CHAPTER 9OBJECTIVES
1.) Define the term quality.
Ans: Quality isthe ability of a product or service to consistently meet or exceed customer expectations.
2.) Explain why quality is important and the consequencesof poor quality.
Ans: Quality isimportant to business organizations and can benefit them in a variety of ways. Someexamples include: an enhanced reputation for quality, the ability to command premiumprices, an increased market share, greater customer loyalty, lower liabilitycosts, fewer production or service problems, and higher profits to name a few.
The consequences of poor quality include: lossof business, liability, productivity, and costs.
3.) Identify the determinants of quality.
Ans: The degree towhich a product or a service successfully satisfies its intended purpose has fourprimary determinants:
1. Design.
2. How well it conforms to the design.
3. Ease of use.
4. Service after delivery.
4.) Describe the costs associated with quality.
Ans: Any seriousattempt to deal with quality issues must take into account the costs associated withquality. Those costs can be classified into three categories: appraisal,prevention, and failure.
Appraisal costs relate to inspection, testing, andother activities intended to uncover defective products or services. Theyinclude the cost of inspectors, testing, test equipment, labs, quality audits,and field testing.
Prevention costs relate to attempts to preventdefects from occurring. They include costs such as planning and administrationsystems, working with vendors, training, and quality control procedures.
Failure costs are incurred by defective parts orproducts or by faulty services. Internal failures are discovered duringproduction and External failures are discovered after delivery to thecustomer.
5.) Describe the quality awards.
Ans: Qualityawards have been established to generate awareness and interest in quality.The Malcolm BaldrigeAward, the European Quality Award, and the Deming Prize are well- known awards given annually to recognizefirms that have integrated quality management in their operations.
Baldrige Award is a annual award given by the U.S. government to recognizequality achievements in U.S. companies.
European Quality Award is a European award fororganizational excellence.
The Deming Prize is named in honor of the late W.Edward Deming, and is Japan’s highly coveted award recognizing successfulquality efforts.
6.) Discuss the philosophies of quality gurus.
Ans: Walter Shewhart’s keycontributions are control charts, and variance reduction.
W. Edward Deming’s key contributionsare the 14 points, special vs. common causes of variation.
Joseph M. Juran’skey contributions are quality is fitness for use, and quality trilogy.
Armand Feigenbaum’skey contributions are quality is a total field, and the customer defines quality.
PhilipB. Crosby’s key contributions are quality is free, and zero defectsconcept.
Kaoru Ishikawa’s key contributions arecause and effect diagrams, and quality circles.
GenichiTaguchi’s key contributions are the Taguchi loss function.
7.) Describe TQM.
Ans: The termtotal quality management (TQM) refers to a quest for quality in anorganization. There are three keyphilosophies in this approach. One is a never-ending push to improve, which is referredto as continuous improvement; the second is the involvement ofeveryone in the organization; and the third is a goal of customersatisfaction. TQM systems are intended to prevent poor quality fromoccurring.
8.) Give an overview of problem solving.
Ans: Problemsolving is one of the basic procedures of TQM. In order to be successful,problem-solving efforts should follow a standard approach:
Step 1Define the problem and establish an improvement goal.
Give the problem definition carefulconsideration; don’t rush through this step because this will serve as thefocal point of problem solving efforts.
Step 2Develop performance measures and collect data.
The solution must be based on facts.Possible tools include check sheet, scatter diagram, histogram, run chart, andcontrol chart.
Step 3Analyze the problem.
Possible tools include Paretochart, cause-and-effect diagram.
Step 4Generate potential solutions.
Methods include brainstorming,interviewing, and surveying.
Step 5Choose a solution.
Identify the criteria for choosinga solution. Apply criteria to potential solutions and select the best one.
Step 6Implement the solution.
Keep everyone informed.
Step 7Monitor the solution to see if it accomplishes the goal.
If not, modify the solution, orreturn to step 1. Possible tools include control chart and run chart.
9.) Give an overview of process improvement.
Ans: Processimprovement is a systematic approach to improving a process. It involves adocumentation, measurement, and analysis for the purpose of improving thefunctioning of a process. Typical goals of process improvement includeincreasing customer satisfaction, achieving higher quality, reducing waste,reducing costs, increasing productivity, and reducing processing time. (Refer to table 9.8 on page 406 for more).
10.) Describe and use various quality tools.
Ans: There are anumber of tools that an organization can use for problem solving and processimprovement. These tools include: flowcharts, check sheets, histograms, pareto charts, scatter diagrams,control charts, and cause-and-effect diagrams. (Refer to page 408 for examplesof graphs and charts.)
