Two main approaches to quality management:

Quality control:

• Based on inspection

• Takes defects out

Quality assurance:

• Based on processes

• Builds quality in

Quality assurance:

• The processes that ensure production quality meet the requirements of customers

• The aim: design the way a product or service is produced or delivered to minimise the chances that output will be sub-standard

• The focus of quality assurance is on the product design/development stage

  • If the production process is well controlled- then quality will be ‘built-in’

  • If the production process is reliable- there is less need to inspect production output (quality control)

Quality assurance:

• Focus on processes

• Achieved by improving production processes

• Targeted at the whole business

• Emphasises the customer

• Quality is built into the product

Quality control:

• Focus on outputs

• Achieved by sampling and checking (inspection)

• Targeted at production activities

• Emphasises required standards

• Defective products are inspected out

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

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

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

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

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