2.4.4 Flashcards
Quality management (32 cards)
What does ‘quality’ mean to the customer?
· Durability · Reliability · Design · Functionality · Value for money · Customer service · Meeting customer needs
Why is ‘value for money’ important?
In most markets there is room for products of different quality, therefore the customer must be satisfied that the price reflects that quality
Why is good design important?
So that the product can be produced: efficiently, reliably, and at the lowest possible cost
Why are quality products good for a business?
· It allows you to charge a premium price
· Helps to attract and retain good staff
· Good brand reputation
· Retailers want to stock the product
· Fewer returns/replacements means a lower cost to the business
· It gives you a competitive advantage
· It helps the marketing of the company
· The product can become more price inelastic if customers perceive it to be of higher quality
What effect(s) does quality have on competitiveness?
· Fewer businesses are competing solely on price
· At a similar price, the higher quality product is likely to win
· Quality can enable a business to differentiate their product from others
Where is quality important, other than in the product itself?
· The buying process
· Product reliability
· Cost of ownership
· After-sales service
What do poor quality products mean for a business?
· Lost customers (expensive to replace) and may tell others, especially online
· Product replacement increased unit cost
· Warranty claims cost money
· Cost of wasted materials
· If a competitors are achieving higher quality then a business will suffer
What are some tangible ways quality can be measured?
- Reliability
- Functions and features
- Number of returns/defects
- Cost of ownership
- Support levels
What are some intangible ways quality can be measured?
- Customer surveys
- Brand image
- Market reputation
- Exclusiveness
What is quality control?
The process of inspecting a product to ensure they meet required standards - it is where products are inspected at the end of a production line and the defective ones are removed
What idea is quality control centred around?
Mainly about ‘detecting’ defective output rather than preventing it - it is the traditional method of quality management
What are the 3 main stages of inspection in quality control?
- Check the raw materials, before the production process
- At a point during the production process, take a sample from the production line and test it
- Test a finished good before it is sent to customers
What are the advantages of quality control?
· It stops faulty products reaching customers
· An external inspector is better placed to find problems in a business
· Inspectors are specially trained
What are the disadvantages of quality control?
· Workers are not as encouraged to take responsibility
· High level of rejected products
· More waste, most costs, less profit and profitability
What is quality assurance?
This is an approach that aims to achieve quality by organising every process to get the product ‘right first time’ and prevent mistakes ever happening. This is also known as a ‘zero defect’ approach.
What 3 things does quality assurance focus on?
○ If the production process is well controlled, then the quality will be ‘built in’
○ If the production process is reliable, there is less need to inspect production output (quality control)
○ There is more emphasis on ‘self-checking’ by workers, than by inspectors.
What are some advantages of quality assurance?
· It reduces cost at every stage as there is less wastage
· It is more profitable
· There are lower levels of variance with higher quality
· Workers feel more motivated and have more of a sense of ownership and responsibility - Herzberg theory of motivation
What are 6 characteristics of quality assurance?
- Medium-Long term process
- Focuses on processes – how things are made/delivered
- Achieved by improving production processes
- Targeted at whole organisation
- Emphasises the customer
- Quality is built into the product
What are 6 characteristics of quality control?
- Can be implemented at short notice
- Focus on outputs – work-in-progress and finished goods
- Achieved by sampling and checking (inspection)
- Targeted at production activities
- Emphasises required standards
- Defect products are inspected out
What is T.Q.M?
Total quality management
What is total quality management?
A form of Quality Assurance - A management philosophy committed to a focus on continuous improvements of product and services with the involvement of the entire workforce
What is the aim of TQM?
maintaining quality throughout the organisation and to stop problems before they occur, rather than finding them after they occur
What are 6 features of TQM?
· Takes into account customers’ views when planning the production process
· Quality Chains
· Company wide quality policy
· Everyone involved and ‘pride in the job’
· Stresses role of the responsibility and aims to make workers accountable
· Audits to check quality
What is S.P.C?
Statistical Process Control
