Measurement and data analysis, the foundation for control and improvement.

• Measurement the language of Science
Measurement is the language of science; it is the language we use to communicate about size, quantity, position, condition and time. The effect of the science of measurement can be seen everywhere, allowing people to plan their lives and make commercial exchanges with confidence.

The statement of Lord Kelvin holds good in science as well as in business. He commented:

'' That when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it: but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be''

Measurement is also the language of business.
'In God we trust; all others use data' is a phrase one often hears in many companies. The principal goal of any employee is to make decisions that further the overall organisational goal of meeting or exceeding customer expectations as well as making productive use of the organisation's resources.

To make such decisions, employees need information about customers, products and services, processes, employees, suppliers, and competitors.

Information is derived from analysis of data. Data, in turn, come from measurement. Thus, achieving quality excellence requires a framework of measurement, data, and analysis. Measurement is the act of determining whether an object possesses a certain quality characteristic. This is usually by visual inspection, or quantifying the amount of a quality characteristic using some type of measuring instrument. Quality characteristics are those properties of a product that are evaluated against specifications. This may be to assess whether an electronic item fails or passes a functional test, whether an employee followed an established procedure, or to determine a quantifiable characteristic such as diameter, hardness and weight of a ball bearing, or the time to fill a customer's order. Measurement allows the assessment of the degree of conformance to a specification, which, in turn enables managers and front line workers to know how close they are to their targets and to set improvement priorities. Measurement provides a scorecard of business performance and makes accomplishment visible to everyone. Knowing that one is doing a good job is a powerful motivator.

Measurements allow managers to make decisions on the basis of facts, not opinions. Many times managers make decision based on guts not on fact. Such decisions can be misleading and may not give solutions to the pending problems. A case was reported of a Power and Light company in the United States. The company observed that lightening was the principal cause of service interruptions. This assumption was not based on any data. However after the managers were charged to produce data to support their findings and data was collected, they found that interruption occurred even when strong lightening was not present. In addition, they discovered that many utility poles did not have sufficient groundings, a situation they had not recognised until they collected data.

Inspection and measurement provide data, usually in the form of quality and operational performance data. Quality related data such as defect rates and customer satisfaction results provide input needed for strategic planning, the design of products and services, human resource management, and process improvement. Operational performance data such as yields, cycle times, and productivity measures help managers determine if they are doing the right job, if they are using resources effectively, if they are improving, where problems are occurring, and where corrective action is needed.

Hierarchy of Measures
An organisation that is committed to quality must examine quality at three levels: the organisational level, the process level, and the performer/job level. Data at the perfomer/job level provide workers with information to control machines and processes. Control is the continual process of evaluating performance, comparing that performance to a goal or standard, and taking corrective action when necessary. Control focuses on stability: the elimination of sporadic deviations from stable performance. Thus control measures are taken daily or more frequently and are nearly always expressed in non monetary terms.

At the process level, data collected through systematic measurement describe process performance and identify areas for improvement. Such data are expressed in both monetary and non monetary terms. Teams of workers, supervisors, and managers can use this data to determine causes of quality problems and recommend solutions. At the organisational level, quality and operational performance data along with relevant financial data form the basis for strategic planning and decision making. They stress performance of the organisation as a whole. In summary, data analysis is the foundation for control and improvement.

But measurements can also be dangerous. A phrase that one often hears is 'How you are measured is how you perform'. This suggests the importance of selecting and using the right measure. Analogue Devices, a successful Massachusetts analogue and digital equipment manufacturer, embraced Total Quality concepts but found its stock price readily declining. One of their key measures on which managers were rewarded was new product introduction time. This is with an objective of reducing it from thirty- six (36) to six months. The product development team focused on this objective; as a result, engineers turned away from riskier new products and designed mundane derivatives of old products that no longer met customers' needs. The company subsequently scrapped that goal.

The world's famous quality guru Dr W. E. Deming believed in using data as a basis for problem solving. He was however highly critical of overemphasizing measurement. He was also a strong opponent of management by objectives (MBO). He often stated that the most important figures, such as the value of a loyal customer, are unknown and unknowable. Although this is certainly true, considerable value lies in using objective data for planning and decision making.

Good Data a key to sustainability of business.
Good data and information management provide many benefits; among these are:

• They help a company know that customers are receiving appropriate levels of service because indicators are used to measure it accurately.

• They provide concrete feedback to workers to verify their progress

• They establish a basis for reward and recognition.

• They provide a means of assessing progress and signalling the need for corrective action.

• They reduce the cost of operations through better planning and improvement actions.

Despite the fact that more than half of the work force in industry is engaged in the generation, processing, or dissemination of data and/or information, many companies do a poor job of systematically collecting appropriate data and analysing it properly. Many managers experience more and more difficulty getting the information they really need, when they need it. Therefore not only are data and information essential to the development and operation of every facet of the organisation,, but Total Quality concepts also need to be applied to the generation of data and information. These concepts do not come out of mere men. Survival in today's competitive business world demands good data and trained personnel to collect and disseminate data.

There is therefore the need to train quality officers in order to equip them with the requisite skills and techniques to handle data, information, and quality issues across every facet of organisations. This training does not necessary come out of the formal education offered by the Universities and Polytechnics and this undermines practises in industry in the quest to create quality environment in their organisations. Officers who are engaged in quality assurance work should have the professional training and qualification that would enable them carry out task assigned to them in order to meet organisational goals and objectives. In the United Kingdom for example, this training has been taken up by the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI). CQI offers courses in quality through their education centres world wide. All Quality Assurance officers who have no formal training, fresh graduates from tertiary institutions, who have quality at the heart of their career and owners and managers of SME's are encouraged to seek training in quality for the development of skills and sustainability of their businesses.

Dr. E.J-L. Ablorh
Quality Consultant, ASQS
[email protected]