quality management - introduction One of the most important issues that businesses have focused on in the last 20-30

years has been quality. As markets have become much more competitive quality has become widely regarded as a key ingredient for success in business. In this revision note, we introduce what is meant by quality by focusing on the key terms you will come up against.

Term Quality

Description Quality is first and foremost about meeting the needs and expectations of customers. It is important to understand that quality is about more than a product simply "working properly". Think about your needs and expectations as a customer when you buy a product or service. These may include performance, appearance, availability, delivery, reliability, maintainability, cost effectiveness and price. Think of quality as representing all the features of a product or service that affect its ability to meet customer needs. If the product or service meets all those needs - then it passes the quality test. If it doesn't, then it is sub-standard.

Quality management

Producing products of the required quality does not happen by accident. There has to be a production process which is properly managed. Ensuring satisfactory quality is a vital part of the production process. Quality management is concerned with controlling activities with the aim of ensuring that products and services are fit for their purpose and meet the specifications. There are two main parts to quality management (1) Quality assurance (2) Quality control

Quality assurance

Quality assurance is about how a business can design the way a product of service is produced or delivered to minimise the chances that output will be sub-standard. The focus of quality assurance is, therefore on the product design/development stage. Why focus on these stages? The idea is that - if the processes and procedures used to produce a product or service are tightly controlled - then quality will be "built-in". This will make the production process much more reliable, so there will be less need to inspect production output (quality control). Quality assurance involves developing close relationships with customers and suppliers. A business will want to make sure that the suppliers to its production process understand exactly what is required - and deliver!

Quality control

Quality control is the traditional way of managing quality. A further revision note (see the list on the right) deals with this in more detail. Quality control is concerned with checking and reviewing work that has been done. For example, this would include lots of inspection, testing and sampling. Quality control is mainly about "detecting" defective output - rather than preventing it. Quality control can also be a very expensive process. Hence, in recent years, businesses have focused on quality management and quality assurance. Total quality management (usually shortened to "TQM") is a modern form of quality management. In essence, it is about a kind of business philosophy which emphasises the need for all parts of a business to continuously look for ways to improve quality. We cover this important concept in further revision notes.

Total quality management

Benchmarking is the use of standard measurements in a service or industry for comparison to other organizations in order to gain perspective on organizational performance. Continuous Improvement, in regard to organizational quality and performance, focuses on improving customer satisfaction through continuous and incremental improvements to processes, including by removing unnecessary activities and variations. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis is an approach that helps identify and prioritize potential equipment and process failures. ISO9000 is an internationally recognized standard of quality, and includes guidelines to accomplish the ISO9000 quality standard. Organizations can be optionally audited to earn ISO9000 certification. Lean Management is a process of maximizing customer value while reducing waste. Any activity or process that consumes resources, adds cost or time without creating value becomes the target for elimination. Total Quality Improvement (TQM) is a set of management practices throughout the organization, geared to ensure the organization consistently meets or exceeds customer requirements. TQM places strong focus on process measurement and controls as means of continuous improvement. Six Sigma is a quality management initiative that takes a very data-driven, methodological approach to eliminating defects with the aim to reach six standard deviations from the desired target of quality. Six standard deviations means 3.4 defects per million.

A time and motion study (or time-motion study) is a business efficiency technique combining the Time Study work of Frederick Winslow Taylor with the Motion Study work of Frank and LillianGilbreth (the same couple as is best known through the biographical 1950 film and book Cheaper by the Dozen). It is a major part of scientific management (Taylorism). After its first introduction, time study developed in the direction of establishing standard times, while motion study evolved into a technique for improving work methods. The two techniques became integrated and refined into a widely accepted method applicable to the improvement and upgrading of work systems. This integrated approach to work system improvement is known as methods engineering[1] and it is applied today to industrial as well as service organizations, including banks, schools and hospitals.[2] Time and motion study have to be used together in order to achieve rational and reasonable results. It is particularly important that effort to be applied in motion study to ensure equitable results when time study is used. In fact, much of the difficulty with time study is a result of applying it without a thorough study of the motion pattern of the job. Motion study can be considered the foundation for time study. The time study measures the time required to perform a given task in accordance with a specified method and is valid only so long as the method is continued. Once a new work method is developed, the time study must be changed to agree with the new method.[3] Time study is a direct and continuous observation of a task, using a timekeeping device (e.g., decimal minute stopwatch, computer-assisted electronic stopwatch, and videotape camera) to record the time taken to accomplish a task[4] and it is often used when:[5]

there are repetitive work cycles of short to long duration, wide variety of dissimilar work is performed, or process control elements constitute a part of the cycle.

The Industrial Engineering Terminology Standard defines time study as "a work measurement technique consisting of careful time measurement of the task with a time measuring instrument, adjusted for any observed variance from normal effort or pace and to allow adequate time for such items as foreign elements, unavoidable or machine delays, rest to overcome fatigue, and personal needs."[6] The systems of time and motion studies are frequently assumed to be interchangeable terms, descriptive of equivalent theories. However, the underlying principles and the rationale for the establishment of each respective method are dissimilar, despite originating within the same school of thought. The application of science to business problems, and the use of time-study methods in standard setting and the planning of work, was pioneered by Frederick Winslow Taylor.[7] Taylor liaised with factory managers and from the success of these discussions wrote several papers proposing the use of wage-contingent performance standards based on scientific time study.[8] At its most basic level time studies involved breaking down each job into component parts, timing each part and rearranging the parts into the most efficient method of working.[9] By counting and calculating, Taylor wanted to transform management, which was essentially an oral tradition, into a set of calculated and written techniques.[10][11] Taylor and his colleagues placed emphasis on the content of a fair days work, and sought to maximize produ ctivity irrespective of the physiological cost to the worker.[12] For example, Taylor thought unproductive time usage (soldiering) to be the deliberate attempt of workers to promote their best interests and to keep employers ignorant of how fast work could be carried out.[13] This instrumental view of human behavior by Taylor prepared the path for human relations to supersede scientific management in terms of literary success and managerial application.

Time and Motion Study a work measurement technique for recording the times of performing a certain specific job or its elements carried out under specific conditions for analyzing the data so as to obtain the time necessary for an operator to carry it out at a defined rate of performance

Application of Time and Motion Study determining schedules and planning of work determining standard costs of a particular work estimating the cost of a product before manufacturing it determining machine effectiveness