Quality Assurance Explained

What are the 2 main approaches to quality management?

• Quality control:

  • Based on inspection

  • Takes defects out

  Quality assurance:

  • Based on processes

  • Builds quality in

What is quality assurance?

• Quality control:

  • Based on inspection

  • Takes defects out

  Quality assurance:

  • Based on processes

  • Builds quality in

What are the different parts of quality assurance?

• Focus on processes

• Achieved by improving production processes

• Targeted at the whole business

• Emphasises the customer

• Quality is built into the product

What is quality control?

• Focus on outputs

• Achieved by sampling and checking (inspection)

• Targeted at production activities

• Emphasises required standards

• Defective products are inspected out

What is the approach to quality assurance?

A management philosophy committed to a focus on continuous improvements of products and services with the involvement of the entire workforce

What is total quality management (TQM)?

• TQM is essentially an ‘attitude’

• The whole business understands the need for quality and seeks to achieve it

• Everyone in the workforce is concerned with quality at every stage of the production process

• Workers but not inspectors ensure quality

What are the advantages of TQM?

• Puts the customer at the heart of the production process

• Motivational since workers feel more involved and are making decisions

• Less wasteful than throwing out defective finished products

• Eliminates cost of inspection

What are the disadvantages of TQM?

• Requires strong leadership- often missing in a business

• Substantial investment in training and support- but return on investment not immediate

• May become bureaucratic

• Disruption and cost may outweigh the benefits

What is Kaizen?

• Another kind of quality assurance

• Based on the concept/culture of continuous improvement

• Encourages employees to engage fully with finding ways to improve quality processes