Question: What is the appropriate role for statistical methods in service quality? 

Townsend:

Absolutely essential. If you can’t determine where you were and where you are, and then measure how far it is from here to there, or which direction you have gone, you can’t possibly get any better. It is determining exactly what the most appropriate measures are and then how to measure them, how they should be tracked. That’s the key. That’s where you get in this question of should we use Six Sigma, should we use ISO, should we use LINKS, should we use SPC of some sort? I mean there are all kinds of choices out there. What you need is a process that is not just whetted to just one. Too often we hear about companies “oh yeah, we are a Six Sigma Company.” Well that’s interesting, but what if the problem at hand does not lend itself to Six Sigma type work? You have to have these version abilities, and then you are back to the original role of measurement of a complete quality process. You need measurement, get some ideas for improvement, and a way to track your progress.