This article defines quality, quality assurance, quality control, and quality management of processes, products, and services. It describes the evolution of quality control and quality assurance in the coatings industry. The article also discusses the standards, quality programs, and certifications in the coatings industry.

The purpose of accreditation is to evaluate and assure high-quality results from suppliers of products or services without incurring the costs associated with auditing each supplier. This article describes laboratory accreditation based on the general requirements of International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Guide 25, "General Requirements for the Competence of Calibration and Testing Laboratories." The Guide 25 is a balanced standard that addresses quality system requirements of ISO 9000 and the technical requirements needed to perform testing or calibration. The article describes an accreditation process that would enhance the international acceptance of test data for mechanical testing laboratories.

This article describes how design can unfavorably affect product quality. It provides information on the total quality management philosophy, emphasizing the principles of quality management. The article discusses various methods for evaluating a product design for quality. It presents design guidelines that are intended to provide products with a potential for higher levels of quality.

The objective of dimensional management is to create a design and process that absorbs as much variation as possible without affecting the function of the product. This article describes the steps followed by the dimensional management process. These include defining product dimensional requirements, determining process and product requirements, ensuring accurate documentation, developing a measurement plan that validates product requirements, establishing manufacturing capabilities versus design intent, and establishing production-to-design feedback loop. The article discusses the simulation model in terms of a functional feature product model, component part variation, assembly method variation, measurement schemes, and assembly sequences.

This article describes the four basic steps of the purchasing process of cast components. These steps include defining requirements and developing a purchasing plan; requesting and evaluating bids from potential sources; selecting a source and negotiating contract terms; and carrying out the contract and pursuing continuous improvement. It provides guidance on purchasing cast components and explains specific issues and approaches that have proven to be useful in purchasing castings. The article presents a list of the most significant considerations when attempting to determine the overall cost and design requirements of a metal casting.

This article briefly introduces the concepts of failure analysis and root cause analysis (RCA), and the role of failure analysis as a general engineering tool for enhancing product quality and failure prevention. It reviews four fundamental categories of physical root causes, namely, design deficiencies, material defects, manufacturing/installation defects, and service life anomalies, with examples. The article describes several common charting methods that may be useful in performing an RCA. It also discusses other failure analysis tools, including review of all sources of input and information, people interviews, laboratory investigations, stress analysis, and fracture mechanics analysis. The article concludes with information on the categories of failure and failure prevention.

High-pressure die casting is a fast method for the net shape manufacturing of parts from nonferrous alloys. This article reviews the automation technologies for the different stages or steps of the process. These steps include liquid metal pouring, injection, solidification, die open, part extraction, die lubrication, insert loading, and die close. Some manual aspects of the operations, together with automation options, are discussed. The article describes finishing steps, such as finish trimming, detailed deflashing, shot blast cleaning, and quality checks. Automation of the postcasting process is also discussed.

This article discusses Allenby's two streams for environmental aspects of design: generic and specific concerns. Generic concerns include guidelines that provide the structure in which specific techniques can be developed and used. Specific methods are environmentally responsible for design and specific information that engineers can use. These methods include life cycle assessment, environmental impact assessment, quality function deployment, design for “X”, failure modes and effects analysis, and design for disassembly.

This article addresses problems, such as “in spec” dilemma and on-target key, associated with traditional approaches to quality. It discusses major robust design techniques, tools, and concepts, such as quality loss function, parameter design, tolerance design, signal-to-noise ratio, technology development, and orthogonal arrays.

This article briefly introduces the concepts of failure analysis, including root-cause analysis (RCA), and the role of failure analysis as a general engineering tool for enhancing product quality and failure prevention. It initially provides definitions of failure on several different levels, followed by a discussion on the role of failure analysis and the appreciation of quality assurance and user expectations. Systematic analysis of equipment failures reveals physical root causes that fall into one of four fundamental categories: design, manufacturing/installation, service, and material, which are discussed in the following sections along with examples. The tools available for failure analysis are then covered. Further, the article describes the categories of mode of failure: distortion or undesired deformation, fracture, corrosion, and wear. It provides information on the processes involved in RCA and the charting methods that may be useful in RCA and ends with a description of various factors associated with failure prevention.

Maintenance coating is an important part of any meaningful asset-preservation strategy in facilities producing pulp and paper and other chemicals. This article discusses maintenance coating for carbon steel structures and process equipment exposed to normal external pulp and paper mill atmospheric conditions. The important requirements and standards for surface preparation are emphasized and common issues encountered in maintenance coating projects are described.

Value analysis (VA) is a team problem-solving process to improve the value of a product from the viewpoint of a user. This article presents a comparison between VA and total quality management in materials selection and design. It discusses the key attributes, concepts, and activities of the VA. The application of value engineering in U.S. government contracts and the construction industry is reviewed. The article describes the eight phases of the VA process: preparation, information, analysis, creation, synthesis, development, presentation and report, and implementation and follow-up. It presents case studies that illustrate the materials-related aspects of the VA process.

The basic quality analysis tools are cause-and-effect diagrams, check sheets, control charts, histograms, Pareto charts, scatter diagrams, and run charts. This article reviews how basic quality analysis tools are built upon to become a more advanced set of quality tools. It describes the advanced quality tools: advanced product quality planning, failure mode and effects analysis, control planning, measurement systems analysis, lean tools, statistical process control, production viability and tryout, and Six Sigma.

This article provides assistance to a failure analyst in broadening the initial scope of the investigation of a physical engineering failure in order to identify the root cause of a problem. The engineering design process, including task clarification, conceptual design, embodiment design, and detail design, is reviewed. The article discusses the design process at the personal and project levels but takes into consideration the effects of some higher level influences and interfaces often found to contribute to engineering failures.

Concurrent engineering is product development that is done by concurrently utilizing all of the relevant information in making each decision. This article discusses the three aspects that must be taken into account for all product development decisions. The aspects include product functionality, production capability, and field-support capability. The concurrent process is carried out by a multifunctional team that integrates the specialties. The article schematically illustrates product design team configurations with subsystem teams and team of subsystem leaders. It discusses the three-step decision-making process, such as requirements, concepts, and improvement, followed by multifunctional product development teams. The article describes the two types of requirements development by multifunctional teams, namely, quality function deployment and functional analysis. It schematically illustrates the integration of product requirements and concept development. The article concludes with a discussion on the improvement of concepts in terms of robust design and mistake minimization.

The most effective design teams generally involve a clearly delineated group of individuals who work full time on the specified project from its beginning until market introduction. This article focuses on issues arising in using teams in a product design process. It provides special coverage on alternative roles for specialists, such as materials engineers or scientists, whose expertise is essential to the success of the project. The article discusses the types of teams exhibiting certain characteristics in the sales, accounting, and research departments and from the factory floor to the executive suite. The special characteristics of cross-functional development teams are discussed. The article reviews the staffing of a development team, including team leader, team members, and suppliers on the team. It describes the considerations for organizing a development team, and the role of development team specialists on balancing team needs.

This article focuses on the technologies and applications of additive manufacturing (AM) in the oil and gas industry. It then presents the challenges of AM and the oil and gas industry. The article provides a detailed description of the critical steps in the AM process chain, including part selection, design optimization, and process planning, control, and inspection. Qualification and certification standardization is discussed, as is a commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of the manufacturing sector through AM. It ends with the future outlook of AM in the oil and gas industry.

This article describes design factors for products used in engineering applications. The article groups these factors into three categories: functional requirements, analysis of total life cycle, and other major factors. These categories intersect and overlap, constituting a major challenge in engineering design. Performance specifications, risk and hazard analysis, design process, design for manufacture and assembly, design for quality, reliability in design, and redesign are considered for functional requirements. Life-cycle analysis considers raw-material extraction from the earth and product manufacture, use, recycling (including design for recycling), and disposal. The other major factors considered include evaluation of the current state of the art for a given design, designing to codes and standards, and human factors/ergonomics.

Tooling and assembly methodologies for advanced composites have steadily improved as a result of advancements in materials, through the use of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing technology, and through application of sophisticated design for manufacturing and assembly concepts. This article reviews techniques and technologies that are used to control the quality of tooling and assembly methods for composite components.

Visual inspection (VI) is the oldest inspection technique man has used as a quality-control tool to evaluate products, assess their final form in terms of fabrication accuracy and external features based on experience, and decide on their acceptance or rejection. This article discusses the basic principles of visual inspection in terms of direct visual examination and indirect visual examination as well as advantages and limitations of visual inspection. It reviews the factors affecting the effectiveness of VI as a nondestructive testing (NDT): lighting conditions of observation, condition of surface under inspection, physical state/condition of inspector, proper training of personnel and level of expertise, and knowledge of applicable standards. The article provides schematic illustrations of rigid borescopes, fiberscopes, and videoscopes. It concludes with a discussion on automated optical inspection systems.