Operations - Methods of Ensuring Quality

Question 1

List the 6 methods of ensuring quality

Answer 1

1. Quality Control
2. Quality Assurance
3. Quality Circles
4. Benchmarking
5. Total Quality Management
6. Quality Inputs

Question 2

Define Quality Control and give 2 advantages and disadvantages of this.

Answer 2

• Products are checked at the start and end of the production process only.
• Product doesn’t meet the standard → either reworked or discarded

ADVANTAGES
* Ensures customers don’t get faulty goods → higher customer satisfaction
* Keeps business’s reputation high

DISADVANTAGES
* Products aren’t checked till the end of production → creates wastage
* Products may have to be reworked from scratch → costs time and money

Question 3

Define Quality Assurance and give 1 advantage and 2 disadvantages of this.

Answer 3

• All staff check ALL items at all stagees of production
• Aims to prevent faulty products from reaching the end.

ADVANTAGES
* Errors spotted quickly → less wastage

DISADVANTAGES
* Many processes are inspected → production is slowed
* QA Manager needs to be hired → Increases cost of wages

Question 4

Define Benchmarking and give advantages and disadvantages of this

Answer 4

• Businesses compare their practises to the best in the industry and try to imitate them.

ADVANTAGES
* Product is as good as market leader
* Saves time → business doesn’t need to develop their own quality approach

DISADVANTAGES
* Difficult → Info has to be gathers on other businesses quality methods
* The products will only ever be as good as the best on the market at that time

Question 5

Define Quality Circles and give advantages and disadvantages of this

Answer 5

• Small groups of workers from different levels in the organisation come together to solve problems in production.

ADVANTAGES
* Employees will feel valued → increases motivation
* More knowledge → employees that do the job frequently will know what needs changing

DISADVANTAGES
* Employees have to meet during production → wastes time

Question 6

Define Total Quality Management and give at least 2 advantages and disadvantages of this

Answer 6

• When the whole business is committed to quality and every product is made perfectly each time.
• This takes into account a variety of methods

ADVANTAGES
* Zero errors → no waste
* All employees are working together → increased motivation
* Better quality products → good reputation for the business

DISADVANTAGES
* Staff need to be trained a lot → increased costs
* Needs staff committment →stricter selection process
* Process need to be continually reviewed → time-consuming

Question 7

Define Quality Inputs and give advantages and disadvantages of this

Answer 7

Examples:
* Using high quality raw materials in production
* Hiring highly skilled staff
* Using tech in production and maintaining it

ADVANTAGES
* Good quality products → good reputation for the business
* Gives competitive edge compared to rivals

DISADVANTAGES
* Expensive to purchase top quality items → increases costs
* Employees need to be trained → takes time away from production