quality Flashcards
what is quality management?
When an organisation puts systems in place to ensure that all activities and tasks undertaken achieve a desired level of excellence
what is quality control?
- Quality control means that the finished products are checked by inspectors to see if they meet the set standard.
- Products are inspected at the start and the end of the production process.
- Any product not meeting the standards of quality set by the business will be sent for rework or discarded
what are four benefits of quality control?
- Reduces the chance of poor quality products reaching the consumer.
- It makes employees more conscious of the importance of quality.
- It can help to make production more efficient.
- It can raise morale of workers knowing that they are producing higher quality products
what are three drawbacks of quality control?
- Faults are usually only found at the end of the production process
- Because products are only inspected at the end, individuals on the production line are not necessarily encouraged to take responsibility for the quality of their work
- Higher wastage costs
what is quality assurance?
- Quality assurance means that quality checks are built into the production process.
- For example, all staff check all items at all stages of the production process for faults
what are four benefits of quality assurance?
- Everyone on the production line takes responsibility for delivering quality
- Reduces production defects and faults to a very low level or to zero
- Mistakes are identified quickly and addressed, which reduces waste
- Reduced waste saves the organisation money
what are two drawbacks of quality assurance?
- Quality assurance can be costly due to the regular checks being made throughout the production process.
- Checking regularly can also slow down production, resulting in lower productivity
what are four quality methods?
- quality standards and symbols
- benchmarking
- quality circles
- mystery shopping
quality standards and symbols
- ‘Quality Standards’ - when the product reaches the required standard it can be awarded a quality logo.
- ‘CE Marking’ - shows that a product meets EU safety, health or environmental standards and that it complies with EU legislation.
- ‘BSI Kitemark’ - a quality trade mark which shows that products meet minimum standards of safety and quality.
- A ‘Trade Logo’ (eg, Fairtrade, Recycling) is an identifiable sign which shows that a product or service conforms to certain standards or identifies them in a specific category
what is benchmarking?Internal factors such as lack of finance may prevent the adoption of competitors practices
involves finding the best practice in your industry and then copying your competitor but adding some extra value or USP to the product
what are three benefits of bench marking?
- Identifies best practice in the market which will improve performance if these methods are adopted by the organisation
- Can provide a goal for employees which will increase motivation
- Can make the organisation more competitive in the market
what are three drawbacks of benchmarking?
- May be difficult to gather required information from competitors
- It can be time consuming to study techniques used by other companies
- Internal factors such as lack of finance may prevent the adoption of competitors practices
what are quality circles?
small groups of workers of different levels in the firm who come together to discuss and solve problems in production
what are four benefits of quality circles?
- Employees can feel more empowered and involved, increases staff motivation and productivity and lowers staff turnover.
- Improves employee relations.
- Improves communication between employees and management.
- Better quality products reduces complaints from customers
what are four features of mystery shopping?
- Mystery shoppers are employed by the company to act as customers.
- They sample the product or service and report back to the business on their experience.
- Feedback is used by the company to help improve their service or product.
- Mystery shoppers do not identify themselves to the company therefore they are gaining an accurate reflection on the service provided to customers
