It is important for the operations department to ensure goods are of good quality for the following reasons:
- poor-quality goods can result In customers returning their purchases, causing a loss in sales.
- extremely low quality can result in products not meeting safety standards, which can lead to bad PR
- conversely high-quality goods can result in good reputation
- being associated with quality production can attract high-quality stuff
- The highest quality goods can be sold for premium prices
What are the methods of ensuring quality?
- quality control
- quality assurance
- continual improvement
- quality circles
- quality standards and symbols
- quality management
- mystery shoppers
What is quality control,
Advantages and disadvantages?
- Quality control is the most basic method of ensuring quality
- this is when the product quality is inspected and checked at the end of the production process to check they are of an acceptable standard and quality
- these inspectors are specifically trained to detect a faulty product before it reaches a customer
Advantages
- insures that faulty goods are not sent to customers
- limits the potential for a bad reputation due to faulty products
Disadvantages
- can create a lot of waste as the quality of goods are not checked until they are made and have to be thrown away if they do not meet quality standards.
- Products have to be reworked from scratch, costing the business time and money.
Any product not meeting the standards of quality set by the business will be:
- sent for rework
- discarded completely
What is quality assurance,
Advantages and disadvantages?
- Quality assurance is a method of prevention, i.e. where products are checked to see that they are of high quality at different stages in the development and production process rather than just at the end.
- for example, a quality assurance manager might check the raw materials, inspect the machinery, speak to employees, sample work in progress and inspect finished goods.
Advantages
- less wastage, which decreases costs spent on discarded materials.
- easy to identify where faults in the production process lie.
Disadvantages
- can slow down production as many processes are inspected.
- can increase the costs of production, e.g. paying QA managers wages.
Example comparison of quality assurance and quality control
Quality control will check the inputs and outputs from the production process whereas quality assurance will check the product regularly throughout production.
Quality assurance reduces waste as faulty products are identified early in the production process whereas quality control will save the company time and money as less checks are required during the production process.
What is continual improvement,
Advantages and disadvantages?
- organisation should always attempt to improve quality, even if it has met its objectives.
- this is known as continual improvement
- A Japanese philosophy known as Kaisan should be considered by businesses looking to improve, kaizan is the philosophy of everyone and every process and system in the organisation continuously improving.
Advantages
- The business stays ahead of the competition
- The business can react easily to changing external factors
Disadvantages
- The business can have high staff development costs
- employees may feel under pressure to continually keep improving 
What are quality circles,
Advantages and disadvantages?
- A quality circle is another Japanese philosophy on how to improve quality and ensure efficiency.
- it involves a group of employees meeting with a line manager to discuss problems in the production process and how to solve them.
- suggestions are then passed to management for further discussion and may then be implemented.
Advantages
- employees will be motivated as they get to have a say in decision making
- management get well informed suggestions from the workers who actually produce the product
Disadvantages
- employees meet during paid company time, meaning production time is lost.
- employees are often trying to join a quality circle, costing the business even more time and money.
Quality symbols and standards,
Advantages and disadvantages?
-A quality standard or symbol proves that a product has met an agreed industry standard
Advantages
- awards prove to customers that a product has Met an agreed standard of quality.
- symbols can be used as a promotional tool to gain a competitive edge.
- customers will have confidence in purchasing the product and may repeat purchase.
- higher prices can be charged as the product is of high quality.
Disadvantages
- time-consuming processes need to be completed to achieve the award
- agreed standards need to be maintained at all times
- if any award is removed it would give the organisation a poor reputation
- annual checks and audits by awarding bodies can disrupt production
The 3 symbols-
- CE Marking
- BSI Kitemark
- trade logos
CE marking
The CE mark shows that a product meets EU safety, health or environmental standards and that it complies with EU legislation
This mark proves that the product meets the requirements needed to sell within the European market.
BSI Kitemark
The Kitemark is a UK-based quality trade mark operated by British Standards Institution. BSI check and test products to ensure they meet minimum standards of safety and quality.
Trade logos
A trade logo is an identifiable sign which shows that a product or service conforms to certain standards or identifies them in a specific category. For example:
- Fairtrade logo
- Recycling logo
- Keep Britain Tidy logo
Trade logos
A trade logo is an identifiable sign which shows that a product or service conforms to certain standards or identifies them in a specific category. For example:
- Fairtrade logo
- Recycling logo
- Keep Britain Tidy logo
What is quality management,
Advantages and disadvantages?
- Quality management is a holistic approach to ensuring quality products
- this means it incorporates not just one method but takes into account a variety of methods, including quality assurance, quality improvement, and quality circles.
- Quality management insures all people in an organisation are committed to quality to ensure zero errors occur
- organisations that prove they carry out quality management can be avoided the ISO900 one quality standard
Advantages
- Quality management should result in zero errors which drastically reduces waste
- staff are motivated as they are constantly consulted on improving quality
- Products will be renowned for being of the highest quality, increasing customer confidence in market share.
- A culture of teamwork is established as everyone works together to improve
Disadvantages
- substantial staff training, to ensure no mistakes are made, will increase costs and result in lost work time.
- requires the commitment of all staff which could require stricter selection process
- processes need to be continually monitored and compared to policies and procedures, which can be time-consuming.
What are mystery shoppers,
Advantages and disadvantages?
-people are employed, often through an agency, to purchase products, ask questions, register complaints or behave in a certain way, and then provide feedback to the business about experiences they had.
Advantages
- The mystery shopper is not employed by or directly connected to the business, this means no bias is shown
- valuable feedback, which may be lost when our customer chooses simply not to buy a product, is gathered when a product is below standard or unsatisfactory.
- the mystery shopper can suggest improvements that ensure a better match between the experience that the customer usually has and the business intends them to have.
- dissatisfied customers are likely to share their poor experiences with others, whereas the mystery shopper is not permitted to do this.
Disadvantages
- staff may have resent a mystery shopper evaluating them, if they are aware of it, and may take the feedback personally.
- The mystery shoppers feedback may not be fully representative of the business as a whole as it provides a limited evaluation i.e. one day, one branch, one customer service assistant, ect
- allowances have to be made for human error in judgements. Mystery shoppers are people who have feelings and opinions, which may cloud their judgement from time to time.
- businesses need to pay mystery shoppers, often through an agency, increasing costs.
What is benchmarking,
Advantages and disadvantages?
Benchmarking involves finding the best practice in your industry and then copying your competitor but adding some extra value or USP to the product.
Advantages
- Identifies best practice in the market which will improve performance if these methods are adopted by the organisation
- Can provide a goal for employees which will increase motivation
- Can make the organisation more competitive in the market
Disadvantages
- May be difficult to gather required information from competitors
- It can be time consuming to study techniques used by other companies
- Internal factors such as lack of finance may prevent the adoption of competitors practices
- The company/product will only be as good as the benchmark
What is fair trade and what are advantages and disadvantages of it?
-fair trade ensures better prices, decent working conditions and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers. Members of the movement advocate the payment of higher prices to exporters.
Advantages
- competitive advantage
- securing supplier(s) future
- given consumers choice
Disadvantages
- costs more
- additional money may not go to farmer/worker
- businesses must pay certification fees
