Business Management HL: Lean Production and Quality Management

Lean production

refers to a set of strategies to reduce waste in the production process. The objective of lean production is to produce high quality products using minimal resources.

Continuous Improvement (Kaizen)

involves businesses holding regular, scheduled meetings where staff are invited to give their opinions and suggest improvements

Continuous Improvement (Kaizen) benefits

diversity of ideas

better ideas

employee motivation

Continuous Improvement (Kaizen) limitations

lower productivity

higher labour costs 

cradle-to cradle

a model of designing and creating products in a way that minimises waste and negative effects on the environment and on all stakeholders. It focuses on sustainability.

Quality Control

refers to the inspection of a product in order to find defects and remove them before they are delivered to retailers or customers

Quality Circle

a group of employees who meet regularly to discuss improvements to product quality, providing a range of perspectives.

Quality Circle benefits

motivation

improved quality

reduced costs

Quality Circle limitations

reduced productivity

training costs 

not suitable to all businesses

Benchmarking

the process by which a business compares itself, on certain criteria, with industry leaders to learn about what they can improve

Benchmarking benefits

improved quality

understand consumers and competitors

consumer satisfaction

Benchmarking limitations

lack of transferability

lack of information

selecting right benchmark

Quality management

A set of strategies to ensure that products meet or exceed customers’ expectations.

Quality control

refers to the inspection of a product in order to find defects and remove them before they are delivered to retailers or customers. This quality management strategy only catches problems after they happen

Quality control benefits 

Specialisation

brand reputation

Easy to implement

Quality control limitations

Reactive

High waste costly

Low worker responsibility

Quality assurance

includes strategies to prevent defects and improve products. quality assurance requires employees to check their own work, take responsibility for their own mistakes and identify defects that are not their own fault.

Quality assurance benefits 

prevents defects 

motivation

Improves efficiency

Quality assurance limitations 

timely and costly

Requires full staff commitment

benefits only seen in long term

Total Quality management

A quality management strategy where every employee is jointly responsible for maintaining the overall quality of the final product.

Total Quality management benefits

motivation

improved quality

reduced costs

Total Quality management limitations

reduced productivity

training costs

not suitable to all businesses