Unit- 4

Operation Management

Work Study: Method study and work measurement- Importance and

Objectives

“Work study is a generic term for those techniques, particularly method study and
work measurement, which are used in all its context and which lead
systematically to the investigation of all the factors, which effect the efficiency
and economy of the situation being reviewed in order to effect improvement.”

The main objective of work study is to improve productivity of men, machines

and materials. The aim of work study is to determine the best method of
performing each operation and to eliminate wastage so that production increases
with less fatigue. The work study is also used in determining the standard time
that a qualified worker should take to perform the operation when working at a
normal place.

Work study is a technique which deals with the following problems:

(a) As to how should a job be done, and

(b) How much time a job should take for completion.

Answer for the first question is found by Motion Study or Method Study or Work
Simplification. Answer for the second question is found by the Time Study or
Work Measurement.

Importance of Work Study

1. To standardize the method of doing a work,

2. To minimize the unit cost of production,
3. To determine the standard time for doing a task,
4. To minimize the material movement, and operators movement,
5. To eliminate unnecessary human movements,
6. To utilize facilities such as man, machine and materials most effectively,
and
7. To systematic investigation of all factors.
Objectives of Work Study

The following are the objectives of work study:

1. Increased efficiency,
2. Better product quality,
3. To choose the fastest method to do a job,
4. To improve the working process,
5. Less fatigue to operators and workers,
6. Effective labour control,
7. Effective utilization of resources,
8. To decide equipment requirements,
9. To pay fair wages,
10. To aid in calculating exact delivery,
11. To formulate realistic labour budgeting, and
12. To decide the required manpower to do a job.

Advantages of Work Study

The advantages of work study are the following:

1. Work study ensures higher productivity,

 2. Better working conditions with less fatigue,
3. Higher wages to workers,
4. Uniform production flow,
5. Job satisfaction and job security to workers,
6. Reduction in unit cost of production,
7. Quality products to consumers,
8. Fast delivery schedule,
9. Harmonious employer-employee relation, and
10. Better service to customers.

What is work efficiency?

Work efficiency is the greatest amount of tasks and labor accomplished with the
least amount of time and effort. Excellent work efficiency can lead to high levels
of productivity. Organizations might often encourage employees to improve their
work efficiency because this can promote success in the business.

Why is work efficiency important?

Many employees have assignments with strict deadlines and monthly goals to
meet in order to measure progress and efficiency. If you actively improve your
efficiency, it may show your managers your dedication to the role, desire for
success and eagerness to grow your skills. Maintaining efficiency can ensure
you're effectively fulfilling your job role and managing your responsibilities.

12 strategies to improve work efficiency

Here are 12 strategies to consider to help you improve your work efficiency:

1. Take breaks

Taking breaks while working on tasks can allow your mind to rest and reset. If
you estimate a task is going to take two hours to complete, consider taking a 15-
minute break between hours to grab a snack or go for a walk. Breaks can promote
efficiency because they help you return to work with a fresh mind and renewed
energy.

2. Establish realistic goals

Goal-setting can provide an effective means of managing the steps to reach your
goal and measuring your progress. It's important to ensure your goal is achievable
and realistic so that you're able to meet it. This can promote motivation and
excellent time management and provide a sense of accomplishment after
achieving a goal.

3. Measure your time

To evaluate your productivity levels, consider measuring how much time you use
while completing each job task. This can help you understand what tasks take
more time and give you the opportunity to evaluate why. You can then work on
improving the efficiency of those specific tasks, along with using time-
management skills to handle your daily task list.

4. Commit to deadlines

Try writing your deadlines in a planner as reminders to improve your time

management. It may be helpful to use these reminders to design a personal
timeline for yourself and what steps can help you successfully meet a deadline.
Though some deadlines may be flexible, committing to a deadline can help
organize your process and motivation and assist with developing skills for
efficiency.

5. Concentrate on your task

Focusing on one task at a time can help you measure your progress as you
accomplish and celebrate completing each one. Some job roles may require
multiple assignments or duties to complete each day. This may increase your
desire to multitask in an attempt to handle more of your checklist. However, it's
often more helpful to keep a single focus on each task and work toward steady
completion, as your concentration may help you increase the quality of your work
along as well as the quantity of tasks.

6. Create a routine

Consider treating your daily routine as a task list and commit to completing each
task. This can help you set expectations and goals for your day and develop any
needed strategies for time management. Include your work duties and time for
self-care. It's helpful to turn portions or all of your daily routine into habit because
then your brain and body expect these commitments. Developing these habits can
improve your chances of successfully reaching your work goals and allow you to
take care of yourself in and out of workplace settings.

7. Design a relaxing work environment

Choose a work environment that encourages motivation. If you work in an office,
consider adding personal items such as family photos or plants that help you
relax. Some individuals may thrive in clean, isolated and organized workspaces,
while others enjoy and find motivation in community workspaces. Even if you
share a workspace, you can still design a healthy and relaxing environment that
improves your efficiency.

8. Develop a healthy balance between work and personal life

Create a schedule that allows you to accomplish your tasks during work hours in
order to have dedicated off-hours time for your family, friends or free time.
Keeping established times for relaxation and personal goals can help you
maintain your well-being, which in turn helps you fulfill your job duties. A
healthy balance can also promote personal satisfaction, as it may enable you to
meet both your professional and personal needs in life.

9. Organize a to-do list

Writing and evaluating a task list can help you prioritize obligations and create
an action plan with steps in a specific timeline. Written to-do lists may also
increase your motivation to fulfill tasks and promote rewarding feelings. Crossing
off a task after completing it can be a visual representation of you making
progress.

10. Minimize interruptions

Find or create a quiet work space with minimal interruptions and distractions.
When you can increase your focus on work, your efficiency and productivity
increase as well. Some ways to minimize interruptions in the workplace may
include scheduling appointments or meetings with coworkers, setting an away
message on a chat system and closing personal technology to prevent seeing
notifications. If you work in an environment where distractions are unavoidable,
try to schedule a small block of daily quiet time when you can get a maximum
amount of efficient work accomplished, such as in the early morning.

11. Ask for feedback

Seek continual input and evaluation from your team members and managers.
Feedback can provide insight into improvements you can make and help you
create new strategies for improvement. Your managers may also teach you new
skills and strategies for work efficiency. A one-on-one meeting with your
manager is often the best format as it provides the privacy to speak freely about
workplace habits, express concerns and ask questions.
12. Create incentives and celebrate accomplishments

Celebrating work accomplishments can boost your confidence and give you the
encouragement to complete more challenging tasks. Creating an incentive for
achieving a work goal or completing a high-priority task can also help you gain
motivation. Allowing yourself personal rewards can improve work efficiency
because they inspire you to meet your deadlines and produce quality work.

Material flow process chart, manflow process chart

A material flow diagrams used to illustrate material and mass flows in a visually
appealing way. Thus, they can show e.g. the distribution of goods or the
consumption of resources within a production system. Furthermore, they are
applicable for holistic material flow analyses. They can cover a great number of
areas, such as:

 Material flow analysis and management

 Supply chain management
 Plant planning
 Process engineering
 Logistics

Visualized by so called Sankey diagrams with flow widths proportional to the

flow quantity material flow diagrams draw the attention to the biggest mass flows
of the system.

Advantages of material flow diagrams

Material flow charts provide a lot of benefits for the visualization of material
usages. Rising material costs and a sustainable consumption of resources are the
most important challenges of the time. Material flow diagrams support you
identifying losses, closing loops and increasing resource efficiency in a
sustainable way.

Benefits of Flow Process Chart:

It helps to improve a work method by:

(i) Simplification of operations.

(ii) Simplification of inspection required.

(iii) Reduction in distance moved by men and materials in shops.

(iv) Reduction in waiting time.

(v) Reduction in periods of temporary storage so reduces work in process time.

Principles of motion economy

The principles of motion economy form a set of rules and suggestions to improve
the manual work in manufacturing and reduce fatigue and unnecessary
movements by the worker, which can lead to the reduction in the work related
trauma.

Categories

The principles of motion economy can be classified into four groups:

 Principles related to the use of human body,

 Principles related to the arrangement of the work place,
 Principles related to the design of tools and equipment.
 Principles related to time conservation.

Use of Human Body

 The two hands should begin motions at the same time.

 The two hands should not be idle at the same time except during rest
periods.
 Motions of the arms should be made in opposite and symmetrical
directions and should be made simultaneously
 Hand motions should be confined to the lowest classification with which it
is possible to perform the work satisfactorily:

1. Finger motions
2. Wrist motions
3. Forearm motions
4. Upper arm motions
5. Shoulder motions

Arrangement of the Work Place

 There should be a definite and fixed place for all tools and materials.
  Tools, materials, and controls should be located close in and directly in
front of the operator.
 Drop delivers should be used whenever possible.
 Materials and tools should be located to permit the best sequence of
motions.
 Arrange the height of the workplace and chair for alternate sitting and
standing, when possible.
 Provide a chair of the type and height to permit good posture.

Design of Tools and Equipment

 Combine tools whenever possible.

 Preposition tools and materials.
 Where each finger performs some specific movement, the load should be
distributed in accordance with the inherent capacities of the fingers.
 For light assembly, a screwdriver handle should be smaller at the bottom.
 Momentum should be used to help the worker in doing their task not to
increase their task.

Time Conservation

 Even a temporary delay of work by a man or machine should not be

encouraged.
 Machine should not run idle, it is not desirable that a lathe machine is
running and its job is rotating but no cut is being taken.
 Two or more jobs should be worked upon at the same time or two or more
operations should be carried out on a job simultaneously if possible.
 Number of motion involved in completing a job should be minimized.

Techniques of Work Measurement

Work measurement (WM)

Work measurement is the application of techniques designed to establish the time

for a qualified worker to carry out specified jobs at a defined level of
performance.

Work measurement (WM) is concerned with investigating, reducing and

eliminating ineffective time, whatever may be the cause.
WM is the means of measuring the time taken in the performance of an operation
or series of operations in such a way that the ineffective time is shown up and can
be separated out.

Work measurement is also called by the name ‘time study’. Work measurement
is absolutely essential for both the planning and control of operations. Without
measurement data, we cannot determine the capacity of facilities or it is not
possible to quote delivery dates or costs. We are not in a position to determine
the rate of production and also labor utilization and efficiency.

It may not be possible to introduce incentive schemes and standard costs for
budget control.

Objectives of Work Measurement

The use of work measurement as a basis for incentives is only a small part of its
total application.

The objectives of work measurement are to provide a sound basis for:

(i) Comparing alternative methods

(ii) Assessing the correct initial manning (manpower requirement planning).

(iii) Planning and control

(iv) Realistic costing

(v) Financial incentive schemes

(vi) Delivery date of goods

(vii) Cost reduction and cost control

(viii) Identifying substandard workers

(ix) Training new employees

Techniques of Work Measurement

Time study and work sampling involve direct observation and the remaining are
data based and analytical in nature.

1. Time study
A work measurement technique for recording the times and rates of working for
the elements of a specified job carried out under specified conditions and for
analyzing the data so as to determine the time necessary for carrying out the job
at the defined level of performance. In other words measuring the time through
stop watch is called time study.

2. Synthetic data

A work measurement technique for building up the time for a job or pans of the
job at a defined level of performance by totalling element times obtained
previously from time studies on other jobs containing the elements concerned or
from synthetic data.

3. Work sampling

A technique in which a large number of observations are made over a period of

time of one or group of machines, processes or workers. Each observation records
what is happening at that instant and the percentage of observations recorded for
a particular activity, or delay, is a measure of the percentage of time during which
that activities delay occurs.

4. Predetermined motion time study (PMTS)

A work measurement technique whereby times established for basic human

motions (classified according to the nature of the motion and conditions under
which it is made) are used to build up the time for a job at the defined level of
performance. The most commonly used PMTS is known as Methods Time
Measurement (MTM).

5. Analytical estimating

A work measurement technique, being a development of estimating, whereby the

time required to carry out elements of a job at a defined level of performance is
estimated partly from knowledge and practical experience of the elements
concerned and partly from synthetic data.

Steps Involved in Work Measurement

(i) Divide jobs into elements

(ii) Observe and record each element, any of the work measurement techniques.

(iii) Set up unit time values, by extending observed time into normal time for each
unit. This can be done by applying rating factor.
(iv) Evaluate relaxation allowance and add the same to the normal time, for each
element to get the work content.

(v) Ascertain the frequency of occurrence of each element in the job, then
multiply the work content to it. After that total the times to reach the work content
of the job.

(vi) Add contingency allowance, wherever required, to get the standard time for
performing the job.

Work measurement is helpful in evaluating the labour cost. Further, gives

information with respect to the estimation of tenders, assessment of delivery
schedule and fixation of the selling price.

Maintenance Scheduling, Equipment reliability

Schedule repair jobs

During operations, LRUs that need repair are released to the repair shop and need
to be repaired within the agreed planned lead time. This naturally leads to due-
dates for repair jobs. The repair job scheduling function is to schedule the repair
jobs subject to the resource constraints which are a consequence of the capacity
dimensioning decision. Within these constraints, specific resources are assigned
to specific repair jobs for specific periods in time so as to minimize the repair job
tardiness. Additionally, the repair shop may batch repair jobs to use resources
more efficiently by reducing set-up time and costs associated with using certain
resources.

Maintenance planning can be defined as an end-to-end process that identifies and

addresses any possible issues ahead of time. This involves identifying the parts
and tools necessary for jobs and making sure they’re available and laid out in the
appropriate areas, having a planner write out instructions on how to complete a
job, and even determining and gathering the necessary parts and/or tools before a
job is assigned. Maintenance planning also includes tasks related to parts like:
  Handling reserve parts
 Ordering nonstock parts
 Staging parts
 Illustrating parts
 Managing breakdowns and vendor lists
 Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC)

Maintenance planning should define the “what,” “why” and “how.” This means
specifying what work needs to be done with what materials, tools and equipment;
why a particular action was chosen (why a valve is being replaced instead of a
seat); and how the work should be completed.

Maintenance scheduling refers to the timing of planned work, when the work
should be done and who should perform it. It offers details of “when” and “who.”
Scheduling is meant to:

 Schedule the maximum amount of work with the available resources

 Schedule according to the highest priority work orders
 Schedule the maximum number of preventive maintenance jobs when
necessary
 Minimize the use of contract and outside resources by effectively using
internal labor

When implemented together, maintenance planning and scheduling should have

a significant benefit in multiple areas of your organization. These can include:

 Help with budgeting by controlling resources associated with maintenance

 A reduction in equipment downtime
 A reduction in spare parts
 Improved workflow
 Improved efficiency by minimizing the movement of resources between
areas

Principles

 Job plans are needed for scheduling: Job plans should include the number
of technicians required, the minimum skill level, work hours per skill level
and information on job duration. Maintenance needs this information to
schedule work, and job plans provide it in an efficient way. Does the job
require welding? How many welders are needed? How many assistants
does the engineer require? Asking questions like these during the creation
of job plans helps determine scheduling requirements.
 Schedules and job priorities are important: The weekly schedule and the
priorities that help determine this schedule are essential to improving
 productivity. Weekly scheduling frees up crew supervisors to focus on the
current week without worrying about the backlog. Maintenance and
operations use the weekly schedule for coordinating their tasks in advance,
so it’s critical to properly determine the priority levels of new work orders
to see if they should become part of the daily or weekly schedule.

Prioritizing advanced scheduling helps make sure sufficient workloads are

assigned, which increases productivity and ensures critical work orders are
completed first.

 Schedule based on the projected highest skills available: This principle

states that a scheduler should develop a one-week schedule for each crew
based on the available technician hours, the highest skill levels available,
job priorities and details from the job plans. Schedulers should select a
week’s worth of work from the plant backlog by using information on
priority and job plan details. They should then use a forecast of the
maximum capabilities of the technician crew for the coming week. After
several weeks have passed, technicians should have a better idea about the
amount of work they’re responsible for in a given week and become more
productive.
 Schedule for every available work hour: Bringing the previous
principles together, this guideline details how much work to schedule. The
scheduler should assign work plans for the technicians to complete a task
during the following week for 100 percent of the forecasted hours. So, if a
crew has 800 labor hours available, the scheduler would give them 800
hours’ worth of work. Scheduling for 100 percent of the forecasted work
hours prevents over- and under-scheduling.
 Daily work is handled by the crew leader: The crew leader or supervisor
should develop a daily schedule based on the one-week schedule, current
job progress and any new high-priority jobs that may arise. The supervisor
should assign daily work to technicians based on skill level and work order
requirements. In addition to the current days’ workload, the supervisor
should handle emergencies and reschedule assignments as needed. Daily
scheduling is almost always fluid thanks to the progress of the work being
performed. This makes it difficult to schedule precise job times very far in
advance. Inaccuracy of individual time estimates and reactive maintenance
are the two biggest factors contributing to this issue.
 Measure performance with schedule compliance: Scheduling success is
measured by the adherence to the one-week schedule and its effectiveness.
Wrench time is the ultimate measure of workforce efficiency and planning
and scheduling effectiveness. Planning work before assigning it reduces
unnecessary delays, while scheduled work reduces delays between jobs.
Implement Maintenance Planning and Scheduling

Phase 1: Setup: This phase encompasses all the steps needed to ensure your
organization is onboard with implementing maintenance planning and
scheduling. You should have made your case to leadership by exposing the issue
of low productivity, explaining how planning and scheduling can help solve that
issue, calculating the value of productivity improvement, and presenting the
results in the form of return on investment (ROI).

Phase 2: Define and analyze the situation: Phase two involves your team
looking at your current situation and identifying problems currently faced in
maintenance execution. During this phase, you should have representation from
all levels of the maintenance process technicians, key managers or supervisors,
and even representatives from procurement, finance and the warehouse. This
workshop-like environment should outline the current maintenance planning and
scheduling process.

Phase 3: Develop and prepare for delivery: Phase three involves planners and
supervisors working to establish supporting documentation and process maps as
well as defining in detail new processes, roles and responsibilities. You should
also make any necessary changes to your computerized maintenance management
system (CMMS) and develop training and coaching programs. Conducting a
single overview training session followed by a role-specific training program is
the most efficient way to go about training. This will prevent people from having
to attend training sessions that don’t pertain to them.

Phase 4: Implement: Once everything is in place, it’s time to roll out the new
maintenance planning and scheduling processes. The goal here is to embed the
new standards and procedures into the daily routines of all those involved until
they become the new normal. It’s generally accepted to allow for a three-month
coaching period, where individuals are assessed and receive help to close any
gaps in performance. If you operate a shift system, six months should be
sufficient. Remember, planners should only work on the processes, not in the
processes.

Phase 5: Review: This is sometimes called the “close-out” phase. Here, you want
to ensure the new maintenance planning and scheduling process won’t
disintegrate when the training and one-on-one time is over.
 Celebrate successes and make sure people are aware of how their hard work is
paying off.

Review what is going well and what could be better, and document these for the
next meeting with the planning department.

Develop sustainable procedures.

Phase 6: Sustain: This phase is considered “evergreen,” as processes and

procedures should always be improving. Be sure you have:

 All performance metrics in place and review them in meetings, verifying

that they are meeting long-term trends.
 Clearly defined procedures or job plans for each technician performing
certain tasks.
 Ensure new technicians are properly trained on these job plans.
 Standardized, up-to-date and easily accessibly documentation in place.
 A set time for conducting process reviews to assess what is working and
what isn’t. This is also the time to go over how processes can be improved.

Equipment reliability

The term equipment reliability and maintenance (ERM) encompasses not only
equipment, such as machines, tools, and fixtures, but also the technical,
operational, and management activities, ranging from equipment specifications
to daily operation and maintenance, required to sustain the performance of
manufacturing equipment throughout its useful life.

Reliability is a special attribute that describes the dependability of a component.

This means that the component consistently performs a desired function under
certain conditions for a certain period of time in order to meet business goals and
customer needs. Theoretically, reliability can be described as:

Reliability = 1 – Probability of Failure

ERM affects drastically the three key elements of competitiveness quality, cost,
and product lead time. Well-maintained machines hold tolerances better, help to
reduce scrap and rework, and raise part consistency and quality. By increasing
uptime and yields of good parts, ERM can reduce capital requirements, thereby
cutting total production costs. It also can shorten lead times by reducing
downtime and the need for retooling.

The replacement and displacement of conventional electro-mechanical factory

equipment by mechatronic equipment have given rise to a very different set of
reliability and maintenance requirements. The recent rush to embrace computer-
integrated manufacturing (CIM) has further increased the use of relatively
unknown and untested technology. The factory is becoming a web of
interdependent subsystems, interconnected by computer controllers that
communicate horizontally across peer processes and vertically to supervisory
controllers above or slaves below. Much of the controller software was written
with the assumption that all equipment works properly when, in fact, complicated
and unpredictable failure modes, unanticipated by the system and equipment
designers, are becoming increasingly apparent. It is seldom possible to predict
how a system will fail when something somewhere in the plant breaks down.
Because causal relationships are frequently hidden, repair is often time-
consuming, expensive, and tedious. A better job of debugging these systems via
simulation, analysis, and rapid development needs to be done.

Methods to Ensure Reliability of Equipment

Besides the engineering practices described above, there are three other essential
components to equipment reliability: maintenance, inspection, and technology.

1) Maintenance

Maintenance can be divided into three categories, preventive, predictive, and

corrective maintenance. Preventive measures are taken to eliminate unnecessary
inspection and repair tasks. Predictive maintenance generally involves
nondestructive inspection techniques to monitor the serviceability of the
equipment. Corrective maintenance involves repairing or replacing components
to restore equipment back to its operating conditions. Collectively, these tasks
should be managed in a well developed reliability centered maintenance program.

2) Inspection

Nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques are used extensively throughout the

lifecycle of equipment to locate and monitor damage mechanisms. Furthermore,
inspection plays a major role in any equipment reliability program. Some
common NDT methods used in the petroleum and chemicals industries include
radiographic testing, ultrasonic testing, electromagnetic testing, and many more.
When selecting an NDT method several considerations should be taken into
account including the type of damage, where the damage is located (external or
internal), and the size, shape, and orientation of the damage.

Quality Control
Quality control (QC) is a process through which a business seeks to ensure that
product quality is maintained or improved. Quality control requires the business
to create an environment in which both management and employees strive for
perfection. This is done by training personnel, creating benchmarks for product
quality and testing products to check for statistically significant variations.

A major aspect of quality control is the establishment of well-defined controls.

These controls help standardize both production and reactions to quality issues.
Limiting room for error by specifying which production activities are to be
completed by which personnel reduces the chance that employees will be
involved in tasks for which they do not have adequate training.

Meaning and Importance

Present era is the ‘Era of Quality’. In this age of cutthroat competition and large
scale production, only that manufacturer can survive who supplies better quality
goods and renders service to-the consumers. In fact quality control has become
major consideration before establishing an industrial undertaking. Proper quality
control ensures most effective utilization of available resources and reduction in
cost of production.

The word quality control comprises of two words viz., quality and control. It
would be appropriate to explain these two words separately to understand clearly
the meaning of quality control.

According to Dr. W.K. Spriegel “The quality of a product may be defined as the
sum of a number of related characteristics such as shape, dimension, composition,
strength, workmanship, adjustment, finish and colour”.

In the words of John D. McIIellan, “Quality is the degree to which a product

conforms to specifications and workmanship standards”.

It is clear from these definitions that quality refers to various characteristics of a

product and their excellence. Quality is a relative term and is never absolute
depending upon the use of the product and circumstances under which it is used.

To achieve and maintain a satisfactory level of quality of products is a very

difficult task.

It involves many steps to be undertaken viz:

(a) Product must possess a minimum level of quality so that it could be easily
sold in the market.

(b) In order to measure quality, accurate standard measurements must be

established.

(c) Reasonable deviation from the pre-determined standards must be determined.

‘(d) Satisfactory level of quality must be achieved with a minimum cost.

 Control refers to the use of all the ways and means whereby quality
standards could be maintained. Control precisely aims at bringing the
product up to predetermined standards by minimising deviations from
established and present standards.
 According to Henry Fayol, “Control consists in verifying whether
everything occurs in conformity with the plan adopted, the instructions
issued and principles established. It has objected to point out weaknesses
and errors in order to rectify them and prevent recurrence. It operates on
everything things, people, actions”.
 In the words of Theo Haimann, “control is the process of checking to
determine whether or not, proper progress is being made towards the
objectives and goals and acting if necessary to correct any deviation”.
 From the above mentioned definitions, it is clear that a good control system
should be such which suggests corrective remedies so that negative
deviations may not re-occur in future. The scope of the term ‘control’ is
wider, including not only product to be produced but also extending to
workmen and their methods of operations.

Objectives of quality control

Following are the important objectives of quality control:

1. To establish the desired quality standards which are acceptable to the

customers?
2. To discover flaws or variations in the raw materials and the manufacturing
processes in order to ensure smooth and uninterrupted production.
3. To evaluate the methods and processes of production and suggest further
improvements in their functioning.
4. To study and determine the extent of quality deviation in a product during
the manufacturing process.
5. To analyze in detail the causes responsible for such deviation.
6. To undertake such steps which are helpful in achieving the desired quality
of the product.
Quality Control Tools

There are many approaches to quality control. The type you use depends on your
specific product and should be determined before any quality control inspection
begins. There are seven primary quality control tools which include:

 At its most basic, quality control requires you to check off a list of items
that are imperative to manufacture and sell your product.
 Fishbone diagram. This visual is helpful for determining what causes a
specific problem, be it materials, machines, methods or manpower.
 Control chart. This helps you see how processes historically change using
controls. The chart helps you find and correct problems as they happen,
predict a range of outcomes and analyze variations.
 Instead of looking at all factors together, stratification separates data so you
can identify patterns and specific problem areas.
 Pareto chart. This type of bar chart provides a visual analysis of problems
and causes so you can focus on the most significant issues.
 A common graph that uses bars to identifies frequency distributions that
indicate how often defects occur.
 Scatter Diagram. Plotting information along two axes on this graph can
help visually identify relationships between variables.

A quality control inspector uses one or more of the available tools or methods to
do a complete analysis of a product or service to determine where improvements
can be made. An inspector typically gets training to know what method to use
and how to properly use it.

Internal vs. External Quality Control

Depending on the product you manufacture and sell, you may opt for internal or
external quality control inspections. If you establish an in-house protocol to check
your system, this is called internal quality control. It can range from routine
checking of equipment, having a coworker go over another employee’s data
analysis or running standards and controls on a regular basis. It is generally up to
management to decide if internal quality control measures are reliable and
performed as needed.

When products or data are sent to an outside business not affiliated with your
company, this is external control. One example of external control is in food
production. A food company may routinely analyze the nutritional value or shelf
life of a food item it produces in its own lab, but to verify the results, the same
food item will also be sent to an outside lab. This verification by a third party is
important to obtain Food and Drug Administration labeling and to prove to the
FDA that the food company’s production methods are sound.
Cost of Quality

Cost of quality (COQ) is defined as a methodology that allows an organization to

determine the extent to which its resources are used for activities that prevent
poor quality, that appraise the quality of the organization’s products or services,
and that result from internal and external failures. Having such information
allows an organization to determine the potential savings to be gained by
implementing process improvements.

In process improvement efforts, quality costs or cost of quality is a means to

quantify the total cost of quality-related efforts and deficiencies. It was first
described by Armand V. Feigenbaum in a 1956 Harvard Business Review article.

Prior to its introduction, the general perception was that higher quality requires
higher costs, either by buying better materials or machines or by hiring more
labor. Furthermore, while cost accounting had evolved to categorize financial
transactions into revenues, expenses, and changes in shareholder equity, it had
not attempted to categorize costs relevant to quality, which is especially important
given that most people involved in manufacturing never set hands on the product.
By classifying quality-related entries from a company’s general ledger,
management and quality practitioners can evaluate investments in quality based
on cost improvement and profit enhancement.

Cost of Poor Quality: Internal Failure Costs

Internal failure costs are costs that are caused by products or services not
conforming to requirements or customer/user needs and are found before delivery
of products and services to external customers. They would have otherwise led to
the customer not being satisfied. Deficiencies are caused both by errors in
products and inefficiencies in processes. Examples include the costs for:

 Rework
 Delays
 Re-designing
 Shortages
 Failure analysis
 Re-testing
 Downgrading
  Downtime
 Lack of flexibility and adaptability

Cost of Poor Quality: External Failure Costs

External failure costs are costs that are caused by deficiencies found after delivery
of products and services to external customers, which lead to customer
dissatisfaction. Examples include the costs for:

 Complaints
 Repairing goods and redoing services
 Warranties
 Customers’ bad will
 Losses due to sales reductions
 Environmental costs

Cost of Good Quality: Prevention Costs

Prevention costs are costs of all activities that are designed to prevent poor quality
from arising in products or services. Examples include the costs for:

 Quality planning
 Supplier evaluation
 New product review
 Error proofing
 Capability evaluations
 Quality improvement team meetings
 Quality improvement projects
 Quality education and training

Cost of Good Quality: Appraisal Costs

Appraisal costs are costs that occur because of the need to control products and
services to ensure a high-quality level in all stages, conformance to quality
standards and performance requirements. Examples include the costs for:

 Checking and testing purchased goods and services

 In-process and final inspection/test
 Field testing
 Product, process or service audits
 Calibration of measuring and test equipment
Total quality Management

 Total quality management (TQM) consists of organization-wide efforts

to “install and make permanent climate where employees continuously
improve their ability to provide on demand products and services that
customers will find of particular value.” “Total” emphasizes that
departments in addition to production (for example sales and marketing,
accounting and finance, engineering and design) are obligated to improve
their operations; “management” emphasizes that executives are obligated
to actively manage quality through funding, training, staffing, and goal
setting.

 Total Quality management is defined as a continuous effort by the

management as well as employees of a particular organization to ensure
long term customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Remember, one
happy and satisfied customer brings ten new customers along with him
whereas one disappointed individual will spread bad word of mouth and
spoil several of your existing as well as potential customers.
 You need to give something extra to your customers to expect loyalty in
return. Quality can be measured in terms of durability, reliability, usage
and so on. Total quality management is a structured effort by employees to
continuously improve the quality of their products and services through
proper feedbacks and research. Ensuring superior quality of a product or
service is not the responsibility of a single member.
 Every individual who receives his/her paycheck from the organization has
to contribute equally to design foolproof processes and systems which
would eventually ensure superior quality of products and services. Total
Quality management is indeed a joint effort of management, staff
members, workforce, suppliers in order to meet and exceed customer
satisfaction level. You can’t just blame one person for not adhering to
quality measures. The responsibility lies on the shoulder of everyone who
is even remotely associated with the organization.
 While there is no widely agreed-upon approach, TQM efforts typically
draw heavily on the previously developed tools and techniques of quality
control. TQM enjoyed widespread attention during the late 1980s and early
1990s before being overshadowed by ISO 9000, Lean manufacturing, and
Six Sigma.

The key concepts in the TQM effort undertaken by the Navy in the 1980s include:

 “Quality is defined by customers’ requirements.”

 “Top management has direct responsibility for quality improvement.”
  “Increased quality comes from systematic analysis and improvement of
work processes.”
 “Quality improvement is a continuous effort and conducted throughout the
organization.”

Total Quality management can be divided into four categories:

 Plan
 Do
 Check
 Act

Planning Phase

Planning is the most crucial phase of total quality management. In this phase
employees have to come up with their problems and queries which need to be
addressed. They need to come up with the various challenges they face in their
day-to-day operations and also analyze the problem’s root cause. Employees are
required to do necessary research and collect relevant data which would help
them find solutions to all the problems.

Doing Phase

In the doing phase, employees develop a solution for the problems defined in
planning phase. Strategies are devised and implemented to overcome the
challenges faced by employees. The effectiveness of solutions and strategies is
also measured in this stage.

Checking Phase

Checking phase is the stage where people actually do a comparison analysis of

before and after data to confirm the effectiveness of the processes and measure
the results.

Acting Phase

In this phase employees document their results and prepare themselves to address
other problems.

Important principles of Total Quality Management as a foundation for all

activities.

1. Quality can and must be managed

Many companies have wallowed in a repetitive cycle of chaos and customer
complaints. They believe that their operations are simply too large to effectively
manage the level of quality. The first step in the TQM process, then, is to realize
there is a problem and that it can be controlled.

2. Processes, not people, are the problem

If your process is causing problems, it won’t matter how many times you hire
new employees or how many training sessions you put them through. Correct the
process and then train your people on these new procedures.

3. Don’t treat symptoms, look for the cure

If you just patch over the underlying problems in the process, you will never be
able to fully reach your potential. If, for example, your shipping department is
falling behind, you may find that it is because of holdups in manufacturing. Go
for the source to correct the problem.

4. Every employee is responsible for quality

Everyone in the company, from the workers on the line to the upper management,
must realize that they have an important part to play in ensuring high levels of
quality in their products and services. Everyone has a customer to delight, and
they must all step up and take responsibility for them.

5. Quality must be measurable

A quality management system is only effective when you can quantify the results.
You need to see how the process is implemented and if it is having the desired
effect. This will help you set your goals for the future and ensure that every
department is working toward the same result.

6. Quality improvements must be continuous

Total Quality Management is not something that can be done once and then
forgotten. It’s not a management “phase” that will end after a problem has been
corrected. Real improvements must occur frequently and continually in order to
increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

7. Quality is a long-term investment

Quality management is not a quick fix. You can purchase QMS software that will
help you get things started, but you should understand that real results won’t
occur immediately. TQM is a long-term investment, and it is designed to help
you find long-term success.

Before you start looking for any kind of quality management software, it is
important to make sure you are capable of implementing these fundamental
principles throughout the company. This kind of management style can be a huge
culture change in some companies, and sometimes the shift can come with some
growing pains, but if you build on a foundation of quality principles, you will be
equipped to make this change and start working toward real long-term success.

ISO 9000, QS 9000

ISO 9000

 The ISO 9000 family of quality management systems (QMS) is a set of

standards that helps organizations ensure they meet customer and other
stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a
product or service. ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of QMS,
including the seven quality management principles that underlie the family
of standards. ISO 9001 deals with the requirements that organizations
wishing to meet the standard must fulfil.
 Third-party certification bodies provide independent confirmation that
organizations meet the requirements of ISO 9001. Over one million
organizations worldwide are independently certified, making ISO 9001
one of the most widely used management tools in the world today.
However, the ISO certification process has been criticized as being
wasteful and not being useful for all organizations.
 ISO 9000 was first published in 1987 by ISO (International Organization
for Standardization). It was based on the BS 5750 series of standards from
BSI that were proposed to ISO in 1979. However, its history can be traced
back some twenty years before that, to the publication of government
procurement standards, such as the United States Department of Defense
MIL-Q-9858 standard in 1959, and the UK’s Def Stan 05-21 and 05–24.
Large organizations that supplied government procurement agencies often
had to comply with a variety of quality assurance requirements for each
contract awarded, which led the defense industry to adopt mutual
recognition of NATO AQAP, MIL-Q, and Def Stan standards. Eventually,
 industries adopted ISO 9000 instead of forcing contractors to adopt
multiple and often similar requirements.

The ISO 9000 series are based on seven quality management principles (QMP)

The seven quality management principles are:

QMP 1 – Customer focus

QMP 2 – Leadership

QMP 3 – Engagement of people

QMP 4 – Process approach

QMP 5 – Improvement

QMP 6 – Evidence-based decision making

QMP 7 – Relationship management

Principle 1: Customer focus

Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current

and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to
exceed customer expectations.

 Understand the needs of existing and future customers

 Align organizational objectives with customer needs and expectations
 Meet customer requirements
 Measure customer satisfaction
 Manage customer relationships
 Aim to exceed customer expectations

Principle 2: Leadership

Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should
create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully
involved in achieving the organization’s objectives.

 Establish a vision and direction for the organization

 Set challenging goals
 Model organizational values
 Establish trust
 Equip and empower employees
  Recognize employee contributions

Principle 3: Engagement of people

People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement
enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit.

 Ensure that people’s abilities are used and valued

 Make people accountable
 Enable participation in continual improvement
 Evaluate individual performance
 Enable learning and knowledge sharing
 Enable open discussion of problems and constraints

Principle 4: Process approach

A desired result is achieved more efficiently when activities and related resources
are managed as a process.

 Manage activities as processes

 Measure the capability of activities
 Identify linkages between activities
 Prioritize improvement opportunities
 Deploy resources effectively

Principle 5: Improvement

Improvement of the organization’s overall performance should be a permanent

objective of the organization.

 Improve organizational performance and capabilities

 Align improvement activities
 Empower people to make improvements
 Measure improvement consistently
 Celebrate improvements

Principle 6: Evidence-based decision making

Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information.

 Ensure the accessibility of accurate and reliable data

 Use appropriate methods to analyze data
 Make decisions based on analysis
 Balance data analysis with practical experience
Principle 7: Relationship management

An organization and its external providers (suppliers, contractors, service

providers) are interdependent and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the
ability of both to create value.

 Identify and select suppliers to manage costs, optimize resources, and

create value
 Establish relationships considering both the short and long term
 Share expertise, resources, information, and plans with partners
 Collaborate on improvement and development activities
 Recognize supplier successes

QS 9000

QS9000 was a quality standard developed by a joint effort of the “Big Three”
American automakers, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. It was introduced to
the industry in 1994. It has been adopted by several heavy truck manufacturers in
the U.S. as well. Essentially all suppliers to the US automakers needed to
implement a standard QS9000 system, before its termination.

The standard is divided into three sections with the first section being ISO 9001
plus some automotive requirements.

The second section is titled “Additional Requirements” and contains system

requirements that have been adopted by all three automakers; General Motors,
Chrysler and Ford.

The third section is titled the “Customer Specific Section” which contains system
requirements that are unique to each automotive or truck manufacturer.

On December 14, 2006, all QS9000 certifications were terminated. With QS9000,
the middle certification between ISO 9001 and ISO/TS 16949, no longer valid,
businesses had a choice between either ISO9001 or TS16949. QS9000 is
considered superseded by ISO/TS 16949, now a standard published by IATF, thus
renamed IATF 16949:2016 (current version).

QS-9000 resources

Every QS-9000-registered company needs to have and follow six supplementary

manuals in addition to the basic Quality System Requirement QS-9000:

 Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)

 Statistical Process Control (SPC)
  Measurement System Analysis (MSA)
 Advance Product Quality Planning (APQP)
 The Production Part Approval Process (PPAP)
 Quality System Assessment (QSA); a checklist for evaluating supplier
sites.

Accepting Sampling Procedures

 Acceptance sampling is a statistical measure used in quality control. It

allows a company to determine the quality of a batch of products by
selecting a specified number for testing. The quality of this designated
sample will be viewed as the quality level for the entire group of products.
 A company cannot test every one of its products. There may simply be too
high a volume or number of them to inspect at a reasonable cost or within
a reasonable time frame. Or effective testing might result in the destruction
of the product or making it unfit for sale in some way.
 Acceptance sampling solves these problems by testing a representative
sample of the product for defects. The process involves first, determining
the size of a product lot to be tested, then the number of products to be
sampled, and finally the number of defects acceptable within the sample
batch.
 Products are chosen at random for sampling. The procedure usually occurs
at the manufacturing site the plant or factory and just before the products
are to be transported. This process allows a company to measure the quality
of a batch with a specified degree of statistical certainty without having to
test every single unit. Based on the results how many of the predetermined
number of samples pass or fail the testing the company decides whether to
accept or reject the entire lot.
 The statistical reliability of a sample is generally measured by a t-statistic,
a type of inferential statistic used to determine if there is a significant
difference between two groups that share common features.
 Acceptance sampling uses statistical sampling to determine whether to
accept or reject a production lot of material. It has been a common quality
control technique used in industry. It is usually done as products leaves the
factory, or in some cases even within the factory. Most often a producer
supplies a consumer a number of items and a decision to accept or reject
the items is made by determining the number of defective items in a sample
from the lot. The lot is accepted if the number of defects falls below where
the acceptance number or otherwise the lot is rejected.
In general, acceptance sampling is employed when one or several of the following
hold:

 Testing is destructive;
 The cost of 100% inspection is very high; and
 100% inspection takes too long.

A wide variety of acceptance sampling plans are available. For example, multiple
sampling plans use more than two samples to reach a conclusion. A shorter
examination period and smaller sample sizes are features of this type of plan.
Although the samples are taken at random, the sampling procedure is still reliable.

Acceptance sampling for attributes

A single sampling plan for attributes is a statistical method by which the lot is
accepted or rejected on the basis of one sample. Suppose that we have a lot of
size M; a random sample of size N<M is selected from the lot; and an acceptance
number B is determined. If it is found the number of nonconforming is less than
or equal to B, the lot is accepted; and if the number of nonconforming is greater
than B, the lot is not accepted. The design of a single sampling plan requires the
selection of the sample size N and the acceptance number B.

MIL-STD-105 was a United States defense standard that provided procedures and
tables for sampling by attributes (pass or fail characteristic). MIL-STD-105E was
cancelled in 1995 but is available in related documents such as ANSI/ASQ Z1.4,
“Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributes”. Several levels of
inspection are provided and can be indexed to several AQLs. The sample size is
specified and the basis for acceptance or rejection (number of defects) is
provided. MIL-STD-1916 is currently the preferred method of sampling for all
Department of Defense (DoD) contracts.

Control charts

 Control charts, also known as Shewhart charts (after Walter A. Shewhart)

or process-behavior charts, are a statistical process control tool used to
determine if a manufacturing or business process is in a state of control. It
is more appropriate to say that the control charts are the graphical device
for Statistical Process Monitoring (SPM). Traditional control charts are
mostly designed to monitor process parameters when underlying form of
the process distributions are known. However, more advanced techniques
are available in the 21st century where incoming data streaming can-be
monitored even without any knowledge of the underlying process
 distributions. Distribution-free control charts are becoming increasingly
popular.
 If analysis of the control chart indicates that the process is currently under
control (i.e., is stable, with variation only coming from sources common to
the process), then no corrections or changes to process control parameters
are needed or desired. In addition, data from the process can be used to
predict the future performance of the process. If the chart indicates that the
monitored process is not in control, analysis of the chart can help determine
the sources of variation, as this will result in degraded process
performance. A process that is stable but operating outside desired
(specification) limits (e.g., scrap rates may be in statistical control but
above desired limits) needs to be improved through a deliberate effort to
understand the causes of current performance and fundamentally improve
the process.
 The control chart is one of the seven basic tools of quality control.
Typically control charts are used for time-series data, though they can be
used for data that have logical comparability (i.e. you want to compare
samples that were taken all at the same time, or the performance of
different individuals); however the type of chart used to do this requires
consideration.

Chart details

A control chart consists of:

 Points representing a statistic (e.g., a mean, range, proportion) of

measurements of a quality characteristic in samples taken from the process
at different times (i.e., the data)
 The mean of this statistic using all the samples is calculated (e.g., the mean
of the means, mean of the ranges, mean of the proportions)
 A center line is drawn at the value of the mean of the statistic
 The standard deviation (e.g., sqrt(variance) of the mean) of the statistic is
also calculated using all the samples
 Upper and lower control limits (sometimes called “natural process limits”)
that indicate the threshold at which the process output is considered
statistically ‘unlikely’ and are drawn typically at 3 standard deviations
from the center line.
The chart may have other optional features, including:

 Upper and lower warning or control limits, drawn as separate lines,

typically two standard deviations above and below the center line
 Division into zones, with the addition of rules governing frequencies of
observations in each zone
 Annotation with events of interest, as determined by the Quality Engineer
in charge of the process’ quality
 Action on special causes

Usage

 If the process is in control (and the process statistic is normal), 99.7300%

of all the points will fall between the control limits. Any observations
outside the limits, or systematic patterns within, suggest the introduction
of a new (and likely unanticipated) source of variation, known as a special-
cause variation. Since increased variation means increased quality costs, a
control chart “signaling” the presence of a special-cause requires
immediate investigation.
 This makes the control limits very important decision aids. The control
limits provide information about the process behavior and have no intrinsic
relationship to any specification targets or engineering tolerance. In
practice, the process mean (and hence the centre line) may not coincide
with the specified value (or target) of the quality characteristic because the
process design simply cannot deliver the process characteristic at the
desired level.
 Control charts limit specification limits or targets because of the tendency
of those involved with the process (e.g., machine operators) to focus on
performing to specification when in fact the least-cost course of action is
to keep process variation as low as possible. Attempting to make a process
whose natural centre is not the same as the target perform to target
specification increases process variability and increases costs significantly
and is the cause of much inefficiency in operations. Process capability
studies do examine the relationship between the natural process limits (the
control limits) and specifications, however.
 The purpose of control charts is to allow simple detection of events that are
indicative of actual process change. This simple decision can be difficult
where the process characteristic is continuously varying; the control chart
provides statistically objective criteria of change. When change is detected
and considered good its cause should be identified and possibly become
the new way of working, where the change is bad then its cause should be
identified and eliminated.
Elements of a Control Chart

There are three main elements of a control chart as shown in Figure.

 A control chart begins with a time series graph.

 A central line (X) is added as a visual reference for detecting shifts or
trends – this is also referred to as the process location.
 Upper and lower control limits (UCL and LCL) are computed from
available data and placed equidistant from the central line. This is also
referred to as process dispersion.

Four Process States

Processes fall into one of four states:

1) The ideal

2) The threshold

3) The brink of chaos

4) The state of chaos.

When a process operates in the ideal state, that process is in statistical control and
produces 100 percent conformance. This process has proven stability and target
performance over time. This process is predictable and its output meets customer
expectations.

A process that is in the threshold state is characterized by being in statistical

control but still producing the occasional nonconformance. This type of process
will produce a constant level of nonconformances and exhibits low capability.
Although predictable, this process does not consistently meet customer needs.

The brink of chaos state reflects a process that is not in statistical control, but also
is not producing defects. In other words, the process is unpredictable, but the
outputs of the process still meet customer requirements. The lack of defects leads
to a false sense of security, however, as such a process can produce
nonconformances at any moment. It is only a matter of time.

The fourth process state is the state of chaos. Here, the process is not in statistical
control and produces unpredictable levels of nonconformance.

Process in Threshold Ideal

control State State
Process out State Brink

Of control Of chaos Of chaos

Some 100%

Nonconformance Conformance