Quality issues

Question 1

Define quality control, give examples and state advantages/disadvantages

Answer 1

The continuous monitoring of production process e.g. fruit/veg that is bruised will be rejected, recycled or destroyed

Adv - very effective
Dis - high defect level

Question 2

Define quality assurance, give examples and state advantages/disadvantages

Answer 2

Checking the level of quality in a product/service by means of attention in delivery or production e.g. sally checks raw materials, ben conducts a sample check and jack inspects the final product

Adv - less customer complaints
Dis - time consuming and costly to train staff

Question 3

Define benchmarking, give examples and state advantages/disadvantages

Answer 3

When businesses set standards to compare themselves in performance levels e.g. internal standards set on historical data like annual sales and external standards set on competitors

Adv - effective for teams to adopt efficient practices and increases their productivity
Dis - timely, costly due to requiring gathering internal and external data

Question 4

Define quality circles, give examples and state advantages/disadvantages

Answer 4

When a business involves employees in different areas of the business to discuss issues so solutions can be formulated

Adv - increased business productivity and improved customer satisfaction
Dis - lack of management support and time-consuming

Question 5

Define TQM, give examples and state advantages/disadvantages

Answer 5

The culture of an organisation towards producing quality products and services

Adv - ensures a business is better positioned in the market
Dis - planning and resources required, lots of allocation

Question 6

Define ISO 9000, give examples and state advantages/disadvantages

Answer 6

An international organisation for standards in line with an ISO 9000 certificate

Adv - increased customer satisfaction and business efficiency
Dis - requires training to implement successfully and is timely and costly