The virtual factory approach to quality education

Quality Progress

Volumn 31, Issue 10, 1998, Pages 62-64

  Keane, John A ^a,b,c  

^a John A Keane and Associates Inc   (United States)

^b CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c American Society for Quality   (India)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COMPUTER AIDED INSTRUCTION; COMPUTER SIMULATION; COMPUTER SOFTWARE; EDUCATION; QUALITY ASSURANCE;

BUSINESS EDUCATION; VIRTUAL FACTORY;

QUALITY CONTROL;

EID: 0032187698     PISSN: 0033524X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (5)

1. The virtual factory is CIM/Quality software based on patented technology from John A. Keane and Associates, Inc. in Princeton, NJ.
2. ISO 9000 components were selected because most practitioners are familiar with their nomenclature and purposes, even if they do not use them in their work.
3. The factory simulator created is a saw-blade plant that converts steel blanks, purchased from three suppliers, into diamond-coated blades for cutting concrete and other materials. Since no one had prior experience in this industry, all teams were on equal footing.
4. Getting executives together can be a major obstacle. The simulation exercise was scheduled as part of another program that already had their interest and commitment.
5. Basic aspects of business/quality interactions can be demonstrated with a generic factory simulation such as the one used here. Development of a custom version for a specific application runs to thousands of dollars. Such sums could be justified if the prime objective is to use the resultant model as a design tool for a large company or as a common training tool collectively developed for a specific industry.