6. Quality Management

Quality management is the monitoring of activities and processes to maintain a desired standard.

Quality management has several features and processes, including:

  • Quality control

  • Quality assurance

  • Quality improvement

Different businesses will either implement one or another, or several types of quality measures.

Quality Control - Inspections

Quality control is a system of comparison to assess the output against given criteria or standards.

There are generally 4 types of inspections that occur within business. These are:

  • Pre-Production Inspection (PPI) - inspection of raw materials or components. This inspection can help to reduce or eliminate communication issues between business and supplier on issues regarding timelines, scheduling, and quality expectations, especially when dealing with new suppliers.

  • During Production Inspection (DPI) - control inspection conducted while production is underway. DPI inspections can take place on semi made components or when only 10-15% of units are made in a production batch so that any deviations can be identified, feedback given, and any defects can be re-checked to confirm they have been corrected. It provides early detection of any issues requiring correction, thereby reducing delays and rework.

  • Pre-Shipment Inspections (PSI) - this inspection occurs after the production process, when the product is fully assembled. PSI ensures that production complies with the specifications of the buyer. This inspection process is conducted on finished products what at least 80% of the order has been packed for shipping. Random samples are selected and inspected for defects against the relevant standards and procedures.

EXPLAIN

Quality control is focused on detecting and removing components or final products which fall below set quality standards. A business may have personnel or automotive (equipment/computers) screening to identify defects.

This is a traditional approach to quality management that is based around the product itself and reactive. This means that part or finished product is inspected and if it falls below the set of standards and is not reworked, it becomes waste.

Generally, not every product is inspected, only a sample, therefore some faulty products can still reach the consumers.

DISCUSS

Conducting a quality inspection in foreign countries where companies have offshored labour or using outsourcing can be challenging.

Quality control systems only inspect samples, which means products not complying with standards could reach consumers which will increase sales returns or lead to a decline in public image or customer satisfaction.

Quality Assurance - Systems to Prevent

Quality assurance is the processes that guarantees products meet set standards for the customers.

DESCRIBE

Quality assurance is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufacturing and delivering products and services to customers. It is a proactive approach.

EXPLAIN

This is an approach that aims to achieve quality by organising every process at every step to get the product right ‘first time’ and prevent mistakes ever happening. This is known as a ‘zero defect’ approach. In quality assurance, there is more emphasis on all employees ‘self-checking’, rather than checking by inspectors. It is a whole organisational approach, everyone is responsible. This is to guarantee that no defected products reach the customers.

This is achieved by implementing systems and processes across all levels of the organisation. Quality assurance systems may include inspections (QC) and audits. International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standards are internally agreed-upon guidelines that describe the best way of doing something. They cover various aspects, including product manufacturing, process management, service delivery, and material supply. ISO standards are developed by experts and aim to ensure consistency and quality.

Many businesses implemented the ISO 9001 series of Quality Assurance for a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The ISO provides guidelines on how businesses should establish systems by adopting specific procedure, controls and recording and documentation measures.

DISCUSS

The advantages of Quality Assurance are high level of customer satisfaction which means the business can charge a premium price and hold a competitive advantage. With the aim of zero defects also comes the advantage of reduced costs in wastage. When the whole organisation is aiming for zero defects, employees will have a high level of job satisfaction and morale.

Quality Assurance systems can be time consuming and costly to implement, including a high level of documentation (especially as part of the International Organisation for Standardisation).

Quality Improvement - or continuous quality improvement

Quality improvement is a commitment to excellence that emphasises incremental changes to increase quality over time.

DESCRIBE

Everyone in the organisation shares responsibility for ensuring defect free production and high levels of customer satisfaction. To achieve this TQM strategies involve all employees to find solutions to problems and to improve efficiency throughout the whole organisation.

EXPLAIN

For continuous improvement to occur all employees must be trained and involved in problem solving. Organisations can use approaches such as quality circles, Six Sigma or Kaizen systems of continuous improvement.

  • Kaizen - is about finding ways to improve efficiency in small easy to implement increments.

  • Six Sigma - is a more step by step, analysis with data and present to management ways solving both big and small inefficiencies.

DISCUSS

The advantages of continuous improvement systems are a high level of customer satisfaction which means the business can charge a premium price and hold a competitive advantage. With the aim of improved efficiency through problem solving throughout the whole organisation costs will be reduced, increasing profit and profit margins. When the whole organisation is aiming for improvements, employees will have a high level of job satisfaction and sense of team moral, being part of the business not just an employee.

Continuous improvement systems are time consuming and costly to implement. It involves a change in corporate culture where management must be able to accept solutions from employees in a two-way communication process. To enable employees to contribute in an effective manner they also need training, which can be costly.