Total quality management

Question 1

Define total quality management.

Answer 1

• Managing the entire organisation so that it excels on all dimensions of products and services that are important to the customer.

Question 2

Two fundamental operational goals.

Answer 2

1. Careful design of the product or service

2. Ensuring that the organisations systems can consistently produce the design: execution.

Question 3

what are quality specifications and quality costs?

Answer 3

• Fundamental to any quality program is the determination of quality specifications and the costs of achieving (or not achieving) those specifications.

Question 4

Define design quality.

Answer 4

• Intended product or service performance (hope of high quality).

Question 5

Define conformance quality.

Answer 5

• Degree to which the product or service design specifications are met.

Question 6

Define ‘quality at the source’.

Answer 6

• The person who does the work takes the responsibility for making sure it achieves the desired quality.

Question 7

What are the dimensions of design quality

Answer 7

• Performance
• Features
• Reliability/durability
• Serviceability
• Aesthetics
• Perceived quality

Question 8

Define ‘Design quality’.

Answer 8

• The inherent value of the product in the marketplace and is thus a strategic decision for the firm.

Question 9

Define performance as a dimension of design quality.

Answer 9

• Primary product or service characteristics.

Question 10

Define ‘features’ as a dimension of design quality.

Answer 10

• Added touches, bells and whistles, secondary characteristics

Question 11

Define ‘reliability/durability’ as a dimension of design quality.

Answer 11

• Consistency of performance over time, probability of failing, useful life

Question 12

Define ‘serviceability’ as a dimension of design quality.

Answer 12

• Ease of repair

Question 13

Define ‘Aesthetics’ as a dimension of design quality.

Answer 13

• Sensory characteristics (sound, feel, look and so on)

Question 14

Define ‘Perceived quality’ as a dimension of design quality.

Answer 14

• Past performance and reputation.

Question 15

What are the two policies for managing quality?

Answer 15

• Design quality into the product of service we are going to offer before we start or change it radically - a proactive approach, planning quality into the product or service.
• Continuously strive to improve the product or service we offer - a reactive approach, continuously improving what we do (TQM) Most organisations do both.

Question 16

Define dimensions of quality.

Answer 16

• Criteria by which quality is measured.

Question 17

Define cost of quality.

Answer 17

• Expenditures related to achieving product or service quality, such as the cost of prevention, appraisal, internal failure and external failure.

Question 18

What are the four costs of quality?

Answer 18

• Appraisal costs
• Prevention costs
• Internal failure costs
• External failure costs

Question 19

Define ‘appraisal’ costs’.

Answer 19

• Costs of inspections, testing, and other tasks to ensure that the product or process is acceptable.

Question 20

Define ‘prevention costs’.

Answer 20

• The sum of all the costs to prevent defects, such as the costs to identify the cause of the defect, to implement corrective action to eliminate the cause, to train personnel, redesign product or system, and to purchase new equipment or make modifications.

Question 21

Define ‘internal failure’ costs.

Answer 21

• Costs for defects incurred within the system: scrap, rework and repair.

Question 22

Define ‘external failure’ costs.

Answer 22

• Costs for defects that will pass through the system: customer warranty repair replacements, loss of customers or goodwill, handling complaints and product repair

Question 23

Quality function deployment: six steps.

Answer 23

1. voice of the customer (understand them/what they want)
2. competitive analysis (how to gain competitive advantage, look at how competitors relate to customers)
3. voice of the designer (find out capabilities and how can they be adjusted to meet customer needs).
4. Correlation (Between what designer can do and what customer wants).
5. Technical comparison (our products performance vs competitors).
6. Technical trade offs (what is gained and what is lost with different alternatives

Question 24

Should all organisations have inspectors to inspect both the organisation and the quality of its products?

Answer 24

• Yes it would be beneficial.
• Inspectors detect and prevent problems from reaching customers
• All work should be inspected to prevent errors from spoiling other work or reaching customers:
• Incoming materials
• Own work (especially first items made)
• finished goods

Question 25

What is statistical quality/process control.

Answer 25

• A method of ensuring that conformance to specification (of ‘technical features) is maintained.

Question 26

Name the tools for quality planning.

Answer 26

• Quality function deployment

- Total quality management

Question 27

What is ‘quality function deployment’?

Answer 27

• A tool used to translate customer needs/wants as expressed in functional terms into a technical specification suitable for production.
  aims:
• provide customers with products that they want
• Ensure satisfaction
  Add extra quality = added value

Question 28

What is the role of standards?

Answer 28

• For continuous improvement we must have standards to demonstrate improvement.

Question 29

Explain how employee participation is important?

Answer 29

• Staff involvement is critical for the successful continuous quality improvement
• Requires a fundamental change in the role (behaviour and thinking) of managers.
  No longer controllers of people but instead trainers, developers and team builders and leaders.

Question 30

Why ‘quality function deployment’ works?

Answer 30

• Eliminates distance between customer and manufacturer by making product personal.
• Ensures customer satisfaction
• Places customer needs/wants as priority of the product/service.
• Aids in the translation of customer wants into product action.
• Verifies that the common goal between different business functional departments is customer satisfaction.

Question 31

What are the three main principles of ‘Total quality management’?

Answer 31

• Customer satisfaction
• Employee involvement
• Continuous improvements in operations, processes, people. communications yields better quality.

Question 32

What is a ‘quality circle’?

Answer 32

• Small groups looking at individual quality problems.

Question 33

What are the five phases of DMAIC methodology?

Answer 33

• Define
• Measure
• Analyse (determine most likely causes of defects, understand how they came around)
• Improve (remove causes of defects)
• Control (determine how to maintain improvements, put tools in place to track key variables)

Question 34

Define ‘DMAIC’.

Answer 34

• An acronym for the define, measure, analyse, improve and control improvement methodology followed by companies engaging in six stigma programs.

Question 35

What is six stigma?

Answer 35

• A statistical term to describe the quality goal of no more than 3.4 defects out of every million units. Also refers to a quality improvement philosophy and program.
• Seeks to reduce the variations in processes that lead to defects.

Question 36

Name the analytic tools for six stigma and continuous improvement.

Answer 36

• Flowcharts
• Run charts
• Pareto charts
• Check sheets
• Cause and effect diagrams
• Opportunity flow diagrams
• Control charts