Peter Stasko — Insights & Articles https://peterstasko.online/blog/ Quality leadership, crisis management and operational excellence — from the shop floor to the boardroom. en Ford's quality turnaround is real — and the recalls prove it isn't done https://peterstasko.online/blog/ford-s-quality-turnaround-is-real-and.html https://peterstasko.online/blog/ford-s-quality-turnaround-is-real-and.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Quality Leadership Ford's quality award is real. So are the recalls. Two decades on shop floors tell me why the gap exists—and what it costs to close it. Scaling eVTOL is a quality systems problem, not an engineering one https://peterstasko.online/blog/scaling-evtol-is-a-quality-systems-problem.html https://peterstasko.online/blog/scaling-evtol-is-a-quality-systems-problem.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Manufacturing Insights Joby and Toyota's JV is not an engineering milestone — it is a quality systems declaration. The prototype-to-production cliff is where eVTOL companies will live or die. What every new EV plant gets wrong in its first 90 days https://peterstasko.online/blog/what-every-new-ev-plant-gets-wrong.html https://peterstasko.online/blog/what-every-new-ev-plant-gets-wrong.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Manufacturing Insights Three EV plant announcements this week, none mentioning quality infrastructure. The first 90 days of quality sequencing decide whether you survive your first audit or surface in a recall. The tier nobody audits: why your supplier quality is a controlled assumption, not a managed fact https://peterstasko.online/blog/the-tier-nobody-audits-why-your-supplier.html https://peterstasko.online/blog/the-tier-nobody-audits-why-your-supplier.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Operational Excellence Your IATF or AS9100 badge says your system is robust. It says nothing about what is happening two tiers down, in the shop you have never visited. Why Ford rehired what AI couldn't replace https://peterstasko.online/blog/why-ford-rehired-what-ai-couldn-t.html https://peterstasko.online/blog/why-ford-rehired-what-ai-couldn-t.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Manufacturing Insights Ford replaced veteran inspectors with algorithms and the bill came in the billions. The gap between 99% accurate and right is where recalls start. Audit-Ready Every Day: How We Cut EASA Audit Findings by 50% in One Cycle https://peterstasko.online/blog/audit-ready-every-day.html https://peterstasko.online/blog/audit-ready-every-day.html Wed, 24 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Quality Systems Most plants prepare for audits. The best plants stop preparing — because their daily operating system already produces the evidence auditors ask for. Here is the approach that halved our EASA findings. The 98% Playbook: Cutting the Cost of Poor Quality with QRQC, A3 and Q-Wall https://peterstasko.online/blog/cost-of-poor-quality-playbook.html https://peterstasko.online/blog/cost-of-poor-quality-playbook.html Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Operational Excellence Failure costs are not a quality metric — they are a leadership metric. The exact three-tool system we used to take 98% of failure costs out of an automotive operation, and why most COPQ programs stall at 30%. Zero Escalations: Crisis Management as a Quality Discipline https://peterstasko.online/blog/zero-escalations.html https://peterstasko.online/blog/zero-escalations.html Tue, 12 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Crisis Management Escalations don't happen when problems are big. They happen when trust is small. How we resolved every critical customer escalation to zero within one quarter — and kept it there.