PRODUCT QUALITY: The group of features and characteristics of a saleable good which determine its desirability and which

can be controlled by a manufacturer to meet certain basic requirements. Most businesses that produce goods for sale have a product quality or assurance department that monitors outgoing products for consumer acceptability. PROCESS QUALITY: Process quality focuses on each activity and forces the activities to achieve maximum tolerances irrespective of the end result. For example: like a paint can manufacturer, the can and the lid need to match. A product quality focus on whether the paint can and lid fit tight enough but not too tight. This focus would require cans to be inspected and a specific ratio of defective would be expected. Process quality, the can making activities would be evaluated on its ability to make the can opening exactly 6.000 inches. The lid making would be evaluated on its ability to make lids 6.010 inches. No cans would be defective if the distribution of output sizes is narrow enough. The goal of process quality is to force narrow variance in product output to be able to expect close tolerances. This focus on process quality typically generates higher product quality as a secondary outcome.