Last modified: 13:20:56 23-Jan-2009
The author is a well-respected statistician involved primarily in industrial and engineering applications of statistics. This text provides a clear, although slightly mechanical presentation of basic approaches to statistical quality control. Because of quality management's principle of downplaying the role of final product inspection as a guarantee of quality, a reader well-versed in quality management may find the large section on acceptance sampling somewhat noteworthy. Deming and other quality authorities often characterize acceptance sampling as logically inappropriate, emphasizing that quality evaluations are directed at a supplier’s production process and associated records of quality than at the sample of products delivered to a purchaser (“Quality is a characteristic of the production system”). At the absolute minimum, Montgomery's extensive treatment of acceptance sampling is a clear indication of how much of a change is suggested by quality management principles.
Last modified: 13:20:56 23-Jan-2009