Quality Control and Reliability Engineering

As a critical sub-discipline of Industrial Engineering, Quality Control and Reliability Engineering employs a systematic, data-driven approach to ensure products and systems perform their intended functions consistently and dependably. Quality Control involves the use of statistical methods and operational techniques to monitor processes and eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance, ensuring that outputs conform to established standards and specifications. Complementing this, Reliability Engineering focuses on the ability of a system or component to function without failure under stated conditions for a specified period, utilizing principles of probability and statistics during the design phase to predict and improve its operational lifespan. Together, these fields work to minimize defects, enhance customer satisfaction, and guarantee the safety and performance of products throughout their entire lifecycle.

1. Foundations of Quality and Reliability
   1. Historical Evolution of Quality Management
      1. Pre-Industrial Quality Systems
         1. Guild System and Craftsmanship
         2. Apprenticeship Models
         3. Early Quality Standards
      2. Industrial Revolution Impact
         1. Mass Production Systems
         2. Division of Labor
         3. Emergence of Inspection-Based Quality
         4. Factory System Development
      3. Modern Quality Movement
         1. Post-World War II Developments
         2. Japanese Quality Revolution
         3. Western Adoption of Quality Methods
      4. Key Quality Pioneers
         1. Walter A. Shewhart
            1. Statistical Process Control Development
            2. Control Charts
            3. Process Variation Concepts
            4. Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle
         2. W. Edwards Deming
            1. System of Profound Knowledge
            2. Deming's 14 Points for Management
            3. Theory of Variation
            4. Red Bead Experiment
         3. Joseph M. Juran
            1. Juran Trilogy
            2. Quality Planning
            3. Quality Control
            4. Quality Improvement
            5. Cost of Poor Quality
            6. Pareto Principle Application
         4. Kaoru Ishikawa
            1. Cause-and-Effect Diagrams
            2. Quality Circles
            3. Company-Wide Quality Control
            4. Seven Basic Tools of Quality
         5. Genichi Taguchi
            1. Robust Design Methods
            2. Loss Function
            3. Parameter Design
            4. Tolerance Design
         6. Philip Crosby
            1. Zero Defects Philosophy
            2. Quality is Free Concept
            3. Four Absolutes of Quality Management
   2. Core Concepts and Definitions
      1. Quality Definitions and Perspectives
         1. Conformance to Specifications
         2. Fitness for Use
         3. Customer Satisfaction
         4. Value-Based Quality
         5. Transcendent Quality
         6. Quality of Design
         7. Quality of Conformance
      2. Reliability Definitions and Concepts
         1. Probability of Success
         2. Mission Profile
         3. Operating Conditions
         4. Time Dependencies
         5. Reliability vs Maintainability
         6. Reliability vs Availability
         7. Reliability vs Durability
      3. Quality-Reliability Relationships
         1. Complementary Nature
         2. Trade-offs and Synergies
         3. Product Lifecycle Impact
         4. Customer Perception
   3. Economics of Quality
      1. Cost of Quality Framework
         1. Prevention Costs
            1. Training and Education
            2. Process Improvement
            3. Supplier Development
            4. Design Reviews
            5. Quality Planning
         2. Appraisal Costs
            1. Inspection Activities
            2. Testing Programs
            3. Quality Audits
            4. Calibration
            5. Measurement Systems
         3. Internal Failure Costs
            1. Scrap and Rework
            2. Process Downtime
            3. Reinspection
            4. Redesign
         4. External Failure Costs
            1. Warranty Claims
            2. Product Recalls
            3. Customer Complaints
            4. Lost Sales
            5. Liability Costs
      2. Quality Economics Analysis
         1. Optimal Quality Level
         2. Cost-Benefit Analysis
         3. Return on Quality Investment
         4. Hidden Quality Costs
         5. Quality Cost Reporting
   4. Statistical Foundations
      1. Probability Theory
         1. Sample Spaces and Events
         2. Probability Rules
            1. Addition Rule
            2. Multiplication Rule
            3. Conditional Probability
            4. Bayes' Theorem
         3. Independence and Dependence
         4. Random Variables
      2. Descriptive Statistics
         1. Measures of Central Tendency
            1. Mean
            2. Median
            3. Mode
            4. Weighted Average
         2. Measures of Dispersion
            1. Range
            2. Variance
            3. Standard Deviation
            4. Coefficient of Variation
            5. Interquartile Range
         3. Data Visualization
            1. Histograms
            2. Box Plots
            3. Stem-and-Leaf Plots
            4. Scatter Plots
      3. Probability Distributions
         1. Discrete Distributions
            1. Binomial Distribution
            2. Poisson Distribution
            3. Hypergeometric Distribution
            4. Geometric Distribution
         2. Continuous Distributions
            1. Normal Distribution
            2. Exponential Distribution
            3. Weibull Distribution
            4. Gamma Distribution
            5. Lognormal Distribution
      4. Sampling Theory
         1. Random Sampling Methods
         2. Sampling Error
         3. Central Limit Theorem
         4. Standard Error
         5. Sampling Distributions
      5. Statistical Inference
         1. Point Estimation
         2. Interval Estimation
         3. Hypothesis Testing
            1. Null and Alternative Hypotheses
            2. Type I and Type II Errors
            3. Significance Level
            4. P-Values
            5. Power of Tests
         4. Confidence Intervals