Quality

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  • Created by: amy
  • Created on: 30-05-13 23:38

Key Terms

  • QUALITY- those features of a product/service which delight the customer.
  • QUALITY CONTROL- a system that uses inspection to find faults in the good/service.
  • QUALITY ASSURANCE- a system that aims to acheive or improve quality by organising every process to get the product 'right first time every time'.
  • TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT- a culture of quality that involves all employees in a business.
  • QUALITY STANDARD- a set of criteria for quality established by a firm. 
  • BS 5750- a british standards award granted to businesses that possess quality assurance systems that meet the standards set.
  • ISO 9001- the international standard of quality assurance that is the equivalent of BS 5750.
  • KAIZEN- a japanese system of continous improvement in small incremental steps with the aim of improving levels of efficiency.
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Quality

Quality is about the provision of a good or service that the delights the customer.

Measurements of quality might include:

  • reliability 
  • customer service
  • unique selling points
  • brand name 
  • appearance 
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benefits and problems of quality to a business

Benefits 

  • good quality raises demand and can lead to higher profits
  • it can act as a USP helping to distinguish you from competitors
  • greater flexibility to adjust price up or down to satisfy demand
  • reduced costs through lower waste and errors

Problems

  • high training costs
  • time to implement new quality systems
  • disruption to production in the short-term
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Quality Control

the distinguishing feature of quality control is the use of an inspector to identify faults in a product or service.

Key advantages of inspection:

  • it can prevent defective batches from reaching the customer and damaging the reputation 
  • inspectors are specifically trained to indentify faults in quality
  • common errors can be quickly identified and solutions sought

Key disadvantages of inspection:

  • the problem might only be identified at the end of the production process. This might mean that the entire batch has to be reworked which costs money. 
  • reliance upon inspection means that the employees have little incentive to improve the quality of their own work. 
  • inspection teams are expensive 
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Quality Assurance

quality assurance is reliant upon a system of self-checking by employees as a product pass through the various stages of production

Benefits 

  • increased responsibility and morale of staff
  • faults identified earlier therefore reducing waste
  • inspection occurs at each stage of production and not just at the end

Problems

  • high training costs
  • time to implement new quality systems
  • disruption to production in the short-term
  • quality assurance accreditation does not gurantee quality!
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Systems of Quality Assurance

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

TQM aims to involve everyone in an organisation and to make quality the business of each employee. Each employee is viewed as a link in the chain and each link is treated as though it were an external customer, with products only being passed on if and when the quality is correct.

The core concepts of TQM are:

  • 'Right first time every time'
  • Quality is everybody's responsibility
  • Prevention rather than cure
  • Teamworking
  • Education and training of staff
  • Strong two-way communication

TQM requires a change in the culture of a business and this can take a long-time to acheive.

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Quality Standards

The two main quality standards that firms seek to acquire are BS 5750 and ISO 9001.

Both of these are powerful marketing tools in telling potential customers that your firm is able to maintain quality assurance procedures.

Key benefits might include:

  • Marketing advantages
  • Long-term financial benefits through the elimination of waste
  • Customers are assured that basic standards of quality are being met
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Kaizen

This quality assurance system seeks to ensure a firm is continuously making small scale improvements to improve levels of efficiency.

All employess are actively encouraged to suggest ideas for improvements to current working practices and the best ones are adopted.

This allows employees a sense of involvement in the decision making of a business and this can increase their levels of motivation.

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