Buildingand maintainingquality into an organizations goods and services, and more importantly, into the infrastructure of the organization itself, is not an easy task.

Quality Assurance ...is any action directed toward providing customers with goods and services of appropriate quality.

While quality initiatives can lead to business success, they cannot guarantee it, and one must not infer that business failures or stock price dives are the result of poor quality.Formal Definitions of Quality

Transcendent definition: excellence

Product-based definition: quantities of product attributes

User-based definition: fitness for intended use

Value-based definition: quality vs. price

Manufacturing-based definition: conformance to specificationsBecause individuals in different business functions speak different languages, the need for different views of what constitutes quality at different points inside and outside an organization is necessary to create products of true quality that will satisfy customers needs.Principles of Total Quality Customer and stakeholder focus

Participation and teamwork

Process focus supported by continuous improvement and learning

all supported by an integrated organizational

infrastructure, a set of management practices,

and a set of tools and techniques

Customer and Stakeholder Focus

Customer is principal judge of quality

Organizations must first understand customers needs and expectations in order to meet and exceed them

Organizations must build relationships with customers

Customers include employees and society at largeTo meet or exceed customer expectations, organizations must fully understand all product and service attributes that contribute to customer value and lead to satisfaction and loyalty.

Participation and Teamwork

Employees know their jobs best and therefore, how to improve them

Management must develop the systems and procedures that foster participation and teamwork

Empowerment better serves customers, and creates trust and motivation

Teamwork and partnerships must exist both horizontally and vertically

In any organization, the person who best understands his or her job and how to improve both the product and the process is the one performing it.Process Focus and Continuous Improvement A process is a sequence of activities that is intended to achieve some result

Continuous Improvement Enhancing value through new products and services

Reducing errors, defects, waste, and costs

Increasing productivity and effectiveness

Improving responsiveness and cycle time performanceMajor improvements in response time may require significant simplification of work processes and often drive simultaneous improvements in quality and productivity.Three Levels of Quality

Organizational level: meeting external customer requirements

Process level: linking external and internal customer requirements

Performer/job level: meeting internal customer requirements

Quality and Personal Values Personal initiative has a positive impact on business success

Quality begins with personal attitudes

Quality-focused individuals often exceed customer expectations

Attitudes can be changed through awareness and effort (e.g., personal quality checklists)

In the daily attempt to bring about change in the individual parts of the organizational universe, managers, employees, professors, and students can find that personal quality is the key to unlock the door to a wider understanding of what the concept really is all about. Unless quality is internalized at the personal level, it will never become rooted in the culture of an organization. Thus, quality must begin at a personal level (and that means you!).

A system is a set of functions or activities within an organization that work together for the aim of the organization.

Manufacturing Systems (1 of 2) Marketing and sales

Product design and engineering

Purchasing and receiving

Production planning and scheduling

Manufacturing and assembly

Tool engineering

Industrial engineering and process design

Finished goods inspection and test

Packaging, shipping, and warehousing

Installation and service

Quality in Product DesignProduct design and engineering functions develop technical specifications for products and production processes to meet the requirements determined by the marketing function.

Critical Differences Between Service and Manufacturing (1 of 2)

Customer needs and performance standards are more difficult to identify and measure

Services requires a higher degree of customization

Output is intangible

Services are produced and consumed simultaneously

Customers are often involved in actual process

Services are more labor-intensive than manufacturing

Services handle large numbers of transactions