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Introduction to Data Correction and
Controlling Data Redundancy
In the early days of Quality Management in manufacturing, Quality was con-
sidered to be Quality Assurance, that is, you inspected the products as they were
produced and pulled defective products off the assembly line to Rework them,
or Scrap them if they were too defective to fix.
As Quality Management matured, it became clear that you could achieve
sustainable Quality only by designing Quality Into the Processes that produce
the products.
The phrase “Scrap and Rework” represents a Cost of Poor Quality. The popular
Japanese word for Scrap and Rework is Muda, which literally means “waste.”
The same is true for Poor Quality Information produced by processes. You can-
not sustain Information Quality by inspecting and correcting defects. Information
Muda is something you must eliminate or minimize as an activity.
Unfortunately, during the early days of establishing and maturing your IQ
Capabilities, you will encounter preexisting defective data that has already
been created by defective processes. If that data is required by current busi-
ness processes, you will have to spend time and money to correct it so future
use by processes won’t fail.
C h a p t e r
8
The Step-by-Step Guide
to Data Correction and
Controlling Data Redundancy
“In the U.S.A. about a third of what we do
consists of redoing work previously ‘done.’”
Joseph ...