CHAPTER 3

QUALITY MANAGEMENT
QUALITY CONTROL:

Quality is an important dimension of production and operations management. It is not

enough to produce goods and services in right quantity and at the right time; it is important to
ensure that the goods and services produced are of the right quality. The consumer of the
final product of a company needs a certain quantity of products of a quality appropriate to his
needs. Without quality the other dimensions of quantity and time have little relevance.

Quality Management, which includes ensuring proper quality for a company’s output, is
important not only for its survival in the market, but also to expand it’s market or when it
wants to enter into a new product line and/or various other marketing ventures.

As stated earlier, Quality is defined in various ways.

Quality is the performance of the product as per the commitment made by the producer
to the consumer. The ‘commitment’ may be explicit such as a written contract or it may be
implicit in terms of the expectations of the average consumer of the product. The
‘performance of the product’ relates to the ultimate functions and services, which the final
product must give to the consumer. There is also a ‘service and time dimension’ to the
quality. The same quality of physical performance should be available over a reasonable
length of time. Thus time is also an essential aspect of the quality.

C.D. Lewis has defined quality as “an asset, which may be offered to the potential
customer of a product or service.”

Quality means the degree to which a specific product satisfies a particular class of
customers or consumers in general or the degree to which it conforms to a design
specification or the distinguishing feature of a product’s taste, colour, appearance etc.
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent efforts.”

Quality is a strategic marketing decision taken by the company at the outset. It is based on
the market or the target market decided by the company. Thus it is a corporate level decision.
It is based on various marketing considerations, production constraints, manpower or
personnel constraints, and equipment or technology constraints.

The decisions regarding quality are not in the hands of one functional manager as this
involves overall strategic decisions for the running or the business of corporation. Once such
a strategic decision regarding the quality is taken, it is the job of all functional managers,
including the production and operations manager, that such strategic objectives and goals are
implemented.
“According to Alford and Beatty quality control is “that techniques of industrial
management by means of which products of uniform acceptable quality are manufactured”

According to Broom quality control is “systematic control by management of the

variables in the manufacturing process that affect goodness of the end product”

Quality control is one of the important aspects of the production planning and control. It is
basically concerned with the “quality production” through regular inspection techniques
for Input Raw Materials, Production Process, in Process Products and Final Output Products.

We may say that there are three aspects of assuring quality.

• Assuring of incoming raw material’s quality.
• Assuring that proper processes are operating on the raw materials.
• Assuring of the quality of the out going finished goods.

Production
Raw Materials Finished Goods.
Proces
s
Are Raw Materials Are right processes Are finished goods
Okay? Operating on the Okay to be sent to
Raw materials? Customers?

BASIC ASPECTS OF ASSURING QUALITY

Planning and Control aspects of quality control:

To achieve the required quality for a product, number of specifications are finalised at the
time of designing the product. This is planning aspect of the quality. At the time of the
production of the product, strict adherences to these specifications are observed; this is
control aspect of the production. Thus quality is a combination of both the aspects of
production viz. planning and control.

The prime importance is to be given to the “Consumer Satisfaction” and for consumers’
satisfaction a product or service, which a consumer wants, must possess certain features.
They are properties or attributes of the products/services, which make them “fit for use”,
or makes consumer satisfied. When these characteristics or attributes are mentioned
specifically for a particular product or service they become specifications of that particular
product/service. As far as possible theses characteristics should be expressed in quantitative
terms, so that they can be measured or observed objectively. Many times these
characteristics can easily be measured on numerical scales. For e.g. weight or volume of a
particular packed product in each packet, or average of a vehicle in terms of kilo meters per
liter of petrol consumed in standard drive condition, size of an electrical cable in diameter
etc. Such characteristics are known as ‘variables’. It is not possible to 100% adhere to these
specifications and hence an upper and/or lower limits of variance from these specifications
are finalised as acceptable values. These are known as tolerances. The products beyond these
tolerances are considered defective or unacceptable as per quality specifications/standards
and are rejected.

Some of the characteristics of the product/service may not be feasible to be specified in

numerical terms. For e.g. colour of a car. Consumer can appreciate it as good or bad. Here the
measurement or assessment of quality becomes more difficult. It depends on the person
making a decision. What one, may consider good, may be considered bad by another. The
quality characteristics of this type are called ‘attributes’, assessment of which is subjective
and is left to the consumers. Attributes are binary (yes or no) conditions. One has to say yes
or no.

Quality of Design and Quality of Conformance:

A functional definition of quality leads us to consider two aspects, which contribute to the
ultimate quality of the product. The intrinsic quality intended in the design is the first
aspect, while the degree to which this quality is achieved in production is the second aspect.
The first is called ‘quality of design’ and the second, ‘quality of conformance’.

Some of the quality characteristics (properties or specifications) are acquired by a product at

the design and development stage. Properties acquired by product at this stage depends on
the type of materials used, tolerances specified, method of production or type of process
used, safety factors allowed, knowledge and skill of the design, personnel employed etc.
Quality of design refers to these specifications or properties, which are acquired at the
design and development stage. To provide a customer with a good quality of
product/service, quality of design is a fundamental prerequisite.
Once the designer has produced a quality design for the market, the production function has
to adhere to the specifications laid down by the design and produce it in accordance with the
same. The success with which this is achieved is called ‘quality of conformance’.

Thus a manufacturer/service provider must satisfy the customer by meeting their

expectations on both the aspects of quality i.e. Quality of Design and Quality of
Conformance.

Howsoever successful the production is in achieving quality of conformance; it cannot go

beyond the quality laid down by the design. The production achieves the quality that is
balance between their capability and the requirements of a design. The design itself
should consider the type of manpower available and the equipments to be used. Quality is a
collaborative effort of the designer and the production.

Costs aspect of quality:

To most of the people, quality means high quality. Actually it is not so. Generally, the
customer wants the best quality they can buy within the money they can afford to
spend. It does not mean that they want only the very best. They select the very best from
the products or services available at the price, which they are willing to pay. Therefore, a
manufacturer/supplier/service provider tries to achieve the best quality within the price range
that their potential customers are willing to pay.

Thus Cost of quality is another important area of design and production. While increasing
the quality of the product, we tend to increase its cost, but the value added to the final
product tends to grow less rapidly. (See the graph bellow)
A
Production Cost

Value of the final

Product being sold

Rupees

Quality

From the above graph you can observe that at some point (A) cost of production goes
higher than the value of the final product being sold and thus we can observe that
stretching development of quality to such an extent becomes unviable from the business
point of view.

Irrespective of the above, importance of Quality cannot be underestimated. It is very

important for a manufacturer of products or services to be qualitative, because the very
existence of a manufacturer depends on the quality level. Good quality ensures higher
profitability, creates goodwill, and makes the employment of highly skilled manpower
with better wages possible.

Poor quality or high proportion of defective products results in the extra cost to a
producer. Often it is observed that a producer has to bear losses due to poor quality.

Following point explains the consequences of poor quality:

1. Poor quality results in to reduction in sales.

2. Manufacturer’s goodwill in the market is affected.
3. Manufacturer, who has guaranteed the goods, is required to sustain the
loss/replace the goods, to compensate the customer for the poor quality of the
products sold.
4. Defective goods may be required to be sold at discounts/loss as seconds.
5. Defective products may create stoppages and delays in production thus adding to
the loss.
6. Cost of rework/servicing and/or repairing of defective products may be additional
burden on the manufacturer.
7. Cost of defective products include, not only raw material cost but also cost of
taxes, transport, labour, machine time and overheads of the company.
8. It also adds to burden of inventory and blocking of cash flow because many times
decision to dispose of such products involves more than one authority (such as
higher level management, excise departments etc.)
9. Generation of defective goods invites more vigorous inspection adding to the cost
of production.
10. Nobody wants to own the responsibility of the production of defective products
and thus tries to push the liability on other persons/departments. This in turn
creates disharmony in the mutual relationships amongst the various departments
and lowers the morale of the people working in the company.
11. Diagnosing of the fault to reduce the defective goods and redeveloping of the
products adds to the cost of redesign and development and extra burden on R & D
department.

How to decide about the quality?

In earlier pages we looked in to various aspects related with the quality of

products/services. Now important question is who, when, where and how decides
about the quality.

The marketing department in terms of quality, quantity and price generally makes
the assessment of customer’s needs. These details are provided to the designing
department of the firm. On basis of such information a committee consisting of
representative of various concerned departments, headed by the designed
engineer develops detailed specifications of the product planned. Specifications
include detailed characteristics of each component and final product. They describe
the quantitative specifications of the quality of the product desired in brief or
precise manner. The costs of production and performance parameters of the product
are also considered while developing proper specifications. However designing of
the product is a dynamic job and product needs to be updated and improved on
ongoing basis as per the customer’s needs and market feed back.

Generally three types of specifications are used to describe the product: They are
1) Technical Specifications, 02) Performance Specifications and 03) Product’s
Brand/model name. Technical specifications will state physical and chemical
properties desired in the product. Performance specifications will state the
performance or use of the product. Products brand or model name helps consumer to
precisely indicate their selection and ordering.
Quality Management:

Just in any management process, quality management also has three main
components: (a) Planning, (b) Implementation and (c) Monitoring and Control.

Planning for Quality:

The planning part must deal with the following aspects:

1. To set the quality objectives and targets and take into account customers’
needs and the marketability of the products.
2. To carry out pre-production process capability or quality deliverability
studies (to find out whether the company is capable of producing and
marketing the products of certain quality).
3. To establish the relative importance of the quality characteristics and
specifications, and communicate it to the production line people as well as to
the vendors supplying the raw materials.
4. To look after various vendor quality control aspects such as examining new
vendor facilities, their procedures and systems, setting up of the vendor rating
scales and periodic performance evaluation of the vendors.
5. To establish statistical control techniques, charts and sampling plans.
6. To establish training programmes for various personnel in the company so
that quality consciousness gains a firm ground in the organization.

In short, designing the desirable and deliverable quality standards is the job of
Quality Planning.

Quality Implementation:

The implementation part of quality management deals with the following:

1. Performing laboratory tests and analysis on the raw materials, semi finished
and finished products for acceptance/rejection or for process control.

2. Maintaining quality control equipments. (Process, Laboratory and Inspection)

3. Advising and providing assistance for the clarification and solution of quality
management problems in manufacture.

Quality Monitoring and Control:

The monitoring and control function deals with the following:

1. Appraising the quality plan vis-à-vis the problems of production and the
problems of vendor quality so that appropriate action is taken to correct the
initial planning errors.
 2. Appraising quality planning vis-à-vis the actual quality which has reached the
customer and what the latter’s reaction is regarding the product quality; how
such reactions (if negative) can be set right by modifications to the original
quality plan.

3. In addition to performing quality audits, monitoring the costs of quality and

providing such information to the quality-planners so that they take
appropriate action for the future.

Quality Assurance:

Quality assurance refers to the assurance to the customer that the products, parts,
components, tools, etc. contained specified characteristics and are fit for the intended
use.

Assurance of quality is not a responsibility of a single person or a department only.

Only the inspection department or its personnel cannot be held responsible for
assurance of quality. It is the responsibility of everybody connected with the
production, directly or indirectly, e.g. each and every department connected with the
production – from design and raw material stage to dispatch and transportation stage
is responsible. Thus designing engineering department, purchasing department,
inspection department, materials handling department, repairs and maintenance
department, stores department, production department, sales department, etc. are all
equally responsible for assuring quality. There for everyone in the company has
important role to play in final quality assurance of their company and has to be alert
and perform their duty with sincerity and efficiently.

Employees of the company must be made quality conscious. They should e

motivated, they must be made aware as to why the quality is important for themselves
as well as for their unit.

Quality Organization:

We now understand that quality is not the concern of only manufacturing department.
Quality is everyone’s business. Each department has to contribute to the quality.
Quality is built into the product at the product concept stage and is ubiquitous all
through out its life. Poor quality can occur because of organizational problems
anywhere, or even outside the organization. Top management’s commitment to
quality is proper beginning. Quality improvement is to be viewed as a positive effort.
Continuous training is thus a key to quality control. Quality function can be organized
in several alternative methods, keeping the above principle in mind.

Factors involved in building quality organization:

1. Employees’ morale: Increase in morale of the employees’ results into

improvement of quality. Morale of the employee may be affected because of
 many reasons, such as monotony of work, frustration due to lack of chance of
promotion, absence of incentives, stress and fatigue due to working for
certain period continuously. For building a quality organization management
must take care of all these factors and keep the morale of the employees
always at high level.
2. Technical Factors: Unclear specifications and faulty designs, improper or
unsuitable or substandard equipments and tools, complex or improper process
design, improper repairs and maintenance of tools and machines etc. may
work against quality, hence all these factors must be efficiently dealt with in a
quality organization.
3. Other factors: Poor or unsatisfactory working conditions, improper
ventilation, insufficient light, abnormal temperatures, unsafe working
conditions, absence of safety gears, absence of proper sanitation facilities,
absence of canteen facilities, etc works against building of quality
organization and can not be underestimated or neglected.

Steps to be taken for quality assurance:

1. For quality assurance first of all quality specifications for product must be
established. This includes specifications for input raw materials, components,
parts, tools, production and process design etc. This is to be done at the
product design stage.

2. Next step is to develop and evolve the inspection and testing procedures to
control the specifications fixed up at step 1 above.

3. Random checking and testing of the product at various stages and systems
audit to be carried out surprisingly so as to detect any lethargy in
implementation of inspection and procedures.

4. Lastly periodical evaluation of the methods and procedures of inspection as

well as quality control is essential to measure the efficiency and
effectiveness. On the basis of such evaluation if any changes are warranted
they should be implemented without any delay and efficiently.

5. TQM-Total Quality Management, TQC- Total Quality Control, SQC-

Statistical Quality Control, QCs- Quality Control Circles, Company–wide
Quality Control i.e. to include suppliers and vendors also and assist them in
develop and achieve certain quality levels, On going education and training
of all involved in the production, implementation of ISO standards,
adherence to various quality standards, Kaizen and Six Sigma principles are
some of the latest techniques and advancements in quality control
management.

Finally we will conclude the chapter on quality control with listing of quality control
functions even at the cost of repetitions of some of them.
 Quality Control Functions:

1. To ensure that the product or service is designed in such a way that it meets to
the customers’ expectations.
2. To ensure that the product used by customer is not harmful and or injurious
and is safe for use and meets with the specifications of mandatory or
otherwise required safety standards and specifications.
3. Maintain discipline amongst the employees and keep them in high morale.
4. Ensure that raw material, components, all the parts, tools and equipments of
standard quality are only purchased and used.
5. To keep a check on variations occurring in the production and efficiently
triggers the corrective actions so that there are no slippages on the quality
front at any level.
6. To make employees quality conscious by scientifically fixing their
responsibilities and accountability in reference to the quality of the product
and organization as a whole.
7. To reduce the generation of waste, spoilage and scrap during the production.
8. To ensure excellent service after sales network to support the customers.

Meanings of some of the words connected with the quality:

Reliability: Reliability is something different from quality. It is related to quality but

it is something more than that. It is the probability that a product or a part or system
or equipment will perform satisfactorily for a given time under normal condition of
use. May be it relates to the sustainability of the quality over long period of time. A
product of better quality may not be reliable. Quality is related with the initial
performance of a product but the reliability is related to the continuation of
performance over a period of time. A product with better initial performance may fail
to give the same performance after some time, in such a case product is not
considered reliable. There for manufacturers should not produce quality products but
also reliable products.

Maintainability: It relates to how fast a product when it fails can be repaired and
brought back to use. The time the product is non functional is known as down time.

Availability: It is specified in terms of a ratio between the uptime of the product (i.e.
the time for which product was under use, say Tu) and total of the uptime and down
time (the time product could not be used because of failure, say Td).
Availability = Tu/(Tu+Td).

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