QUALITY

The common element of the business definitions is that the quality of a product or service refers to the perception of the degree to which the product or service meets the customer's expectations. Quality has no specific meaning unless related to a specific function and/or object. Quality is a perceptual, conditional and somewhat subjective attribute

Various interpretations are given below:

1.ISO 9000: "Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements." The standard defines requirement as need or expectation.

2.Six Sigma: "Number of defects per million opportunities."

3.Subir Chowdhury: "Quality combines people power and process power."

4.Philip B. Crosby: "Conformance to requirements." The requirements may not fully represent customer expectations; Crosby treats this as a separate problem.

5.Joseph M. Juran: "Fitness for use." Fitness is defined by the customer.

6.Noriaki Kano and others, present a two-dimensional model of quality: "must-be quality" and "attractive quality." The former is near to "fitness for use" and the latter is what the customer would love, but has not yet thought about. Supporters characterize this model more succinctly as: "Products and services that meet or exceed customers' expectations."

7.Robert Pirsig: "The result of care.“

8.Genichi Taguchi, with two definitions: a. "Uniformity around a target value." The idea is to lower the standard deviation in outcomes, and to keep the range of outcomes to a certain number of standard deviations, with rare exceptions.b. "The loss a product imposes on society after it is shipped." This definition of quality is based on a more comprehensive view of the production system.

9.American Society for Quality: "A subjective term for which each person has his or her own definition. In technical usage, quality can have two meanings:

a. The characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs;b. A product or service free of deficiencies."

10.Peter Drucker: "Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for.“

11.W. Edwards Deming: concentrating on "the efficient production of the quality that the market expects," and he linked quality and management: "Costs go down and productivity goes up as improvement of quality is accomplished by better management of design, engineering, testing and by improvement of processes.“

12.Gerald M. Weinberg: "Value to some person".

A Brief History of Quality Management Historical uses of quality management include

the precision involved in building of Egyptian pyramids, interchangeable parts during Industrial Revolution, and statistical tools used for quality control during World War II.

Dr. Joseph Juran and Dr. W. Edwards Deming were pioneers in the field (more later on these two quality gurus).

The Japanese integrated quality ideas and methods throughout their organizations and developed a culture of continuous improvement.

Understanding Quality

Quality can be a confusing concept, partly because people view quality in relation to differing criteria based on their individual roles in the value chain, such as: perfection, delighting or pleasing the customer, eliminating waste, doing it right the first time, and/or consistency.

Understanding Quality

• Fitness for use is the ability of a good or service to meet customer needs.

• Quality of conformance is the extent to which a process is able to deliver output that confirms to design specifications.

• Specifications are targets and tolerances determined by designers of goods and services.

Understanding Quality

• Quality Control means ensuring consistency in processes to achieve conformance.

• Service Quality is consistently meeting or exceeding customer expectations (external focus) and service delivery system performance criteria (internal focus) during all service encounters.

Understanding Quality

Principles of Total Quality

1. A focus on customers and stakeholders,

2. A process focus supported by continuous improvement and learning, and

3. Participation and teamwork by everyone in the organization.

W. Edwards Deming• Focus on bringing about improvements in

product and service quality by reducing uncertainty and variability in goods and services design and associated processes (the beginning of his ideas in 1920s and 1930s).

• Higher quality leads to higher productivity and lower costs.

• “14 Points” management philosophy.

• Deming Cycle – Plan, Do, Study, and Act.

W. Edwards Deming 14 Points

Point 1: Create a Vision and Demonstrate Commitment

Point 2: Learn the Philosophy

Point 3: Understand Inspection

Point 4: Stop Making Decisions Purely on the Basis of Cost

Point 5: Improve Constantly and Forever

Point 6: Institute Training

Point 7: Institute Leadership

W. Edwards Deming 14 Points

Point 8: Drive Out Fear

Point 9: Optimize the Efforts of Teams

Point 10: Eliminate Exhortations

Point 11: Eliminate Numerical Quotas

Point 12: Remove Barriers to Pride in Work

Point 13: Encourage Education and Self- Improvement

Point 14: Take Action

Differences Between Manufacturingand Service Organizations

Defining quality in manufacturing organizations is often different from that of services. Manufacturing organizations produce a tangible product that can be seen,touched, and directly measured. Examples include cars, CD players, clothes, computers,and food items. Therefore, quality definitions in manufacturing usually focus on tangible product features.

The most common quality definition in manufacturing is conformance, which is the degree to which a product characteristic meets preset standards.

Other common definitions of quality in manufacturing include performance—such as acceleration of a vehicle;

reliability—that the product will function as expected without failure;

features—the extras that are included beyond the basic characteristics;

Durability—expected operational life of the product; and serviceability—how readily a product can be repaired.

Service organizations produce a product that is intangible.Usually, the complete product cannot be seen or touched. Rather, it is experienced.

Examples include delivery of health care, experience of staying at a vacation resort, and learning at a university. The intangible nature of the product makes defining quality difficult. Also, since a service is experienced, perceptions can be highly subjective. In addition to tangible factors, quality of services is often defined by perceptual factors. These include responsiveness to customer needs, courtesy and friendliness of staff, promptness in resolving complaints, and atmosphere.

Other definitions of quality in services include

time—the amount of time a customer has to wait for theservice; and

consistency—the degree to which the service is the same each time. For these reasons, defining quality in services can be especially challenging.

Dimensions of quality for manufacturing versus service

organizations

manufacturing service organizations

Conformance to specifications Tangible factorsPerformance ConsistencyReliability Responsiveness to customer

needsFeatures Courtesy/friendlinessDurability Timeliness/promptnessServiceability Atmosphere

Types of Quality

• Quality of Design• Quality of Product• Quality of Process• Quality of Systems• Quality of Service

NEEDS OF QUALITY

What is Quality ?•Quality means, products or services made as per customers requirements•Customer’s satisfaction

Importance of Quality•Tough competition•Educated customer

LOSSES DUE TO BAD QUALITYTangible(1) Increased rejection/rework(2) Less production/productivity(3) Higher customer complaints.

Intangible(1) Loss of goodwill(2) Conflicts between different depts.(3) Loss of morale

Quality and Productivity(1) Go hand in hand(2) Quality is key to higher productivity

Effects of Bad Quality

Tangible•Higher Rejection•Higher Rework•Higher no. of customer complaints•Less production/productivity

Intangible•Credit down in the market•Dept. to Dept. quarrels•Less interest in work

Quality & Productivity•Supplementary to each other•Productivity increases with good Quality

Quality Loop