What is quality?
- ‘The totality of features and characteristics of a product, process or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs’
- Operation’s view of quality: Consistent conformance to customers’ expectations.
- Customers’ view of quality: Depends on perception. May be unable to judge ‘technical’ specification. Use alternative measures.
Why do we have quality?
We only get paid for doing something once. Why do it more than once?
What are the values of quality?
- Difficult to put a value or number to quality.
- Generally compared to the competition.
- Quality is one of several attributes to consider Cost Lead time.
What is theory X?
Assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike work.
What is theory Y?
Assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control and enjoy their mental and physical work.
How to conform to specification in 6 steps?
Step 1 – Define the quality characteristics
Step 2 – Decide how to measure each characteristic
Step 3 – Set quality standards for each quality characteristic
Step 4 – Control quality against these standards
Step 5 – Find and correct causes of poor quality
Step 6 – Continue to make improvements
What are the key quality characteristics?
- Functionality
- Appearance
- Reliability
- durability
- Recovery
- Contact
What are constraints to quality?
- Operational factors
- Technology
- Cost limits
How can someone check things are right every time?
- Statistical process control which is concerned with sampling the process during the production of goods or the delivery of the service.
- Based on the sample, decisions are made as to whether the process is in control.
- Key aspect is to look at the variability to check if the process is operating as it should do.
What is a type 1 or 11 error?
Type 1 - When a decision was made but not warranted.
Type 11 - Occur when nothing was done but needed.
What is quality assurance?
- First issued in 1979.
- Planned and systematic activities necessary to provide confidence that a product, process or service will satisfy given quality requirements.
What is documentation control?
- Can result in a rigid, inflexible, process-driven approach.
- Employees are not encouraged to take ownership for improvement.
- Does not guarantee that the service is better
Who needs accreditation?
Is accreditation worth it?
- Many companies use it for marketing.
- Provides book of procedures.
- Not necessarily better quality.
- Costly.
- Bureaucratic.
- Critical for some industries.
- Can be viewed as return to rigidity of Taylorism.
- Put block on individual initiative.
- Demotivating.
- Unnecessary ‘policing’ of activities.
- Criticism of old Quality Control departments.
- Limits promotion and hiring of those who cannot read.
What is TQM?
- Where attention to quality prevades the whole operation, not just one particular sector, with the driver being top management.
- Meeting all needs and expectations of customers. Covering all parts of the organisation.
Including every person in the organisation. - Examining all costs which are related to quality.
Getting things right first time. - Developing systems and procedures which support quality and improvements.
- Developing a continuous process of improvement.
What are the issues with TQM?
- Top management may not be committed to TQM, or there may be a lack of resources.
- Employees may be afraid of new ways of working.
- There may not be enough training or education for employees.
- It can take months or years to adopt TQM practices.
What are the 3 quality cost categeories?
- Prevention: Preventing problems. E.g. training and development of personnel.
- Appraisal: Controlling quality to see if problems have occurred. E.g. customer surveys and statistical sampling.
- Failure: The cost of getting it wrong. E.g. lost production, loss of customer goodwill.
