Industrial Transformation Blog

Quality 4.0 is a concept LNS Research first introduced in 2017, and it has been gaining momentum ever since. However, the concept has also picked up some misconceptions along the way. To clear up any confusion, we will redefine Quality 4.0 here and answer several key questions about its scope, value, and role in Industrial Transformation (IX).

Sparta Systems is an interesting firm. Well known for its on-premise TrackWise product, it had stumbled in recent years as it faced many new cloud-based competitors. Over the past year, it brought on a new leadership team and put its considerable weight behind the development of its Force.com-based TrackWise Digital cloud product. As we look at the Summer 2019 release of TrackWise Digital, has the effort paid off?

LNS Research was recently briefed on the late-January release of ETQ Reliance 2019. A lot has changed at ETQ since the private equity firm TCV acquired it in August 2017. Much of the management team has changed, with seasoned industry veterans replacing long-time ETQ insiders, exceptions being the former head of ETQ Cloud, Joseph Randazzo, and ETQ co-founder, Morgan Palmer. The new leadership has brought a new philosophy, including a broader perspective on the value, role, and contributors to quality and quality technology.

Another year comes to an end! I hope you attained your personal and professional goals this year. I had an exciting year with LNS Research; we launched research on...

• Successful new product introduction (NPI) in the digital era,
  
  
• Selecting Quality 4.0 technology to drive differentiation, and
  
  
• How to converge safety, risk, quality, operations, and design for reliability.

We also examined the quality and Quality 4.0 trends in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and automotive industries and developed frameworks and approaches for success. LNS also conducted multiple onsite quality advisory sessions and workshops for technology vendors and manufacturers. Additionally, we launched two new surveys, led two executive roundtables (thank you to the hosts Newell Brands and Whirlpool), and presented at several corporate events including ASQ’ Quality 4.0 Forum.

In mid-2017, LNS Research identified that an early but significant group of manufacturers had begun to recognize Quality 4.0 as one of their top Industrial Transformation initiatives. LNS coined the term Quality 4.0 and defined the space - why to adopt Quality 4.0, and how to build a successful strategy. Over time, the interest in Quality 4.0 has continued to accelerate, and many manufacturers are now either investigating Quality 4.0 or deploying early pilots .

In the 18 months since LNS coined Quality 4.0 and provided the definitive frameworks, manufacturers throughout the supply chain, across industries, and of varied company sizes have aggressively pursued Quality 4.0 technology and use cases. Today, 64% of manufacturers are pursuing Digital Transformation, and of these, 23% are pursuing quality improvement use cases. A low hanging fruit, Quality 4.0 is one of the top use cases of Digital Transformation initiatives.

The #MondayMusings Industrial Transformation blog series provides insight and analysis for executives from the previous week’s briefings, events, and publications @LNSResearch.

LNS Research recently attended Pilgrim Fusion 2018, the customer conference for Pilgrim Quality Solutions. Pilgrim Quality Solutions is an enterprise quality management software (EQMS) company that is primarily focused on (but not limited to) the Life Sciences industry .

The concept of effective integration of environment, health and safety, and quality (EHSQ) management systems has received much attention in the past few years. Though, not surprisingly, the idea of EHSQ integration has not translated into widespread implementation - after all, it’s hard to break down long-standing organization and technology silos, and bring teams, processes, and technology together for the greater good of the organization.

But, several forces have come together to create the opportunity, if not the obligation, for EHS and quality business leaders to look at the possibilities and develop an integration strategy to strengthen both domains and add more value to the business.

On Tuesday, September 18, LNS Research hosted the webcast, “Unlocking Value from Shop Floor to the Enterprise: Digitally Transforming Risk, Quality and Safety.” The presentation explained how integrating the critical functions of quality and safety can mean strategic value for the enterprise beyond the sum of what they offer separately. The discussion included an examination of how industrial organizations use advanced digital technologies to transform risk, quality, and safety management to deliver unprecedented value from the shop floor and throughout the enterprise .

Over the past few months, we’ve been helping many LNS program members with strategic planning for 2018, and underlying this planning is a common theme - “What is the perceived value of quality?”

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