QUALITY

TASK 1
How can one define quality? Providing a definition of this concept is hard. When we talk about quality we
usually refer to the following characteristics of products and services. Think of a product or service you
know well and describe it in terms of quality.

elimination of variation, conformity to specification, being fit for purpose, fitting the design,
innate excellence, satisfying, meeting or exceeding customer needs and expectations,
consistency, reliability, being reliable, durability, being durable, economical to run, excellent
brand, beautiful in appearance, useful, practical, handy, made of great components, made
from sustainable resources, being socially responsible

TASK 2

TQM & JIT – Read the text and provide the missing words from the words given below:

right /assembly / involved / improving / getting / instructions / takes / designed / adopted / instead

Total Quality Management or TQM, was fashionable in the 1980s. This often 1. __________ quality circles,
groups of workers who were encouraged to contribute ideas on 2. _______ the products that they made.
Some companies had quality circles of production workers who suggested better ways of organizing the
production line. Employee participation, for example 3. _______ employees to suggest improvement to
production methods, as in TQM, is a form of empowerment: employees have a voice in quality
improvements, rather than just following managers’ 4.____________.
The TQM approach was 5. _________ to bring about gradual, step-by-step or incremental improvements in
quality and in manufacturing it 6. __________ place in the manufacturing plant. Originated in Japan, and
then 7. ____________ all over the industrialized world, QTM forms part of lean production, making things
with the minimum of time, effort and materials. 8.______ of producing components in large batches, they
are delivered or produced just in time, only as they are needed. Employees are empowered to correct
problems on the spot. Things must be done 9. ___________ first time. There should be no reworking to
correct defects on finished products. Production is seen as a continuous process of sequential rather than
isolated steps, and the production, or 10. __________ line is laid out in a logical way. Stocks of
components are kept to a minimum. Manufacturing organized in steps like these is flow production.

Find words or expressions in the text that mean:

1. Groups of improving workers:
2. Giving responsibility to people lower down the organization:
3. When things get gradually better:
4. The aim of RFT – right first time – is to avoid:
5. Making things with the minimum of resources:
6. Errors and problems with a product:

TASK 3
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO QUALITY. The concept of quality has been approached by companies from
many different perspectives. Look at them and decide which of them is the most convincing in your
opinion.

1. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT TQM 1980s

employees’ participation – workers are encouraged to suggest ways of improving things, the
TQM was to bring about gradual improvements in quality; in manufacturing it takes place on the
factory floor
2. LEAN PRODUCTION/ JIT PRODUCTION
making things with the minimum of time, effort, materials at the same time eliminating faults,
defects and waste; employees are empowered to correct problems on the spot, things should
be done right first time
3. BENCHMARKING
to look for a company that performed best and model performance on their best practice
4. CERTIFICATION
even small companies apply for the certification of the International Organization for
Standardization with ISO 9000 to reassure their customers
Task 4

Reading

Two kinds of quality

As I write this, I’m travelling on a plane. The executive sitting next to me has carefully unpacked his Bose
headphones and iPod Nano. Both these products have associations with quality, a concept which can be
misunderstood but which is of great importance to success in business. The Japanese actually have two
words for quality, and an understanding of each is necessary to compete today.

1. Quality remains an elusive target for many Western companies, even though the craze for quality
has been around for some twenty years. Yes, progress has been made. In 1980 the average car
produced by Ford had twice as many product flaws as the average Japanese car. By 1986, the
Japanese auto industry lead over Ford had shrunk from 100 per cent to about 20 per cent, as Ford
made quality its number one priority. But since that impressive burst of progress, many companies
have struggled to keep up on quality, even as the Japanese began building more of the products in
the West with local workers.

2. The truth is, the Japanese have an unfair advantage. Japanese culture intrinsically values quality
and appreciates the small details. In fact, the Japanese expression for quality is atarimare hinshitsu,
which can be roughly translated as ‘taken-for-granted’ quality. What do the Japanese take for
granted when it comes to quality? They take for granted that things should work as they are
supposed to, and they even see an elegance to things working properly, whether it’s cars, subway
schedules, traditional flower arranging or the famous tea ceremony.

3. Japanese manufactures became so obsessed with taken-for-granted quality that they created a
stream of innovations that built on the concept of Ed Deming, the renowned quality-management
 consultant. Their innovations included lean manufacturing, just-in-time industry, and design for
quality. In today’s competitive markets, manufacturers need to make quick progress towards this
kind of quality. If they don’t, you can take for granted that they will go out of business. This is true
even for small, entrepreneurial companies. The ability to create products and services that work is
no longer a source of long-term competitive advantage. It has become just the price of admission
to most markets. If the stuff your competitors make works better, your customers aren’t going to
be customers for long.

4. Though much improved, our quality record still isn’t what it might be. Here are two traps I’ve seen a
lot of companies fall into on the road to quality. One is, faking a commitment. There is no way
round it. Whether you are adopting total quality management (TQM), or other quality schemes,
these techniques require everyone in a company to learn how to think and work differently. Too
many senior executives adopt the latest fads as they come and go, without taking the time to learn
what these processes are and how they work. They leave the detail of quality to the folks below
them: a sure way to have a quality program fall.

5. At the other extreme, some companies become so quality-process obsessed that quality
management techniques cease to be a tool to improve the company’s performance and instead
become an end in themselves. Statistical analysis should be used for questions for which a company
does not really have an answer. Instead, organizations sometimes go thorough long analytical
processes for problems that a little common sense could have solved. And nothing sours an
organization on quality faster than meaningless work.

6. That brings us to the second of the two Japanese expressions for quality: miryoku teki hinshitsu,
which means ‘enchanting quality’. This kind of quality appeals not to customer expectations about
reliability – that things should do what they are supposed to – but rather to a person’s aesthetic
sense of beauty and elegance. That’s what I think Apple Computer got right with the iPod and its
many offspring. The nano belonging to the man sitting next to me is a marvel, not just of
miniaturization, but of rounded edges in a world of sharp corners.

7. And as I put on my own Bose headphones, I realize how much I appreciate being able to retreat to
my Zen space amid the rumble of the aircraft engines, rattling service carts and chattering
passengers. If these things did not work properly when you turn them on, no one would buy them.
They would lack taken-for-granted quality. But with the hungry competitors in most markets today,
taken-for-granted quality by itself may not get the job done.

A. Find words or expressions in the text that mean. They have been written in the bold type:

a. Something that suddenly becomes very popular

b. Expect something to be there as normal
c. Things that are fashionable for a short time
d. To make something unsuccessful
e. Something surprising and impressive
 f. Children or related things
g. When one gets permission to enter a place
h. People talking
i. A very loud noise
j. A resounding sound
k. Glamorous, charming, lovely and delightful
l. To stop
m. Faults or defects
n. To reduce in size
o. A group or collection of items
p. When you do better than competitors
q. When one is devoted to something
r. Hard to achieve
s. Internally, inseparably

B. Match the headings a-h with the paragraphs 1-7. There is one heading you do not need.

a. No survival without quality

b. Reliability is not enough
c. Quality and cost
d. Quality culture
e. Superficial quality
f. Quality and design
g. Closing the gap?
h. Quality for quality’s sake

C. Read the article once again and decide if the following statements are true or false.

a. Western companies have caught up with the Japanese in terms of quality.

b. The Japanese expect things to work properly.
c. Producing reliable products guarantees a strong market position.
d. For a quality programme to succeed, senior management members do not need
to understand the key concepts.
e. Quality analysis is a sensible way to solve any performance problem.
f. The iPod is not the only Apple product which has enchanting quality.

TASK 5

Listening ‘Planned obsolescence’ or ‘built-in obsolescence’ – search for these concepts online and say
what they refer to. Then listen to the recording about quality in the household electrical market and
complete the following statements:

a. The white goods industry has been accused of designing products to last
____________________
b. Consumers today expect to ______________ electrical goods more often.
c. Repairing products is expensive due to the cost of ____________________ and
________________
 d. Ethical consumers are reassured that it is increasingly possible to ___________________
products.

TASK 6

Vocabulary: Read the text about different aspects of quality and fill in the missing letters.

To the marketing manager, quality is about __ __ __ t __ __ g the customer’s needs and

expectations. To the design engineer, who works with tight s __ __ __ __ f __ __ __ __ i __ __ __
and strict tolerances, quality is about whether the design is f __ __ for __ u __ __ __ __ __, and
whether the product p __ __ f __ __ __s its intended functions. To the process engineer, quality is
all about __ __ __ __ manufacturing to ensure that there is minimum __ __ __ t __ of effort,
money, time and materials. To the quality auditor, quality means the correct application of
procedures, __ __ a __ __ __ __ __ __ such as ISO 9001. To the end user, quality means that goods
are not __ e __ __ __ __ __ v __ or damaged in any way. Any service that is provided has to be __
e __ __ __ __ __ __. If you have a system of continuous i __ __ __ __ __ __m __ __ __ you should
be able to eliminate any design __ a __ __ __. The process of ‘benchmarking’ is where best __ __
__ c __ __ __ __ is based on the industry standard. Technical specifications in areas like safety are
often based on statutory r __ __ u __ __ __ __ e __ __ __ imposed by the government.

TASK 7

Watch a video about quality at Toyota and answer the questions –‘ Quality, durability, reliability.’

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehSWGOLqRmU

Vocabulary:

Adverse conditions – unfavourable

Panel gaps – gaps between parts of a car
To scrutinise – check
A benchmark – an industry best practice
An accolade – a praise, appreciation
To be renowned for – famous because of
An overarching principle – most important
Questions:

1. What are key features of vehicle design and production?

2. What does the Toyota quality system focus on?
3. What happens if a problem is spotted in a Toyota manufacturing plant?
4. What happens to every part that goes into a Toyota vehicle?
5. What was the idea behind ‘ever better expedition’?
6. What is the Toyota Way?