| In response to global competition, U.S. companies developed new business systems that increased the velocity of finished product throughput. Quality management system initiatives like Total Quality Management (TQM) or Six Sigma were implemented to quickly identify and eliminate the production substandard products in this high-paced production environment. However, the successful implementation of quality management system initiatives has been limited due, in part, to lack of shop floor operator decision-making support. In this study, a knowledge-based expert system was designed as a corrective action tool and implemented to support shop floor decision-making by the operator. The thesis provides insights into the use of a knowledge-based expert system as a corrective action tool to successfully support a quality management system initiative. |
