Quality is what gives complete customer satisfaction (to every customer: industrial buyer, local authority, government department, student or overseas shipping magnate).
Some customers’ needs are sophisticated, others much less so, but all will Judge the quality of what they buy and how well their needs and expectations are satisfied.There is no such thing as absolute quality It is many things to many different people It matters as much in service as in goods We all recognize it when we experience it but how do we put it into words? Quality is sum of: Knowing the customer’s needs; Designing to meet them; Faultless construction; Reliable bought-in components and sub-assemblies; Certified performance and safety; Clear Instruction manuals; Suitable packaging; Punctual delivery; Efficient back-up service; Feed-back of field experience.Quality is: CLC difficult to define; C] it’s an abstract term; C] it requires continuous and dynamic adaptation of products and services to fulfill or exceed the requirements or expectations of all parties in the organization and the community as a whole. Definitions of Quality C] “Quality is fitness for use” Joseph Curran & Frank Granary ); C] “Quality means conformance to requirements” (Philip Crosby); 0 Quality is a function of loss.The better the quality, the lesser Is the loss It causes to society (Attaching); O “Quality denotes an excellence in goods and services, especially to the degree they conform to requirements and satisfy customers” (American Society for Quality (ASS); “Quality is a customer determination based upon a customer’s actual experience with a product or service, measured against his or her requirements -stated or instated, conscious or merely sensed, technically operational or entirely subjective – and always representing a moving target in a competitive market” (Armband Achieving excellence in a product/service by meeting/exceeding the 0 “…
He totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs” (Robert Peach, The ISO 9000 Handbook); Carving’s 5 definitions (a)transcendent definition(relative quality): quality is universally recognizable; it is related to a comparison of features and characteristics of products; (b) product- eased definition- quality is a precise and measurable variable. Differences in quality reflect differences in quantity of some product attribute. (c ) user-based definition “Quality is fitness for intended use; (d)manufacturing-based definition: Quality is conformance to specifications (e) value-based definition- quality is defined in terms of costs and prices. A quality product is one that provides performance at an acceptable price of conformance at an acceptable cost Five Ways of Looking at Quality Definitions 1 . Customer – based 0 “Quality consists of the capacity to satisfy wants. (C. D.
Edwards, “The Meaning of Quality”, in Quality Progress Cot. 1968); 0 “Quality is fitness for use. ” O. M. Curran, deed. Quality Control Handbook 1988). 2.
Manufacturing – based 0 “Quality is the degree to which a specific product conforms too design or specification” (H. L. Gilmore: Product Conformance Cost. Quality progress June 1974); 0 “Quality [means] conformance to requirements. ” (P. B. Crosby: Quality Is Free).
3. Product – based 0 “Quality refers to the amount of the unprimed attributes contained in each unit of the priced attribute. ” (K. B. Leafier: Ambiguous Changes in Product Quality, American Economic Review DCE. 1982). 4.
Value – based 0 “Quality is the degree of excellence at an acceptable price and the control of variability at an acceptable cost. (R. A. Broth: Managing Quality for Higher Profits, 1982). 5. Transcendent 0 “Quality is neither mind nor matter, but a third entity independent of the two, even though Quality cannot be defined, you know what it is. ” (R.
M. Prigs: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance). W. A. Shareware – 1931 “the difficulty in defining quality is to translate future needs of the users into sharable characteristics, so that the product can be designed and turned out to give satisfaction at a price that the user will pay”.Quality in different areas of society o Airlines – On-time, comfortable, low-cost service o Health Care – Correct diagnosis, minimum wait time, lower cost, security o Food Services – Good product, fast delivery, good environment o Postal Services – fast delivery, correct delivery, cost containment academia – Proper preparation for future, on-time knowledge delivery o Consumer – Products properly made, defect- ere, cost effective o Insurance Pay off on time, reasonable cost o Automotive – Defect-free o Communications – Clearer, faster, cheaper service Why is Quality Important Long term satisfaction with services and products can be achieved and maintained only by continuous improvement of quality and by continuously meeting gives important information about price quality relationship which has a great value for designing new profitable products; 0 Competitive value for money comes from competitive quality at a competitive price; 0 A reputation for competitive quality is a rim’s greatest asset; 0 A national reputation for quality is the best of all; 0 Quality is a ” gold mine but it is not a panacea and the way towards a profitable company is very hard. How can Quality be Achieved? Effective and continuing market research the first key; Knowing and understanding the customer’s quality needs; Material and component suppliers committed to achieve quality;- Fully taking into account the manufacturing process and service maintenance needs; – The design is continually reviewed in the light of experience.
Discussion
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Planning an Audit