Quality and Productivity

Quality
• Different meanings
• Quality refers to conformation to established
standards.
• Quality control consists of all those activities,
which are designed to define, maintain and
control specific quality of products within
reasonable limits.
• Systematic regulation of all variables affecting
the goodness of the end product.
 Quality Control
• Quality control involves determination of
quality standards and measurement and
control necessary to ensure that the
established standards are practiced and
maintained.
 SIGNIFICANCE OF QUALITY CONTROL
Success depends on achievement and maintenance of satisfactory
level of quality.
• Helps to improve the brand image of the enterprise.
• Facilitates standardization.
• Helps to reduce costs by cutting down wastes caused by the
production of defective products.
• Helps to increase sales turnover.
• Enables the entrepreneur to face competition
• Helps the entrepreneur to determine costs and prices at
competition levels.
• Enables the manufacturer to comply with quality standards
prescribed by the government.
METHODS OF QUALITY CONTROL
• Inspection

• Statistical quality control

 Inspection
• An inspection is, most generally, an organized
examination or formal evaluation exercise.
• It involves the measurements, tests, and gauges
applied to certain characteristics in regard to a
product.
Three important aspects of inspection:
1. Process inspection
2. Product Inspection
3. Inspection Analysis
 Statistical Quality control (S.Q.C.)
• A sample of items to be controlled is selected
and statistically checked to ensure that the
established standards of quality are
maintained.
• Involves making things right rather than
discovering and rejecting those made wrong.
• Control charts and acceptance sampling are
used for this purpose
• Quality Control Charts: a graph on which the
characteristics of samples are plotted.
• Acceptance Sampling: a sample of products is
checked.
• Full lot is rejected if the percentage of defective
items is more than the predetermined limit
otherwise the whole lot is accepted.
• The percentage of defective items that is
acceptable is called Acceptable Quality Level
(AQL).
Quality Control in Small Scale Industries
• Entrepreneur may exercise considerable influence on
quality via personal observation and direct intervention.
• Adherence to ISO specifications is an absolute must for
the exporting entrepreneurs.
• Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has been prescribing
quality standards for a large number of products.
• Regional Testing Centres and Field Testing Stations have
been set up under Small Industries Development
Organization (SIDO) to improve the quality of the
products and to provide testing facilities for the small
scale sector.
• The following Indian Standards have been
published so far for controlling quality of
products manufactured by small units
1. Methods of statistical quality control during
the production period;
2. Manual on basic principles of lot sampling
and
3. Sampling inspection tables
 PRODUCTIVITY
• Productivity refers to the physical relation
between the quality produced (output) and
the quantity of resource used in the course of
production (input).
• Productivity = Output per unit of input
• Production refers to the end result of production
system whereas productivity reflects its efficiency.
• SIGNIFICANCE
1. Helps to cut down cost per unit and thereby improve
the profits.
2. Gains from productivity can be transferred to the
consumers in from of lower priced products or better
quality products.
3. Gains can also be shared with workers or employees
by paying them at higher rate.
4. Productive entrepreneur can have better chances to
exploit export opportunities.
5. Generate more employment opportunities.
 FACTORS INFLUENCING PRODUCTIVITY
• Human factors
Ability to work
Willingness to work
• Technological factors
(a) Size and capacity of plant
(b) Product design and standardization
(c) Timely supply of materials and fuel
(d) Rationalization and automation measures
(e) Repairs and maintenance
(f) Production planning and control
(g) Plant layout and location
(h) Materials handling system
(i) Inspection and quality control
(j) Machinery and equipment used
(k) Research and development
(l) Inventory control
• Managerial factors
• Natural Factors
• Sociological Factors
• Political Factors
• Economic Factors