Guest editorial

Guest editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: The TQM Journal, Volume 28, Issue 5.

We present a special issue for the TQM Journal (volume 28, issue 5) with selected papers from the Eighth International Working Conference on “Total Quality Management – Advanced and Intelligent Approaches”, which took place in Belgrade, Serbia, from June 1 to 5, 2015. This already traditional conference was supported by the world’s most relevant scientific and expert organizations for quality and engineering (CIRP, IFIP, IMEKO, IFAC, EOQ, EFQM, JUSE, AAQ, PAQ, etc.). The conference accepted 87 papers from 36 countries in Asia, Africa, North and South America and Europe. The conference had 334 participants (along with ICQ), of whom 78 came from abroad, across five continents.

The eighth conference, with its scientific and professional points of view, was particularly marked by the following events:

1. Introductory plenary presentation – development of improved techniques for new levels of manufacturing precision with the micro- and nano-components, Dr Numan M. Durakbasa, Institute for Production Engineering and Laser Technology, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria. Professor Numan Durakbasa is the most distinguished Professor/Researcher for QM and metrology in production engineering in the world today. His basic message was that without the production of new, innovative products with added value, on micro-nano level, in which are incorporated new concepts of QM/manufacturing metrology, there is no progress of the national economy. That means for Serbia, that no new industrial development, supported new approaches QM/manufacturing metrology, Serbia cannot join the EU.

2. Introductory plenary session – advanced quality – world-wide approaches (state of the art) seven world prominent researchers exposed the latest trends the new approaches to quality management/metrology, particularly in the field of advanced technology systems. Of particular significance and impact were special outlook on future manufacturing competitiveness, by Dr Jun Ni, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, and a new era of web collaboration: cloud computing and its applications in manufacturing, by Dr Dimitris Mourtzis, Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Greece.The main message of this session is that the advanced concepts of QM applied in contemporary technological systems need to be integrated with other engineering disciplines, with the entire approach being grounded in sustainable development.

3. Fourth Special Conference “Manufacture in Serbia 2015”/advanced manufacturing technology. Introductory presentations were held by Dr Miroslav Trajanovic – reverse modeling of human humerus by the method of anatomical features (MAF) and four additional papers from Greece and Serbia. The topics were as follows: virtual quality assessment for sculptured surface, error determination for three-axis milling of free form surfaces, swarm optimization algorithm for flexible process planning and calibration system and estimation of uncertainty in measurement. The conclusion of this special conference is that application of advanced technologies in the manufacture program practice and research in Serbia should be a solid foundation for advanced-industrialization of Serbia.

4. Sixth Balkan Conference on Quality/seventh Balkan Quality Forum – The Balkan as a region of quality. This now traditional conference, gave highlights of QM and IMS practices in the Balkans, across different aspects, such as (manufacturing, education, consumer protection, etc.). The main message of this conference is that approaches in applications of QM models in all Balkan countries are similar, but that should not limit our future collaboration in this area.

5. Workshop 2/holistic approaches to quality improvement in manufacturing by Dr Jun Ni, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.Over the last hundred years, much progress has been made in manufacturing quality. Globalization competitions have further pushed quality improvement to a new level. This presentation will first review some of the early quality control and improvement efforts such as SPC, design of experiments, quality engineering, etc. Then, several recent research directions will be presented with some highlighted real manufacturing examples. These include: in-process quality improvement technologies (e.g. real-time error compensation, machining chatter suppression, active balancing for improved quality), stream-of-variation modeling and automatic root cause identifications (e.g. dimensional variation reduction for automobile body assembly, continuous baby diaper production process and progressive stamping fault diagnosis), high-definition metrology driven process control (e.g. machined surface error detection and compensation, tool wear estimation and compensation, assembly fault detection), robust process optimization (e.g. stamping tonnage optimization for variation reduction, fixture design optimization), design for variation elimination (e.g. automobile body assembly), process innovations (e.g. ultrasonic assisted friction stir welding for improved quality, dry/near dry electric-discharge machining for additive manufacturing) and intelligent maintenance strategies (e.g. fault and anomaly detection, engineering immune system, maintenance decision support for yield improvement).

6. Closing plenary session – QM, TQM and IMS new dimensions, with the eight speakers considered new directions in the field of QM, TQM, BE and integrated management system (IMS). Speakers were world-renowned experts in this field from Europe, North America and Serbia. The conclusion of this session is that standardized management systems are rapidly evolving and it is very important for a country like Serbia, its scientific and professional community to be aware of these developments. This conference accomplishes this goal, but such activities are needed over a longer period of time.

7. Young PhD researchers’ session – is one of the most important parts of the TQM conference. This session was introduced in year 2007 in order to recognize the best PhD student working on his/her doctorate in this. This year, this award went to – Ina Heine, Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, for paper critical incidents of quality orientation in lower and middle management.

8. Last but not least, an excursion tour to the “Lola Institute” in Belgrade as offered to the conference participants. Tour visitors had the opportunity to get familiar with research programs on robotics, machine tools, computer controlled systems and quality management that have or are taking place at the institute.

From this number we have selected eight of the best papers that were related to TQM approaches.

Finally, we want to thank Mr Neil Webster, Editorial Assistant of the TQM Journal along with the technical staff at Emerald Group Publishing, and Dr Alex Douglas, the Editor of this journal, without whose continuing help and guidance it would not have been possible to finish the publication of this special issue on time.

Looking forward to welcoming everyone to the Ninth International Working Conference on “Total Quality Management – Advanced and Intelligent Approaches”, Belgrade, Serbia, from June 5 to 9, 2017. Hope to see you all there!