Lesson 15 - Managing Quality Flashcards
Define ‘quality’
The degree of excellence in a good or service and its ability to satisfy the customer
What does the following statement mean:
‘Customers make decisions based on quality.’
It means that customers want highest quality at the lowest price and will prioritise between quality and price when they need to.
What do quality management strategies aim to do?
They aim to minimise waste and defect rates in production, obtain consistently high standards of product and service, and achieve set benchmarks.
Identify the two types of quality management strategies.
Proactive - prevents defects
Reactive - tries to fix errors after they have occurred
Name the three quality management strategies.
Quality control
Quality assurance
Total quality management
Define ‘Quality Control’
Quality control is the process of checking the quality standards of work done or the quality of raw materials or component parts.
Explain why quality control is a reactive quality managment strategy.
Because it detects and eliminates defects after they occur – once detected it needs to be decided if the problem can be fixed, or whether it becomes waste.
Provide one example of quality control.
Batch testing – random sample from batch checked rather than every input/output.
E.g. Mars confectionary test a batch of Mars Bars
Secret Shopper – used in service organisations (retail, restaurants, banks) – pretend customer assesses quality of customer service + wait times, sales, cleanliness.
E.g. Boost juice organise a secret shopper to ask staff specific questions and rate them on the quality of their customer service. eg. Did they smile? Were they polite? Did they try to upsell another product?
Safety checks – where every output is checked.
E.g. cars - every car will undergo some tests before being delivered to customers.
Identify one way that quality control links to the achievement of business objectives.
If defects can be detected early – reduces waste of time if original input was bad or error was made early.
Prevents defective products or detects poor service – therefore increases the quality of what customer receives.
Complete the sentences:
One advantage of quality control is …
One disadvantage of quality control is…
Advantages
Customers do not receive faulty goods or services = improved reputation
Reduces need for refunds
Relatively inexpensive strategy to implement
Disadvantages
Creates waste = cost + environmental impact
Unless every product is inspected, inferior goods may still reach the customer = impact on reputation
Time consuming
Define ‘Quality Assurance’.
Quality Assurance refers to when the organisation achieves certification of quality in its production from an independent body after being assessed.
Complete the sentence:
Quality assurance is a proactive quality management strategy because…
it seeks to use best practice to prevent errors from occurring but still includes checking mechanisms in case these do not work.
Complete the sentences:
One advantage of quality assurance is …
One disadvantage of quality assurance is…
Advantages
Reduces waste from errors = lower cost + environmental impact
External certification = improve competitiveness as increases customer confidence = marketing tool
Reduced errors increases productivity – more smooth
Disadvantages
Employees may need to be trained to comply with new processes
Documentation can be time consuming
Expensive to organise external body to assess operations system
Define ‘Total Quality Management’
Total Quality Management is a whole organisation approach to achieving quality based on continuous improvement.
Total Quality Management is based on 3 principles.
These include…
- Continuous improvement
- Employee empowerment
- Customer focus
