Quality 4.0 Think Tank (Q4.0TT)

Chair: Gregory H. Watson

Vice-Chair: Pedro M. Saraiva

Purpose:

In the disruptive era of Quality 4.0 this IAQ Think Tank seeks to develop clear understanding of the methodologies, applications, and implications of digital technologies on the methods, tools, and practices of quality as well as its implications for specialists who engage in this profession and are developing their personal competencies for future application

History

Quality 4.0 has developed into a technology-based movement within the global quality community to discover pragmatic meaning as the term was first mentioned in 2016 in the context of the German national initiative called “Industry 4.0.” However, currently there is no agreed meaning in the quality community which, in general, is unprepared to widely embrace a digital framework for production as it has the potential to displace the traditional structure of organizations and upset the long-standing roles of quality professionals. This Think Tank is proposed to develop a framework that enables the global quality community to understand the nature of this digital transformation which is currently being imposed on industry as a result of “technology-push” advances and combined marketing capabilities of purveyors of related technologies by the major consulting companies that seek to assist in introducing and implementing this transformation (e.g., McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group are in the process of developing major consultancies around this topic). The IAQ Quality 4.0 Think Tank was established in May 2021 to serve as a clearinghouse for development of the professional practices of the global quality community as it integrates advanced technologies and incorporates these challenges into the design of quality systems that are suited for the 21^st Century.

Membership

Core Team Academicians: James E. Duarte, Markku T. Nieminen, Hiroshi Osada, Nicole M. Radziwill, J. Ravikant, Benson Tendler, and Fugee Tsung.
Extended Team Academicians: Jiju Antony, Matthew A. Barsalou, Joseph A. DeFeo, Zhen He, David Hutchins, Jorge Romàn, Paulo A. Sampaio, and Ngo Van Nhon.
External Invitees: Zubair Anwar (ASQ), Mike Turner (CQI), and Vipin Sahni (CII)

Future Plans

Prepare IAQ Position Paper, “Surviving the Disruption of Digitalization.”
Prepare IAQ Position Paper, “Technical Advances Leading to Quality 4.0.”
Develop a Webinar series with basic introductions to the new digital methods and referencing recommended programs for further study.

Important Publications