**2. Concept of quality control (middle age to 20th century)**

Quality is as old as mankind on earth. It is possible that the quality of goods and services rendered has been monitored, either directly or indirectly since time immemorial [1, 2]. In the ancient Egyptians history, a commitment to quality in their pyramids was well demonstrated, similarly with the Greek architecture of the 5th century B.C. Such quality of work was evidenced in Roman-built cities, churches, bridges and roads that inspire the modern constructions [1, 2]. From the Middle Ages up to nineteenth century, the production of goods and services were predominantly confined to Artisans, a single person or small groups. These groups were mostly family-owned businesses, hence the responsibility for controlling the quality of a product or service rested with the Artisans or small groups [1, 2].

The quality of the goods and services rather followed the principles of "*caveat emptor*" as a single person controlled both the processes, leaving the buyer to determine the of the quality. This was pre-industrial revolution period. The phase comprising the time period up to about 1900, has been labelled the "*operator quality control*" period [14]. Then, the question is, what really motivated the Artisan or worker to continue producing quality goods and services? Perhaps, the worker took pride in total control of both number of products produced and the control of quality of such limited goods, hence a feeling of a sense of accomplishment, which lifted morale and motivated the worker to the new heights of excellence [2]. Therefore, controlling the quality of the products was embedded in the philosophy of the worker because a pride of workmanship was widespread. The "operator quality control" phase covered the entire pre-industry 1.0 revolution through to Industry 2.0 revolution.

However, beginning the early twentieth century through to 1930, a second wave evolved, that was referred toas the "*Foreman quality control*" [2, 14]. With this came Industrial revolution resulting in Mass production, which was based on the principle of the division of the labour specialisation. This principle placed emphasis on putting or assigning each worker according to their areas of skills and knowledge,

**21**

packaging.

*Smart Manufacturing: Quality Control Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95143*

for operations in their span of control [2].

to substitutes for 100 percent inspection [2].

for example, those workers who technicians, were grouped together, those skilled in the production were grouped also as such, and so on. That means no one person was entirely responsible for production processes, but rather a portion of it. But soon, the approach suffered some drawbacks as workers lost sense of accomplishment and pride in their work. This is because the workers could no longer control the entire production processes of the product being produced as before. Though most tasks were still not very complicated, and workers became skilled at the particular operations that they performed [2]. People were grouped together according to the tasks performed, for example, production units and assembly lines. A supervisor who directed the operation had the task of ensuring that quality was achieved. Foremen or supervisors controlled the quality of the product, and they were also responsible

Then there came the period from 1920 to 1940 or World War II period, which saw the next phase in the evolution of QC. This period was known as the "Inspection quality control" [14]. The introduction of improved machines and equipment for industrial and manufacturing as a result of Industry 2.0 revolution, and increased demand for industrial and manufactured goods due to World War II, resulted in increased production volumes. However, as workers who were reporting to one foreman grew in numbers, it became apparent that these workers needed to be kept under close watch as a way to have control over the operations. This resulted in inspectors being assigned the tasks of quality check of the product after certain operations were completed [2]. Quality standards were set, and the inspectors compared the quality of the items produced against those standards. Any product found not meeting the set standards or, defective was put separately from those that met standard. The nonconforming products were reworked, if possible, or rejected altogether. It is at this period that the aspects of Statistical Quality Control (SQC) were being developed in the United States, however, it did not immediately gain wide usage in the United States industries [2]. Walter A. Shewhart of Bell Telephone Laboratories proposed the use of statistical charts to control the variables of a product, which later became to be known as "Control charts" (or Shewhart control charts). These played a vital role in Statistical Process Control. This was followed by H.F. Dodge and H.G. Romig, also from Bell Telephone Laboratories, who also pioneered work in the areas of acceptance sampling plans. These plans were to later

The eve of 1930s saw the application of acceptance sampling plans in industry, both domestic and abroad. Walter Shewhart continued his efforts to promote to industry the fundamentals of statistical quality control (SQC). In 1929, he obtained the sponsorship of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Statistical Association (ASA), and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) in creating the Joint Committee for the Development of Statistical Application in Engineering and Manufacturing. During these periods, the interest in the field of QC started to gain acceptance in England. The British Standards Institutions Standard 600 (BSIS-600) dealt with the applications of statistical methods to industrial standardisation and QC [2]. In the United States, J. Scanlon introduced the Scanlon plan, which dealt with improvement of the overall quality of work life [14]. Thereafter, the U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act 1938 had jurisdiction over procedures and practices in the areas of processing, manufacturing, and

The next phase of QC was the evolution process of the Statistical Quality Control (SQC), which took place between 1940 to 1960 [2, 14]. During these periods, the production of industrial and manufactured goods increased as a result of World War II and population explosion. However, because of mass production, 100 percent inspection became impossible, hence opening the way to the sampling plan [2].

*Smart Manufacturing: Quality Control Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95143*

*Quality Control - Intelligent Manufacturing, Robust Design and Charts*

will become established [12, 13].

future applications. Equipped with these types of knowledge and intelligence, these gadgets actively support the production and documentation process. This will create value chain capable of answering questions such as ("*when was the product made, which parameters to be given to product, which destination is product intended for?"*) [10, 11, 13]. These interfaces to smart mobility, smart logistics, and smart grids make Smart Manufacturing an important element of future smart infrastructures. Conventional value chains will thereby be refined, and totally new business models

Industry 4.0 revolution concept, therefore, encompasses not only value creation, but also work organisation, business models and downstream services. It performs this by using information technology networks of production, marketing and logistics. This enables it to capture all resources, production facilities and warehousing systems. The re-organisation thus, extends from the energy supply and smart power grids through to advanced mobility concepts (Smart mobility, Smart logistics) [12, 13]. However, on the technical side the concept is based on integrating Cyber-Physical Systems into production and logistics. In this Smart environment the concept of the Internet of Things (IoTs) and services that were already devised a decade ago have actually now become a reality. This process involves developing people and capital mobility, changing modes of production, consumption, learning, working and leisure, and increasing world-wide competition. In the subsequent subsection,

we try to highlight the concept of quality control in Smart manufacturing.

Quality is as old as mankind on earth. It is possible that the quality of goods and services rendered has been monitored, either directly or indirectly since time immemorial [1, 2]. In the ancient Egyptians history, a commitment to quality in their pyramids was well demonstrated, similarly with the Greek architecture of the 5th century B.C. Such quality of work was evidenced in Roman-built cities, churches, bridges and roads that inspire the modern constructions [1, 2]. From the Middle Ages up to nineteenth century, the production of goods and services were predominantly confined to Artisans, a single person or small groups. These groups were mostly family-owned businesses, hence the responsibility for controlling the quality of a product or service rested with the Artisans or small groups [1, 2].

The quality of the goods and services rather followed the principles of "*caveat* 

However, beginning the early twentieth century through to 1930, a second wave evolved, that was referred toas the "*Foreman quality control*" [2, 14]. With this came Industrial revolution resulting in Mass production, which was based on the principle of the division of the labour specialisation. This principle placed emphasis on putting or assigning each worker according to their areas of skills and knowledge,

*emptor*" as a single person controlled both the processes, leaving the buyer to determine the of the quality. This was pre-industrial revolution period. The phase comprising the time period up to about 1900, has been labelled the "*operator quality control*" period [14]. Then, the question is, what really motivated the Artisan or worker to continue producing quality goods and services? Perhaps, the worker took pride in total control of both number of products produced and the control of quality of such limited goods, hence a feeling of a sense of accomplishment, which lifted morale and motivated the worker to the new heights of excellence [2]. Therefore, controlling the quality of the products was embedded in the philosophy of the worker because a pride of workmanship was widespread. The "operator quality control" phase covered the entire pre-industry 1.0 revolution through to

**2. Concept of quality control (middle age to 20th century)**

**20**

Industry 2.0 revolution.

for example, those workers who technicians, were grouped together, those skilled in the production were grouped also as such, and so on. That means no one person was entirely responsible for production processes, but rather a portion of it. But soon, the approach suffered some drawbacks as workers lost sense of accomplishment and pride in their work. This is because the workers could no longer control the entire production processes of the product being produced as before. Though most tasks were still not very complicated, and workers became skilled at the particular operations that they performed [2]. People were grouped together according to the tasks performed, for example, production units and assembly lines. A supervisor who directed the operation had the task of ensuring that quality was achieved. Foremen or supervisors controlled the quality of the product, and they were also responsible for operations in their span of control [2].

Then there came the period from 1920 to 1940 or World War II period, which saw the next phase in the evolution of QC. This period was known as the "Inspection quality control" [14]. The introduction of improved machines and equipment for industrial and manufacturing as a result of Industry 2.0 revolution, and increased demand for industrial and manufactured goods due to World War II, resulted in increased production volumes. However, as workers who were reporting to one foreman grew in numbers, it became apparent that these workers needed to be kept under close watch as a way to have control over the operations. This resulted in inspectors being assigned the tasks of quality check of the product after certain operations were completed [2]. Quality standards were set, and the inspectors compared the quality of the items produced against those standards. Any product found not meeting the set standards or, defective was put separately from those that met standard. The nonconforming products were reworked, if possible, or rejected altogether. It is at this period that the aspects of Statistical Quality Control (SQC) were being developed in the United States, however, it did not immediately gain wide usage in the United States industries [2]. Walter A. Shewhart of Bell Telephone Laboratories proposed the use of statistical charts to control the variables of a product, which later became to be known as "Control charts" (or Shewhart control charts). These played a vital role in Statistical Process Control. This was followed by H.F. Dodge and H.G. Romig, also from Bell Telephone Laboratories, who also pioneered work in the areas of acceptance sampling plans. These plans were to later to substitutes for 100 percent inspection [2].

The eve of 1930s saw the application of acceptance sampling plans in industry, both domestic and abroad. Walter Shewhart continued his efforts to promote to industry the fundamentals of statistical quality control (SQC). In 1929, he obtained the sponsorship of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Statistical Association (ASA), and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) in creating the Joint Committee for the Development of Statistical Application in Engineering and Manufacturing. During these periods, the interest in the field of QC started to gain acceptance in England. The British Standards Institutions Standard 600 (BSIS-600) dealt with the applications of statistical methods to industrial standardisation and QC [2]. In the United States, J. Scanlon introduced the Scanlon plan, which dealt with improvement of the overall quality of work life [14]. Thereafter, the U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act 1938 had jurisdiction over procedures and practices in the areas of processing, manufacturing, and packaging.

The next phase of QC was the evolution process of the Statistical Quality Control (SQC), which took place between 1940 to 1960 [2, 14]. During these periods, the production of industrial and manufactured goods increased as a result of World War II and population explosion. However, because of mass production, 100 percent inspection became impossible, hence opening the way to the sampling plan [2].

In 1946, the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) was established and immediately got renamed the American Society of Quality (ASQ ). Then later on, the U.S. Military in 1950 developed a set of sampling inspection plans for attributes called MIL-STD-105A, which was modified to MIL-STD-105B, MIL-STD-105C, MIL-STD-105D and MIL-STD-105E. This was later followed by a set of sampling plans by the U.S. Military in 1957 [2].

After suffering humiliating defeat at the hands of the allied forces in the World War II in 1945, Japan wholeheartedly embraced the philosophy of SQC. This is after W. Edwards Deming visited Japan and lectured on these new ideas in 1950, which convinced Japanese engineers and top management of the importance of SQC as a means of gaining a competitive edge in the world market. The next person was J.M. Juran, another pioneer in QC who also visited Japan in 1954 and impressed upon Japanese on the strategic role top management plays in the achievement of a quality programme. The Japanese seized this opportunity and immediately realised the profound effects that these principles would have on the future of business, hence made a strong commitment to a massive programme of training and education [2].

The changes in quality swept through Industrial 1.0 to 2.0 revolutions, when the new paradigm that we all know as the '*quality control*' was borne. During this period, quality experts Edwards, Juran and Feigenbaum called upon the management to be more responsible, and responsive, to the issue of quality. [15] went further to state, "It is most important that top-management be quality minded". This sentiment was followed by [16], who echoed the significance of management commitment, "I submit that to enable QC to be really effective, we must work on making QC a member of the regular management team". Feigenbaum came up with an idea on organisation-wide efforts into the concept of "Total Quality Control" (TQC). The ideas behind TQC was that to provide genuine effectiveness, then real quality control management must start with the design of the product and end only when the product is finally with the consumer, who must remain satisfied, therefore quality was seen as everybody's business" [1, 17, 18]. However, it is worth noting that, the present QC manifested from Japanese, who revolutionise QC into the concept of "Total Quality Control". In their quest to revive home industries, after humiliating defeat in the hands Allied forces, the Japanese turned around their ailing industries after listening to Deming's lectures. Japanese TQC was manifestation of the third paradigm of the quality discipline, "Total Quality Management". This later on were embraced world over, though the concept originated in Japan.

#### **2.1 Definition of quality control**

The term 'quality' in essence means different things to different people. This is because people value different features of a product, some view quality as product package, price, colour, durability etc. However, [19] defines quality as, 'degree in which a set of inherent characteristics satisfies the requirements. The question is, what are these 'inherent characteristics' that a product must satisfy? The question can better be answered by; *first*, product values must meet or exceed the expectation of the final consumer. *Second*, overall quality- products, processes, systems, machinery and equipment must meet the statutory and contractual quality requirements [20]. Quality is not merely a monitoring tool by organisations, but rather should be viewed as a mechanism for anticipating problems, preventing them from occurring, and, ultimately, if they occur, solving them [20].

The importance of quality control ranges from good image, increase in sales volumes and competitiveness, good reputation, customer loyalty, just to mention a few. Global competition, customer heterogeneity, and technological change have

**23**

Industry 4.0 technologies.

*Smart Manufacturing: Quality Control Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95143*

control in Smart Manufacturing.

Manufacturing context.

**2.3 Intelligent quality control systems**

**2.2 Concept of quality control in smart manufacturing**

altered the way the QC should be carried out in organisations. The traditional quality control has been rendered nearly obsolete by Industry 4.0 revolution technologies such as Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligent (AI), Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), Augmented Reality (AR), and Robo-Mate System gave birth to Smart Quality Control Systems (SQCS) or Intelligent Quality Control Systems (IQCS) as Manufacturing processes transforms itself to Smart Manufacturing [21, 22]. In Smart Manufacturing, AR can allow production managers to view productions KPIs and have an intra-factory overview of workstations and production lines in real-time for monitoring, identifying, analysing, diagnosing and resolving problems and flaws, a thing that used to be performed by human working in the production line. In the following subsection, we discuss the quality

Although the past three Industrial revolutions had quality control (QC) well entrenched in the manufacturing and industrial complexes, the application of the QC was more routine based on sampling plans and inspections. This was due to the fact that the three industrial revolutions' manufacturing and industry were characterised by mechanisation, waterpower, and steam power (Industry 1.0 revolution); Mass production, assembly line, and electricity (Industry 2.0 revolution). The distinctive features of these two Industrial revolutions were that they were both labour intensive, therefore, division of labour with emphasis on specialisation. However, Industry 3.0 revolution was anchored on computerisation and automation, hence eliminating some manual work that were carried out by human beings. Goods produced were of high quality compared to the previous two Industry revolutions as automation and computerisation were both introduced into the manufacturing and industrial complexes to aid in QC [23, 24]. The question is how do quality control (QC) works under Smart Manufacturing? In the subsequent section, the Chapter reviews some of the current literature to conceptualise QC in the Smart

The concept of Intelligent Quality Control Systems (IQCS) or Smart quality control systems (SQCS) is founded on the premise that, in Smart Manufacturing production, quality control (QC), is driven by the infusion of Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Robotics and intensity of Human-to-Machine (H2M) interactions. The concept replaces the traditional QC systems in the manufacturing processes, as automation take over most of the operations or tasks that were routine tasks performed by human. Smart quality control is mainly executed to physically manage various Smart machines or tools through a cloud enabled platform. These technologies are capable of communicating both with the products (Smart products) and their environments. They are capable of detecting any slight defects and delays that could hamper manufacturing processes, and then communicate the same to the shopfloor, using fitted sensors [22, 25]. These gadgets work autonomously to create seamless communication between themselves. For example, [21, 26] installed sensors, utilised simulation and AI techniques assist in design and implementation of automatic machine model that predicts machine health status, which in turn can diagnoses any quality defects that could results from the machining failures. This result in a cost-effective solution in monitoring the production process to improve the quality of the products based on

*Smart Manufacturing: Quality Control Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95143*

*Quality Control - Intelligent Manufacturing, Robust Design and Charts*

plans by the U.S. Military in 1957 [2].

training and education [2].

**2.1 Definition of quality control**

In 1946, the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) was established and immediately got renamed the American Society of Quality (ASQ ). Then later on, the U.S. Military in 1950 developed a set of sampling inspection plans for attributes called MIL-STD-105A, which was modified to MIL-STD-105B, MIL-STD-105C, MIL-STD-105D and MIL-STD-105E. This was later followed by a set of sampling

After suffering humiliating defeat at the hands of the allied forces in the World War II in 1945, Japan wholeheartedly embraced the philosophy of SQC. This is after W. Edwards Deming visited Japan and lectured on these new ideas in 1950, which convinced Japanese engineers and top management of the importance of SQC as a means of gaining a competitive edge in the world market. The next person was J.M. Juran, another pioneer in QC who also visited Japan in 1954 and impressed upon Japanese on the strategic role top management plays in the achievement of a quality programme. The Japanese seized this opportunity and immediately realised the profound effects that these principles would have on the future of business, hence made a strong commitment to a massive programme of

The changes in quality swept through Industrial 1.0 to 2.0 revolutions, when the new paradigm that we all know as the '*quality control*' was borne. During this period, quality experts Edwards, Juran and Feigenbaum called upon the management to be more responsible, and responsive, to the issue of quality. [15] went further to state, "It is most important that top-management be quality minded". This sentiment was followed by [16], who echoed the significance of management commitment, "I submit that to enable QC to be really effective, we must work on making QC a member of the regular management team". Feigenbaum came up with an idea on organisation-wide efforts into the concept of "Total Quality Control" (TQC). The ideas behind TQC was that to provide genuine effectiveness, then real quality control management must start with the design of the product and end only when the product is finally with the consumer, who must remain satisfied, therefore quality was seen as everybody's business" [1, 17, 18]. However, it is worth noting that, the present QC manifested from Japanese, who revolutionise QC into the concept of "Total Quality Control". In their quest to revive home industries, after humiliating defeat in the hands Allied forces, the Japanese turned around their ailing industries after listening to Deming's lectures. Japanese TQC was manifestation of the third paradigm of the quality discipline, "Total Quality Management". This later on were embraced world over, though the concept originated in Japan.

The term 'quality' in essence means different things to different people. This is because people value different features of a product, some view quality as product package, price, colour, durability etc. However, [19] defines quality as, 'degree in which a set of inherent characteristics satisfies the requirements. The question is, what are these 'inherent characteristics' that a product must satisfy? The question can better be answered by; *first*, product values must meet or exceed the expectation of the final consumer. *Second*, overall quality- products, processes, systems, machinery and equipment must meet the statutory and contractual quality requirements [20]. Quality is not merely a monitoring tool by organisations, but rather should be viewed as a mechanism for anticipating problems, preventing them from

The importance of quality control ranges from good image, increase in sales volumes and competitiveness, good reputation, customer loyalty, just to mention a few. Global competition, customer heterogeneity, and technological change have

occurring, and, ultimately, if they occur, solving them [20].

**22**

altered the way the QC should be carried out in organisations. The traditional quality control has been rendered nearly obsolete by Industry 4.0 revolution technologies such as Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligent (AI), Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), Augmented Reality (AR), and Robo-Mate System gave birth to Smart Quality Control Systems (SQCS) or Intelligent Quality Control Systems (IQCS) as Manufacturing processes transforms itself to Smart Manufacturing [21, 22]. In Smart Manufacturing, AR can allow production managers to view productions KPIs and have an intra-factory overview of workstations and production lines in real-time for monitoring, identifying, analysing, diagnosing and resolving problems and flaws, a thing that used to be performed by human working in the production line. In the following subsection, we discuss the quality control in Smart Manufacturing.
