What are the Best books and sources for those new to Quality?

[Augus]

Hello All,
I am new to the Quality field (just move to Quality department from manufacturing). I am looking for information on the web to read about introduction to Quality. or book I could check out to read from the library.
thanks

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by Augus

Hello All,
I am new to the Quality field (just move to Quality department from manufacturing). I am looking for information on the web to read about introduction to Quality. or book I could check out to read from the library.
thanks

Welcome to the Cove!

There are literally thousands of books on Quality. Maybe fifty of those are classic books which give a good background on the philosophy and tools of Quality.

Another 50 books are fantastic aids in special aspects of Quality (things like problem solving, statistics, inspecting, auditing, mistake proofing, etc.)

Before I would give you specific recommendations, I'd like to know a little more about your background and what you are doing in your current position. With that information, I and others here in the Cove can narrow the list to 2 or three great basic books and 2 or 3 specialty books.

Once you begin to read those books, feel free to come back to us for clarification on any of those and for references to still more books.

There are several trade magazines which are distributed free (if you answer a brief questionnaire that shows you are in the trade.) Here's a post which describes where to go Trade magazines - free subscriptions

Above all, the best contemporary source is the Cove. Look through the index at the various Forums and then at the threads within the Forums. We've been trying to edit thread titles so they are pretty descriptive of the contents to aid search engines and people using them to cut through the clutter. You'll note I have retitled your thread to be a little more descriptive as well.

[Jennifer Kirley]

Welcome to the Cove, Augus!

Why don't we start with understanding what industry you are in:

Are you still in manufacturing? If so, what do you make?

Does your employer have an established QA program?

Is your employer registered to any standard, or wish to be?

Let us know some details so we can send you to the right direction. Quality has become specialized.

In the meantime, for some really basic introductory reading your library might have "Quality Is Free" by Philip Crosby.

Jennifer

[Arvind]

Here are two of my most favorite books on Quality.

1) Dr Edwards Deming- " Out of the Crisis"- Excellent for general reading

2) J. Juran- " Quality Handbook"- Packed with very detailed information and will need multiple reading to understand some concepts.

Arvind

[Caster]

Originally Posted by Augus

Hello All,
I am new to the Quality field (just move to Quality department from manufacturing). I am looking for information on the web to read about introduction to Quality. or book I could check out to read from the library.
thanks

Welcome to Quality!

Don't ignore Marcs free files on the home page...and also spend some time searching and reading these forums...it's all free and counts as "work"

I like books that pump me up and provide ideas to try....

American Samurai by William Lareau

I also like Well Made in America - Lessons from Harley Davidson by Peter Reid

My all time fave: Maverick : The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace by/about Ricardo Semler

I gave this book to my boss and he trashed it - it made his brain explode! Way too radical for him. He still owes me for a hardcover book!

Which bring me to my last - any early Tom Peters books - before he got way, way off the deep end: there were lots of practical ideas.

Good luck in Quality - WOW - into Quality from Manufacturing - please share your experiences and thoughts on this sea change.

One of our Quality Engineers went into Production and what a change in his World View...Quality is now his enemy.

[Claes Gefvenberg]

I suggest Gemba Kaizen by masaaki Imai.

/Claes

[Craig H.]

Instead of Deming's "Out of the Crisis", Mary Walton's "The Deming Management Method" is an easier read. Of course, "Crisis" is still a (THE) classic...

[wmarhel]

For Deming, Rafael Aguayo's book, "Dr. Deming : The American Who Taught the Japanese About Quality" is an easy read.

"Guide to Quality Control" by Kaoru Ishikawa.

Kiyoshi Suzaki has two books which while geared more toward manufacturing and manufacturing supervision stress the need for quality in the process:

"New Manufacturing Challenge" and "New Shop Floor Management"

Juran's Handbook is always a good stand-by.

Best of luck,

Wayne