Lesson Proper for Week 1
Quality
• There's a lot more to managing quality than just manufacturing widgets without any defects or
getting trains to run on time – although those things are certainly part of the picture
• What qualifies as an acceptable level of quality for your organisation is ultimately a question
for your stakeholders. And by stakeholders, we mean anyone who has an interest in the
success of what your organisation does.
• Customers will be the most important group of stakeholders for the majority of businesses,
but investors, employees, suppliers and members of our wider society are stakeholders too.
Delivering an acceptable level of quality in your organisation means knowing who your
stakeholders are, understanding what their needs are and meeting those needs (or even
better, exceeding expectations), both now and in the future.
• The CQI believes this comes down to three things: strong governance to define the
organisation's aims and translate them into action, robust systems of assurance to make sure
things stay on track and a culture of improvement to keep getting better.
Dimensions of Quality
Dimension 1: Performance 
• A quality product will perform as expected by the user and as specified by the manufacturer. If
products do not do as buyers expect, users will be disappointed and frustrated. Worse still
poor performing products get negative reviews and lose sales and reputation.
Dimension 2: Features
• What additional benefits will be added to the product? Will they be they tangible or non-
tangible benefits. For example this could be after sales service, or guarantees. Some features
will be present in all products but other features will only be found in "quality" products. For
example all cars have wheels, steering wheel, gears, windows and seats but only some cars
have heated seats, assisted parking and Bluetooth.
Dimension 3: Reliability
• Is the product consistent? Will it perform well over its expected lifetime and perform
consistently? Many brands have developed trust with customers because of their reputation
for reliability. 
Dimension 4: Durability 
• How durable is your product? Will it last with daily use?
Dimension 3: Reliability
• Is the product consistent? Will it perform well over its expected lifetime and perform
consistently? Many brands have developed trust with customers because of their reputation
for reliability.
Dimension 4: Durability
• How durable is your product? Will it last with daily use?
Dimension 5: Conformance
• Does your product meet with any agreed internal and national specifications? For example,
safety regulations and laws.
Dimension 6: Serviceability
• Is the product easy to service? Does the organization offer enough service suppot?
Dimension 7: Aesthetics
• Is the product appealing to the eye? Design is important for many products; the color picked
indicates certain things.
Dimension 8: Perceived Quality
• What sort of quality perception does the marketing team want to convey in their marketing
message? Will the price charged reflect the quality of the product? What brand name is going
to be used and does this convey any perception of quality?
Quality management is the act of overseeing all activities and tasks that must be accomplished to
maintain a desired level of excellence. This includes the determination of a quality policy, creating and
implementing quality planning and assurance, and quality control and quality improvement. It is also
referred to as total quality management(TQM).
KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Quality management is the act of overseeing all activities and tasks needed to maintain a
desired level of excellence.

• Quality management includes the determination of a quality policy, creating and

implementing quality planning and assurance, and quality control and quality improvement.

• TQM requires that all stakeholders in a business work together to improve processes,
products, services and the culture of the company itself.

Understanding Quality Management

• At its core, TQM is a business philosophy that champions the idea that the long-term success
of a company comes from customer satisfaction and loyalty. TQM requires that all
stakeholders in a business work together to improve processes, products, services and the
culture of the company itself.

The aim of quality management is to ensure that all the organization’s stakeholders work together to
improve the company’s processes, products, services, and culture to achieve the long-term success that
stems from customer satisfaction.

The process of quality management involves a collection of guidelines that are developed by a team to
ensure that the products and services that they produce are of the right standards or fit for a specified
purpose.

• The process starts when the organization sets quality targets to be met and which are agreed
upon with the customer.

• The organization then defines how the targets will be measured. It takes the actions that are
required to measure quality. It then identifies any quality issues that arise and initiates
improvements.

• The final step involves reporting the overall level of the quality achieved.

The process ensures that the products and services produced by the team match the customers’
expectations.
Lesson Proper for Week 2
Quality Characteristic
• an inherent characteristic of a product that says something about as aspect of the quality of the
product. The use of a set of quality characteristics is recommended as a way to check for
completeness of your test. It allows you to check that, out of all the aspects or characteristics of a
system or package under test, a careful decision has been made about whether or not to test these.
This is a list of quality characteristics. This is a general list for software development - for specific circumstances
specific quality characteristics can be of importance and the list can be expanded to fit your specific situation.
• Connectivity
The ease with which an interface can be created with another information system or within the information
system, and can be changed.
Connectivity is tested statically by assessing the relevant measures (such as standardisation) with the aid of a
checklist. The testing of connectivity therefore concerns the evaluation of the ease with which a (new) interface
can be set up or changed, and not the testing of whether an interface operates correctly. The latter is normally
part of the testing of functionality.
• Continuity
The certainty that the information system will continue without disruption, i.e. that it can be resumed within a
reasonable time, even after a serious breakdown.
The continuity quality characteristic can be split into characteristics that can be applied in sequence, in the
event of increasing disruption of the information system:
• Reliability:
o the degree to which the information system remains free of breakdowns
• Robustness:
o the degree to which the information system can simply proceed after the breakdown has
been rectified
• Recoverability:
o the ease and speed with which the information system can be resumed following a
breakdown
• Degradation factor:
o the ease with which the core of the information system can proceed after a part has shut
down
• Fail-over possibilities:
o the ease with which (a part of) the information system can be continued at another
location.
• Continuity can be tested statically by assessing the existence and setup of measures in the context of
continuity on the basis of a checklist. Dynamic implicit testing is possible through the collecting of
statistics during the execution of other tests. The simulation of long-term system usage (reliability) or
the simulation of breakdown (robustness, recoverability, degradation and fail-over) are dynamic
explicit tests.
• Data controllability
The ease with which the accuracy and completeness of the information can be verified (over time).
Common means employed in this connection are checksums, crosschecks and audit trails. Verifiability can be
statically tested, focusing on the setup of the relevant measures with the aid of a checklist, and can be
dynamically explicitly tested focusing on the implementation of the relevant measure in the system.
• Effectivity
The degree to which the information system is tailored to the organisation and the profile of the end users for
whom it is intended, as well as the degree to which the information system contributes to the achievement of
the company goals.
A usable information system increases the efficiency of the business processes. Will a new system function in
practice, or not? Only the users’ organisation can answer that question. During (user) acceptance tests, this
aspect is usually (implicitly) included. If the aspect of usability is explicitly recognised in the test strategy, a test
type can be organised for it: the business simulation. During a business simulation, a random group of potential
users tests the usability aspects of the product in an environment that approximates as far as possible the “real-
life” environment in which they plan to use the system: the simulated production environment. The test takes
place based on a number of practical exercises or test scripts. In practice, the testing of usability is often
combined with the testing of user-friendliness within the test type of usability.
• Data controllability
The ease with which the accuracy and completeness of the information can be verified (over time).
Common means employed in this connection are checksums, crosschecks and audit trails. Verifiability can be
statically tested, focusing on the setup of the relevant measures with the aid of a checklist, and can be
dynamically explicitly tested focusing on the implementation of the relevant measure in the system.
• Effectivity
The degree to which the information system is tailored to the organisation and the profile of the end users for
whom it is intended, as well as the degree to which the information system contributes to the achievement of
the company goals.
A usable information system increases the efficiency of the business processes. Will a new system function in
practice, or not? Only the users’ organisation can answer that question. During (user) acceptance tests, this
aspect is usually (implicitly) included. If the aspect of usability is explicitly recognised in the test strategy, a test
type can be organised for it: the business simulation. During a business simulation, a random group of potential
users tests the usability aspects of the product in an environment that approximates as far as possible the “real-
life” environment in which they plan to use the system: the simulated production environment. The test takes
place based on a number of practical exercises or test scripts. In practice, the testing of usability is often
combined with the testing of user-friendliness within the test type of usability.
• Efficiency
The relationship between the performance level of the system (expressed in the transaction volume and the
total speed) and the volume of resources (CPU cycles, I/O time, memory and network usage, etc.) used for
these.
Efficiency is tested with the aid of tools that measure the resource usage and/or dynamically implicitly by the
accumulation of statistics (by those same tools) during the execution of functionality tests. This aspect is often
particularly evident with embedded systems.
• Flexibility
The degree to which the user is able to introduce enhancements or variations on the information system
without amending the software. In other words, the degree to which the system can be amended by the user
organisation, without being dependent on the IT department for maintenance. Flexibility is statically tested by
assessing the relevant measures with the aid of a checklist. Testing can take place during the (user) acceptance
test, by having the user create, for example, a new mortgage variant (in the case of mortgages) or (in the case of
credit cards), change the way of calculating the commission, by changing the parameters in both cases. It is
often tested in this way first, before the change is actually implemented in production.
• Functionality
The degree of certainty that the system processes the information accurately and completely.
The quality characteristic of functionality can be split into the characteristics of accuracy and completeness:  of other applications. If the system is to a large extent based on reusable modules, this also benefits the
o Accuracy: the degree to which the system correctly processes the supplied input and
mutations according to the specifications into consistent data collections and output 
o Completeness: the certainty that all of the input and mutations are being processed by the
system.
With testing, meeting the specified functionality is often the most important criterion for acceptance of the
information system. Using various techniques, the functional operation can be dynamically explicitly tested.
• (Suitability of) Infrastructure
The appropriateness of the hardware, the network, the system software, the DBMS and the (technical)
architecture in a general sense to the relevant application and the degree to which these infrastructure
elements interconnect.
The testing of this aspect can be done in various ways. The tester’s expertise as related to the infrastructural
elements concerned is very important here. More on infrastructure testing can be found in InfraTesting with
TMap.
• Maintainability
The ease with which the information system can be adapted to new requirements of the user, to the changing
external environment, or in order to correct faults.
Insight into the maintainability is obtained, for example, by registering the average effort (in the number of
hours) required to solve a fault or by registering the average duration of repair (Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)).
Maintainability is also tested by assessing the internal quality of the information system (including associated
system documentation) with the aid of a checklist. Insight into the structuredness of the software (an aspect of
maintainability) is obtained by carrying out static tests, preferably supported by code analysis tools.
• Manageability
The ease with which the information system can be placed and maintained in an operational condition.
Manageability is primarily aimed at technical system administration. The ease of installation of the information
system is part of this characteristic. It can be tested statically by assessing the existence of measures and
instruments that simplify or facilitate system management. Testing of system management takes place by, for
example, carrying out an installation test and by carrying out the administration procedures (such as backup and
recovery) in the test environment.
• Performance
The speed with which the information system handles interactive and batch transactions. More on performance
testing in the building block.
• Portability
The diversity of the hardware and software platform on which the information system can run, and the ease
with which the system can be transferred from one environment to another.
• Reusability
The degree to which parts of the information system, or of the design, can be used again for the development
maintainability. Reusability is tested through assessing the information system and/or the design with the aid of
a checklist.
• Security
The certainty that consultation or mutation of the data can only be performed by those persons who are
authorised to do so.
• Suitability
The degree to which the manual procedures and the automated information system interconnect, and the
workability of these manual procedures for the organisation. In the testing of suitability, the aspect of timeliness
is also often included. Timeliness is defined as the degree to which the information becomes available in time to
take the measures for which that information was intended. Suitability is tested with the aid of the process
cycle test.
 • Testability
The ease and speed with which the functionality and performance level of the system (after each adjustment)
can be tested.
Testability in this case concerns the total information system. The quality of the system documentation greatly
influences the testability of the system. This is measured with the aid of the “testability review” checklist during
the Preparation phase. Also for the measuring of the testability of the information system a checklist can be
used. Things that (strongly) benefit the testability are:
o Good system documentation.
o Having an (automated) regression test and other test ware.
o The ease, with which interim results of the system can be made visible, assessed and even
manipulated.
o Various test-environment aspects, such as representativeness and an adjustable system
date for purposes of time travel.
• User-friendliness
The ease of operation of the system by the end users. Often, this general definition is split into: the ease with
which the end user can learn to handle the information system, and the ease with which trained users can
handle the information system. It is difficult to establish an objective and workable unit of measurement for
user-friendliness. However, it is often possible to give a (subjective) opinion couched in general terms
concerning this aspect. User-friendliness is tested within the test type of Usability
Service Quality matters.
• How do you manage the quality of your services?
Service quality management encompasses a variety of procedures to assess the quality of services according to
customer expectations. It also includes the maintenance and long-term monitoring of all services offered to
customers, in order to track developments in quality and measure the efficiency of improvement efforts. By
measuring the size of the gap between expectations and reality, companies are delivered with actionable
insights for targeted improvements. Moreover, companies profit from the additional benefit of getting to know
their target audiences much better along the way. Lastly, continuous service quality management enables
companies to identify and reduce sources of errors and customer complaints.
Unlike measuring product quality, determining the concrete value of services is less based on tangible facts. If a
product breaks, there’s an indisputable problem with its construction. The quality of services, however, can only
truly be determined by analyzing a substantial amount of customer opinions over time, enabling the
establishment of correlations and overlapping trends.
To therefore measure service quality in a way that will produce actionable and meaningful results, companies
require a continuous source of specific information describing individual service interactions. This enables the
specific analysis of individual customer service touch points and provides companies with the data they need to
make targeted improvements in the areas that matter most to customers.
Quality of Service
Service has quality that if can satisfy the customer's needs and demands, and the provided service consistent
with customer expectations or will be beyond it. The common factors of service quality are as follows :
• 1. Process Quality: Refers to processes and production methods quality and provide services to
customers. 
• 2. Product Quality: is evaluated after the provide service. In fact, product is what the customer gets
from organization. 
• 3. Physical Quality: Refers to goods or services the product support cases. (Grace & Ocass 2008) 
• 4. Interactive Quality: Refers to interactions between customers and service providers. 
• 5. Organization Quality: Is related to mental image and perception total from organization. Generally,
The organization quality is an intangible dimension. (Evans &Lindsay 2009)
• Dimensions of Services Quality
Dimensions of services quality included:
o 1. Available
o 2. Communications
o 3. Competencies
o 4. Humility
o 5. Reliability
o 6. Trust
o 7. Responding
o 8. Security
o 9. Understand
o 10. Tangible factors (Saei Asri et al. 2010)
• The reasons for the provided high quality services by the organizations included :
• 1. Increasing Customer Expectations: Generally, customer expectations have risen than past.
Increasing customer expectations may relate to several factors including increased customers'
awareness and knowledge, organization advertising, and competitors' performance. Arabian Journal
of Business and Management Review (OMAN Chapter) Vol. 3, No.3; Oct. 2013 36
• 2. Competitor Activity: Competitors by continuous changing of own services and how to provided to
customers are constantly do changing markets and they are seek to increase their market share. This
act will compel others take steps in order to improve their services quality. (Gronroos 2010)
 • 3. Environmental Factors: Forced to provide high quality services factors of legal and political,
economic, social and cultural to organizations. Additionally Today by expanding access to the internet,
customers can easily obtain information from around the world.

• 4. Services Nature: Evaluation of the services quality is problem considering attributes of services for
its recipients. For this reason, customers considering services' physical evidence and employees'
behavior do evaluation the service quality. (Porter 2007) 

• 5. Organizational Internal Factors: Organizations by own promoting activity raise customers'

expectations and demands. As a result, when customer comes to organizations, has expected
promised services. Thus, organization performance should will be responsive to the expectations of
the customers. 

• 6. Benefits Arising From Service Quality: Benefits arising from service quality is another factor that
encourages organizations to provide high quality services. One of the direct effects is increasing the
organization's ability to provide efficient services for customers. Because organization found their
customers have what demands and needs. So reduce or even eliminate from non-essential services.
Organization's profit will increase by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness in providing services.
Also provide a better service to customers makes repeat of purchase and spreading positive mouth to
mouth advertising. (SeyedJavadian & Kimasi 2005)

Customers' Satisfaction Factors Than Service Organization

• 1. Type deal service employees

• 2. Interact with equipment

• 3. The appearance and internal and external specifications of service facility under as physical -
environment factors

• 4. Features and behavior of other customers (Gilaninia 2013)

Conclusions

Service is a work and practical offered by one party to the opposite party. A service has four distinctive feature
included intangible, inseparable, heterogeneous, and non-store. A service has quality can satisfy customers’
needs and demands. Common factors of service quality included process quality, product quality, physical
quality, interactive quality, and organization quality. Service quality is more important and necessary due to
increasing customer expectations, competitor activity, environmental factors, services nature, organizational
internal factors.
Lesson Proper for Week 3
• The ISO 9000 definition of quality improvement states that it is part of quality
management focused on increasing the ability to fulfil quality requirements. 
• In simple terms, quality improvement is anything which causes a beneficial change in
quality performance. There are two basic ways of bringing about improvement in quality
performance. One is by better control and the other by raising standards. We don't have
suitable words to define these two concepts. 
• Doing better what you already do is improvement but so is doing something new. Juran
uses the term control for maintaining standards and the term breakthrough for
achieving new standards. Imai uses the term Improvement when change is gradual and
Innovation when it is radical. Hammer uses the term reengineering for the radical
changes. All beneficial change results in improvement whether gradual or radical so we
really need a word which means gradual change or incremental change. The Japanese
have the word Kaizen but there is no English equivalent that I know of other than the
word improvement. 
• Quality improvement (for better control) is a process for changing standards. It is not a
process for maintaining or creating new standards. Standards are changed through a
process of selection, analysis, corrective action on the standard or process, education
and training. The standards which emerge from this process are an improvement from
those used previously. A typical quality improvement might be to increase the achieved
reliability of a range of products from 1 failure every 1000 hours to meet the specified
target of 1 every 5000 hours. Another might be to reduce service call-out response time
from an average of 38 hours to the maximum of 36 hours specified. Another might be
simply to correct the weaknesses in the registered quality management system so that it
will pass re-assessment.
• Quality improvement (raising standards or Innovation), is a process for creating new
standards. It is not a process for maintaining or improving existing standards. Standards
are created through a process which starts at a feasibility stage and progresses through
research and development to result in a new standard proven for repeatable
applications. Such standards result from innovations in technology, marketing and
management. A typical quality improvement might be to redesign a range of products to
increase the achieved reliability from 1 failure every 5000 hours to 1 failure every 10,000
hours. Another example might be to improve the efficiency of the service organization
so as to reduce the guaranteed call-out time from the specified 36 hours to 24 hours. A
further example might be to design and install a quality system which complies with ISO
9001.
• The transition between where quality improvement stops and quality control begins is
where the level has been set and the mechanisms are in place to keep quality on or
above the set level. In simple terms if quality improvement reduces quality costs from
25% of turnover to 10% of turnover, the objective of quality control is to prevent the
quality costs rising above 10% of turnover. This is illustrated below. 
• Improvement by better control is achieved through the corrective action mechanisms
referred to in ISO 9001:2015 clause 10.2. Improvement by raising standards requires a
different process. A process which results in new standards.
Improving quality by raising standards can be accomplished by the following steps:
• Determine the objective to be achieved. e.g. new markets, products or technologies or
new levels of organizational efficiency or managerial effectiveness, new national
standards or government legislation. These provide the reasons for needing change. 
• Determine the policies needed for improvement. i.e. the broad guidelines to enable
management to cause or stimulate the improvement. 
• Conduct a feasibility study. This should discover whether accomplishment of the
objective is feasible and propose several strategies or conceptual solutions for
consideration. 
• If feasible, approval to proceed should be secured. 
• Produce plans for the improvement which specifies the means by which the objective
will be achieved.  Organize the resources to implement the plan. 
• Carry out research, analysis and design to define a possible solution and credible
alternatives.
• Model and develop the best solution and carry out tests to prove it fulfills the objective.

• Identify and overcome any resistance to the change in standards. 
• Implement the change i.e. putting new products into production and new services into
operation. 
• Put in place the controls to hold the new level of performance. 
 • This improvement process will require controls to keep improvement projects on course
towards their objectives. The controls applied should be designed in the manner
described previously. 
• More information about quality improvement can be found in Part 10 of the ISO 9000
Quality Systems Handbook 7E
Graphic Representation
Types of Graphical Representation
Data charts are available in a wide variety of maps, diagrams, and graphs that typically include
textual titles and legends to denote the purpose, measurement units, and variables of the chart.
Choosing the most appropriate chart depends on a variety of different factors -- the nature of the
data, the purpose of the chart, and whether a graphical representation of qualitative data or a
graphical representation of quantitative data is being depicted. There are dozens of different
formats for graphical representation of data. Some of the most popular charts include:
• Bar Graph -- contains a vertical axis and horizontal axis and displays data as rectangular
bars with lengths proportional to the values that they represent; a useful visual aid for
marketing purposes
• Choropleth -- thematic map in which an aggregate summary of a geographic
characteristic within an area is represented by patterns of shading proportionate to a
statistical variable
• Flow Chart -- diagram that depicts a workflow graphical representation with the use of
arrows and geometric shapes; a useful visual aid for business and finance purposes
• Heatmap -- a colored, two-dimensional matrix of cells in which each cell represents a
grouping of data and each cell’s color indicates its relative value
• Histogram – frequency distribution and graphical representation uses adjacent vertical
bars erected over discrete intervals to represent the data frequency within a given
interval; a useful visual aid for meteorology and environment purposes
• Line Graph – displays continuous data; ideal for predicting future events over time; a
useful visual aid for marketing purposes
• Pie Chart -- shows percentage values as a slice of pie; a useful visual aid for marketing
purposes
• Point map -- CAD & GIS contract mapping and drafting solution that visualizes the
location of data on a map by plotting geographic latitude and longitude data
• Scatter plot -- a diagram that shows the relationship between two sets of data, where
each dot represents individual pieces of data and each axis represents a quantitative
measure
• Stacked Bar Graph -- a graph in which each bar is segmented into parts, with the entire
bar representing the whole, and each segment representing different categories of that
whole; a useful visual aid for political science and sociology purposes
• Timeline Chart -- a long bar labeled with dates paralleling it that display a list of events
in chronological order, a useful visual aid for history charting purposes
• Tree Diagram -- a hierarchical genealogical tree that illustrates a family structure; a
useful visual aid for history charting purposes
• Venn Diagram -- consists of multiple overlapping usually circles, each representing a set;
the default inner joins graphical representation
Advantages and Disadvantages of Graphical Representation of Data
Tabular and graphical representation of data is a vital component in analyzing and understanding
large quantities of numerical data and the relationship between data points. Data visualization is
one of the most fundamental approaches to data analysis, providing an intuitive and universal
means to visualize, abstract, and share complex data patterns. The primary advantages of
graphical representation of data are:
• Facilitates and improves learning: graphics make data easy to understand and eliminate
language and literacy barriers
• Understanding content: visuals are more effective than text in human understanding
• Flexibility of use: graphical representation can be leveraged in nearly every field
involving data
• Increases structured thinking: users can make quick, data-driven decisions at a glance
with visual aids
• Supports creative, personalized reports for more engaging and stimulating visual
presentations
• Improves communication: analyzing graphs that highlight relevant themes is significantly
faster than reading through a descriptive report line by line
• Shows the whole picture: an instantaneous, full view of all variables, time frames, data
behavior and relationships
Disadvantages of graphical representation of data typically concern the cost of human effort and
resources, the process of selecting the most appropriate graphical and tabular representation of
data, greater design complexity of visualizing data, and the potential for human bias
Why Graphical Representation of Data is Important
• Graphic visual representation of information is a crucial component in understanding
and identifying patterns and trends in the ever-increasing flow of data. Graphical
representation enables the quick analysis of large amounts of data at one time and can
aid in making predictions and informed decisions. Data visualizations also make
collaboration significantly more efficient by using familiar visual metaphors to illustrate
• Histogram - A histogram is an approximate representation of the distribution of
relationships and highlight meaning, eliminating complex, long-winded explanations of
an otherwise chaotic-looking array of figures.
• Data only has value once its significance has been revealed and consumed, and its
consumption is best facilitated with graphical representation tools that are designed
with human cognition and perception in mind. Human visual processing is very efficient
at detecting relationships and changes between sizes, shapes, colors, and quantities.
Attempting to gain insight from numerical data alone, especially in big data instances in
• Pareto chart - A Pareto chart is a type of chart that contains both bars and a line graph,
which there may be billions of rows of data, is exceedingly cumbersome and inefficient.
• Scatter diagram - A scatter plot (also called a scatterplot, scatter graph, scatter chart,
The seven basic tools of quality is a designation given to a fixed set of graphical techniques
identified as being most helpful in troubleshooting issues related to qualityThey are called basic
because they are suitable for people with little formal training in statistics and because they can
be used to solve the vast majority of quality-related issues
• Stratification (alternatively, flow chart or run chart) - Stratification is the process of
• Cause-and-effect diagram (also known as the "fishbone diagram" or Ishikawa
diagram)
Ishikawa diagrams are causal diagrams created by Kaoru Ishikawa that show the potential causes
of a specific event.
Common uses of the Ishikawa diagram are product design and quality defect prevention to
identify potential factors causing an overall effect. Each cause or reason for imperfection is a
source of variation. Causes are usually grouped into major categories to identify and classify
these sources of variation. 
• Check sheet -The check sheet is a form (document) used to collect data in real time at
the location where the data is generated. The data it captures can be quantitative or
qualitative. When the information is quantitative, the check sheet is sometimes called a
tally sheet.
• Control chart - Control charts, also known as Shewhart charts (afterWalter 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.
numerical data. It was first introduced by Pearson. To construct a histogram, the first
step is to "bin" (or "bucket") the range of values—that is, divide the entire range of
values into a series of intervals— and then count how many values fall into each
interval. The bins are usually specified as consecutive, non-overlapping intervals of a
variable. The bins (intervals) must be adjacent, and are often (but not required to be) of
equal size
where individual values are represented in descending order by bars, and the
cumulative total is represented by the line. The chart is named for the Pareto principle,
which, in turn, derives its name from Vilfredo Pareto, a noted Italian economist.
scattergram, or scatter diagram) is a type of plot or mathematical diagram using
Cartesian coordinates to display values for typically two variables for a set of data. If the
points are coded (color/shape/size), one additional variable can be displayed. The data
are displayed as a collection of points, each having the value of one variable determining
the position on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable determining the
position on the vertical axis.
dividing members of the population into homogeneous subgroups before sampling. The
strata should define a partition of the population. That is, it should be collectively
exhaustive and mutually exclusive: every element in the population must be assigned to
one and only one stratum. Then simple random sampling or systematic sampling is
applied within each stratum. The objective is to improve the precision of the sample by
reducing sampling error. It can produce a weighted mean that has less variability than
the arithmetic means of a simple random sample of the population.
Lesson Proper for Week 4
STATISTICAL METHODS- STATISTICAL METHODS IN QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
• Statistics are defined as a field that involves tabulating, depicting, and describing data sets. 
• Statistical methods in quality improvement are defined as the use of collected data and quality
standards to find new ways to improve products and services. They are a formalized body of techniques
characteristically involving attempts to infer the properties of a large collection of data.
• Statistics are defined as a field that involves tabulating, depicting, and describing data sets.
The Fundamentals of Statistics for Quality Improvement
In business, decisions need to be taken based on data. Statistical thinking guides decision making based on the
analysis of data. Many companies have a lot of data but don't know to turn their data into useful and actionable
information. However, companies that make the best use of their available data achieve a competitive advantage
by optimizing their operations and making superior decisions. It is all the more imperative for quality professionals
to examine the best practices in statics for quality engineering to improve the performance of their current
system.
To focus on continual improvement, companies must make a shift from control-oriented management to
statistical quality control. They must emphasize statistics rather than application. They must collect data and make
faster decisions based on data
The Statistical Fundamentals
• Statistics are tools that help in analysing data, making summaries, drawing inferences, and generalizing
from the data. Statistics are highly crucial in the field of quality. Learning how to develop different
statistical charts and statistical techniques is crucial. However, learning how to apply those techniques
in a way that will document and stimulate continual improvement of the organization is even more
important.
Three concepts of statistical thinking
• Central to quality improvement is statistical thinking. Statistical thinking is a skill that is displayed by the
ability to make decisions based on data. Such thinking is based on three concepts as shown in the figure
below:
• Process variation
All processes display variation. There is some variation that can be controlled and others that cannot be
controlled. If the variation is too high, the process parts will not fit in properly, the product will be defective and
the company's reputation for quality will be at stake if corrective actions are not taken.
• There are two types of variations that occurs commonly viz. random and nonrandom variation.
• Process stability
When a process performs consistently over time, then the process is considered to be stable or in control. Process
stability refers to the steadiness of the process with regard to critical process characteristics such as the average
value of a key dimension or the variation in that key dimension. The process stability is determined by using
process charts. Process charts are charts that signal the process personnel when a nonrandom variation occurs in a
process.
• Sampling methods
Data are gathered in samples to ensure the stability of the process. Sampling methods are preferred and are
better established because they are cost-effective, less intrusive, fast, and their destructive testing features. They
also let the user frame the sample. 
o Random sampling: Randomization ensures independence among observations. 
o Systematic samples: Systematic samples according to time or according to sequence 
o Sampling by Rational Subgroup: a group of data that is logically homogenous; variation
within the data can provide a measure for setting limits on the standard variation between
subgroups.
• Considerations for Planning for inspection 
o The type of sampling 
o The personnel who will sample 
o The persons for the use in-process inspection sample size
o The critical attributes to be inspected 
 o The location for the inspection
Process control charts
• Process control chart definition 
• "A control chart is a statistical tool used to distinguish between variation in a process resulting from
common causes and variation resulting from special causes. It presents a graphic display of process
stability or instability over time." (Air University)
• The main purpose of a process control chart is to indicate when production processes might have
changed sufficiently to affect product quality. If the chart shows that the quality of the product has
deteriorated, it is an indication to take corrective actions.
• The main purpose of a process control chart is to indicate when production processes might have
changed sufficiently to affect product quality. If the chart shows that the quality of the product has
deteriorated, it is an indication to take corrective actions.
• General guidelines for developing process charts
o Identify critical operations in the process where inspection might be needed.
o Identify critical product characteristics.
o Determine whether the critical product aspect is variable or attributable 
o Choose the relevant process control chart from the many options available 
o Determine and establish control limits and use a chart for ongoing monitoring and
improvement. 
o When you make changes to the process, update the limits
• Process stability and capability 
• When a process is stabilized, the immediate next step is to ensure the process is capable. Process
capability is the ability of the process to produce the desired product. The six sigma is one such program
that results in highly capable processes. 
• Capability studies are conducted for two reasons: 
o To determine whether a process results in the product that meets the specifications 
o To determine whether a process is in need of monitoring through the use of permanent
process charts. 
• There are many forms used in the statistical methods for quality improvement: 
• Hypothesis testing: A statistical method for making statistical decisions using experimental data.
Hypothesis Testing is basically an assumption that can be made about the population criteria. 
• Regression analysis: A study to understand the relationship between two or more variables. 
• Statistical process control: An industry-standard methodology for measuring and controlling quality
during the manufacturing process.
• Design and analysis experiments: Planning, directing, examining and interpreting controlled tests to
evaluate the factors that may influence a response variable.  
o Why some companies fail with statistics 
o Many companies fail to develop statistical thinking and culture. 
o They fail to implement quality control in a substantive way and prefer form over substance. 
o Some lack the knowledge about statistical tools, and so misapply them. 
o Others have a general disdain for all things mathematics creates and that creates a barrier to
the use of statistics. 
o Cultural differences in a company sometimes make the use of statistics for quality
improvement a bottleneck. 
o Statistical experts find it difficult to communicate with managerial generalists. 
o Lack of understanding of statistical methods 
o Lack of proper education in statistics 
o Lack of patience in collecting data 
o Fear of violating critical statistical assumptions 
o Some people don't understand random variation
Lesson Proper for Week 5
QUALITY CONTROL
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.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Quality control (QC) is a process through which a business seeks to ensure that product
quality is maintained or improved.
• Quality control involves testing of units and determining if they are within the specifications
for the final product.
• The quality control used in a business is highly dependent on the product or industry, and
several techniques exist for measuring quality.
UNDERSTANDING QUALITY CONTROL
• Quality control involves testing of units and determining if they are within the specifications
for the final product. The purpose of the testing is to determine any needs for corrective
actions in the manufacturing process. Good quality control helps companies meet consumer
demands for better products.
• Quality testing involves each step of the manufacturing process. Employees often begin
with the testing of raw materials, pull samples from along the manufacturing line and test
the finished product. Testing at the various stages of manufacturing helps identify where a
production problem is occurring and the remedial steps it requires to prevent it in the
future.
• The quality control used in a business is highly dependent on the product or industry. In
food and drug manufacturing, quality control includes ensuring the product does not make
a consumer sick, so the company performs chemical and microbiological testing of samples
from the production line. Because the appearance of prepared food affects consumer
perception, the manufacturers may prepare the product according to its package directions
for visual inspection.
• In automobile manufacturing, quality control focuses on the way that parts fit together and
interact and ensuring engines operate smoothly and efficiently. In electronics, testing might
involve using meters that measure the flow of electricity.
THE TECHNIQUES OF QUALITY CONTROL
• There are several methods of measuring the performance of quality control. A quality
control chart is a graphic that depicts whether sampled products or processes are meeting
their intended specifications—and, if not, the degree by which they vary from those
specifications. When each chart analyzes a specific attribute of the product it is called a
univariate chart. When a chart measures variances in several product attributes, it is called
a multivariate chart.
• Randomly selected products are tested for the given attribute or attributes the chart is
tracking. A common form of a quality control chart is the X-Bar Chart, where the y-axis on
the chart tracks the degree to which the variance of the tested attribute is acceptable. The
x-axis tracks the samples tested. Analyzing the pattern of variance depicted by a quality
control chart can help determine if defects are occurring randomly or systematically.
• The Taguchi Method of quality control is another approach that emphasizes the roles of
research and development, product design, and product development in reducing the
occurrence of defects and failures in products. The Taguchi Method considers design to be
more important than the manufacturing process in quality control and tries to eliminate
variances in production before they can occur.
THE ROLE OF QUALITY CONTROL INSPECTORS
• Quality control inspectors protect the consumer from defective products and the company
from damage to its reputation due to inferior manufacturing processes. If the testing
process reveals issues with the product, the inspector has the option of fixing the problem
himself, returning the product for repairs or tagging the product for rejection. When issues
arise, the inspector notifies supervisors and works with them to correct the problem.
COST OF QUALITY (COQ)
• 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.
APPRAISAL COSTS
• Appraisal costs are associated with measuring and monitoring activities related to quality.
These costs are associated with the suppliers’ and customers’ evaluation of purchased
materials, processes, products, and services to ensure that they conform to specifications.
They could include:
• Verification: Checking of incoming material, process setup, and products against agreed
specifications
• Quality audits: Confirmation that the quality system is functioning correctly
• Supplier rating: Assessment and approval of suppliers of products and services
INTERNAL FAILURE COSTS COST OF QUALITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Internal failure costs are incurred to remedy defects discovered before the product or service is
delivered to the customer. These costs occur when the results of work fail to reach design quality
standards and are detected before they are transferred to the customer. They could include:
• Waste: Performance of unnecessary work or holding of stock as a result of errors, poor
organization, or communication
• Scrap: Defective product or material that cannot be repaired, used, or sold
• Rework or rectification: Correction of defective material or errors
• Failure analysis: Activity required to establish the causes of internal product or service
failure
EXTERNAL FAILURE COSTS
External failure costs are incurred to remedy defects discovered by customers. These costs occur
when products or services that fail to reach design quality standards are not detected until after
transfer to the customer. They could include:
• Repairs and servicing: Of both returned products and those in the field
The costs of doing a quality job, conducting quality improvements, and achieving goals must be
carefully managed so that the long-term effect of quality on the organization is a desirable one.
These costs must be a true measure of the quality effort, and they are best determined from an
analysis of the costs of quality. Such an analysis provides a method of assessing the effectiveness of
the management of quality and a means of determining problem areas, opportunities, savings, and
action priorities.
Cost of quality is also an important communication tool. Philip Crosby demonstrated what a
powerful tool it could be to raise awareness of the importance of quality. He referred to the measure
as the "price of non-conformance" and argued that organizations choose to pay for poor quality.
Many organizations will have true quality-related costs as high as 15-20% of sales revenue, some
going as high as 40% of total operations. A general rule of thumb is that costs of poor quality in a
thriving company will be about 10-15% of operations.
Effective quality improvement programs can reduce this substantially, thus making a direct
contribution to profits. The quality cost system, once established, should become dynamic and have
a positive impact on the achievement of the organization’s mission, goals, and objectives.

• Warranty claims: Failed products that are replaced or services that are re-performed under
a guarantee

• Complaints: All work and costs associated with handling and servicing customers’
complaints

• Returns: Handling and investigation of rejected or recalled products, including transport

costs

PREVENTION COSTS

• Prevention costs are incurred to prevent or avoid quality problems. These costs are
associated with the design, implementation, and maintenance of the quality management
system. They are planned and incurred before actual operation, and they could include:

• Product or service requirements: Establishment of specifications for incoming materials,

processes, finished products, and services

• Quality planning: Creation of plans for quality, reliability, operations, production, and
inspection

• Quality assurance: Creation and maintenance of the quality system

• Training: Development, preparation, and maintenance of programs