Final call to organization to pay attention to Quality. But why should any organization be interested in managing and improving its product and service quality?
Quality is a customer issue. It arises because customers require products or services that meet their needs and expectations. Successful organizations realize that job number 1 in the organization is to monitor their performance not only in meeting but also exceeding customer requirements.
The word 'Quality' has a variety of definitions and interpretations, here a number of ways in which quality is defined by quality gurus:
Quality is Fitness for Use - Juran
Quality is Conformance to Requirement - Crosby
Quality is Full Customer Satisfaction - Feigenbaum
What happens on the inside of an organization deals with the consequences of delivering product and service quality to the customer, which ultimately ties to customer satisfaction and desirable organization profits.
Garvin proposes eight quality dimensions that can serve as a framework for quality analysis:
1. Performance
Performance refers to a product's primary operating characteristics.
2. Features
Features are usually the secondary aspects of performance, those characteristics that supplement their basic functioning.
3. Reliability
This dimension reflects the probability of a product malfunctioning or failing within a specified time period.
4. Conformance
Conformance is the degree to which a product's design and operating characteristics meet established standards.
5. Durability
A measure of product life, durability has both economic and technical dimensions.
6. Serviceability
Serviceability is the speed, courtesy, competence, and ease of repair.
7. Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a subjective dimension of quality. How a product looks, feels, sounds, tastes, or smells is a matter of personal judgement and a reflection of individual preference.
8. Perceived Quality
What customer observed directly or indirectly from various tangible and intangible aspects of the product.
In summary, quality is extremely important, and it is planned!. There will be no product and/or service quality if organization does not have a system to manage it.
Read More :
Quotes : Quality, Leadership, Custormer
Quality Gurus : Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa
Quality Book : Table of Contents, Chapter 2 : Customer Need, Chapter 3 : Process Management, Chapter 4 : Cost of Quality, Chapter 5 : Training for Quality, Chapter 7 : Quality Improvement
Quality Tools : Pareto Diagram, Control Chart
Quality in Industry : Food,
Quality Program : 5S
Quality Award : MBNQA