Understanding Quality: Characteristics, Management, and Improvement
Quality Characteristics
Quality characteristics can be categorized into several types:
- Structural: Weight, size, viscosity
- Sensory: Taste, smell, appearance
- Time-Oriented: Security, reliability, maintainability
- Ethical: Honesty, courtesy, respect, friendship
Quality of Conformance, Performance, and Design
These three aspects are interconnected:
- Quality of Conformance (COC): Ensures that a product or service adheres to the selected standards established during the design stage. Quality is maintained from raw materials to the finished product’s shipment. It includes defect prevention, detection, analysis, and rectification.
- Quality of Design (QOD): Determines if a product or service has the conditions to satisfy the minimum requirements of the client. It is influenced by factors such as product type, cost, benefit, demand, availability, and security. The aim is to create simple and cost-effective solutions.
- Performance Quality (QoP): Measures how well a product functions in use and the degree to which it satisfies the customer. It is a function of both COC and QOD.
Quality Control
Quality control encompasses various methods, including:
- Acceptance sampling plans
- Quality control processes
- Off-line statistical process control
Quality of Safety or Confidence
This refers to having a secure system where all procedures are designed, planned, and followed. It involves actions needed to provide confidence that the product meets the requirements.
Quality Management Systems
These are sets of ordered rules, statements, addresses, conditions, etc., that each organization must create in a documented system. The concept promotes collaboration between customers and suppliers for mutual advantage or benefit to achieve objectives.
Responsibility for Quality
Responsibility for quality is distributed across various departments:
- Marketing and Product Planning: Determines customer needs and willingness to pay, and assists in product design.
- Product Design and Development: Develops product specifications, identifies raw materials and components, and determines patterns of use and restrictions.
- Manufacturing and Engineering: Determines manufacturing process details, equipment design, work methods, tools, and the sequence of inspection operations. Assesses production feasibility and returns to the design department if necessary.
- Purchasing Department: Manages incoming products, selects vendors, and establishes long-term relationships with vendors.
- Manufacturing: Ensures product quality and controls operations.
- Inspection and Testing: Assesses product or service quality.
- Packaging and Shipping: Ensures quality packing and delivery, protecting product quality during storage and shipment.
- Customer Service: Handles installation, maintenance, repair, and warranty.
- Outside Suppliers and Society: Engages in analysis and involves them in quality initiatives.
Quality Defined
Quality is the degree to which a product or service fulfills and exceeds customer expectations.
Achieving Quality
Achieving quality requires education and training.
Excellence
Excellence is achieved through education, training, learning, organizational culture, and quality.
Deming Chain Reaction
The Deming Chain Reaction demonstrates the positive impact of quality improvement:
Improve Quality → Decrease Costs → Improve Productivity → Reduce Depreciation and Increase Market Share → Longer Market Presence → Greater Availability of Jobs.
The Triad of Quality
The Triad of Quality focuses on:
- Employees: Better quality of life
- Clients: Satisfaction with quality
- Shareholders: Increased benefits through quality
All within the framework of Total Quality.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
TQM is a philosophy and business strategy based on a total system approach, encompassing human resources and organizational processes.
TQM Model
The TQM model involves Teams (human element), Tools, and Systems, within the context of Process, Customer, Supplier, Culture, Communication, and Commitment.
Total Quality Systems
These are collective plans, activities, and events that ensure a product or service will satisfy needs.