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Managing quality
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Quality means meeting customer expectations. Good quality protects a business's reputation and can cut costs.
Quality control
Quality control (QC) checks products at the end of production (or at stages) to find faults.
Faulty items are thrown away or reworked. It can be wasteful because problems are found after they happen. Often done by inspectors.
Faulty items are thrown away or reworked. It can be wasteful because problems are found after they happen. Often done by inspectors.
Quality assurance
Quality assurance (QA) checks quality at every stage of production, so faults are prevented rather than found.
Every worker is responsible for quality. It costs more to set up but reduces waste.
Every worker is responsible for quality. It costs more to set up but reduces waste.
Why quality matters
Goods and services: customers expect reliable products and good service. Poor service is a quality problem too.
Controls costs: fewer faulty products, returns and complaints.
Competitive advantage: a reputation for quality lets a business charge more and win loyal customers.
Controls costs: fewer faulty products, returns and complaints.
Competitive advantage: a reputation for quality lets a business charge more and win loyal customers.
A car maker finds 5% of cars faulty at the final inspection. Which approach is it using, and what is the problem?
- Checking at the end is quality control.
- Faults are found after costs are already spent.
Answer: Quality control; faults are found too late, which wastes money.
Quality control finds faults by inspecting products. Quality assurance prevents faults by checking at every stage, with all workers responsible. Good quality cuts costs and gives a competitive advantage.
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