quality of goods DONE Flashcards
“Quality
“Quality is about meeting the needs and expectations of customers”
Customer loyalty
– they return, make repeat purchases and recommend the product or service to others.
Strong brand reputation for quality
Retailers want to stock the product
better value for money,
As the product is perceived to be better value for money, it may command a premium price and will become more price inelastic
Fewer returns
Fewer returns and replacements lead to reduced costs
Attracting and retaining good staff
firms have to work hard to………
maintain and improve their reputation for quality, which can easily be damaged by a news story about a quality failure.
Key aspects of quality for the customer include:
Good design – looks and style
Good functionality – it does the job well
Reliable – acceptable level of breakdowns or failure
Consistency
Durable – lasts as long as it should
Good after sales service
Value for money
‘Value for money’ is especially important, because in most markets there is room for products of different overall levels of quality, and the customer must be satisfied that the price fairly reflects the quality.
Some products and services are marketed seen as
‘basic’, having none of the extra features and benefits of more expensive alternatives. Good examples would be Easyjet and George at Asda clothing ranges. Even though it may be ‘low quality’ in terms of style or features, these products still give good value for money for their overall level of quality.
Customers want quality ………….
that is appropriate to the price that they are prepared to pay and the level of competition in the market.
good design is fundamental because
For the firm, good design is fundamental, so that the product can be produced efficiently, reliably and at the lowest possible cost.
quality control
The process of inspecting products to ensure that they meet the required quality standards
.
quality control - This method checks the………
quality of completed products for faults. Quality inspectors measure or test every product, samples from each batch, or random samples – as appropriate to the kind of product produced.
Advantages of quality control
With quality control, inspection is intended to prevent faulty products reaching the customer.
This approach means having specially trained inspectors, rather than every individual being responsible for his or her own work.
Furthermore, it is thought that inspectors may be better placed to find widespread problems across an organisation.
Disadvantages of quality control- individuals
A major problem is that individuals are not necessarily encouraged to take responsibility for the quality of their own work.
Disadvantages of quality control- waste
Rejected product is expensive for a firm as it has incurred the full costs of production but cannot be sold as the manufacturer does not want its name associated with substandard product. Some rejected product can be re-worked, but in many industries it has to be scrapped – either way rejects incur more costs,
Disadvantages of quality control- conclusion
A quality control approach can be highly effective at preventing defective products from reaching the customer. However, if defect levels are very high, the company’s profitability will suffer unless steps are taken to tackle the root causes of the failures
The main objective of quality control
is to ensure that the business is achieving the standards it sets for itself.
, it is not possible to achieve ……………..
perfection
. For example there will always be some variation in terms of materials used, production skills applied, reliability of the finished product etc.
Quality control involves …………
setting standards about how much variation is acceptable. The aim is to ensure that a product is manufactured, or a service is provided, to meet the specifications which ensure customer needs are met.
There are how many methods of quality control.
There are several methods of quality control.
quality control is achieved through ……………
inspection.
in a manufacturing business, trained inspectors examine samples of work-in-progress and finished goods to ensure standards are being met.
A definition of quality assurance
The processes that ensure production quality meets the requirements of customers
This is an approach that aims to achieve quality by ………..
organising every process to get the product ‘right first time’ and prevent mistakes ever happening.
In quality assurance, there is more emphasis on ‘what?
self-checking’, rather than checking by inspectors.
