Speed vs Quality

Good question, I think vast ammounts of time and effort are probably wasted testing the wrong things.
I'm not talking big automated systems, but say, the manual testing of circuit boards before they are built into a unit and then re-tested as a final unit.
The key is intelligent test procedures.
Del

...that's why it's called OPTIMIZATION and not MAXIMIZATION.

...with optimization you're aiming for a consensus "peak," while with maximization you're aiming for a singular "peak" and the "...rest (consequences) be damned!"

In a CNC Machine shop setting where quality is critical you just inspect every part fully no matter what. This question seems more geared towards consumer goods where you can afford a few unhappy customers as long as you move enough product through. I hate crappy mass produced junk when it breaks but I love how cheap it is when it works properly - sadly we can't have it both ways. The only way to get the stuff we want made cheap is to cut corners somewhere along the way. As a manufacturer I suppose you would have to decide what your reputation is worth and how many unhappy customers you can live with. This would determine the frequency and precision level of your QC procedures. This is almost an ethics debate on some level.....

With state-of-art technology, that question is becoming moot. Multicore processors coupled with high speed cameras are capable of handing amazing speeds with outstanding reliability. For very high speed manufacturing inspection, the day of the "smart camera" is over. The next generation coming on are optimized systems.

The discussion of speed vs. Quality will never be moot. As soon as management realizes that they can offer a faster turn around time or short project times, they will use that to win new business. Until quality can be produced and validated instantaneously their will always be a speed vs. quality debate.

As far as drawing the line is concerned few organizations have a definitive practice or process for making such distinctions. One tool to make this determination more black and white is the use of an "inspection plan" or "measurement plan". Depending upon which source your reading the terms can be interchangeable.

This course has some really good discussion of what a measurement plan is / requires / how it works / and who needs to be involved in creating it.

http://www.etinews.com/services_onsite_functional_gaging_and_measurement.html

When an inspection plan is created and agreed upon you have a documented record of what it takes to create quality (A.K. A. customer satisfaction) and this can be budgeted for and planned as part of the project not just an after thought that needs to be rushed so the shipment won't be late.

While the course covers much more it is all relevant to this discussion of "how good?" vs. "how fast?"

As I said before I don't see that question ever going away.