The Quality Trilogy

Universal approach to managing for quality

Ibrahim tag el din

Proud to be MUSLIM
 The Quality Trilogy

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3
I. THE QUALITY PLANNING SOLUTION ..................................................................................... 5
1. ESTABLISH THE PROJECT .................................................................................................. 7
2. IDENTIFY THE CUSTOMERS .............................................................................................. 7
3. DISCOVER CUSTOMER NEEDS .......................................................................................... 7
4. DEVELOP PRODUCT ......................................................................................................... 8
5. DEVELOP PROCESS........................................................................................................... 9
6. DEVELOP PROCESS CONTROLS/ TRANSFER TO OPERATIONS .......................................... 11
II. “Quality control” ............................................................................................................... 12
1. The Feedback Loop ........................................................................................................ 13
2. THE ELEMENTS OF THE FEEDBACK LOOP ........................................................................ 14
3. The PDCA Cycle.............................................................................................................. 15
4. THE PYRAMID OF CONTROL ........................................................................................... 16
III. Quality improvement:.................................................................................................... 17
Two Kinds of Beneficial Change. ............................................................................................ 17
1) Structured Product Development............................................................................... 17
2) Unstructured Reduction of Chronic Waste. ................................................................ 18

Table of figures
Figure 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 4 ..................................................................................................................................... 12
Figure 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Figure 6 ..................................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 7 ..................................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 8 ..................................................................................................................................... 16

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 The Quality Trilogy

The Quality Trilogy: A Universal

Approach to Managing for Quality
Introduction

Quality planning Quality control Quality

improvement
Establish quality Evaluate actual Prove the need
goals performance
Identify who the Compare actual Establish the
customers are performance with infrastructure
quality goals
Determine the needs Act on the Identify the
of the customers difference improvement projects
Develop product Establish project
features that teams
respond to
customers’
needs
Develop processes Provide the teams
able to produce the with resources,
product features training, and
motivation to:
Diagnose the causes
Stimulate remedies
Establish process Establish controls to
controls; transfer hold the gains
the plans to the
operating forces

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 The Quality Trilogy

Figure 1

Quality Improvement: The Industrial Revolution provided a climate

favorable for continuous quality improvement through product and
process development. For example, progressive improvements in the
design of steam engines increased their thermal efficiency from 0.5
percent in 1718 to 23.0 percent in 1906 (Singer et al. 1958, vol. IV).
Inventors and entrepreneurs emerged to lead many countries into the
new world of technology and industrialization. In due course, some
companies created internal sources of inventors—research
laboratories to carry out product and process development.
Some created market research departments to carry out the functions
of entrepreneurship.

“Quality planning,” is a structured process for developing products

(both goods and services) that ensures that customer needs are met
by the final result.

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I. THE QUALITY PLANNING SOLUTION

Quality planning provides the process, methods, tools, and
techniques for closing each of these component gaps and thereby
ensuring that the final quality gap is at a minimum. Figure 3.2
summarizes at a high level the basic steps of quality planning. The
remainder of this section will provide the details and examples for
each of these steps.

The first step, establish the project, provides the clear goals,
direction, and infrastructure required if the constituent quality gaps
are to be closed. The next step provides for systematic identification
of all the customers. It is impossible to close the understanding gap if
there is the least bit of uncertainty, fuzziness, or ignorance about who
all the customers are.

The discovery of customer needs in the third step provides the full
and complete understanding required for a successful product design
to meet those needs. It also evaluates customer perceptions explicitly
so that the final perception gap can be avoided.

Figure 2

The develop product step uses both quality planning tools and the
technology of the particular industry to create a design that is
effective in meeting the customer needs, thereby closing the design
gap. The process gap is closed in the next step, develop process.

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Quality planning techniques ensure that the process is capable of

delivering the product as it was designed, consistently, time after
time.

Finally, the operations gap is closed by developing process controls

that keep the process operating at its full capability. Successful
elimination of the operations gap also depends on an effective
transfer of the plans to the operating forces. A strong transfer plan,
executed well, will provide operations with all the processes,
techniques, materials, equipment, skills, and so on to delight
customers on a continuing basis.

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 The Quality Trilogy

1. ESTABLISH THE PROJECT

• Identify which projects are required to fulfill the organization’s
strategy.
• Prepare a mission statement for each project.
• Establish a team to carry out the project.
• Plan the project.

2. IDENTIFY THE CUSTOMERS

This step may seem unnecessary; of course, the planners and
designers know who their customers are: the driver of the automobile,
the depositor in the bank account, the patient who takes the
medication. But these are not the only customers—not even
necessarily the most important customers.
Customers comprise an entire cast of characters that needs to be
understood fully.
Generally, there are two primary groups of customers: the external
customers—those outside the producing organization; and the
internal customers—those inside the producing organization.

3. DISCOVER CUSTOMER NEEDS

The third step of quality planning is to discover the needs of both
internal and external customers for the product. Some of the key
activities required for effective discovery of customer needs include

• Plan to collect customers’ needs.

• Collect a list of customers’ needs in their language.
• Analyze and prioritize customers’ needs.
• Translate their needs into “our” language.
• Establish units of measurement and sensors.

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4. DEVELOP PRODUCT
Once the customers and their needs are fully understood, we are
ready to design the product that will meet those needs best. Product
development is not a new function for a company. Most companies
have some process for designing and bringing new products to
market. In this step of the quality planning process, we will focus on
the role of quality in product development and how that role combines
with the technical aspects of development and design appropriate for
a particular industry.
Within product development, product design is a creative process
based largely on technological or functional expertise.
The designers of products traditionally have been engineers, systems
analysts, operating managers, and many other professionals. In the
quality arena, designers can include any whose experience, position,
and expertise can contribute to the design process. The outputs of
product design are detailed designs, drawings, models, procedures,
specifications, and so on.
The overall quality objectives for this step are two:
1. Determine which product features and goals will provide the
optimal benefit for the customer.
2. Identify what is needed so that the designs can be delivered
without deficiencies.

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5. DEVELOP PROCESS
Once the product is developed, it is necessary to determine the
means by which the product will be created and delivered on a
continuing basis. These means are, collectively, the “process.”
“Process development” is the set of activities for defining the specific
means to be used by operating personnel for meeting product quality
goals. Some related concepts include:
Sub processes: Large processes may be decomposed into these
smaller units for both the development and operation of the process.
Activities: The steps in a process or sub process.
Tasks: The detailed step-by-step description for execution of an
activity.
In order for a process to be effective, it must be goal oriented, with
specific measurable outcomes; systematic, with the sequence of
activities and tasks fully and clearly defined and all inputs and outputs
fully specified; and capable, i.e., able to meet product quality goals
under operating conditions and legitimate, with clear authority and
accountability for its operation.
The eleven major activities involved in developing a process are:
1. Review product goals.
2. Identify operating conditions.
3. Collect known information on alternate processes.
4. Select general process design.
5. Identify process features and goals.
6. Identify detailed process features and goals.
7. Design for critical factors and human error.
8. Optimize process features and goals.
9. Establish process capability.
10. Set and publish final process features and goals.
11. Set and publish final process design.

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Figure 3

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6. DEVELOP PROCESS CONTROLS/ TRANSFER TO

OPERATIONS
In this step, planners develop controls for the processes, arrange to
transfer the entire product plan to operational forces, and validate the
implementation of the transfer. There are seven major activities in this
step:
1. Identify controls needed.
2. Design feedback loop.
3. Optimize self-control and self-inspection.
4. Establish audit.
5. Demonstrate process capability and controllability.
6. Plan for transfer to operations.
7. Implement plan and validate transfer.

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II. “Quality control”

is a universal managerial process for conducting operations so as to
provide stability—to prevent adverse change and to “maintain the
status quo.”
To maintain stability, the quality control process evaluates actual
performance, compares actual performance to goals, and takes
action on the difference.
In Figure 4.2 the input is operating process features developed to
produce the product features required to meet customer needs. The
output consists of a system of product and process controls which
can provide stability to the operating process.

Figure 4

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1. The Feedback Loop

Figure 5

1. A sensor is “plugged in” to evaluate the actual quality of the

control subject—the product or process feature in question. The
performance of a process may be determined directly by
evaluation of the process feature, or indirectly by evaluation of
the product feature—the product “tells” on the process.
2. The sensor reports the performance to an umpire.
3. The umpire also receives information on what is the quality goal
or standard.
4. The umpire compares actual performance to standard. If the
difference is too great, the umpire energizes an actuator.
5. The actuator stimulates the process (whether human or
technological) to change the performance so as to bring quality
into line with the quality goal.
6. The process responds by restoring conformance.

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2. THE ELEMENTS OF THE FEEDBACK LOOP

The feedback loop is a universal. It is fundamental to any problem in
quality control. It applies to all types of operations, whether in service
industries or manufacturing industries, whether for profit or not. It
applies to all levels in the hierarchy, from the chief executive officer to
the work force, inclusive. However, there is wide variation in the
nature of the elements of the feedback loop.
In Figure 4.5 a simple flowchart is shown describing the quality
control process with the simple universal feedback loop imbedded.

Figure 6

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3. The PDCA Cycle.

There are many ways of dividing the feedback loop into elements and
steps.
Some of them employ more than six elements; others employ fewer
than six. A popular example of the latter is the so-called PDCA cycle
(also the Deming wheel) as shown in Figure 4.6. Deming (1986)
referred to this as the Shewhart cycle, which is the name many still
use when describing this version of the feedback loop.

Figure 7

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4. THE PYRAMID OF CONTROL

Control subjects run to large numbers, but the number of “things” to
be controlled is far larger. These things include the published
catalogs and price lists sent out, multiplied by the number of items in
each; the sales made, multiplied by the number of items in each sale;
the units of product produced, multiplied by the associated numbers
of quality features; and so on for the numbers of items associated
with employee relations, supplier relations, cost control, inventory
control, product and process development, etc.
A study in one small company employing about 350 people found that
there were over a billion things to be controlled (Juran 1964, pp. 181–
182).
There is no possibility for upper managers to control huge numbers of
control subjects. Instead, they divide up the work of control, using a
plan of delegation somewhat as depicted in Figure 4.7.
This division of work establishes three areas of responsibility for
control: control by nonhuman means, control by the work force, and
control by the managerial hierarchy.

Figure 8

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 The Quality Trilogy

III. Quality improvement:

As used here, “improvement” means “the organized creation of
beneficial change.

Two Kinds of Beneficial Change.

• Product features: These can increase customer satisfaction. To
the producing company, they are income-oriented.
• Freedom from deficiencies: These can create customer
dissatisfaction and chronic waste. To the producing company,
they are cost-oriented.

1) Structured Product Development.

Many companies maintain an organized approach for evolving new
models of products, year after year. Under this organized approach:
• Product development projects are a part of the business plan.
• A New Products Committee maintains business surveillance
over these projects.
• Full-time product and process development departments are
equipped with personnel, laboratories, and other resources to
carry out the technological work.
• There is clear responsibility for carrying out the essential
technological work.
• A structured procedure is used to progress the new
developments through the functional departments.
• The continuing existence of this structure favors new product
development on a year-to-year basis.
It is not sufficient to ensure good results

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2) Unstructured Reduction of Chronic Waste.

In most companies, the urge to reduce chronic waste has been much
lower than the urge to increase sales. As a result:
• The business plan has not included goals for reduction of
chronic waste.
• Responsibility for such quality improvement has been vague. It
has been left to volunteers to initiate action.
• The needed resources have not been provided, since such
improvement has not been a part of the business plan.

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References

Joseph M. Juran and A. Blanton Godfrey. JURAN’S QUALITY

HANDBOOK (5th edition). McGraw-Hill. 1998.

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