Final - Quality

Question 1

quality of design

Answer 1

product-based; degree to which quality dimensions are designed into the product

Question 2

quality of conformance

Answer 2

producer’s perspective; degree to which a product conforms to required specifications

Question 3

what comprises a consumer’s perspective of quality?

Answer 3

fitness for use: degree to which a product satisfies customer’s wants

value-based: degree to which a product provides acceptable quality at a reasonable price

Question 4

American Society for Quality

Answer 4

the totality of features and characteristics that satisfy needs

Question 5

What are the 3 different perspectives in defining quality?

Answer 5

producer-pov, consumer-pov, product-pov

Question 6

What are some dimensions of quality from a product standpoint?

Answer 6

performance, features, conformance, reliability, durability, serviceability (ease of getting repairs), aesthetics, safety, perceived quality (reputation and intangibles)

Question 7

What are some dimensions of quality from a services standpoint? ex. repair service

Answer 7

time and timeliness, accessibility and convenience, accuracy and competence (ex. certifications), completeness, consistency, courtesy, responsiveness to unusual circumstances, communication, security (ex. privacy), credibility, tangibles (ex. how the facility looks/is organized, the employees are neat and professional)

Question 8

true or false: if the quality index decreases overtime, quality has improved

Answer 8

true

index down = quality up and vice versa

Question 9

What are two quantitative measures of quality?

Answer 9

product yield, quality index

Question 10

what are lost sales costs?

Answer 10

the cost of sales lost from word of product defects travelling faster than word of good products

Question 11

What are some examples of internal failure costs?

Answer 11

costs of scrap, rework, downtime, material losses

Question 12

What are some examples of external failure costs?

Answer 12

costs of product returns, repairs, recalls, warranty claims, customer complaints, and lost sales costs

Question 13

True or false: as product quality goes up, failure costs go up

Answer 13

false; failure costs go down

Question 14

True or false: as internal failure costs go down, external costs go down

Answer 14

true (generally), but some external costs may not decrease

Question 15

What are appraisal costs?

Answer 15

one of the types of control/good quality costs; costs of testing and inspection (equipment, operators)

Question 16

What are prevention costs?

Answer 16

one of the types of control/good quality costs; costs of preparing and implementing a quality plan (product/process design, training, information costs)

Question 17

True or false: As product quality goes up, appraisal costs go down.

Answer 17

True; if products are good quality then less likely to need repairs etc.

Question 18

True or false: As product quality goes up, prevention costs go down.

Answer 18

False; prevention costs increases since company may invest more into preventing costs therefore your quality is better

Question 19

“zero-defects” mentality

Answer 19

the idea that as product quality improves, prevention costs increases but only moderately. therefore, the lowest total cost of quality can be achieved when quality reaches 100% with zero defects. this is pretty close to reality

Question 20

What was the pre-“zero-defects” mentality?

Answer 20

Theory prior to the zero-defects mentality that it is impossible to get 100% quality without having exorbitantly high prevention costs, therefore being infeasible for companies to do so. Has changed since the 1970s.

Question 21

What are two ways improved quality leads to higher profits?

Answer 21

Increasing sales and lowering quality costs

Question 22

Why do sales increase with quality improvement?

Answer 22

Improved response
improved reputation
Higher prices (can markup due to quality)
increased market share

Question 23

Why do costs lower with quality improvement?

Answer 23

Lower rework and scrap (internal failure costs)
Lower warranty and liability (external failure costs)
Increased productivity

Question 24

process improvement

Answer 24

final product inspection is too late -> must improve the production process

Question 25

What are the two types of causes that can be eliminated to improve the production process?

Answer 25

common causes ex. poor design, and special causes ex. specific quipment

Question 26

continuous improvement

Answer 26

a philosophy of never-ending pursuit of high product quality ex. innovation vs kaisen, big jumps vs. small steps, dramatic vs. not dramatic, specialists vs. everyone

Question 27

quality of design (as a method for process improvement)

Answer 27

built-in quality in the product or service design

Question 28

QFD

Answer 28

Quality Function Deployment: a tool to translate the customer preferences into specific technical requirements

Question 29

What are some examples of process improvement tools (6)?

Answer 29

Check sheet
Histogram, pareto chart
Cause-and-effect (fishbone, ishikawa) diagram
Scatter diagram
flow chart
SPC chart

Question 30

what are 2 common continuous improvement tools

Answer 30

deming wheel and quality circle

Question 31

Deming Wheel

Answer 31

aka PDSA or PDCA cycle; tool for continual quality improvement

4 stages:
1. Plan: Identify problem and develop plan for improvement
2. Do: Implement plan on a test basis
3. Study/Check: Check to see if plan is working
4. Act: Institutionalize improvement

Question 32

Quality Circle

Answer 32

team-based approach to continuous quality improvement

Organization, Training, Problem ID, Problem Analysis, Solution, Presentation

Question 33

Check sheet

Answer 33

fact-finding tool; tally the number of problems

initiates process improvement by recording quality problems

Question 34

Histogram & pareto chart

Answer 34

histo: shows the frequency of quality problems

pareto: shows % of frequency of problems

both used to prioritize quality problems

Question 35

Cause-and-effect diagram (fishbone)

Answer 35

identifies all possible areas to which quality problems may be related; good for brainstorming

Question 36

Scatter diagram

Answer 36

shows the relationship between two variables; good for narrowing down to one cuase

Question 37

flowchart

Answer 37

focus on where in a process a quality problem might exist by tracing the production process

Question 38

SPC chart

Answer 38

monitors whether or not the process is in control over time (quality monitoring)