QUALITY

Learning Intentions: Define the term ‘quality’ Identify methods of improving quality Evaluate these techniques and assess their usefulness

Definition

Quality is ………….The ability to satisfy the expectations

of the consumerFit for the purpose it was designed forConformance to specificationThe degree of excellence of something

Factors linked to Quality

Good functionDurabilityReliabilityImageAfter-sales serviceValue for money

Advantages of producing quality goods

Higher pricesReduction in wasteLess need to advertiseReduction in customer complaintsIncreased guarantee periodsReduces returned goods

Techniques to Improve Quality

Quality assurance – built-in quality techniques Quality circles Jidoka – anyone can stop production process if a

defect is found Kaizan - continuous improvement Benchmarking Standards – Investors in People (IIP),

ISO standards Just-in-time (JIT) & Kanban Total Quality Management (TQM)

Quality Circles

Regular short meetings set up to help improve production issues

Advantages: Increase motivation of staff – job enrichment Improve communication – across departmentsUnlock worker potential - lots of ideasFocus on improving quality

Disadvantages: cost and time of meetings and training

Quality control vs quality assurance

PRODUCTION PROCESS INSPECTION by an inspection

team

Check quality

A

B

Quality control usually takes place at end of production process

Quality assurance focuses on prevention where small samples of part finished

goods are checked at different times in production process

Quality is seen as EVERYONE’S job,

not just a small team of inspectors!

X

PRODUCTION PROCESS

It’s about prevention rather than just

detection

QUALITY ASSURANCE

ADVANTAGES: Workers take more care as they have to check it Increased motivation – sense of responsibility & involvement

from this extra task - thus job becomes more meaningful. Reduced costs – no inspection team to pay Less scrap and reworking - defects picked up as soon as they

happen, not when good is finished and may need to be scrapped or redone.

DISADVANTAGES: Costs - of training and changing to a quality assurance

system Workers may not like it - if they are paid on piece rate (per

product made) they may lose wages due to the checking they now need to do slowing down their work rate

KAIZEN – ‘continuous improvement’

All workers are involved in making regular, ongoing improvements to the production process. The changes tend to be small, but they occur regularly.

ADVANTAGES: increase productivity, reduce waste, reduce costs

DISADVANTAGES: staff may not want to be involved, costs of setting it up.

BENCHMARKING

This involves comparing yourself (e.g. costs, quality, productivity) with other firms in your area of business and identifying where you can make further improvements to the production process.

Implementing ‘best practice’ in your industry to improve your company.

QUALITY STANDARDS

Investors in People (IIP) is the national standard set to achieve a good level of training and development of staff.

Customer Service Excellence is awarded by the government to those organisations with high standards for customer satisfaction

Kitemark: awarded by BSI to show that it conforms to British Standards

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Extends the idea of quality assurance. Basically it is about ensuring that everything the organisation and its people do is focussed on creating high quality goods & services.

Also about getting things right first time (zero defects) – aim for defect prevention rather than detection

A cycle of Plan, Do, Check, Action

becomes part of every employee’s

thinking.

JUST-IN-TIME

Aims to reduce all types of stock so that, at all stages of the production process, stock is only ordered to ensure its arrival exactly when it is needed.

Production should only commence when there is a specific customer order - production is driven by demand not supply.

Advantages of JIT

Reduced costs of holding stock reducedMore factory space available for

productive useAvoids overproduction of goodsReduction in waste, obsolete (old) and

damaged stockImproves cash flow since money is not

tied up in stockCost savings from all of the above

Problems with JIT

Rely on suppliers to deliver when agreed but what happens if:

Supplier goes out of business? Bad weather? Road congestion? Strike by workers? Machine break down?

Advantages of bulk buying may be lost – also extra cost of ordering more often

Waste Management

Waste is anything which creates inefficiency in the production process:Overproduction – only produce what is

neededStocking too much raw materials and

components – use JITReworking defective products – need zero

defectsScrap – that has to be thrown outMovement around factory – keep things close

together – optimise factory layout