Quality Management - Chp 5

What does makes a product of good quality?

reliability - performs consistently and does not break easily
durability - resistance to wear and tear
conformance - complies with the product standards
aesthetics - appealing to the senses

What is quality management?

oversees all activities involved in manufacturing the product to maintain a good standard of quality and ensures the product is capable of doing what it is designed to do

What does ISO stand for?

International Standards Organisation

What does ISO do?

sets the product standards for companies to follow, to ensure they meet consumer requirements

What does NSAI stand for?

National Standards Authority of Ireland

What does NSAI do?

it certifies companies that meet ISO standards

Give an example of a quality management principle:

customer focus - understand customer needs and requirements

leadership - create an environment in which the entire workforce is involved in achieving the organisations goals

involvement of people - involve all people and their abilities to deliver high quality goods

process/system approach - activities and resources should be managed as a process/in a system

continual improvement - the goal should be continuous improvement

factual approach - decision making based on analysis of data and information

mutually beneficial supplier relationship

Quality characteristic + example

general description of what a product is supposed to be/do

• lightweight

• operates quietly

Quality attribute + example

a specific description of what a product is supposed to be/do to achieve a certain characteristic

• weighs less than 20g

• produces noise less than 10db

What is meant by aesthetics?

refers to how a product looks/ appeals to the senses

What factors are considered when making a product aesthetically pleasing?

• colour

• proportion

• texture

• line, shape and form

• balance

What is the impact of poor quality?

a poor quality product will usually secure less of a market than high quality product due to it being

• unreliable

• not durable

• does not meet quality standards
  a better quality product will generate more sales, and will have a longer life cycle

What does the product life cycle diagram show?

describes the life of a product from when it is introduced to the market, to when its sales fall and it is no longer sold

What are the stages of the product life cycle?

Introduction - product is entered into the market
Growth - product begins to build a market base, and sales rise when people find out about the product
Maturity - product sales are steady and at a peak
Decline - sales fall due to factors, such as outdated technology, pricing issues, economic state

What does a bathtub curve show?

shows the likelihood of a product failing over time

Bathtub Curve: Start of life

high failure rate until defective products are identified and discarded

Bathtub Curve: Mid-life

failures are low and consistent, any failures are random

Bathtub Curve: End life

there is a high-failure rate as age and wear have an effect on the product

What is the manufacturing cost dependant on?

• materials
• labour
• quality control costs
• overhead (fixed costs)

Quality's impact of manufacturing cost?

• costs more to make high quality: better skilled/educated work force, better quality materials more expensive
• poor quality products incur additional costs when sent back to be fixed, potential for legal costs

What does QA stand for?

Quality assurance

Quality assurance

• involves systematically checking all relevant processes to ensure required standards are met

• quality control staff check the product at each stage of its manufacture

What does QC stand for?

Quality control

What is quality control?

systematically checking all relevant processes to ensure that required standards are met

Tolerances

the amount of variance on a measurement of a product

What is meant by the cost of quality?

money a business loses because its product was of insufficient quality, for example

• repairing a damaged product

• recalling and replacing defective products

• dealing with legal action

PDCA/PDSA/Deming cycle

four step process for the continuous improvement of manufacturing processes and products
plan - recognise the opportunity, collect data and develop plat
do - implement the plan
study - analysis the results of the chage
act - include new changes and go through the cycle again with new plan, keep all parts of the plan that went well excluding all the negatives

What is another name for a cause + effect diagram?

fishbone diagram

Give an example of a cause and effect diagram:

What does a scatter diagram show?

used to investigate the effect of an independent variable on the dependent variable

What is meant by statistical measurement?

collection and analysis of data in a systematic way

What is Planned Obsolesence?

company planning on their product to fail after a certain time period, forcing the consumer to buy more of the product