulnerable assets, a demonstration project and
a vulnerable asset adaptation dashboard.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 5
 3. Mitigation team (preventing GHG emissions).
– Provide technical training.
– Review case studies.
– Conduct industry research (trade associ-
ations, competitors, suppliers, customers,
government and nonprofits). How does our
industry lower its carbon footprint? Identify
a pilot project. Determine current carbon
footprint, identify and test methods to lower
GHG emissions, track and report results.
– Consider outside expertise for complex
solutions.
– Deliverables: plan to identify and lower
GHG emissions, demonstration project,
GHG emissions dashboard.

4. Reporting team (tracking voluntary and required reporting obligations).

– Understand the U.S. Environmental Protection and civil engineering works
Agency’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. and ISO 50001—Energy
– Research reporting standards. management.
– Global Reporting Initiative standards – U.S. Securities and Exchange
(covers multiple areas). Commission reporting on
– Greenhouse Gas Protocol climate and environmental,
(covers CO emissions).
2 social and governance risks
– International Organization for Standardization and opportunities.
(ISO) and climate change. – Research data
– ISO 14001—Environmental management management systems.
systems, ISO 14064—Greenhouse gases, – Conduct data-gathering tests. Track with
ISO 14020—Environmental statements and existing tools and use run charts.
programs for products, ISO 20121—Sustainable – Deliverables: reporting plan, preliminary
events, ISO 21930—Sustainability in buildings report and reporting dashboard.

5. Opportunity team (profiting through innovation).

– Provide case studies showing
climate-friendly products.
– Teach and apply an IDEO-style new
product development process.
– Choose a design challenge. Collect team
knowledge and assumptions. Plan and
conduct research. Consider comments,
observations, takeaways, stories, learnings
and other data. Create insight statements.
Ask, “How might we?” Determine proto-
types. Test and iterate.
– Deliverables (how to profit from climate change
challenge): plan for a new offering, prototype
testing and dashboard of possibilities.

Call to action ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To be assigned a climate change project is a gift.
As W. Edwards Deming wrote, “Personal transformation
is discontinuous, sudden. Once transformed, one may there-
upon work toward transformation of his own organization.”2
This fits well with advice from the Headspace meditation
app: “To discover a sense of purpose and to act on it can help
us live a happy and contented life.”3 Welcome to the climate
change challenge! QP
The author thanks Dave Arndt, Bill Gordon and Sonal Singh, for reviewing
this response.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Visit this article’s webpage at qualityprogress.com for references noted
in this response, as well as links to additional resources.
This response was written by David M. Saunders, principal,
Saunders & Associates.

6 || QP || May 2023
 ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL
AND GOVERNANCE BOOKS
Coaching Coaching Green Belts for
Green Sustainable Success
Belts for Steve Pollock and Daro Mott
Sustainable
Success There is an abundant amount of
information on the technical, “hard skills”
Steve Pollock and Daro Mott
aspects of Six Sigma, while considerably
less about the interpersonal side of DMAIC. Six Sigma
Green Belts need support in applying new skills after
training, yet there is little research about how this works
and even less advice about what support looks like in the
field. This book is that missing link in providing coaching
tips to support Green Belt projects.
Item: H1479

A Practical Field Guide

for ISO 14001:2015
Erik V. Myhrberg with Brandon L. Myhrberg
The field guide depicts step by step what
must occur for organizations to create
an effective environmental management
system (EMS) in conformance with ISO 14001:2015.
What separates this field guide from most other books on
ISO 14001:2015 and its implementation are flowcharts
showing the steps to be taken in implementing an EMS
to meet a sub-clause’s requirements. Users of the field
guide will find within it practical tools, tips, and techniques
useful for not only implementing an EMS but also
maintaining one.
Item: H1538

Sustainable Business
& Industry
Joseph Jacobsen

NEW This book is an introduction to developing

and implementing a successful program

FROM
in the domain of sustainability and social
responsibility. It also specifies how to use traditional
methods such as Six Sigma, lean, and operations research

QUALITY
to improve processes, reduce resource use and waste,
and make better social and environmental decisions
that are based upon data from key financial, social,
and environmental performance indicators. Readers are

PRESS introduced to methods of implementing technologies

and practices and will also learn how to measure the
consequent social and environmental performance for
written reports and persuasive presentations.
Smart Cities: Reimagining the Urban Experience
Item: E1409
Paul Doherty
In a post-pandemic world, amid environmental crises, and advances in ASQ MEMBERS RECEIVE DISCOUNTS
technology, the dynamics of what the average city looks like have called FOR A COMPLETE LISTING OF AVAILABLE TITLES,
for change, leaving governments and policymakers to reimagine urban VISIT THE ASQ QUALITY PRESS CATALOG.
planning and development. Readers will discover how to implement 10 TINYURL.COM/QPCATALOGFY23
guiding principles to develop a smart city framework.
Item: H1584
 A digest of trends, research & late-breaking news

MANUFACTURING

CEOs Shore Up
Reshoring Plans
Report indicates companies investing in technology, ramping up domestic production

ore than half of American CEOs—55%—whose workflow tools as companies ramp up domestic production.

M
companies depend on manufacturing to produce and
deliver their goods said they have plans to reshore
their companies’ operations. In addition, nearly all
the CEOs surveyed in the “Building American Man-
ufacturing Resilience” poll said they had plans to reshore
operations this year.
Authors of the report from Xometry said this extensive
reshoring effort also is fueling a new modernization wave
as CEOs work to invest in robotics, automation and digital
In fact, more than 70% of CEOs are investing in automa-
tion, digital workflows and R&D, and more than half are
investing in artificial intelligence.
In addition, eight in 10 CEOs said their companies are
stockpiling goods and materials to provide a buffer against
disruptions. In a previous survey, 77% reported shortages
in finding components for products.
For more from the survey, visit http://bit.ly/3ZNCQ2t.

8 || QP || May 2023
 ASQ
ASQ'S WORLD CONFERENCE APPROACHES FAST
Time is running out to register and attend the
ASQ World Conference on Quality & Improve-
ment (WCQI), which takes place May 7–10
in Philadelphia.
Focus areas of the in-person event include supplier
and supply chain management; risk, resilience and
sustainability tools; quality’s impact on leadership,
organizational excellence and inclusion; and emerging
professionals in quality—a career primer.
There also will be a special ceremony at the confer-
ence to recognize recipients of ASQ’s national awards.
The 2022 recipients are:
Bianca Maria Colosimo Marco Grasso Federica Garghetti
Gary C. Confalone José Carlos Flores Molina Stefan Steiner
S U P P LY C H A I N M A N A G E M E N T
SURVEY: Tech Upgrades Fall Short of Expectations
Despite the great attention given to the digitalization of supply
chains, more than 80% of executives said these technological invest-
ments have not fully paid off and delivered what was expected.
According to the “PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 2023 Digital
Trends in Supply Chain Survey,” reasons for these unrealized results
could be that implementations are not finished, or ownership and
iStock.com/melitas
vision have not been defined. The report’s authors said they believe
that a lack of effective planning on the part of the companies also
contributes to the failure to see expected results.
– Martin A. Brumbaugh Award: Bianca Maria Colosimo,
Marco Grasso, Federica Garghetti and Beatrice Rossi.
– Armand V. Feigenbaum Medal: Nathaniel T. Stevens.
– Richard Freund–Donald Marquardt Medal: Isaac Sheps.
– Hromi Medal: Gary C. Confalone.
– E. Jack Lancaster Medal: José Carlos Flores Molina.
– Walter Shewhart Medal: Stefan Steiner.
– W. Edwards Deming Medal: Clifford L. Norman.
– Kaoru Ishikawa Medal: Miao Yuhong.
F or more on the conference, including the latest updates on
speakers and programming, visit asq.org/conferences/wcqi.
Beatrice Rossi Nathaniel T. Stevens Isaac Sheps
For more on the awards program,
visit asq.org/about-asq/asq-awards.
If you’re interested in using your
knowledge as a member of an award
or medal committee, email awards@
asq.org for more information.
Clifford L. Norman Miao Yuhong
“Technology initiatives typically do not
have a well-articulated value delivery plan—
and therefore struggle to meet expectations and end up with a
‘go live’ being the sole marker of success,” said Matt Comte of PwC.
The survey of 305 executives also showed that 84% of respondents
said their companies have partially or fully adopted cloud technolo-
gies, and 79% said they have implemented the internet of things.
For more from the survey, visit www.pwc.com/us/opssurvey.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 9
 &
IOE CAREE
R COA
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E TO A

SEEN HEARD
DVA N CE YO
UR CAREE
REMO
R
TE WO
RK

White Co
FIGUR
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expansion
Contract
or payments
per 100 employee
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drastic— the payroll.
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environ ment, ent—cha nge in work 1099 vs. W-2 higher.” 3
(See Figure es, it’s even
and its impacts These days, The switch 1.)
ductivit y on pro- it seems difficult to 80
and the bottom move. Contrac contractors was a
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all point fill their tors provide
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RE ADER RE ACTIO NS FROM AROU N D TH E WO RL D

another, According vacancies. an on-demand
and generall nt over to the U.S. specific skills
on the author’s y depend merce, many Chamber ities. Althoug and capabil-
of Com- h
ulterior motive. heavily work-life
people quit
their jobs a heftier price contractors come 40
Aside from balance, increase for tag, their with
productivity, questions concern better overall d salary and immediate
business needs
ability to
meet 20
there appears ing company worth it to
front-runner to In fact, a
Gallup poll
stability in many organiza makes it
remote working be a new U.S. workers found that
2021.
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job can be they would
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ic, having
flexibilit y Aug. 26, 2022, Van Dam, “The Remote 2021
Note: A value https://wapo.st/3UGhZew. Revolution Could Lead
someone given to ment if they employ- to han-
in another were and turns
at half the country and post-pandemic. 2 recalled to the was paramou of 100 would to Offshoring 2022
equal one contractor Armageddon,”
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vs. paper every employee
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an econom full-time of seeking struggled tions , but unlike
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the shortage ogies needed to the technol- is now an
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workers and This is not element of Remote,
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ly: “If you latest
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y in India United States payments any future ngly touchles in s by
ever is willing … or wher- skyrocketed in the global shutdow ves from Employers s society.”4 the already- or on site—an
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The best much less.” 1 56% from a paper-b of having tion, educatio attributes
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the shift
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employees, ors vs. plus busines June, the signatures g, digital but now has once was a e compan t only
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udzhan Nagiev
to a recent cloud-based, tion to retain
ments for contractor ry. Accordi the quality
every employe pay- article in ng operation remote-friendlythat organization’s increase in demand
4 || QP || e they had “This is not Comput
the first time er Weekly,
not only
in from anywhe allows workers ability to , and an
February 2023 on cesses have to
the way people meet those
paper pro- re in the clock are demand
become a Organizations hired also is changin s,

iStock.com/R
decreases world, but
poster child the costs also g.
for overhead associate selves, “Why now are asking
such as commer d with physical should we them-
and utilities cial real estate Birmingham, pay Susan
. AL, $25 per in
can pay Lynn hour when
in Jaipur, we
for the same India, $12
quality of per hour

IT DEPENDS
work and
output?”

THE PERCENTAGE OF QUALITY

qualityprogress.com
|| QP || 5

PROFESSIONALS AND EXECUTIVES—
RESPONDING TO ASQE’S
THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF
INSIGHTS ON EXCELLENCE (IOE)
RESEARCH—WHO INDICATE
THAT QUALITY PROFESSIONALS
WILL BECOME MORE INVOLVED
IN THEIR ORGANIZATION’S
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND
GOVERNANCE (ESG) INITIATIVES
OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
ESG is the newest IoE category to be
included as ASQExcellence explores the prac-
tice of conducting business within a complex,
interdependent world for long-term success.
There is clear alignment with quality meth-
ods because ESG depends on skills such as
auditing, systems thinking, root cause analysis,
risk and change management, and compli-
ance with standards and regulations. Quality
professionals are uniquely positioned to help
drive current and future-state ESG practices
within their organizations by helping connect
the power of their supply chains, adapting for
In response to “Career Coach: White Collar Blues” (February 2023, pp. 4-6):
I am finding that the issues of establishing value and/or
connection in remote work environments often depends
on the generation looking at the situation. Our older,
more traditional workforce are the ones saying there is an
issue for remote workers maintaining connection or creating
shared values, and is a challenge. My newer workforce mem-
bers are so used to virtual environments they can connect to
the concepts in that environment more than people realize.
It’s been a fascinating situation to deal with.
Laura Menck, Hopkins, MN
A N U N S TA B L E P O I N T
The answer to “Expert Answers: March 2023” (pp. 4–5) is almost infallible, but contains,
unfortunately, one inaccuracy. The first takeaway starts with the phrase: “If the Cpk and Ppk
values are equal or nearly equal, the process is in statistical control.” This assertion is wrong.
The reverse phrase is true: if the process is in a state of statistical control, the values of stan-
dard deviation within and between subgroups will be close to each other. The close values,
however, do not mean that the process is stable. All other takeaways are good.
Vladimir Shper, Moscow

THE REACTION GAUGE

innovation and preparing for economic impacts
per procurement and marketplace offerings.
Stakeholders are the fulcrum of ESG levers
and require transparency, measurable results THIS MONTH’S QUESTION LAST MONTH’S QUESTION
and meaningful interactions to realize the true
potential of their performance. Quality professionals often struggle to convince
For a successful career in quality,
By understanding the further evolution top management of the value and importance of
you must have a fundamental
of regulations, reporting needs and market quality to leadership and management. How do
understanding of industry tools
shifts to ESG practices, quality professionals you “sell” quality to your leadership?
and techniques so you can grow
bring valuable skills for their organizations to
professionally and add value to your
navigate and innovate within their industry—
organization. How do you stay current Luigi Sillé, Curacao, writes:
setting the tone for the future generation
on emerging technologies and tools? We need to know what’s important to
of the workforce, leadership and long-term
health of the company to adapt and thrive. leadership—why we need to improve, adapt or
Join the discussion on myASQ change. Share your idea with the team, be clear
For the latest trends on quality’s impact at my.asq.org, or on LinkedIn and make use of facts and data. Believe in
on ESG, download the 2022 IoE Executive at www.linkedin.com/ your idea and don’t give up. Prepare yourself
iStock.com/mabaci

Brief at https://tinyurl.com/msjzvhc4. company/asq. before talking to management, and remember:

For more on IoE research and resources, Timing is everything.
visit insightsonexcellence.org.

10 || QP || May 2023
GETTING TO KNOW…
Mr. Pareto Head MANUFACTURING

CURRENT
POSITION
Senior quality manager at ACME Corp.
and part-time motivational speaker.
Book Targets
EDUC ATION School of hard knocks. Human Error Reduction
The second edition of Human Error Reduction in Manufacturing has
been released by Quality Press. The 270-page book, authored by
Having something fail that wasn’t my fault,
Introduction to quality: José (Pepe) Rodriguez-Pérez, provides useful information on theories,
but still getting yelled at by the boss.
methods and specific techniques that can be applied to investigate and
Wyle E. Coyote. He was someone who never achieved control human failures in any type of industry or sector.
Teacher who influenced his goals and never had to explain why. In fact, I don’t
you the most: think I ever heard him say anything. He’d fall off a cliff, The book sells for $49 for ASQ members and $70 for nonmembers.
but would always get back up.
For more information, visit asq.org/quality-press/display-item?item=H1594.
Do you have a mentor You also can find more new titles, as well as planned book releases for later
My boss, Charlie Chance. He stopped my career dead
who has made a this year, in the refreshed Quality Press Catalog at https://bit.ly/3IEdwpP.
in its tracks! Also, motivational speaker Matt Foley.
difference in your career?
Best career advice: Don’t listen to Charlie Chance.
Picking up spilled red beads after one of W. Edwards
Previous FOOD SAFETY
Deming’s experiments. General muda clean-up.

700
noteworthy jobs:
Life was good!
ASQ activities: Motivational speaker at section meetings.
Noteworthy activities
Nothing I can think of. I am working on it. THE PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN THE TOTAL NUMBER
outside ASQ:
OF UNITS RECALLED UNDER THE AUTHORIZATION
Have you had anything I used to publish a comic strip. Some guy named OF THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
published? Mike Crossen and QP took things over. (FDA) IN 2022 COMPARED TO 2021.
Recent honors or I’m the only person in history to have a paddle of all red According to the Sedgwick organization, which collects and
accomplishments? beads in the red bead experiment. analyzes data from the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Current reading: Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. the number of food recalls rose 2.2% from 414 recalls in 2021 to 423
recalls in 2022. But the number of units, such as individual bags of
Favorite authors: George Orweibeull.
salads or containers of infant formula, increased 700.6%.
Paul Bunyan. He was the most famous logger that
Favorite blogger:
I know of. For more breakdowns, visit https://bit.ly/3yFSAZB.

Mr. Pareto Head b y M i k e C r o s s e n

qualityprogress.com || QP || 11
CAR EER COACH
A DV I C E TO A DVA N C E
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Cultivate Your
Career Garden
Nourish yourself personally and professionally to ensure you can weather tumultuous times
by Teresa Whitacre
his year began with news of
T
massive job cuts in the tech
industry, with some number-
ing in the tens of thousands.
Reflecting upon this news, tech
is not an industry in which I expected
to see such a dramatic shift. Watching
this saga unfold, it hit home with many
of my contacts who found themselves
starting over after many years in the
same industry or organization.
Regardless of how long you have
been in the same field or organization,
everyone is vulnerable to this type
12 || QP || May 2023
YO U R C A R EER
of change, especially in the current
economic climate (early 2023). How we
prepare for and react to changes such
as this are key to how we survive, grow
and cultivate our careers. Preparedness
and prevention (just like preventive
quality costs) must be implemented to
ensure continued growth, prosperity
and success.
Stay current
One of the best preventive medicines
you can give your career is to stay cur-
rent in your field. I have encountered
many individuals who have not main-
tained their currency and relevancy
in the needed skills or tools in their
industry. When cutbacks occur, those
same individuals fret over having a
difficult time with re-employment
of their choice.
Your career is yours and yours alone
to maintain—not your employer’s. Your
iStock.com/Aleksei Morozov
employer is not responsible for keeping
your skills sharp. Sure, it can assist by
providing tools, training and reimburse-
ments. Ultimately, however, it is up to
you to maintain your currency.
 Take my former supervisor,
for example. At one point
in his career, he was an
ASQ-certified quality
engineer (CQE). He
chose not to renew
his CQE because his
employer at the time
would not pay for recerti-
fication, and the CQE wasn’t
required for his role. A few
years later, his position was
eliminated. His job search was
more difficult because positions he
was interested in required the CQE.
As the saying goes, your best offense
is a good defense. Keep your skills and
talents sharp and current to give you a
defensive edge over others.
Some people maintain relevancy
on their own by volunteering, taking
courses and accepting projects that
stretch their capabilities. The more
things you know and can do, the more
value you add to any organization—and
to yourself. Many countries, including
the United States, are experiencing a
graying workforce. There are not as
many working-age people available to
perform certain roles. The more cur-
rent you keep your abilities, the more
of these roles you can fill.
Have a plan B, C or D
Most professionals have a chosen field,
area of specialty or work they prefer.
In tough times, it pays to have backup
plans ready to implement should the
need arise. For example, many people
have hobbies they can turn into a side
hustle in the event they need to bridge
the gap in the short term.
Perform a skills assessment to
determine your strengths and inter-
ests. Do you excel in math? Maybe you
could teach or tutor. Have a knack for
computer programming? Try helping
lower income people or at senior centers
where people have a desire and need,
but not the means.
Your best offense is a
good defense. Keep your
skills and talents sharp
and current to give
you a defensive edge
over others.
The quality profession, especially
quality engineering, touches so many
facets of the field. Instead of production
quality, try auditing. Instead of auditing,
try training and teaching. The possibil-
ities are endless if you brainstorm your
strengths and interests.
After brainstorming and mapping
your options, you may be surprised
at just what is available to you.
While it may not be what you want
at first, you never know where it
might lead in the future.
Often, hiring managers want to
know what you did with your time
during an employment gap. Maybe
you cared for your children or an
aging parent. Maybe you volunteered
for a church, school or nonprofit.
Perhaps you studied another field
or took coursework. Take credit for
every activity you did during this
time. Look at the skills you used and
showcase those as a vehicle to benefit
yourself and the organization.
Many soft skills are executed in
those examples, such as presenting,
marketing, public speaking, conflict
resolution, negotiation, time manage-
ment. All of these are valid soft skills.
It is much easier to train in technical
skills or organization policy than it is
soft skills.
Be true to yourself
In good times and bad, we tend
to forget that we are the most
important element for the
garden to grow and prosper.
If we are not taken care of,
how can we expect others
around us to be? We often get
so wrapped up in the busyness
of careers and opportunity seek-
ing that we forget about ourselves.
You must properly care for the
garden that is you, just like you would
a vegetable garden. Proper food, water
and sunshine is essential for my garden
to grow. You must take time for your-
self—physically, emotionally, spiritually
and socially. How can you expect your
professional self to grow and thrive if
your personal self doesn’t? Just like in
medicine, if you neglect preventive mea-
sures and wellness, you may experience
illness or rough times. Preventive mea-
sures cement your likelihood of survival
and success no matter how tumulus the
economy becomes.
Protect yourself and stay out of
the weeds by maintaining your skills,
staying up on current techniques and
having a plan B—or C or D. Most impor-
tantly, take care of the most precious
plant in the garden—you! QP
Teresa Whitacreis a
senior quality engineer
at Marketech Systems
in Pittsburgh. She holds
a bachelor’s degree in
organizational leadership from the University of
Arizona Global Campus. She is an ASQ-certified
quality auditor, engineer, Six Sigma Green Belt
and manager of quality/organizational excellence.
An ASQ fellow, Whitacre is an instructor for ASQ’s
Pittsburgh Section’s certified quality inspector
refresher course and past deputy regional director
for ASQ Region 8.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 13
M Y Q UA L I T Y S TO RY
PER SO N A L S TO R I E S FROM QUALIT Y PROFESSIONAL S

ADVICE

am often asked, “What Top 10 rules for

being a quality
I
does it take to be a quality
professional?” My answer professional
varies depending on who by Ron Sedlock
is asking and his or her
current situation. Here's my list—​

RULES
or rules of the road—to a successful
career as a quality professional. This
list is meant to be descriptive, not pre-
scriptive. Create your own examples.
The top 10 rules of the road are:
10. Be available.
9. Ask questions.

OF
8. Do not be a tool-head.
7. Make decisions.
6. Encourage interactions.
5. Become a system thinker.
4. Listen to the voice of the customer.
3. Add value to the organization.
2. Teach others quality.
1. Be an example of quality.
Let’s address each rule individually. Fasten
your seatbelt because the road will be bumpy.

10 Be available.
Be available to everyone in the
organization. Make the rounds. Talk
to frontline workers, go to sales meet-
ings and attend upper management
discussions. Just be there!
When I was the head of a start-up
company, I went around every morn-
ing to talk with every employee. I asked
how it was going on and off the job
("How is the family?"), and always
9 Ask questions.
Effective communica-
tion skills begin with asking
questions. Active listening to
the responses completes the
interaction. Do not come across
as, “I know quality and you don’t.”
I like using questions such
as “Who uses your output?”
8 Do not be a tool-head.
No one tool is the answer to quality.
A tool, by definition, is something that facil-
itates work. It is job specific. A control chart
is a tool used to determine the stability of a
process. Six Sigma is a tool used to improve
a process systemically by reducing variation.
iStock.com/LongQuattro

ended the interaction with an offer
to help. Make yourself accessible to
people—in person or virtually.
Somebody said it best: Showing up
is the first step to being successful.
and “How useable is your out-
put, as seen by your customer?”
This gets people thinking that
quality is fitness for use (thank
you, Joseph Juran).
New tools come and go. The secret is
having a toolbox of the various tools. As jobs
come up, apply the appropriate tool. Remem-
ber: If all you have is a hammer, everything
looks like a nail.

14 || QP || May 2023
 7 Make decisions. 4 Listen to the
Good organizations make good decisions. voice of the
Bad organizations make bad (or no) decisions. customer.
Decisions must be timely. Many decisions involve I hear voices. No, I am
risk. As a quality professional, determine the risk not crazy (my mother
of the decision (or no decision). had me tested).
Bottom line: What is the worst thing that Customers want use-
could happen if your decision is wrong? able products and services.
Sometimes rocking the boat is a good thing. As suppliers, we focus on
makeability. There is a dif-
6 Encourage interactions. ference between useability
Get people together to work on quality and makeability. Both are
problems. Invite people from different functions important, but they’re
to discuss problems. Often, the organization different.
has developed functional silos with thick walls. Whenever I had the
Functional silos are useful for control purposes, chance to watch our cus-
but not for improvement purposes. tomers use our product,
When you audit, widen your scope to include I took it. I often saw how
different process owners. I have experienced we could better design our
process owners who start discussing during product to improve use-
their exit interview what they could do to ability. It is amazing what
improve their interaction. you hear by listening.
3 Add value to
the organization.
Are you adding value? If not, upper
management will consider you nec-
essary overhead. It might keep you
employed, but for how long? Early in
my career, I realized you must speak
management’s language: money.
2 Teach others quality.
It is hard to teach anyone who
is unwilling to learn. Wait for people
to ask questions—that is an indication
they are willing to learn.
I started by using a simple run chart
on a process. After a couple of months,
I included a centerline and control lim-
its. The process owner asked what they
were—he was ready for his first lesson
in statistics.
As a quality professional, your most
important job is to get rid of your job.

Ron Sedlock
has more than

THE ROAD
44 years
of quality
experience.
He began his career studying under
the personal tutorage of W. Edwards
Deming and Joseph M. Juran. He has
been a member of ASQ since 1976 and
has held most ASQ certifications. He is
a military veteran who served with the 1st
Air Cavalry in Vietnam.

5 Become a system thinker. 1 Be an example of quality.

W. Edwards Deming had it right all along: After a four-day seminar with Deming, I asked
Quality is the result of the system. Juran taught me him what I could do. He said, “Be an example of quality.”
that tough chronic problems had to be solved cross-​​ That advice has stayed with me my entire career.
functionally. Why? Because parts of the solution lie People need to see that you’re not just a preacher of
in different functions. quality, but also an example of quality. I never ask people
I have facilitated a couple dozen cross-functional teams. to do something that I would not
On one production-problem team, the salesperson came up do in my area of responsibility.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
with the solution. And, yes, on another sales-problem team, Yes, I did have a control chart on a
I had many personal con-
the solution came from the production member. process in the quality department. versations with W. Edwards
Think system! Try taking a “mental drone” view above Get to the point where when Deming and Joseph Juran.
your organization. Go beyond traditional root cause anal- you look in the mirror you say, I will be eternally grateful
ysis to system root cause analysis. You might have to go “So that’s what quality looks like.” for their guidance and
words of wisdom.
beyond five whys to the why of the system. Good luck! QP

qualityprogress.com || QP || 15
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

16 || QP || May 2023
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

JUST THE FACTS

The concepts of
sustainability and
resiliency must
be part of the
blueprints when
planning and build-
ing smart cities.
The goal of
sustainability is
to put our world
back in balance,
while the goal of
resiliency is to look
for ways to manage
in a continuously
unbalanced world.
Integrating sustainability
and resiliency into the Plans for smart
cities must consider
blueprints for smart the human element
cities by Paul Doherty and allow “people
to be people.”
Andriy Onufriyenko via Getty Images

qualityprogress.com || QP || 17
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

major component of a smart cities

master planning process is to inte-
grate sustainability and resiliency as
components of the plan. Having proper
data about your urban-built environment—specifically, your city’s buildings
and infrastructure—are the building blocks to implementing projects and
programs focused on sustainability and resiliency.
The sustainability movement of the recent past always was a curious
endeavor because many customers of the built environment were confused
about the message. Aren’t we, as an industry, supposed to be designing,
building and managing in a sustainable manner as a matter of common prac-
tice? This poor messaging of sustainability as a separate process, thankfully,
is not translating into the smart cities movement because sustainability is
expected, and integrated and transparent in the overall process.
What is resonating as a focus is the resiliency of cities, rather than the
sustainability, as witnessed by world events such as the COVID-19 pandemic,
Hurricane Katrina, the Sichuan earthquake in China, Superstorm Sandy, and
man-made events such as the Boston Marathon bombing. In each case, a com-
munity’s response was examined for best practices and lessons learned on
how quickly and properly the community bent but did not break.
The community’s resilience was tested and, in all cases, it recovered.
The measure of resiliency in the framework of smart cities is going through
its first generation of analysis and reporting. An overriding result of this
analysis is that we can’t prevent natural or man-made disasters, but with our
knowledge and access to technologies, we can better protect our infrastruc-
tures, way of life and institutions—physical, organizational and digital.
With dense populations, cities are particularly vulnerable to natural haz-
ards. For example, Superstorm Sandy in October and November 2012 alone
was responsible for damages of $50 billion, mostly in the New York metropol-
itan area. Co-op City, a residential “city within New York City” development
complex in the Bronx with 14,000 apartments and an independent power
grid, has a proactive resilient infrastructure that proved its worth during
Superstorm Sandy. An on-site 40-megawatt combined heat and power plant
generates power for Co-op City. When Superstorm Sandy hit, Co-op City
was not affected by the power cuts experienced by the rest of New York City.
Andriy Onufriyenko via Getty Images

Different goals
The goal of sustainability is to put our world back in balance, while the goal
of resiliency is to look for ways to manage in a continuously unbalanced
world. A resilient city assumes that it doesn’t know exactly how things will
work out, and mistakes may happen. Some of the more resilient city programs
focus on learning from the resiliency of nature and how to best manage
continuous change.

18 || QP || May 2023
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

EDITOR’S NOTE

In an excerpt from his upcoming Quality Press book, Smart Cities:

Reimagining the Urban Experience, Paul Doherty describes the
elements of sustainability and resiliency in planning and
building smart cities. This excerpt combines portions
of chapters three and six of the book, which is
available this month. For more details,
visit asq.org/quality-press.

qualityprogress.com || QP || 19
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

Smart City:
A Basic Definition
A smart city is an urban area that uses advanced
technologies and data analysis to improve the
quality of life for its residents and to optimize
the efficiency of its systems and services. Smart
cities leverage information and communication
technologies to enhance the performance
and interconnectivity of urban infrastructure,
including transportation, energy, water, waste
management, public safety, healthcare and
education. The goal of a smart city is to enhance
the sustainability, livability and resilience of the
city while improving economic development and
social well-being. —P.D.
Some of the urban technologies that are being
implemented that follow this strategy include wire-
less “mesh networks” that provide connectivity for
communication from device to device, creating an
interwoven, self-healing network on the fly. This
type of network is the ultimate backup method to
communicate in a dense urban environment when
the primary networks fail.
The deployment of SpaceX’s low Earth orbit
mini-satellites for internet connectivity called
Starlink is proving this as it provides wireless con-
nectivity to the Ukraine government and military
in its fight against the Russian invasion of Ukraine in
2022. At the time of this publication, the deployment
of the Starlink system is one of the main reasons
the current Ukrainian resistance has had success
against the Russian invasion.

Move to microgrids
The recent move by cities to work with their energy departments and vendors
to create self-resilient microgrids to compensate for an aging energy infra-
structure is taking hold as a best practice for a smart city. Microgrids can
be best described as a move from a linear ecosystem of equipment, systems
and processes to a decentralized, circular ecosystem for energy production
and distribution.
The current linear model means that energy flows into a city from outside
power stations, while circular models have cities producing most of their energy
from local, renewable sources, such as capturing energy from municipal waste
and sewage and distributing it locally. The advantages of a resilient infrastruc-
ture able to withstand natural and man-made hazards and disasters include:
– Resilient, smart cities are better prepared to recover quickly during and
after a crisis.
– Robust infrastructures generally are more resource efficient,
powerful and reliable.
– Resilient technologies and data stabilize the operation of critical systems,
especially during a crisis.
A smart city’s ability to bounce back from natural and manmade events is
a highly valued measure of resilient planning. The result is a city that is more
secure, efficient and reliable.
Smart cities are designed as a series of ecosystems that work together like an
organism, with the ability to scale based on the needs of their inhabitants. Each
ecosystem is a recipe that is developed from a series of innovations that act like
ingredients. Smart cities are not about innovation and technology. They are
about raising the human spirit.
Our approach for our urban master plans starts with a discovery process
with cultural anthropologists to assist in gaining an understanding of the
people in that region. From there, we establish the needs for that location and
build horizontal heterarchical systems (education, healthcare and transporta-
tion, for example) that are tied together through vertical ontologies (information
and communications technology, digital twin/metaverse and blockchains) as
our smart cities solutions.

20 || QP || May 2023
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

qualityprogress.com || QP || 21
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

ESG in the Construction The road ahead

and Real Estate Industry The road ahead for smart cities is limitless,
but I hope the term “smart cities” goes away
ESG (environmental, social and governance) refers to the non- in the future, and we can just call them cit-
financial aspects of an organization’s operations that can affect ies. It is an amazing time to reimagine who,
its reputation, financial performance and long-term viability. what, why, when and how high-performing
In the construction and real estate industry, ESG factors are becom- urban environments can improve the human
ing increasingly important as more organizations recognize the need condition without imposing restrictive tech-
to build and operate facilities in a responsible and sustainable manner. nologies and processes that could be used for
Environmental considerations in the construction and real estate nefarious intentions, such as abusive surveil-
industry include factors such as energy efficiency, resource utiliza- lance, unwarranted citywide lockdowns and
tion, waste management and emissions. Organizations can reduce politically motivated incarcerations.
their carbon footprint by using environmentally friendly building Smart cities are not the cure for human
materials, incorporating green building design and using renewable greed and neutralizing bad actors. In fact,
energy sources. they may exacerbate some of those situ-
Social factors refer to the impact that an organization’s operations ations. The promise of smart cities is to
have on its employees, customers and local communities. In the inspire, delight and respond to people’s
construction and real estate industry, social factors include working aspirations, goals and dreams in dense,
conditions, diversity and inclusion, and community engagement. urban environments.
Organizations that prioritize social responsibility are more likely to It is my hope that high-performance
have engaged and satisfied employees, and are better positioned urban environments are not what Holly-
to build strong relationships with local communities. wood movies and certain books foresee as
Governance factors refer to the systems, policies and processes a dystopian future. Those futures represent
that an organization has in place to manage risk, ensure ethical a lazy vision empty of creativity. Catering to
behavior and promote transparency. In the construction and real the dark side of the human condition is easy
estate industry, governance factors include compliance with relevant and only confirms a lack of imagination. The
regulations, ethical procurement practices, and strong health and same critique can be given to the futurists
safety policies. Organizations with strong governance practices who develop utopian visions of grandeur with
are more likely to have a positive reputation, which can help them either indifference or incompetence in their
attract and retain customers and employees. understanding of how humans live.
ESG factors are becoming increasingly important in the construc- I was reminded of this during our
tion and real estate industry as organizations look to build a more CLARA-Project,1 when a member of the
sustainable and responsible future. Organizations that prioritize ESG Australian Parliament offered some remarks
considerations are better positioned to weather challenges, build after I gave a presentation to the legislative
long-term relationships with stakeholders and achieve long-term body of our master plan. He was very generous
success. —P.D. with his accolades regarding our master plan,
saying that I understood the Australian spirit
of rebalancing the Australian settlement.
He went on to ask a few questions that resulted in his final question: “Where
are the brothels to be located in the proposed smart cities in Victoria? Brothels
are legal in the state of Victoria, and I do not see an accommodation for them in
your master plan.” Initially, I was speechless, but eventually, I responded that
I would need to get back to him.
I mention this situation to highlight that when designing cities for people,
one must understand that people are going to be people. As humans, we have
emotions, desires, biases and a multitude of feelings, beliefs and mindsets that
make us individuals. Because of this lesson learned, I may not overtly master
plan red light districts into my smart cities designs, but I am more careful
to design areas of my cities that allow the local community to permit “people
to be people” while keeping in mind the local customs, ethics, morals and beliefs.

22 || QP || May 2023
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

AUTHOR’S NOTE
This article was compiled from
Smart Cities: Reimagining the
Urban Experience with differ-
ent readers in mind. The broad
nature of the topic of smart
cities makes a comprehensive
compendium almost impossi-
ble to deliver because the topic
still is emerging as a definition.
With this in mind, the reason
I have learned that utopia does not exist, but we can try and ethos of the book were
to build upon human wants, needs and desires to do our best to begin a conversation as a
community about smart cities,
to achieve healthy, livable and sustainable futures. while documenting some
It is not an easy thing to design, construct and deliver an successes at an ingredient
operational smart city that most people enjoy. I must think (innovation) level, as well as
of solutions for problems that have not yet emerged. In the age highlighting macro-success on
of autonomous transportation, for instance, do we need street a project level (recipe). Some
may read certain chapters as
curbs? Does the street grid go away, and do we create a great too deep or too shallow in
experience for walking in all types of climates by placing build- detail. It was my challenge to
ings according to local conditions? If we dynamically power provide a balance of the topic
our electric and automated vehicles through piezoelectric of smart cities.
power generation embedded in the road,
who is responsible for the management of
that road? The department of transporta-
tion or the local power company? QP Paul Dohertyis the president and
CEO of the Digit Group Inc., a smart city
NOTE real estate development and solutions
1. For more on the CLARA-Project, a master company. He is a New York State-licensed
planning project in Australia to rebalance settle- architect, a senior fellow of the Design
ments and reimagine cities, visit www.clara.com. Futures Council and a fellow of the International Facilities
au. The project entails building up to eight new
Management Association. He also is a registered architect,
smart cities across central Australia, connected
by the most advanced high-speed rail system. Construction Specifications Institute certified, and Construction
Documents Technology certified. Doherty holds a bachelor’s
degree in architecture from the New York Institute of Technology.

qualityprogress.com || QP || 23
 ENVIRONMENT

PROJECT
by
PROJECT

24 || QP || May 2023
 ENVIRONMENT

JUST THE FACTS

Just as quality revolutionized the manufacturing and

healthcare industries over the past 50 years, the same
disciplined approach must be embraced by organi-
zations and countries around the world to create the
synergetic changes required to address climate and
environmental issues.
As quality pioneers have noted, improvement happens
project by project.
To encourage the use of quality methods in efforts
to save the planet, several partnerships with quality
organizations throughout the world have formed
to promote projects aimed at environmental issues
and other aspects of sustainability. These projects are
evaluated for recognition and their stories are shared
to inform and inspire others.
elenabs via Getty Images

Avoiding climate calamities and

saving planet Earth with quality—
one project at a time by John R. Dew

qualityprogress.com || QP || 25
 ENVIRONMENT

I n a 2020 issue of ASQ’s Journal for Quality and Participation, Belgian

quality consultant Willy Vandenbrande provided a comprehensive overview
describing how the quality discipline can make a significant and game-changing
contribution to enhancing the sustainability of our planet.1 Applying quality meth-
ods to the challenges of sustainability provides yet another important milestone in
the progression of the quality discipline in serving the needs of humanity.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the quality discipline made significant contributions
to the development of vital new technologies that improved the world’s standard
of living in fields such as aerospace, telecommunications, electronics, power genera-
tion, biomedical sciences and manufacturing. Quality assurance and quality control
methods were designed into new technologies that made it possible to support grow-
ing populations, build new cities and even land men on the moon.
By the 1980s, the world was recognizing the power of quality methods to
improve work processes by reducing variation, waste and rework, and providing
new products and services that delighted customers and met expectations they
did not even know they had. Terms such as “process improvement,” “continuous
quality improvement” and “process simplification” became widely used through-
out American industry and service organizations.
ASQ and other organizations hosted conferences in the 1980s that featured
thousands of presentations by quality practitioners eager to share how they had
applied quality methods to improve everything from autos to zippers. Competition
in the United States emerged between those who were disciples of W. Edwards
Deming, those who embraced Philip Crosby’s approach, and those who learned
from quality gurus such as Armand Feigenbaum and Joseph M. Juran. Americans
were discovering the contributions of Japanese quality experts such as Kaoru
Ishikawa, Genichi Taguchi, Masaaki Imai and many others.
From this rich mix of enthusiastic engagement, new perspectives emerged that
subsequently have become accepted as commonplace, such as the assembly of
quality improvement approaches into a method known as Six Sigma, the creation
of a comprehensive framework for achieving performance excellence throughout
an organization known as the Baldrige criteria and a holistic approach to quality
embraced in many parts of the world known as total quality management.
Traditional bedrock practices in the quality field—such as the creation of
standards and the use of audits and inspections—also have continued to thrive
and make advances in support of even greater achievements in quality that have
improved the human condition around the world.

26 || QP || May 2023
 ENVIRONMENT

2022 Recognitions
Thirteen organizations were recognized in the 2022 Quality and Sustainability Award process for sustainability
projects using quality methods. Top recognition went to the Xiangshui County Power Supply Branch in China,
Ashok Leyland Ltd. in India, Colquimica Adhesives in Portugal and SRF Ltd. in India.

– Xiangshui Power Supply’s project focused on
developing an efficient power inspection system
that enhances the inspection of transmission using
a plan-do-check-act cycle, quality function deploy-
ment and process flowcharting. The new approach
uses unmanned aerial vehicles and greatly reduces
the speed of transmission line inspection and avoid-
ance of loss of electricity due to power faults.
– Ashok Leyland Ltd. applied Six Sigma and design
of experiments (DoE) methods to reduce water use,
CO2 emissions, hazardous waste, material and fuel
consumption by improving the painting process in
its auto facility in India.
– Colquimica Adhesives organized a “lean green value
stream map” project to reduce the amount of glue
being sent to a landfill by 54% (a reduction of 35 tons
in one quarter). The team used lean Six Sigma meth-
ods to structure its analysis.
– SRF, a multi-business chemical company in India
that has twice won the Deming Prize, organized a
project team to focus on improving its polymerization
film production for laminate packaging. The team
used failure mode and effects analysis to establish
a new recycling process and reduce its facility’s
carbon footprint.
– Amway Ltd. (China) in Guang-
Other companies that received recognition in the 2022
award cycle included:
– State Grid Corp. in China for its project on improving
the removal of watt-hour meters to reduce pollution.
– Tata Steel in India for its project to enhance scrap
steel recycling.
– The Department of Education and Training in
Son La Province, Vietnam, for its work on continuous
improvement of its quality system in education.
– State Grid Corp. in China for its project to adjust the
power grid mode of operation in advance of lightning
storms to reduce power outages.
– Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. in Pune, India,
for its project to install rooftop solar collectors.
– Beijing Capital International Airport Aviation
Security Ltd. for its use of total quality management
and root cause analysis methods to improve processes
related to passenger identification, documents and
baggage identification.
– Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. for its use of DoEs in
developing new cast iron materials and reducing
CO2 emissions in tractor production.
– Bosch Ltd. in Rajasthan, India, for a lean project to
eliminate a lapping process, resulting in reduced
generation of hazardous waste.
zhou, China, for conducting a
project to significantly reduce
The deadline for
the plastic and paper used in
submissions for the 2023
packaging materials such as
award cycle is June 30.
bottles and cartons.

For more details on the recipients, visit http://iaqaward.com/iaq-quality-sustainability-award-2022.

qualityprogress.com || QP || 27
 ENVIRONMENT

National Partners As quality methods proliferated throughout manu-

The International Academy for Quality (IAQ) Planet Earth
Think Tank members recognized that a process for recogniz-
ing and encouraging what could become tens of thousands
of projects using quality methods to save the planet could
get out of hand quickly.
So, the Think Tank members established partnerships with
quality organizations in countries that will promote projects
and evaluate these projects. Each country sends only its top
projects on to IAQ for the final evaluation.
In 2021, the partners were the Indian Society for Quality and
the Chinese Association for Quality. Each country promoted
the competition and conducted its own first-round examina-
tion of numerous applications, forwarding the best to IAQ for
review by a neutral group of evaluators.
The partners for the third round of recognition in 2022 have
expanded to also include the Vietnamese Quality Association
and the Israeli Institute for Quality, Innovation & Excellence.
Collectively, the quality practitioners in these four countries
are leading the world’s effort to focus quality methods on a
project-by-project level to address local issues of environmen-
tal sustainability.
The IAQ evaluators for the 2021 recognition cycle were from
Argentina, Belgium, China, India and the United States.
—J.R.D.
concern now shared by most climate scientists that our planet is confronted with the
challenge of rising temperatures that could result in disruption of the climate around
the world. The potential associated problems include changing weather patterns
that result in drought, excessive heat, rising sea levels, melting permafrost and
increased hurricanes.
These changes have the potential of disrupting food supplies, submerging coastal
communities, creating water
shortages and stimulating
conflicts over resources.
While there have been
national accords and agree-
ments on establishing goals
for reducing greenhouse
gasses and reducing depen-
dence on fossil fuels, the
overall scope of the climate
challenge can appear quite
daunting. The challenges
and problems are numerous
and encompass the globe.
How will we, as a species,
address these issues?
facturing, it became possible to streamline workflows
and develop new capabilities for just-in-time delivery of
components in what has developed as the supply chain
discipline. Likewise, the expansion of quality methods
has established new levels of reliability and safety in
products, and thousands of new innovations in products
and services.
When the medical community was confronted in the
late 1990s with evidence of serious deficiencies in the
quality of practice that resulted in adverse and sentinel
events, practitioners turned to the quality field’s body of
knowledge to eliminate errors throughout the medical
field. Quality control and quality improvement methods
have been applied to the healthcare field in ways that
have improved patient safety and helped contain health-
care costs.
There is no doubt that during the past 50 years, the
quality discipline has had a major impact on improving
human lives in hundreds of thousands of applications.
The quality discipline has taken on many of the aspects
of a movement, thanks to the commitment and dedica-
tion of thousands of practitioners around the world.
New global challenges
The United Nations has established 17 Sustainable
Development Goals that recognize and begin to address
systemic challenges for humanity. 2 This includes the
ASQ AND ESG
Establishing and promoting the role
of quality in environmental, social and
governance (ESG) thought leadership
and content development is firmly planted
in ASQ’s 2023-24 strategic plan. For more
details on this plan that will guide the
ASQ’s organizational decisions, resource
allocations and priorities for the next two
years, visit asq.org/about-asq.

28 || QP || May 2023

The answer is quality.
In the same manner that tens of thousands of quality
initiatives revolutionized the manufacturing industry,
as well as healthcare, during the past 50 years, the same
disciplined approach must be embraced by organizations
and countries around the world to create the synergetic
changes required to address climate issues. Likewise,
in the same manner that quality standards help drive
systematic quality improvement, quality professionals are
actively engaged in developing environmental, health and
safety standards that will support sustainability goals.3
Project by project
Juran was famous for his observation that improvement
happens project by project.4 Juran and Ishikawa taught
the world how to form quality circles within work groups
that would focus unceasingly on analyzing and improving
work processes to reduce variation and eliminate rework
and waste. Even more importantly, Juran taught us how to
establish cross-functional teams to address larger quality
problems that require improving a process that crosses
organizational boundaries or is part of a system.
With the leadership of N. Ramanathan of India, Vanden-
brande of Belgium, and quality practitioners such as Lars
Sorqvist of Sweden and Sunil Sinha of the United Arab Emir-
ates in the International Academy for Quality’s (IAQ) Planet
Earth Think Tank, it’s been acknowledged that a return to
the widespread use of project-by-project efforts will be a
vital component in avoiding climate calamities and saving
the planet.5
Projects can use quality methods to reduce waste
streams, improve efficiency in the use of materials and
energy, target opportunities for introducing new technolo-
gies and many other applications. The beauty of this approach
is that many organizations already have invested in learning
and applying quality methods, so they are well positioned
to expand the use of quality methods into environmental
ENVIRONMENT
issues and other aspects of sustainability as defined
by the United Nations.
To promote this view and the progress that is already
being made, IAQ organized a Quality and Sustainability
Award recognition program in 2020.6,7 A second round of
competition in 2021 attracted a significant increase in appli-
cations and organizations that have received commendations
and award-winning recognition. See the sidebars “National
Partners” and “2022 Recognitions” (p. 27) for background on
how the program works and details about recent recipients.
Only scratching the surface
As commendable as these projects are, the reality is that
we are only starting to scratch the surface in terms of the
potential benefits of applying quality methods to Earth con-
cerns in all 17 of the United Nations sustainability categories.
Quality professionals can find stimulating suggestions for
how to think about applying quality methods to sustainabil-
ity challenges offered by authors such as David Saunders in
QP.8 ASQ’s Energy and Environmental Division also has a
committee on applying quality to sustainability challenges
chaired by Lowellyn James.
While governments might pursue various environmental
and climate goals through top-down programs, the bottom-up
approach using quality improvement methods may hold the
key to saving the planet. Governments may establish goals and
educate the public about the validity of the concerns related to
environmental sustainability, and governments may enact tax
incentives and research grants to incentivize efforts. It will
take hundreds of thousands of actions at the grass roots level,
however, to really make a difference.
As we have witnessed over the previous decades,
the project-by-project approach using quality methods,
which provide a cross-disciplinary wealth of tools and
knowledge, is a proven strategy for changing the world.
Quality methods enable us to realize the concept that we
must think globally and act locally. QP
EDITOR’S NOTE
The references listed in this article can be found on the article’s webpage
at qualityprogress.com.
John R. Dewteaches in the doctoral program in global
leadership at Troy University in Alabama. He earned his
doctorate in education from the University of Tennessee
in Knoxville. Dew is an ASQ fellow, International
Academy for Quality (IAG) member, past chair of ASQ’s Energy & Environmental
Division, past chair of ASQ’s Education Division and a member of the IAQ Planet
Earth Think Tank.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 29
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

30 || QP || May 2023
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

How quality
professionals can
help society and
organizations
mitigate the
negative effects
of sustainability-
related risks and
global mega forces

JUST THE FACTS

For organizations
to truly benefit
from sustainability
initiatives, leaders
must move beyond
net zero toward
absolute zero—​
zero emissions,
zero defects and
zero harm.
The authors outline
the sustainability/
corporate social
responsibility index
and present insights
Andriy Onufriyenko via Getty Images

from the ASQ

Energy & Environ-
mental Division
Sustainability Sur-
vey Report showing
how organizations
can apply quality
management meth-
ods to sustainable
development.
Quality manage-
ment is the missing
element of sustain-
able development.
It provides the tools
and techniques
required to close
the gap between
inaction and sustain-
able action.

by Lowellyne James,
Mary-Jane Poku
and Mina Boulos

qualityprogress.com || QP || 31
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y
T
oday’s headlines are dominated by news about
environmental issues arising from global
mega forces such as climate change-induced
hot seasonal temperatures, forest fires and
other sustainability-related risks (for example,
the COVID-19 pandemic, carbon emissions,
and gender and racial equality).1,2
During the 26th Conference of the Parties
(COP 26)—a United Nations decision-​making
body that monitors communications and
emissions inventories submitted by nation
states established in 2015 during the Paris
Climate Accord—a legally binding interna-
tional treaty on climate change was adopted.3,4
The U.S. government has displayed a political willingness
to tackle global warming, signaling that the world’s largest
economy is recommitting to these international accords and
tabling climate change as a threat multiplier of critical impor-
tance to national security.5 Commitments by India, China and
Russia to comply with COP 26 pledges to reduce methane gas
emissions and arrest deforestation are yet to be realized.6
Simultaneously, economic instruments such as carbon
taxation, carbon pricing and mandatory carbon reporting
for listed companies are perceived as potential tools to achieve
net zero targets.7 Although there is no common definition of
net zero, it can be defined as achieving a balance between the
amount of greenhouse gasses (GHG) emitted into the atmo-
sphere and GHG emissions removed from the atmosphere.8
The effectiveness of carbon emission reduction-related
macroeconomic or monetary instruments is questionable,
at best. Therein lies an opportunity for quality management
professionals to contribute to the transition to a green economy
by applying quality methods and tools to achieve the U.N.’s Sus-
tainable Development Goals (SDG).9, 10 Quality professionals can
offer their skills and expertise—including change management,
continual process improvement, lean management and analyti-
cal skills—to improve sustainability performance.
Although not immediately apparent, there
is a direct relationship between COVID-19—​
a zoonotic disease that can be transmitted
from animals to humans—and the three
pillars of sustainable development: economic,
social and environmental. Factors such as
increasing deforestation and other land
use changes, illegal and poorly regulated
wildlife trade, intensified agriculture
and wildlife production, antimicro-
bial resistance and climate change
have contributed to the preva-
lence of infectious zoonotic
diseases since 2002 (for
example, Middle Eastern
32 || QP || May 2023
Respiratory Syndrome, severe acute respiratory syndrome
and Ebola).11
Sustainability is a multivariate concept within which
quality management has a catalytic role in the realiza-
tion of sustainability outcomes through standards setting,
inspection, testing and the development of a sustainability
culture that directly influences the quality of life in the
present while considering the needs of future generations.
Traditionally, quality management has focused on three
main themes: variation reduction, waste reduction and loss.
But it must expand its scope to deliver products and services
that contribute minimal loss to society and reduce sustain-
ability risk.12-14
Sustainability Committee
The ASQ Energy & Environmental Division (EED) Sustain-
ability Committee’s mission is to provide members with
knowledge and tools that will help support the strategic
integration of quality and sustainability management within
organizations. In addition, EED members are employed
within sectors, such as nuclear and oil and gas, that are at the
center of high-visibility sustainability issues and therefore can
provide leadership that advances their organizations, and soci-
ety at large. Specifically, the EED Sustainability Committee
sought to gain insight into the types of quality management
tools, techniques and frameworks being implemented by pro-
fessionals, and their perceptions of sustainability/corporate
social responsibility (CSR) training requirements.
Sustainability/CSR Index
Acknowledging the vital role of quality management in sus-
tainable development, the EED Sustainability Survey provides
insight into perceptions, current initiatives and contributions
of quality, safety and environmental practitioners as well
as management professionals in facilitating the delivery of
sustainable outcomes for organizations and society.
From a theoretical perspective, the sustainability/CSR
index mirrors key constructs derived from the following
frameworks and models (Figure 1):
– Sustainability management framework. An integrated
structure for deploying a sustainability strategy within
organizations through sustainability improvement,
sustainability assurance, sustainability footprints and
sustainability reporting.
– Sustainable strategic growth model.
Andriy Onufriyenko via Getty Images
A best practices-driven model that
incorporates sustainability into
business strategy using the five
key stages or behaviors of learn,
develop, implement, optimize and
sustain to help organizations achieve
absolute zero.
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

FIGURE 1

Sustainability/CSR Index SURVEY DASHBOARD

Scan this QR
code for access
Sustainability to the interactive
reporting ASQ Energy &
Environmental Division
Sustain survey dashboard.

Values
Despite the sample size not being statistically
Optimize Learn significant, respondents provided insights into the
Sustainability

Sustainability
current state of the application of quality management
improvement

Management
Targets
assurance
systems methods to achieve sustainable development outcomes.
Performance Performance Quality assurance is defined as part of quality man-
indicators models agement and is focused on providing confidence that
quality requirements will be fulfilled. Overall, 61.36%
Information Develop of survey respondents indicated independent assurance
resources statements are not supplied with sustainability reports.
The absence of commitment to sustainability assurance
Implement activities reinforces views of greenwashing—a practice
of making divergent claims of good environmental
social governance to mask prior questionable environ-
Sustainability
footprints mental performance.16
Third-party certification for implemented sustain-
ability/CSR management systems is not perceived
as a strategic priority among 73.17% of respondents.
CSR = corporate social responsibility In parallel with the partial adoption of assurance
techniques, 59.52% of respondents affirm the absence
of documented sustainability policies and proce-
Absolute zero encompasses concepts such as zero emissions, dures. Understandably, sustainability strategy is a
zero harm and zero defects, and is the point at which no envi- knowledge gap identified by 61.9% of respondents.
ronmental adverse impact can be accrued by an organization’s Sustainability strategy training can help remove this
products, services or processes. anomaly and may reduce siloed approaches to embed-
– Sustainability performance framework. This can assist ding sustainability/CSR policy through integration
managers in embedding sustainability strategy into opera- with other nonfinancial risk policy deployments
tional and tactical activities within the firm by providing the dedicated to quality, safety and environment.
policy, principles, management systems, information resources, Although most respondents have access to internal
key performance indicators and targets to achieve shared value and external sustainability training, a significant
and environmental and social governance.15 pool of organizations has not provided adequate
training for employees and other supply chain
Sustainability/CSR survey results stakeholders to contribute to SDGs. Supplier audits,
Individuals representing 64 organizations throughout North America, internal audits and third-party surveillance visits
Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean operating in aimed at improving sustainability are yet to be initi-
most economic sectors participated in the survey. Survey respondents ated by all respondents.
answered 26 questions derived from the sustainability/CSR index. Although obligations to submit sustainability
See Online Figure 1, which can be found on this article’s webpage at reports are not unanimous, survey respondents con-
qualityprogress.com, for survey results. Also see the sidebar “Respon- firmed a range of reporting submissions, including
dent Verbatims” for a sample of answers to the survey questions. annual reports, environmental reports, CSR reports,

qualityprogress.com || QP || 33
 S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y

RESPONDENT VERBATIMS
Respondent A allowed us to come across lots of people with different ideas.
We used different enablers such as investors in people.
A retired head of business development for Quality Scotland,
which was part of a global organization that looked after the
European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Respondent B
business model.
A retired educator who teaches solar electricity to the electrical
1. Discuss the products and services provided by your company.
trade in New Mexico.
I worked for Quality Scotland looking after the European busi-
1. Discuss the products and services provided by your company.
ness model.
I train the workforce to be ready, giving it a baseline in solar elec-
2. What motivated you to pursue sustainability?
tricity installation and design, and lecture as part of the Electrical
We had been looking after the EFQM model for more than
Trade Programme.
20 years. The EFQM model underpinned by Global Compact
2. What motivated you to pursue sustainability?
human rights about sustainability, which are lived and breathed
There are lots of jobs in solar. It is good for the environment.
through the values of the model.
People want to do it not only because they need a job, but also
3. How do you incentivize your staff to pursue the U.N.’s
because they feel it will help the environment.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)?
3. How do you incentivize your staff to pursue SDGs?
This happened naturally within the team because the structure
Are there any benefits of having solar panels?
was quite flat, and members took leadership and continuous
There are tax incentives for having solar panels. I sat on the
improvement roles within the team. Founding members were
government committee to help create these incentives in New
part of the committee board and were paid to be part of the
Mexico. It differs by state. There are huge incentives in Cal-
organization board, so they basically had a vested interest in
ifornia, for example. New Mexico offers a 10% tax credit and
the company doing well and bringing excellence to the people
a 3% federal tax credit. China is subsidizing panel production,
of Scotland. These boards comprised influential people
which is driving down the cost. Previous U.S. government
such as senior leadership of the Bank of Scotland.
administrations destroyed all the incentives, but they
4. In the survey, you indicated “system of
are slowly coming back. Unfortunately, they have
profound knowledge,” “Deming manage-
become politicized.
ment methods” and “plan-do-check-act”
4. In the survey, you indicated TRIZ as a model
as models you have implemented. Explain
you have implemented. Explain how the TRIZ
how these support the SDGs.
model supports SDGs.
We took a holistic approach and looked at
Everybody has a different need when it comes to
what strategies will support that model and
electricity, so it is a problem-solving job. You see
what can be applied to make it a successful
what the need is and fix the need. You must look
business model. We worked across private and
at how much power you use during the day and
public sectors. Working in various organizations
design systems to match.

integrated reporting, sustainability reports ISO 14001—Environmental management

and social reports. Respondents said they systems is considered by a greater portion
prefer the reporting requirements outlined of respondents to be the preferred option
by Global Reporting Initiative. to benchmark sustainability management
Other alternative reporting conventions systems. Significantly, ISO 26000, SA 8000—
Andriy Onufriyenko via Getty Images

also are being implemented, including ISO Social accountability, BS 8900—Managing

26000—Social responsibility, U.N. Global
Compact, European Union Non-Financial
Reporting Directive, International Integrated Reporting
Council, Sustainable Stock Exchange Model Guidance
on Reporting, and the European Foundation for Quality
Management model.
sustainable development of organizations and
Accountability AA1000 have been implemented
by a few organizations.
Survey respondents have identified the following
key barriers to sustainability: cost; operational mindset;
complexity of delivering sustainability management systems;

34 || QP || May 2023

inadequate coordination; lack of
leadership commitment; influence
of the organization, society and cul-
ture; uncertainty of determining the
TAKE THE SURVEY
needs of future generations; and the
Brundtland Commission’s definition
of sustainability.
Few survey respondents were
undecided as to the potential risk to
21st century organizations posed by
global mega forces such as climate
change, deforestation, material
resource scarcity, water scarcity,
ecosystem decline, urbanization,
population growth, wealth,
and energy and fuel scarcity.
Unsurprisingly, respondents highlighted key quality man-
agement improvement tools such as plan-do-check-act model
and Six Sigma to support sustainability initiatives. There is management systems by approved bodies, as well as incen-
an opportunity, however, to use unconventional tools, too,
such as TRIZ and social responsibility failure mode and
effects analysis.
In addition to zero defects, survey respondents denoted
aspirations of organizational commitment to carbon
neutrality, the circular economy and net zero emissions.
Nonetheless, respondents were hesitant to use eco-​labeling,
with LEED and Energy Star among the most popular envi-
ronmental labels adopted by organizations. Energy costs,
disposal costs and water consumption were the most selected
lagging indicators, while percentage increases in customer
satisfaction and employee satisfaction were decidedly popu-
lar among survey respondents.
Carbon footprint, water footprint and social footprint
have been applied to measuring sustainability impact by
most respondents. Critically, there is a tacit understanding
of the concept of information footprint by organizations that
participated in the survey.
Survey respondents also identified the top five U.N.
SDGs implemented by their organizations: good health
and well-being, gender equality, quality education, decent
work and economic growth, and climate action. Similarly,
respondents deemed safety and well-being programs, waste
recycling, green/environmentally friendly products/services,
carbon management and green/environmentally friendly
processes as the leading sustainable business practices imple-
mented within their organizations.
Quality for sustainability, not #blahblahblah
Environmental activists are increasingly impatient with
the pace of adoption of initiatives to tackle climate change
despite 26 years of discussion on policy, strategy and best
practices, leading to statements of exasperation about prog-
ress being “blah blah blah"—in essence, of limited utility.17
S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y
Quality management is the
missing element of sustainable
development. It provides the
tools and techniques required
to close the gap between inaction
To take the and sustainable action. Profes-
latest ASQ sional bodies such as ASQ should
Environment & complement member efforts to
Energy Division implement sustainable business
sustainability
practices by seeking opportunities
survey, follow this
to support international initiatives
QR code.
such as the International Sustain-
ability Standards Board, thereby
contributing to the development
of robust assurance frameworks
for sustainability disclosures that meet investor needs.18
In tandem with sustainability assurance, quality
practitioners also can champion certifying sustainability
tivize sustainable behaviors among internal stakeholders
influencing supply chain partners. In doing so, they can
reignite efforts to align CEO and executive remuneration
to achieve U.N. SDGs and profitability.
For the quality movement to fully leverage knowledge in
implementing management systems to deliver on U.N. SDGs,
quality professionals must understand sustainability/CSR
strategy and the quality management body of knowledge,
which can be applied to build sustainably managed enter-
prises and shape a future that is absolute zero. QP
Lowellyne James is the director of the Center for
Sustainable Action in the United Kingdom. He received
a doctorate in management from Edinburgh Napier
University Business School in Scotland. James is the
author of several books, including Sustainability Footprints in SMEs—Strategy and
Case Studies for Entrepreneurs and Small Business (Wiley, 2015) and Management
Systems and Performance Frameworks for Sustainability (Routledge, 2018).
Mary-Jane Pokuis a senior lecturer at London
Metropolitan University. She received a doctorate
in biological sciences from the University of Essex
in Colchester.
Mina Boulosis an engineer and freelance data analyst
in Cairo. He received a bachelor’s degree in mechatronics,
robotics and automation from Helwan University in Cairo.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 35
 C L I M AT E C H A N G E

The reliability engineer’s

role in reducing greenhouse gases

by Drew D. Troyer

36 || QP || May 2023
 C L I M AT E C H A N G E

ustainability and environmental,

social and governance (ESG) perfor-
mance is a frequent news headline.
Concerns about climate change,
conflict metals and other matters of great social
JUST THE FACTS importance continue to rise, and pressure on industrial
companies to improve ESG performance continues to
mount. The subject is of great interest and importance
As pressure to executives and managers in all industries. The man-
continues to mount ufacturing, process, and mining and metals industries
for organizations to are no exception.
improve their envi- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that fuel climate
ronmental, social
and governance change are of particular interest. The call to action
(ESG) performance, from investors is clear: Reduce GHGs and improve
heavy industry ESG performance if you wish to survive.
sectors bear a great
responsibility to Net-zero carbon is a popular call to action. As major
support initiatives users of energy, heavy industry sectors bear a great
such as reducing responsibility to support these objectives. This article
greenhouse gas
emissions and explores the opportunity to reduce energy consump-
achieving carbon tion in equipment asset-dependent industries and
neutrality. define the plant reliability engineer’s role in targeting
The author discusses parasitic frictional loss, fugitive emission loss and
ways to reduce electrical heating loss—all of which are highly con-
energy consump- trollable with a focused effort. In addition to reducing
tion in equipment
asset-dependent the plant’s GHG impacts, targeting these losses also
industries. He also can reduce operating costs and increase operat-
defines the plant ing availability.
reliability engineer’s
role in targeting par-
Jiojio via Getty Images

asitic frictional loss, Industrial energy reduction

fugitive emission About 35% of end-use energy and 32% of the total
loss and electrical
heating loss. energy consumed in the United States powers indus-
trial operations.1 According to the U.S. Department

qualityprogress.com || QP || 37
 C L I M AT E C H A N G E
of Energy (DOE), the industrial sector’s energy consumption
is inherently inefficient.2
The chemical manufacturing industry, for example,
consumes the equivalent of about 950 million megawatt
hours (MWh) of energy, which accounts for just more than
27% of the total energy in the DOE study. According to the
DOE, the chemical manufacturing industry could reduce its
energy budget to about 720 million MWh, a 24% reduction,
by employing current industry best practices.3
With investment in R&D, the DOE estimates a practical
minimum of 360 MWh is achievable, which cuts the energy
consumption in half. Assuming an industrial energy cost of
$0.066/kWh, adopting current state-of-the-
art energy management practices could
save the U.S. chemical manufacturing
industry $15 billion per year in energy
costs alone. Investment in R&D
could deliver savings of as much
as $38 billion per year.
Similar opportunities are
available in the petroleum
The call to action from
refining, mining, and pulp
and paper industries investors
(Table 1, p. 40). These GHGs and improve
industries account for ESG performance if
more than 80% of all indus-
you wish to survive.
trial energy consumption in
the United States.4, 5
Consider this opportunity
from the perspective of carbon
emissions and the associated social
cost of carbon (SCC). According to
the DOE, emissions of carbon diox-
ide equivalent units (CO2-e) are about
0.707 kg/kWh. For the chemical industry,
this translates to a carbon footprint of about 668 million
metric tons (mt) of CO2-e per year. SCC estimates vary widely, cal links, while hydraulic and pneumatic systems transfer
but the most popular estimate for the SCC is $50/mt.
The SCC impact on the U.S. chemical manufacturing
industry’s energy consumption is about $33 billion per
year. Adopting current state-of-the-art energy management
practices could reduce its SCC impact by nearly $8 billion.
Investment in R&D to achieve the practical lower limit
for energy use could reduce the SCC impact by more than
$20 billion. Extrapolating this to the entire U.S. industrial
sector, the SCC could be reduced by about $27 billion per
year by implementing existing state-of-the-art practices
and by about $50 billion per year with investment in R&D.
These avoided SCC impacts are in addition to the direct
economic savings.
Improving energy efficiency in equipment asset-intensive
industries represents a special opportunity to benefit all
the goals on the organization’s dashboard. Savings derived
38 || QP || May 2023
from improved energy consumption translate directly to
the bottom line. Generally, electrical systems that are better
designed, operated and maintained are inherently safer than
their less-efficient GHG counterparts. And, of course, energy
is the primary driver of GHG emissions. Reducing industrial
energy consumption to current best practice would reduce
countrywide GHG emissions by more than 4%. Investment
in R&D in industrial energy management could reduce the
United States’ carbon footprint by more than 10%.
“Think global, act local" is a phrase normally attributed
to Patrick Geedes, an early 20 th century urban planner in
Scotland.6 For a reliability engineer responsible for manag-
ing the physical assets in a manufacturing
or process plant, or any other equipment
asset-intensive industry, this state-
ment equates to managing parasitic
frictional, fugitive emission and
electrical heating losses. A plant’s
reliability engineer plays a key
role in making this a reality.
Managing parasitic
is clear: Reduce frictional loss
Mechanical systems con-
vert and transfer energy
to accomplish work. There
are many types of mechanical
components. Electric motors,
for example, convert electrical
energy into rotating mechanical
energy. Internal combustion engines
convert chemical energy into rotat-
ing mechanical energy. Gear reducers
create a mechanical advantage while
gear increasers create a speed advantage.
Couplings and belt drives transfer energy via mechani-
energy via fluid power mechanisms. A mechanical drive
system’s objective is to convert energy and transfer it to
accomplish work—such as crushing, pumping, conveying
or blowing—as effectively and efficiently as possible.
The field of tribology is “the science and engineering
of interacting surfaces in relative motion. It includes the
principles of friction, wear and lubrication.”7 Nonproductive
parasitic frictional loss in industrial equipment consumes
about 7.5% of the total industrial energy budget.8, 9 That fig-
ure represents about one-third of the total industrial energy
loss that the DOE estimates could be recovered by deploying
existing industry best practices.
xu wu via Getty Images
Several relatively simple, easy-to-implement and proven
measures are available for managing parasitic friction-​induced
energy loss in industrial plants and factories. As a bonus
for equipment owners, reducing energy consumption and
 C L I M AT E C H A N G E

ABOUT

35% U.S. CHEMICAL

MANUFACTURING
INDUSTRY’S ENERGY THE CHEMICAL
OF END-USE
CONSUMPTION IS ABOUT MANUFACTURING

$33
ENERGY AND
INDUSTRY CONSUMES THE
EQUIVALENT OF ABOUT

BILLION 950
PER YEAR. ADOPTING
CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-
MILLION
ART ENERGY MANAGEMENT MEGAWATT HOURS (MWh)
PRACTICES COULD REDUCE OF ENERGY, WHICH ACCOUNTS
ITS SCC IMPACT BY NEARLY FOR JUST MORE THAN

32% $8 27%
OF THE TOTAL
BILLION. OF THE TOTAL ENERGY IN
THE DOE STUDY. ACCORDING
ENERGY CONSUMED INVESTMENT IN R&D TO TO THE DOE, THE CHEMICAL
IN THE UNITED STATES ACHIEVE THE PRACTICAL MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
POWERS INDUSTRIAL LOWER LIMIT FOR ENERGY COULD REDUCE ITS
OPERATIONS. USE COULD REDUCE THE ENERGY BUDGET TO ABOUT
SCC IMPACT BY MORE THAN 720 MILLION MWh, A

$20 24%
BILLION. REDUCTION, BY EMPLOYING
CURRENT INDUSTRY BEST
PRACTICES.

qualityprogress.com || QP || 39
 C L I M AT E C H A N G E

associated GHGs by proactively managing parasitic frictional
loss also minimizes equipment wear and tear, and typically
improves equipment reliability and availability.
These gains are achieved by focusing on a few simple
principles: fasteners, lubrication, alignment and balance.10, 11
Friction caused by machine vibration is reduced if machines
are mechanically fastened down, shafts and pulleys are
aligned and rotating assemblies are balanced precisely.
Lubricating machines properly also minimizes parasitic
frictional loss.
At a microscopic level, the transfer of energy in
mechanical systems depends on the separation of machine
elements—such as the rolling elements and raceways of
a bearing—by a critical lubricant film that rarely exceeds
five micrometers (µm) in thickness. That’s less than the
diameter of a red blood cell. The momentary loads on the
critical lube film in a bearing or at the pitch-line of tow
gear teeth can reach 500,000 psi (35k MPa). Lubricating oil
possesses a special property whereby its viscosity increases
elastically (temporarily) as a function of pressure. Under
the load of operation, the increasing viscosity results in
increased film strength, which is one reason why oil is
an excellent lubricant. The strength of this film is finite,
however, and can be compromised by lubricant degradation,
contamination or both (see Figure 1).
A machine’s base and foundation generally are intended to
move as a single mass. Untightened, missing and improperly
tensioned fasteners create mechanical looseness. Additionally,
different components of the machine—such as a motor,
gearbox and pump—must be aligned precisely to avoid wob-
bling. Likewise, rotating machine elements must be balanced
precisely to ensure there is an even distribution of mass
around the circumference of the rotating assembly.
Separately or combined, mechanical looseness, misalign-
ment and unbalancedness all result in machine vibration,
which increases the loads on the microscopic critical lube
films. If that film strength is overwhelmed by vibration-​
induced dynamic forces, surface-to-surface contact occurs
and results in parasitic frictional energy loss and increased
wear and tear on the machine (see Figure 2, p. 42).
In many industries, pulleys and V-belts are employed to
connect motor drives to fans, pumps, conveyors, crushers
and similar equipment. Failure to properly tension V-belts
results in slippage and frictional energy loss.
I recently conducted a belt-slip study on eight belt-driven
conical crushers driven by 380 kW motors and operating at

TA B L E 1

Industry-by-industry potential to reduce

energy consumption in select heavy industries
Chemical Petroleum Mining and Pulp and
manufacturing refining minerals paper
Study year 2015 2015 2007 2015

Current consumption in TWh-eq (10 Wh) 12

944 931 365 618

State of the art in TWh-eq (10 Wh) 12

720 808 289 482
Practical minimum in TWh-eq (10 Wh) 12
362 575 170 439
Current energy cost (U.S.$ billions @ $0.066/kWh) $62.3 $61.4 $24.1 $40.8
Savings with current state-of-the-art practices (U.S.$ billions @ $0.066/kWh) $14.8 $8.1 $5 $9
Savings with R&D to achieve practical minimum (U.S.$ billions @ $0.066/kWh) $38.4 $23.5 $12.9 $11.8
Current carbon emissions (millions of mt of CO2-e) 667.6 658.1 258.2 437.2
Reduced carbon emissions with current state-of-the-art practices
158.7 87 53.5 96.3
(millions of mt of CO2-e)
Reduced carbon emissions with R&D to achieve practical minimum
411.7 251.3 138.2 126.8
(millions of mt of CO2-e)
Current social cost of carbon (U.S.$ billions at $50/mt) $33.4 $32.9 $12.9 $21.9
SCC savings/year: current consumption to state of the art ($ billions @ $50/mt) $7.9 $4.4 $2.7 $4.8
SCC savings/year: current consumption to practical minimum ($ billions @ $50/mt) $20.6 $12.6 $6.9 $6.3

40 || QP || May 2023

FIGURE 1
Lubricant separating loaded machine surfaces
A blood cell-sized film of lubricant separates loaded machine surfaces,
which reduces friction, wear and energy
Rolling element load distribution:
Momentary rolling contact loads can
be as high as 500k psi or 35k MPa
Clean oil—particles are too
small to cause damage
Raceway load
distribution
Source: Drew D. Troyer, Focus on FLAB With Proactive and Precision Maintenance—Coursebook, Sigma-Reliability Solutions/T.A. Cook Consultants, 2014-2020.
80% of load for 7,000 hours per year each. The drive systems
exhibited an average belt slip of 15% as opposed to a best-in-
class maximum of 2%. The frictional loss due to improper
V-belt maintenance on these drives resulted in a loss of more
than 2 million kWh per year. At $0.06/kWh, that translated
to $120,000 in wasted energy costs and nearly 1,500 mt of
CO2-e emissions per year.
The SCC impact associated with the slippage was $72,000
per year for the eight crushers that were studied. Eliminating
these frictional losses also would enable the plant to reduce
from eight to seven crushers in operation with no loss of pro-
duction and leave the plant with spare capacity, increasing
production reliability.
Beyond managing vibration, the lubricant itself must be
selected correctly and maintained properly to ensure the
integrity of the lubricant film strength. Viscosity is the most
important property of a lubricant because it provides dimen-
sional separation between moving surfaces. If the viscosity
is too low, the lubricant lacks the film strength necessary
to separate machine surfaces. If the viscosity is excessive,
frictional fluid churning produces energy waste. Lubricant
additives—especially friction-modifying additives that
prevent metal-to-metal adhesion and further reduce friction
and wear on the machines—also must be selected with care.12
Another important aspect of lubricant health is contamina-
tion control. The most common contaminants are dirt particles
and water. Engines, however, also suffer from soot, antifreeze
C L I M AT E C H A N G E
Rolling element load distribution
1-5 μm lube film thickness
and fuel dilution contaminants. Particle contaminants that are
suspended in the oil can create millions of momentary frictional
microcontacts. Particles in the five to 15 µm size range are par-
ticularly deleterious because they are numerous, do not settle
out of the lubricant easily and are perfectly sized to bridge the
lubricant film.
This phenomenon creates significant stress concentration
between the mating surfaces of mechanical systems (Figure 3,
p. 42). Recall that typical contact loads between contacting
surfaces can reach 500,000 psi (35k MPa). If a particle concen-
trates that force onto one-tenth of the surface area, the force
is increased to 5 million psi (350k MPa). This produces a great
deal of friction and contact fatigue wear in rolling contacts,
and abrasive and adhesive wear in sliding contacts. Individ-
ually, these frictional microcontacts do not consume a great
deal of energy, but collectively, the losses become significant.
The presence of water contamination in the lubricant is
similarly problematic. As noted, the viscosity of oil increases
dramatically and elastically under the pressure of contact
load, which is a major component of the lubricant’s film
strength. Water does not possess this property. Moreover,
when water contaminates a lubricant, even in minuscule
volumes, it compromises the oil’s pressure-viscosity rela-
tionship. This leads to surface-to-surface contact, friction,
energy waste and machine wear, as illustrated in Figure 3.13
Proper sizing and design of fluid transfer pipes and hoses
are other opportunities to reduce frictional energy loss
qualityprogress.com || QP || 41
 C L I M AT E C H A N G E

FIGURE 2 significantly. As a rule, it is desirable to minimize turbulent

flow in piping and hosing systems. Fluid conveyance systems

Machine vibration
are the most energy efficient when the flow regime is lami-
nar, not turbulent (Figure 4). Flow regimes are characterized
by a dimensionless Reynolds number. A Reynolds number
of 2,000 or less produces a comparatively efficient laminar
flow. A Reynolds number of 4,000 or more will produce an
Mechanical loose- energy-inefficient laminar flow. The range between 2,000
ness, misalignment,
and 4,000 is referred to as transitional flow. The lower the
unbalance and
resonance produce Reynolds number, the more energy efficient the fluid flow.
vibration and Laminar flow is achieved by ensuring that the pipe's
increase the load on inner diameter is adequate to accommodate the fluid flow
the lubricant film… rate comfortably without producing excessive turbulence.
For example, water flowing through a pipe with a six-inch
inner diameter for 1,000 linear feet at 600 gallons per minute
requires nearly four times as much energy as the same flow
through an eight-inch diameter pipe and more than 12 times
…which can over-
the energy required for a 10-inch inner diameter pipe. It also
whelm the lubricant’s
film strength, causing is advisable to minimize sharp turns in piping, particularly
surface-to-surface turns greater than 90 degrees, because they produce energy-​
contact, friction, wear consuming turbulence as well.14
and energy waste.
Beyond mechanical frictional loss
Source: Drew D. Troyer, Focus on FLAB With Proactive and Precision Maintenance— While reducing parasitic frictional loss in mechanical systems
Coursebook, Sigma-Reliability Solutions/T.A. Cook Consultants, 2014-2020. offers a great opportunity to reduce energy consumption and

FIGURE 3

Contamination
Particle and water contamination increase friction in mechanical systems
Load concentrated via
Clearance-sized particles compromise the hard particle
Water does not possess oil’s property
the oil film, concentrating the load Rolling element load
whereby viscosity increases as a
and increasing the force on the distribution
function of pressure.
bearing contacts.

Dirty oil

Normal rolling Even small amounts of water con-

element load Race way load
distribution tamination can compromise the oil’s
The extreme contact load causes fatigue distribution pressure-viscosity relationship, which
cracks to form, which leads to pitting leads to surface-to-surface contact,
and eventual spalling and failure. friction, wear and energy waste.

Source: Drew D. Troyer, Focus on FLAB With Proactive and Precision Maintenance—Coursebook, Sigma-Reliability Solutions/T.A. Cook Consultants, 2014-2020.

42 || QP || May 2023

FIGURE 4
Laminar vs. turbulent flows
Visual comparison of laminar and turbulent flow regimes
Laminar flow
associated GHGs, reducing fugitive emissions of pressurized
and compressed fluids, optimizing combustion efficiency in
boilers and engines, and improving the energy efficiency of
electrical systems cannot be overlooked.
When compressed or pressurized fluids leak, the energy
employed to compress or pressurize them vanishes. It’s not
uncommon for compressed air systems to experience leakage
rates of 20% or more. Technologies such as airborne ultrasonic
analysis instruments make it easy to find leaks, which normally
occur at flanges, connectors, valves and other fastening points,
making them easy to repair and eliminate. When methane and
other volatile organic compounds (VOC) are emitted, the envi-
ronmental impact is even greater. Methane, for example, is 25
to 80 times more potent as a GHG than CO2. Moreover, VOC
emissions create safety hazards because of their flammability.
Managing combustion efficiency in boilers, jet engines and
reciprocating engines is a must for improving energy efficiency
and reducing GHG emissions. Combustion of coal, diesel
and other hydrocarbon fuels is already inefficient. When
combustion systems aren’t tuned and maintained properly,
or fuel quality is compromised, matters get much worse.
Electrical energy is wasted when it is converted into heat
unnecessarily due to excessive resistance across electrical
pathways (I2R losses). Great opportunities exist to prevent
these losses,15 including:
– Selecting high-efficiency motors.
– Designing and sizing electrical circuits to minimize
electrical heating.
– Using variable frequency drives. (Note: AC to DC conver-
sion and DC to AC inversion losses must be considered.)
– Minimizing voltage and current harmonic distortion.
– Maintaining electrical balance (phase to phase):
voltage, current, inductive and resistive.
C L I M AT E C H A N G E
Turbulent flow
A dual approach
Climate change must be confronted from the supply side and
the demand side. Clearly, on the supply side, we must strive
to create zero or near-zero carbon energy sources. But we
also must manage the demand side by reducing consumption.
The manufacturing and process industries can reduce energy
consumption and its associated carbon footprint significantly
by targeting parasitic mechanical frictional loss, loss associated
with fugitive emissions and electrical heating loss. These bene-
fits are achieved with no loss of production throughput.
In the United States, industrial energy management
practices can reasonably contribute to an overall reduction
in energy consumption and associated GHG emissions of
6% or more. With some investment in practically achievable
energy efficiency practices technologies, that number can be
increased to as much as 15%.
Reducing parasitic friction, fugitive emissions, combus-
tion inefficiencies and electrical heating losses is a great
starting point for asset-intensive organizations to reduce
energy consumption, and thus the organizations’ carbon
footprints and energy bills. As a bonus, wear and tear on
the machines are reduced and production reliability usually
increases—an all-around win. QP
EDITOR’S NOTE
The references listed in this article can be found on the article’s webpage
at qualityprogress.com.
Drew D. Troyeris a principal director with Accenture in
Tulsa, OK. He received a master’s degree in sustainability
and environmental management from Harvard University
in Cambridge, MA. A senior member of ASQ, Troyer is an
ASQ-certified reliability engineer.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 43
THE DOWNLOAD
Mind Your
ENERGY
S U S TA I N A B I L IT Y
by Nicole Radziwill
ll organizations are dynamic systems of
A
interconnected processes, and every process
is driven by energy. This energy can be raw
materials, fuel or human attention. In many
cases, more than one of these forms of energy
is required for a process to achieve its objectives.
Similarly, every improvement to a process requires
an infusion of energy to sustain the change.
Phillip L. Rybarczyk called out this requirement
years ago in a QP article, recognizing that “quality
practitioners often either neglect or poorly execute
the control stage, jeopardizing the sustainability of
any improvements acquired from the project.”1
Building the habits and practices to ensure
that a new process (or improvements to a process)
will “stick” is challenging and must be anticipated
in advance. Without energy, a process cannot be
conducted, and inputs will not be transformed into
outputs. Without new energy, the status quo will
prevail. This applies whether you’re instituting
improvements to benefit an individual, an organiza-
tion, or the planet and its ecosystems. At the level of
the ecosystem, sustainability and cleaner production
have a global impact, especially when sources of fuel
are shared or nonrenewable.
44 || QP || May 2023
Quality 4.0 and the Digital Revolution
Quality principles can extend in
powerful ways to build stronger
cultures of sustainability
We no longer have the luxury of debating the need
for energy efficiency and sustainable development.
Instead, organizations are turning to the quality
profession for tools to help accelerate results.
Aligning strategy with execution and continu-
ally improving operations can reduce waste, reduce
costs, maximize the positive impacts of a business,
and minimize harm and negative impacts to people
and the environment.
Researchers have even recommended formally rein-
troducing approaches like total quality management as
the foundation for achieving sustainable development
through corporate social responsibility (SR).
Over the past decade, the disciplines of environ-
ment, health, safety and quality (EHSQ) management
have started to converge into a more cohesive profes-
sional identity.
As the boundaries between EHSQ topic areas con-
tinue to merge, quality professionals must be aware of
relevant standards (in particular, ISO 14001 and ISO
45001), how the evolution of those standards is enabling
truly integrated EHSQ management systems, and how
iStock.com/cnythzl
broader movements around corporate SR, sustainable
development and reporting are being leveraged to build
stronger cultures of sustainability.

ISO 14001:2015—Environmental
management systems
Based on the plan-do-check-act improvement cycle, ISO
14001 helps environmental managers establish systematic,
repeatable approaches for common tasks.
These tasks include designing and implementing opera-
tional processes around resource and waste management,
effectively engaging stakeholders to gather data and meet
legal obligations, and continually improving operations to
reduce emissions, reduce waste or mitigate other environ-
mental impacts.
ISO 45001:2018—Occupational health
and safety
This standard helps leaders who are responsible for safety,
health and well-being establish systematic, repeatable and
risk-informed approaches for common processes.
ISO 45001 covers the baseline conditions of the work envi-
ronment (for example, exposure to chemicals or materials),
requirements for personal protective equipment and routine
training around its use, and proper engagement of workers in
potentially hazardous work environments.
This standard also addresses establishing quality controls
to prevent of adverse work conditions, and requirements for
monitoring incidents and continually improving conditions
that will eliminate workplace injuries and deaths.
Integrated management systems
Organizations today commonly leverage quality tools
and techniques to advance sustainability practice.2,3
This includes implementing an integrated management
system (IMS) that spans quality (ISO 9001), environmental
management (ISO 14001) and safety (ISO 45001), incorpo-
rating sustainability considerations into standard operating
procedures and work instructions, and implementing pro-
cesses to maintain a focus on the customer.
Although environmental and safety management systems
often directly affect quality, historically they have been
managed independently of the quality management system
(QMS). Because the standards were developed independently
of one another, unifying the management systems required
extensive mapping between clauses and processes.
This changed after the introduction of Annex SL, a shared
high-level structure for International Organization for Stan-
dardization standards, which was used as the basis for the
most recent revisions of ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. Now that all
the standards have a common structure, it is easier for organi-
zations to implement—and realize the benefits of—IMSs.
ISO 26000—Social responsibility
Originally released in 2010, the ISO 26000 guidance on SR
provides voluntary support to help organizations build work
systems that advance sustainability.
This includes helping organizations define and operation-
alize a value system that respects human rights, operates
mindfully, demonstrates fair labor practices, cares for the
environment, addresses consumer concerns, and builds
strong and resilient communities.
Embedded in Clause 4—Principles of social responsibility
are seven principles of corporate SR:
1. Accountability.
2. Transparency.
3. Ethical behavior.
4. Respect for stakeholder interests.
5. Respect for the rule of law.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 45
THE DOWNLOAD

REACH BACK

Peruse past installments of QP’s The

Download—the column focused on Quality
4.0 and the digital revolution—by visiting ESG initiatives
https://tinyurl.com/2p97cpp5. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) provides
a holistic view of how to measure and monitor an orga-
nization’s environmental and social impact, guided by
meaningful governance.
– Environmental metrics include use of tangible goods
6. Respect for international norms of behavior. and raw materials, use of energy and water, and monitor-
7. Respect for human rights. ing of pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.
ISO 26000 provides a conceptual model for organizations – Social metrics focus on human rights, labor rights
to systematically improve aspects of SR. and providing opportunities through diversity, equity
and inclusion.
– Governance metrics track legal and ethical compliance,
and encourage checks and balances on pro-environment
and pro-social behavior.6
Increasingly, investors are monitoring the intentions and
results of programs around ESG to inform decision making at
the highest levels. Many lenders have even reduced the cost of
capital for organizations that maintain high ESG standards.
It’s good for business too. Reducing ESG risk has been
shown to relate to sustainable growth, future financial
performance and stock returns over a long-term horizon.
Increased attention to ESG will continue to drive invest-
ments in QMSs and IMSs as the need for tight, functioning
feedback loops becomes even more apparent.

A job with no end

The U.N. SDGs
In 2015, the U.N. published “Transforming our World:
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”4 The report
introduces 17 sustainable development goals (SDG) and recom-
mendations for how to measure, monitor and review outcomes.
More organizations have started to use the SDGs to focus
their corporate SR initiatives on supporting larger scale
outcomes that require collaboration from multiple large
stakeholders. The U.N. Global Compact, a voluntary alliance,
supports organizations aiming to adopt more sustainable and
socially responsible practices.5
Quality management helps organizations work more
smoothly. A QMS accomplishes this by providing ways
to manage the flow of energy between people and through
processes, using technologies and data as enablers.
Through ISO 14001 and IMSs, quality principles are
extended in powerful ways to build cultures of sustainabil-
ity through effective management of raw materials, natural
resources and energy sources—a job with no end. QP
EDITOR’S NOTE
The references listed in this column can be found on the column’s webpage
at qualityprogress.com.

Nicole Radziwillis senior vice president of and chief data scientist at Ultranauts Inc. in New York. She holds a doctorate in technology
management (quality systems) from Indiana State University in Terre Haute. She is an ASQ fellow and an ASQ-certified Six Sigma Black Belt
and quality manager. Radziwill is the author of Connected, Intelligent, Automated: The Definitive Guide to Digital Transformation and Quality 4.0
(Quality Press, 2020) and the former editor of Software Quality Professional.

46 || QP || May 2023
 S TA N DA R D I S S U E S
Standards-related developments and activities

E M PLOY E E S ATI S FAC TI O N

ISO 9001 and the

Great Resignation
The key to a successful management system is satisfied employees by Elisabeth Thaller and Jorge Bravo

he worst is over—the pandemic has become an shake off the dust and get back to business. Business as usual?

T
endemic. Life and businesses are ramping back up
again. The number of people crowding malls, restau-
rants, concerts and other places of social gathering
seems to be larger than ever before, never mind the
inflation. Like after any big destructive event, it’s time to
iStock.com/VectorMine
No. Let’s face it, there’s a new reality.
Every organization that is still alive has overcome the
challenges of the past three years in different ways. You may
even find that these challenges have pivoted your organi-
zation into a new era of digital transformation quicker than

qualityprogress.com || QP || 47
S TA N DA R D I S S U E S
you ever imagined. Some of the work that used to
be done manually is now completed by sophisti-
cated software, and some decisions are made by
algorithms. Results now may be more predictable
because of detailed real-time metrics. Your orga-
nization, however, most likely still needs humans
to do some of the work.
One thing the pandemic has shown us is our
great capacity for adapting to changing condi-
tions. At the beginning of the pandemic, CEOs
had to trade their corner offices with skyline
views for their home offices with their kids and
pets as frequent visitors. Some had to adapt their
living rooms to provide space where they could
work while also homeschooling their children
and preparing dinner. Others had to give up their
excitement over working their first job in an office
among peers and instead stay secluded in their
own place.
While most people enjoyed ditching their
commute and spending more time at home, there
was a blurred line between work and personal life
that many times was overstepped in favor of work,
leading to extensive work hours, a lack of defined
personal time and an expectation to be available
What you do to support
your employees may
be one of the most
important questions
to ask during the next
internal audit.
48 || QP || May 2023
24/7. The result: With too many demands and things to juggle, stress
built up and people started feeling underappreciated and overworked.
Burnout has become a real issue.
While it was hard at the beginning, it came with some perks: People
started recognizing that work is not everything, and that it can be nice
to spend time with family and get more involved in everyday matters.
All the above triggered significant change in employee expectations.
Accelerated by feeling unsupported by superiors, insufficient empathy
with labor struggles, a lack of recognition, the misalignment of values in
the organization and other factors, a side effect of the global health cri-
sis became a phenomenon known as the Great Resignation (also known
as the Big Quit or the Great Reshuffle).
Finally, leaders began to realize that they must find different ways
to motivate, engage and retain people, and that supervision must be
replaced with a model that fosters engagement, autonomy and trust.
The Great Resignation isn’t over, and some even think it’s just the
beginning. Pay raises and other incentives just aren’t enough anymore.
People quit their jobs because they are looking for better work-life bal-
ance and personal well-being. It’s the new normal.
What ISO 9001 has to do with it
If you’re asking yourself, “What does ISO 9001 have to do with this?”
here’s the answer:
In a previous Standard Issues column,1 we wrote about the impor-
tance of recognizing and acting on contextual changes that can affect
the management system. If you’ve done exactly that, you’ve probably
recognized that employee retention is important. The cost of losing
competent employees includes not only the investment in finding,
onboarding and training new employees, but it also comes with the
risk of losing knowledge that may lead to interruptions in your busi-
ness processes.
 While ISO 9001 does not address the needs of FIGURE 1
the people doing the work, it does establish that

Managing the Great Resignation

“top management shall demonstrate leadership
and commitment by … engaging, directing and
supporting persons to contribute to the effective-
ness of the quality management system.”2 The challenges of the worldwide health crisis have
What you do to support your employees may be pivoted organizations into a new era. The Great
one of the most important questions to ask during Resignation has triggered the need to rethink how
the next internal audit. Here are a few indicators to manage human resources.
to look for: employee retention rate, number of sick
days people take and burnout rate. If you want to
Before 2019 2019 2019 and beyond
dig deeper, ask for indicators about employee
satisfaction with their job, sense of fulfillment
People 1.0
and community. Pandemic The Great Resignation
The next obvious question is: What are you
doing about it?
Organizations 1.0 – Punderappreciated
eople feel

In our experience, HR typically gets involved and overworked.

with management system audits when it comes – Burnout.
to reviewing training programs and competency
records, and only if these are not being managed New normal
at the department level. Somehow, HR feels what
it does has nothing to do with the organization’s
quality management or environmental manage- Organizations 2.0 Manage effectively People 2.0
ment, for example, because HR’s role is limited
to human resource management, which, in many
Leadership must find ways
cases, still is seen as a separate entity within the
organizational context. It’s time to change that. to motivate, engage and – Iwork-life
ncreased desire for a better
balance and well-being.
retain people.
In the era of the Great Resignation, organi-
– Rethink the context. – Fpurpose
ulfillment and a sense of
and community.
zations should pay much more attention to their – Adapt to the new context.
staff. ISO 9001 refers to people (meaning employ-
ees or subcontractors) as an internal resource
that contributes to the effectiveness of the quality
management system. Nowhere does it establish Elisabeth Thaller is the president of Beyond Conformity Inc.
that this resource also has needs, and that if it is She was the designated expert on behalf of ASQ for the International
not properly attended to, it can be lost. Organization for Standardization (ISO) project committee (PC) 302,
One thing the pandemic has highlighted which was responsible for revising ISO 19011. She also is an active
is the importance of people in any organization. member of the U.S. technical advisory group (TAG) 176. Thaller
Three human behaviors lead to noncompliance: is a Certus-certified quality management system (QMS), environmental management
“I don’t know,” “I can’t” and “I don’t want.”3 We’d system (EMS), and occupational health and safety (OHS) lead auditor. She is a coauthor of
like to add a fourth element: “I don’t care anymore.” Beyond Compliance: Application of ISO 37301 in Any Organization Interested in Compliance
This happens when people feel overworked and (Paton Professional, 2021).
undervalued. At some point, even the best employee
will give up and become numb, or look for a job that
contributes to their personal well-being and a better
work-life balance. Jorge Bravois the senior vice president of Beyond Conformity
Beyond what you find in this article and what you Inc. Since 2002, Bravo has participated as a delegate to ISO TC 176,
can take from ISO 9001 (and other standards), what ISO TC 207, ISO CASCO, STTF and the ISO Brand Integrity committee
actions is your organization undertaking to face the representing Chile or ISO liaison bodies. He teaches management
Great Resignation? Tell us at my.asq.org. QP systems programs at the graduate level at several universities in Latin
EDITOR’S NOTE
America. Bravo is a Certus-certified QMS, EMS, OHS and food safety management lead auditor.
References listed in this column can be found on the column’s He is a coauthor of Beyond Compliance: Application of ISO 37301 in Any Organization Interested
webpage at qualityprogress.com. in Compliance (Paton Professional, 2021).

qualityprogress.com || QP || 49
SIX SIGMA SOLUTIONS
The
C U LT U R E
Ingredient
Building a lean (and Six Sigma) culture requires recognizing the influence
of available resources in your environment by Gary G. Jing
uilding a lean culture is usually an
B
overarching pursuit of any lean pro-
gram. Various things have been shared
in the public domain regarding how
to build and maintain a lean culture.
Yet, if you review all the important ingredients
that have been suggested, you notice one critical
part missing: the environment. In this context,
environment does not refer to the meaning used in
sustainability, but the ecosystem the organization
is in—the living environment or the “context of
organization,” as used in ISO 9001.
I’d like to call out specifically the resource avail-
ability aspect of the living environment. Although
usually left out, resource availability can be a more
dominant deciding factor than any manufactured
50 || QP || May 2023
Practical knowledge about Six Sigma
effort in shaping a culture. The environment aspect
may be left out because people can’t do much to
change it. Yet, ignoring it is like burying your head
in the sand. It can make cultural building less fruit-
ful without being understood.
The qualifier
I’d like to mention my exposure to Japanese
culture, which enabled me to uncover this miss-
ing critical piece. For a good part of three years,
I spent much time in Japan deploying a lean Six
Sigma program in one of our plants.
iStock.com/Icon Matic
On weekends, I traveled extensively across
Japan, visiting almost all corners of the country
that the Shinkansen bullet train could reach.
I also have visited many Toyota plants in Japan
and the United States, including those in Toyota
City headquarters (Aichi, Japan), NUMMI
(Fremont, CA) and Kentucky.
From these experiences, I realized the huge
contrast between Japan and the United States,
and I deeply felt the inherent tie between the
living environment and the way of living.
The significance of the missing
ingredient
Lean practices are so ingrained in Japan’s
way of living. It’s not because the Japanese
have built a lean-like program or initiative.
Rather it’s because of their living conditions
or environment.
At a high level, a lean initiative or program is
what Americans summarized with the intent to
mimic the Japanese way of living: The United
States used Toyota as the example or role model
with the intent to improve the competitiveness
of Western organizations. Toyota may be the best,
but Toyota Way practices widely exist in Japan
and Japanese societies. Remember seeing Japa-
nese fans cleaning up after themselves and others
in stadiums hosting World Cup soccer matches?1,2
Japan is notoriously dense in population—space
and resources per capita are limited and scarce.
Some say that’s one reason Japan was aggressive
in the early 20 th century invading neighboring
countries because its limited resources could no
longer support the rapid growth of its population
and economy.
Consequently, the Japanese developed extremely
lean habits as the way of living. These habits are
immersed in every corner of their lives and col-
lectively formed their lean culture. For example,
Figure 1 (p. 52) shows eight different buckets in a col-
lection area for citizens to separate different pieces
of trash and refuse—dividing and determining what
can be recycled, which can save money, waste and
resources. The Japanese must conserve and be lean,
otherwise they would not survive as a population.
This is the fundamental reason the Toyota Way
or the Toyota Production System (TPS) is built
around and portrayed as lean. It’s the culture that
created TPS and the Toyota Way, not vice versa—​
as vigorously pursued by many organizations in
the Western world via lean programs. Note that
the culturally induced program naturally has
positive reinforcement, which makes sustainment
much easier.
Awareness and
education can help
change perspectives.
Simply being exposed
to how people live in
resource-strained
environments can help
adjust expectations
to the resource
consumption baseline.
Culture that’s dictated by living conditions
widely exists everywhere. Chicken feet are a
popular dim sum item, for example, which many
Americans find difficult to understand or simply
find distasteful. The reason for this type of dish
is that many Chinese used to eat from more varied
food sources than people from other places. From
offal to exotic animals, anything eatable can turn
into delicious foods. Snake, rat, insect and scor-
pion are some examples.
Again, it’s due to resource availability or lack
thereof. What’s behind that are centuries of food
scarcity. When people are hungry, anything nutri-
tious and nonpoisonous is eatable. Centuries of
practice turn into habit and then culture. In short,
environment (living conditions) trumps almost
everything in shaping culture.
The implication of the missing
ingredient
The U.S. living environment is quite the opposite
to Japan’s in terms of resources and space avail-
ability. Table 1 (p. 52) and Figure 2 (p. 53) show
the land per capita comparison.
Consequently, the baseline for resource con-
sumption is quite different as well. In my class,
I like to use a simple example to highlight the
inherent connection between resource avail-
ability and resource consumption. The United
States, for example, has less than 5% of the world’s
qualityprogress.com || QP || 51
SIX SIGMA SOLUTIONS

population, yet it consumes more than 16% of the energy

TA B L E 1
in the world, as shown in Figure 3.

Land per capita comparison

So, what’s the implication in building a lean culture in
a resource-rich environment such as the United States?
Good or bad, people must recognize:
– Ignoring living conditions and eco-environments would
Land space
be like building houses on the sand: a lack of footing, Population Land per
2023 data (square
superficial and easy to cripple. (1,000) 1,000 people
kilometers)
– It will be more of an uphill battle in the United States and
Japan 124,630 364,546 3
somewhat against its nature due to resource-rich living
conditions and environment. United States 334,414 9,147,593 31
– If corporate America is driven by quarterly Wall Street Minnesota 5,707 206,189 44
performance, any culture will have quarterly flavor
World 8,014,455 148,940,000 22
as well.

What to do then? Sources:

Awareness and education can help change perspectives.
Simply being exposed to how people live in resource-strained
FIGURE 1
Wikipedia, “List of Countries and Dependencies by Population,”
http://bit.ly/3EzM6ie.
Wikipedia, “List of Countries and Dependencies by Area,”
http://bit.ly/3ISVzDG.

Trash collection during

environments can help adjust expectations to the resource
consumption baseline.

cherry blossom (sakura) in

Fostering a favorable eco-environment collectively will
make cultural building and sustainment easier, providing
positive reinforcement:

Ueno Park, Japan in 2007 – All organizations are attempting to create a favorable
eco-environment within their four walls, but individu-
ally, they generally have limited influence on the external
environment.
– It’s more rewarding and worth the effort for organizations
to engage externally and exchange practices. That’s why
Toyota is so eager to share its practices with the public.
– When enough organizations are trying lean and reaching
a critical mass, an external eco-environment can become
more favorable to lean culture. QP

©2023 Gary G. Jing

NOTES
1. For a collection of news stories related to Japanese World Cup fans cleaning
up after soccer matches, see https://bit.ly/3EDXBFl.
2. For a LinkedIn post that includes video interviews of Japanese fans explaining
this clean-up aspect of their culture, see https://bit.ly/3ISHPZY.

Photo courtesy of Gary G. Jing

52 || QP || May 2023
 FIGURE 2

Living conditions: population LEARN AND DEVELOP

vs. resources occupied Learn at all lean Six Sigma levels and apply improve-
ments to your industry: from complete beginner
to advanced, and on your way to certification. For
more details and to determine which offerings are
Land (SQKM) per 1,000 people (2023 data)
best for you, visit asq.org/training/lean-six-sigma.
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Japan United States Minnesota World

Sources:
Wikipedia, “List of Countries and Dependencies by Population,”
http://bit.ly/3EzM6ie.
Wikipedia, “List of Countries and Dependencies by Area,” http://bit.ly/3ISVzDG.

FIGURE 3

Share of U.S. world energy consumption Gary G. Jing

is a Master
Black Belt
40%
and lean
31% U.S. share down 6% Six Sigma
deployment leader, and currently
30% senior quality manager at Onto
25%
Innovation. He has worked as a
continuous improvement director
24% at CommScope in Shakopee, MN,
20%
and was on the U.S. delegation
to International Organization
for Standardization Technical
10%
Committee 176 and participated in
the development of ISO 9000:2015
as the secretary of subcommittee 1/
0% working group 1, which is responsible
for the ISO 9000 standard. He earned
72

77

82

87

92

97
19
19

19
19

19
19

a doctorate in industrial engineering

from the University of Cincinnati.
Note: Graph shows 4.5% world population (United States) consumes more than 20% world energy. A fellow of ASQ, Jing is an ASQ-
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. certified quality manager and engineer.

qualityprogress.com || QP || 53
MARKETPL ACE Newly released products and tools

S O F T WA R E

Tagging and F I LT E R S

tracking products
Unikie, a Finnish software company, has launched what it
calls a “smart space solution” in which larger areas can be
tracked with machine vision and lidars connected to an
intelligent localization engine, creating a non-tag based
real-time understanding of what is happening, why it is
happening and what will happen.
The software was developed through low-energy Blue-
tooth technology for businesses in need of real-time data
on the movement and location of their goods. This means
that a physical Bluetooth tag is placed on an object, such
as a product in a store. After the tag is in its place, it sends
a signal to a locator device, which sends the information to
Unikie’s Positioning Engine.
The engine processes the data received from one or sev-
eral locator devices and can display the relevant information
in the tracking interface for the end user. The collected Added ground
location data, movement of products or other goods,
and additional data can be used for AI-generated business
insight such as the most interesting or used sales items,
choke line
availability, best sales item locations and other insight. Schurter, a Swiss manufacturer of electrical and electronic
www.unikie.com/usa | 358-29-370-0720 components, has developed a new version of its FMAB
NEO single-phase filter series that now includes enhanced
asymmetrical attenuation performance in higher frequencies.
The update is possible by adding a ground line choke on
the Earth conductor. The new filter series offers a simple
solution to filtering critical Earth conductor currents gen-
erated by today’s power conversion technologies, such as
those using high-speed switching power supplies, frequency
converters and motor drives.
The single-stage FMAB NEO filter family is ENEC and
cURus approved. Rated current range is 1-60 A at 40° C.
The temperature range is from -40° C to 100° C with der-
atings according to rated current. Rated voltage is 125/250
V. Variations include models with PE Choke, Protection
Class II, Standard leakage current at 1 mA and medical low
leakage M80 or M5. Mounting options include bolt and
nut or quick-connect terminals. Wire leads also are available
on request.
www.schurter.com | 707-636-3000

54 || QP || May 2023
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 B A C K TO The Risk
Landscape
BASICS
A refresher on a quality tool, concept or method

An overview of risk identification and mitigation

tools by Matthew Barsalou

esign failure mode and effects analysis (DFMEA)

D
is used to identify risks in designs,1 process failure
mode and effects analysis (PFMEA) is used to iden-
tify risks in processes,2 and a control plan is used to
describe inspection actions. 3 These documents often
are discussed individually, but they exist with other docu-
ments in an interconnected risk identification and mitigation
landscape, as shown in Online Figure 1, which can be found
on this article’s webpage at qualityprogress.com.
The first step is DFMEA. The inputs typically are doc-
uments such as a list of customer requirements, technical
drawings, specifications and a bill of material (BOM), as well
as other documents. It’s important to review internal and
external product requirements to better understand what
the product must do. The technical drawing describes the
engineering characteristics the product will contain, and the
BOM lists the components that will form the product.
A boundary diagram is used to better understand the prod-
uct’s structure and interactions within the system and with
other systems, such as the customer’s system. The parameter
diagram (P-diagram) is used to better understand the prod-
uct’s functions and influence on the functions, such as system
inputs and noise factors. A P-diagram also is used to identify
the product’s ideal function and error states. The boundary
diagram and P-diagram are critical DFMEA inputs, which
evaluate the product’s design to identify and mitigate risks.
A DFMEA lists functions, requirements, the way in which
the product can fail, and the causes and effects of a failure.
It also lists actions to prevent the failure cause, and to detect
the failure or failure effect. The failure effect’s severity is
evaluated, as is the effectiveness of prevention and detection
actions. Together, they are used to generate a risk priority
number or an action priority. Both are used to prioritize
improvement actions, which are described in the DFMEA.
The detection actions identified in the DFMEA are trans-
ferred to a design validation plan (DVP). The DVP is used
to ensure the detection actions are carried out, as well as
and the rest is much like a DFMEA but orientated
on process-related failures and failure causes.
The detection actions identified in the PFMEA
are carried over into a control plan, which lists
the process number, name, location, operation,
characteristic to control, specification, method
of inspection, frequency of inspection, size of the
sample to take, where to record the results and a
reaction plan for when a deviation is detected.
The documents may need updating over the
product’s lifetime, such as when lessons learned
are identified. The DFMEA should be updated for
design-related failures and the PFMEA for pro-
cess-related failures. QP
EDITOR’S NOTE
The references listed in this column can be found on the column’s
webpage at qualityprogress.com.
Matthew Barsalou works in the auto
industry in Germany. He has a master’s
degree in business administration and
engineering from Wilhelm Büchner
Hochschule in Darmstadt, Germany, and a master’s degree in liberal
studies from Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS. Barsalou is an
associate academician in the International Academy for Quality,
iStock.com/zhuweiyi49

to report on the actions. an ASQ fellow and was the 2021 chair of ASQ’s Statistics Division.
The PFMEA is much like the DFMEA but is used for the He is a certified lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and an ASQ-
process. The two main inputs are the DFMEA and a process certified Six Sigma Black Belt, manager of quality/organizational
flowchart. A PFMEA lists the process step and requirements, excellence, quality technician and quality engineer.

56 || QP || May 2023
 ISO
ENVIRONMENTAL
PUBLICATIONS
ISO 14030: Environmental Performance Evaluation – Green Debt Instruments
This new four-part series provides a roadmap for ISO 14030-1:2021 Process for green bonds
issuing a green bond and originating a green loan, Item Number: T1612E
including:
ISO 14030-2:2021 Process for green loans
• Designating bonds and loans which finance Item Number: T1613E
eligible projects, assets, and supporting
expenditures as “green” ISO 14030-3:2022 Taxonomy
• managing and reporting on the use of proceeds Item Number: T1617E

• defining, monitoring, and reporting on their ISO 14030-4:2021 Verification programme

environmental impacts requirements
Item Number: T1614E tinyurl.com/mr2htepj
• validation and verification

ASQ/ANSI/ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems

Requirements with Guidance for Use*
Item Number: T1041

Applicable across industries and revised in 2015, this standard helps an organization achieve
the intended outcomes of its environmental management system, including:
• enhancement of environmental performance
• fulfillment of compliance obligations tinyurl.com/T1041E

• achievement of environmental objectives

The ISO 14001:2015 Implementation Handbook

Using the Process Approach to Build an Environmental Management System
Item Number: H1507

A guide in building the environmental management system in support of the

organization’s operations, including:
• best practices
• common pitfalls and weaknesses
• accompanying CD with comprehensive check sheets tinyurl.com/HG1507
to be used by internal auditors

*This American National Standard (ANS) is an identical adoption of ISO 14001:2015. The text of this ANS does not differ from ISO 14001:2015.

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