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82 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2019 do they say when rating the best? Examples might include quality, delivery, price, flexibil- ity, technology, or service. The selection of which area of performance to which automa- tion is aimed will have the most influence on picking vendors and programs. The 20–40–40 Rule In a publication about CIM [2] , Wickham Skinner quoted the General Electric "20–40–40 Rule." The rule states that for the average fab- rication and assembly production plants, only 20% of any ultimate cost saving and perfor- mance improvements come from productivity changes and conventional engineering con- cepts and techniques. Meanwhile, 40% can come from manufacturing policy and structure changes, such as TQC and Lean, and 40% from improvements in fundamental manufacturing technology. This gives a clear alternative to smaller com- panies who cannot afford expensive automat- ed equipment. Their management can make a much more affordable investment in policy and structure changes. This is just another way of saying "manufacturing philosophies." As mentioned earlier, the important ingredient is a commitment to be the best. Once this commit - ment has been made, then investment in edu- cation, awareness, and training can be made. 2. Simplicity: Automation Must Help Simplify Manufacturing It is imperative to use automation technol- ogy to simplify the production task rather than make it more complex. Part of simplifying the problem is not automating any operation that is better done by human skills. The basis for this principle is that automation is consistent, un- tiring, and fast, but unlike humans, machines do not possess common sense or the ability to change their own programming when a glitch appears. To take advantage of automation, fac- tors must be simplified from the previous man- ual technique. Total Quality Control Total quality control (TQC) is the foundation of any excellence program. It is a management and operating philosophy to- tally committed to quality that focuses on continuous process improvements us- ing data and the scientific method making perfection a goal. TQC requires universal participation and working as a team so that the result is customer satisfaction because expectations are consistently exceed- ed for both internal and external customers. Vital elements of the TQC process include clearly understood and agreed-upon goals; ap- propriate performance measures; rigorous in- formation collection, such as qualitative and quantitative analysis; an approach utilizing creative problem-solving; and participation by all members. Top management must drive this entire process. Thus, the working objective of TQC is to fix the process and make it work better. All activities are processes, so the TQC methodology starts with four procedures: 1. Identify the problem 2. Identify the causes 3. Eliminate the causes 4. Monitor the process This may seem simple, but it only succeeds when everyone becomes involved. Workers, supervisors, engineers, and managers must re- ceive training on the elements of TQC. Man- agement should back every step of this training from providing initial instructions and statis- tics experimentation, to providing time for em- ployees to learn these skills and reinforcing the commitment to being the best. So, why has it taken so long for TQC to be accepted? It may be because TQC is counterin- tuitive to the current business culture. The cur- rent business culture causes companies to re- act to uncertainty by adding complexity; even the current reward systems encourage com- plexity. For example, a company might add a vendor if another vendor's performance is not trusted. Lead time may be added if the capac- ity is not trusted. Similarly, inventory may be added when levels are low, while rework sta- tions may be added if the quality is low. If a