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Introduction The rapidly increasing global competition over the past decade has led to the emergence of new

scenarios for most of the industrial sectors. The industries are now associated with rapid technological changes and product variety proliferation in order to remain competitive. The competitiveness of a company is mostly dependent on its ability to perform well in dimensions such as cost, quality, delivery, dependability and speed, innovation and flexibility to adapt itself to variations in demand. Aiming at improving organizational performance through the effective use of production capability and technology, operations strategy such as total quality management (TQM), quality function deployment (QFD), six sigma, business process re-engineering (BPR), just in time (JIT), benchmarking, performance measurement and many others are commonly used. The concept of quality has evolved from mere specifications, controls, inspections, systems, and methods for regulatory compliance to a harmonized relationship with business strategies aimed at satisfying both the internal and external customer. Today, quality and value are, first and above all, givens, and the customer expects them. Quality in the successful organization is fully integrated into all of the business processes and is an extension of everything else that has to happen along the path to success, both for the company and for the people involved. Quality Definition(s) As Specified by Joseph Juran, Quality is the fitness of use i.e. it is the value of the goods and services as perceived by the supplier, producer and customer. The measure also pertains to the degree to which products and services conform to specifications, requirements and standards at an acceptable price. Some of the definitions of the term Quality', provided by quality gurus are as follows:
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Quality is fitness for use (JURAN) Quality is conformance to requirements (CROSBY) The efficient production of the quality that the market expects (DEMING) Quality is what the customer says, it is (FEIGENBAUM) Quality is the loss that a product costs to the society after being shipped to the customer (TAGUCHI) The totality of features and characteristics of a product or services that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs of the customers (ASQC) A quality system is the agreed on company wide and plant wide operating work structure, documented in effective, integrated, technical and managerial procedures for guiding the co-coordinated actions of people, the machines, or the information of company in the best and most practical ways to assume customer quality satisfaction and economical costs of quality. (FEIGENBAUM)

Dimensions of Product Quality As prescribed by Garvin, the eight dimensions of quality are:
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Performance Reliability Durability Serviceability

(will the product do the intended job?) (how often the product fails?) (how long the product lasts?) (how easy is to repair the product?)

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Aesthetics (what does the product look like?) Features (what does the product do?) Perceived quality (what is the reputation of a company or its products?)

Dimensions of Service Quality


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Reliability Responsiveness Competence Courtesy Communication Credibility Security

Three Aspects of Quality (Figure) The three aspects of quality and their linkages with each other have been depicted in the figure below:

Quality of Design: Consumer's Perspective The product must be designed to meet the requirement of the customer. The product must be designed right first time and every time and while designing all aspects of customer expectations must be incorporated into the product. The factors need to consider while designing the product are: Type of product

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Cost Profit policy of the company Demand Availability of the parts

Quality of Conformance: Manufacturer's Perspective The product must be manufactured exactly as designed. The activities involved at this stage include: defect finding, defect prevention, defect analysis, and rectification. The difficulties encountered at the manufacturing stage must be conveyed to the designers for modification in design, if any. The two-way communication between designer and manufacturing may help to improve the quality of the product. Quality of Performance

The product must function as per the expectations of the customer. The two way communication between designers and customer is the key to have a quality product.

Evolution of Quality (Figure) During the early days of manufacturing, an operative's work was inspected and a decision made whether to accept or reject it. The focus was just to accept or reject the products based on the specification. No effort was made on defect prevention. In the 1920's statistical theory began to be applied effectively to quality control, and in 1924 Shewhart made the first attempt of a modern control chart. His work was later developed by Deming and the early work of Shewhart, Deming, Dodge and Romig constitutes much of what today comprises the theory of statistical process control (SPC). However, there was little use of these techniques in manufacturing companies until the late 1940's. In the early 1950's, quality management practices developed rapidly in Japanese plants, and become a major theme in Japanese management philosophy, such that, by 1960, quality control and management had become a national preoccupation.
In 1969, Feigenbaum presented a paper in a conference and the term total quality was used for the first time, and referred to wider issues such as planning, organization and management responsibility. Ishikawa presented a paper explaining how total quality control in Japan was different, it meaning company wide quality control, and describing how all employees, from top management to the workers, must study and participate in quality control. Company wide quality management was common in Japanese companies by the late 1970's. Total quality management (TQM) came into existence in 1980 by the western world. TQM is now part of a much wider concept that addresses overall organizational performance and recognizes the importance of processes. As we move into the 21st century, TQM has developed in many countries into holistic frameworks, aimed at helping organizations achieve excellent performance, particularly in customer and business results.

Historical Aspects of Quality Edward Deming


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Postulated Statistical QUALITY Control Principles 14 Points of QUALITY Management these Principles successfully adapted by Japanese Manufactures

William Crosby
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Emphasized Humanistic Behavioral Aspects of QUALITY Improvement Becoming More Important Now

Joseph Juran's QUALITY Trilogy


A. QUALITY Planning

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Set of QUALITY Goals Set Plans for Operations Based on these Goals

B. QUALITY Control

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Responsible for Meeting QUALITY Goals Prevent Adverse Changes Set and Observe  Performance Measures  Compare with Industry Standards  Benchmarking

C. QUALITY Improvement

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Moving from Current Level to the Next Higher Level Organize Teams, Train Operators to identify and Correct QUALITY Problems

Quality Control Inspection, analysis and action applied to a portion of the product in a manufacturing operation to estimate overall quality of the product and determine what, if any, changes must be made to achieve or maintain the required level of quality. Quality control of a product can be viewed as a system which ensures
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Proper Planning Right Design Proper equipment Proper Inspection Corrective action

Traditional Concept: Quality Control has been concerned with detecting poor quality in manufacturing products and taking corrective action to eliminate it. Modern Concept: Quality Control encompasses a broader scope of activities including:
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Robust design Statistical Proecess Control

Two aspects of quality control


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Off-line quality control On-line quality control

Off-line quality control encompasses all those activities that are performed before the actual manufacturing of the product or service rendered On-line quality control activities start from the manufacturing of a product till it goes in the field and also after sale service. The quality tools used in the phase are Statistical Process control and Acceptance Sampling Importance of Quality Control
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Quality is vital in all areas of business, including the product development and production functions Cost of quality is ultimately reduced by investing money up front in quality design and development Typical costs of poor quality include downtime, repair costs, rework, and employee turnover

Benefits of Quality Control A well-established, committed quality system in an organization will render the following benefits
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Improvement in the quality of product Higher productivity

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Cost reduction Continuous improvement in quality of product

Quality Costs Quality costs components are


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Prevention costs Appraisal costs Internal Failure Costs External Failure Costs

Prevention costs

These costs are incurred in the process of trying to prevent defects and errors from occurring. The costs involved are for
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planning the quality control process training and educating designing the product for quality designing the production system for quality preventive maintenance

Appraisal costs (detection costs) These are the costs of determining the current quality of the production system or inspection and testing through sampling. The costs involved are for
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measuring and testing parts and materials conducting statistical process control receiving inspection reporting on quality

Internal Failure Costs

These costs are incurred when defects and errors are found before shipment or delivery to the customer. The costs involved are for
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labor and materials that are scrapped reworking and retesting to correct defects lost profits

External Failure Costs

These are the costs of trying correct defects and errors after receipt by the customer.
The costs involved are for

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quick response to complaints adjustments to correct the problem lost goodwill warranties and insurance settlements of lawsuits product recall

COQ = Prevention Cost + Appraisal Cost + Internal Failure Cost + External Failure Cost

Cost of Conformance

Cost of Non-Conformance

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