ASQ Quality Management Glossary
Academic Quality Improvement Project (AQIP) - ANS-A forum for higher education institutions
to review one another's action projects.
Acceptance quality limit (AQL) - ANS-In a continuing series of lots, a quality level that, for the
purpose of sampling inspection, is the limit of a satisfactory process average.
Acceptance number - ANS-The maximum number of defects or defectives allowable in a
sampling lot for the lot to be acceptable.
Acceptance sampling - ANS-Inspection of a sample from a lot to decide whether to accept that
lot. There are two types: attributes sampling and variables sampling. In attributes sampling, the
presence or absence of a characteristic is noted in each of the units inspected. In variables
sampling, the numerical magnitude of a characteristic is measured and recorded for each
inspected unit; this involves reference to a continuous scale of some kind.
Acceptance sampling plan - ANS-A specific plan that indicates the sampling sizes and
associated acceptance or non acceptance criteria to be used. In attributes sampling, for
example, there are single, double, multiple, sequential, chain and skip-lot sampling plans. In
variables sampling, there are single, double and sequential sampling plans. For detailed
descriptions of these plans, see the standard ANSI/ISO/ASQ A3534-2-1993:
Statistics—Vocabulary and Symbols—Statistical Quality Control.
Accreditation - ANS-Certification by a recognized body of the facilities, capability, objectivity,
competence and integrity of an agency, service or operational group or individual to provide the
specific service or operation needed. The term has multiple meanings depending on the sector.
Laboratory accreditation assesses the capability of a laboratory to conduct testing, generally
using standard test methods. Accreditation for healthcare organizations involves an authoritative
body surveying and verifying compliance with recognized criteria, similar to certification in other
sectors.
Accreditation body - ANS-An organization with authority to accredit other organizations to
perform services such as quality system certification.
Accuracy - ANS-The characteristic of a measure.
Activity based costing - ANS-An accounting system that assigns costs to a product based on the
amount of resources used to design, order or make it.
Activity network diagram - ANS-An arrow diagram used in planning.
,Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) - ANS-High level automotive process for product
realization, from design through production part approval.
Adverse event - ANS-Healthcare term for any event that is not consistent with the desired,
normal or usual operation of the organization; also known as a sentinel event.
Affinity diagram - ANS-A management tool for organizing information (usually gathered during a
brainstorming activity).
Alignment - ANS-Actions to ensure that a process or activity supports the organization's
strategy, goals and objectives.
American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) - ANS-An organization that formally
recognizes another organization's competency to perform specific tests, types of tests or
calibrations.
American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) - ANS-Released for the first time in October
1994, an economic indicator and cross industry measure of the satisfaction of U.S. household
customers with the quality of the goods and services available to them. This includes goods and
services produced in the United States and imports from foreign firms that have substantial
market shares or dollar sales. ASQ is a founding sponsor of the ACSI, along with the University
of Michigan Business School and the CFI Group.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) - ANS-A private, nonprofit organization that
administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment
system. It is the U.S. member body in the International Organization for Standardization, known
as ISO.
American National Standards Institute-American Society for Quality (ANSI-ASQ) -
ANS-Organization that accredits certification bodies for ISO 9001 quality management systems,
ISO 14001 environmental management systems and other industry specific requirements.
American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) - ANS-A technical society for
nondestructive testing (NDT) professionals.
American Society for Quality (ASQ) - ANS-A professional, not-for profit association that
develops, promotes and applies quality related information and technology for the private sector,
government and academia. ASQ serves more than 108,000 individuals and 1,100 corporate
members in the United States and 108 other countries.
American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) - ANS-Name of ASQ from 1946 through the
middle of 1997, when the name was changed to ASQ.
,American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) - ANS-Not-forprofit organization that
provides a forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus standards for
materials, products, systems and services.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International - ANS-Not-forprofit
organization that provides a forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus
standards for materials, products, systems and services.
American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) - ANS-A membership organization
providing materials, education and support related to workplace learning and performance.
American standard code for information interchange (ASCII) - ANS-Basic computer characters
accepted by all American machines and many foreign ones.
Analysis of means (ANOM) - ANS-A statistical procedure for troubleshooting industrial
processes and analyzing the results of experimental designs with factors at fixed levels. It
provides a graphical display of data. Ellis R. Ott developed the procedure in 1967 because he
observed that non statisticians had difficulty understanding analysis of variance. Analysis of
means is easier for quality practitioners to use because it is an extension of the control chart. In
1973, Edward G. Schilling further extended the concept, enabling analysis of means to be used
with non-normal distributions and attributes data in which the normal approximation to the
binomial distribution does not apply. This is referred to as analysis of means for treatment
effects.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) - ANS-A basic statistical technique for determining the proportion
of influence a factor or set of factors has on total variation. It subdivides the total variation of a
data set into meaningful component parts associated with specific sources of variation to test a
hypothesis on the parameters of the model or to estimate variance components. There are three
models: fixed, random and mixed.
Andon board - ANS-A production area visual control device, such as a lighted overhead display.
It communicates the status of the production system and alerts team members to emerging
problems (from andon, a Japanese word meaning "light").
ANSI ACS X12 - ANS-Transaction standards for electronic communication and shipping
notification.
Appraisal cost - ANS-The cost of ensuring an organization is continually striving to conform to
customers' quality requirements.
Arrow diagram - ANS-A planning tool to diagram a sequence of events or activities (nodes) and
their interconnectivity. It is used for scheduling and especially for determining the critical path
through nodes.
, AS9100 - ANS-An international quality management standard for the aerospace industry
published by the Society of Automotive Engineers and other organizations worldwide. It is
known as EN9100 in Europe and JIS Q 9100 in Japan. The standard is controlled by the
International Aerospace Quality Group (see listing).
Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) - ANS-A cooperative of laboratory
accreditation bodies.
Assessment - ANS-A systematic evaluation process of collecting and analyzing data to
determine the current, historical or projected compliance of an organization to a standard.
Assignable cause - ANS-A name for the source of variation in a process that is not due to
chance and therefore can be identified and eliminated. Also called "special cause."
Assn. for Quality and Participation (AQP) - ANS-Was an independent organization until 2004,
when it became an affiliate organization of ASQ. Continues today as ASQ's Team and
Workplace Excellence Forum.
Attribute data - ANS-Go/no-go information. The control charts based on attribute data include
percent chart, number of affected units chart, count chart, count per unit chart, quality score
chart and demerit chart.
Attributes, method of - ANS-Method of measuring quality that consists of noting the presence
(or absence) of some characteristic (attribute) in each of the units under consideration and
counting how many units do (or do not) possess it. Example: go/no-go gauging of a dimension.
Audit - ANS-The on-site verification activity, such as inspection or examination, of a process or
quality system, to ensure compliance to requirements. An audit can apply to an entire
organization or might be specific to a function, process or production step.
Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) - ANS-A global automotive trade association with
about 1,600 member companies that focuses on common business processes, implementation
guidelines, education and training.
Autonomation - ANS-A form of automation in which machinery automatically inspects each item
after producing it and ceases production and notifies humans if a defect is detected. Toyota
expanded the meaning of jidohka to include the responsibility of all workers to function
similarly—to check every item produced and, if a defect is detected, make no more until the
cause of the defect has been identified and corrected. Also see "jidohka."
Availability - ANS-The ability of a product to be in a state to perform its designated function
under stated conditions at a given time.
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