Quality management

What is quality management?

All customers want to get value for money when they make a purchase. This relies on a business being able to provide quality goods and services at a fair price. Quality can be defined as the features of a product or service that satisfy the wants and needs of a customer. This will include the following aspects:

• Aesthetics and appearance
• Reliability and durability
• Features
• Customer service when making a purchase
• Cost

Quality assurance and control

Throughout the production process, quality assurance checks are carried out. This means that a product is checked at multiple stages to prevent poor quality goods from being out on sale. Doing this will help a business to offer items that are the best possible quality – boosting the reputation of the company and increasing the strength of the brand.

One of the main types of quality control is called Total Quality Management (TQM) which requires every employee to be in charge of spotting errors and monitoring the quality of produce. TQM is designed to prevent errors in manufacturing from ever happening. It involves the following:

• Quality chains – with every worker in a business like a chain, products will be checked over and over again. Each person in the chain should see themselves as a customer (when they receive the half-finished product) and a supplier (when they pass this on to the next part in the manufacturing process). This will avoid faults and reduce the amount of mistakes that slip through into a finished product.
• Involving every person – by instilling a company culture for quality control, every individual will take ownership over the product. Doing this will increase vigilance at each level for the hierarchy and improve the sense of ownership over a product that an employee has
• Quality auditing – TQM relies heavily on statistical data to spot trends and patterns. These quality audits will help the business to improve the quality or products and reduce the amount of variations that are seen in products to make the whole production process more accurate.
• Teamwork – total quality management relies heavily on each person being part of a team. By encouraging everyone to work together, the entire team will be working to boost quality and spot any mistakes that could be eliminated
• Aiming for no defects – lots of TQM systems implement a zero-defect policy. This aims to create products that continuously have no mistakes and are manufactured perfectly. Having these high standards enables the company to work to very high levels that never drop.

The importance of quality control

In the modern business world, quality is more important than ever. Now that new technology has opened markets, competition is higher than ever. One wrong move for a modern business can spell disaster, so it is essential that the bar is set high and met each time. If a business fails to deliver on its quality promise, a customer can very easily go to a competitor and spend money there instead.

Government legislation will also have an impact on the need for quality. If a business is found to be falling short of certain quality standards, then it can be fined very large amounts by both its own government and regulatory bodies in any trade blocs it is part of (such as the EU). For example, there will be legislation that regulates the production of food in factories and the hygiene standards that must be met when doing this. If a business does not meet these, it could face penalties or even forced closure.

Another reason for avoiding poor quality is the impact that this can have on a business’s reputation. If a company sells products that break or are not to the right standards then it will see an impact on its brand and the loyalty of customers. Late deliveries or substandard products will impact a business hugely as customer reviews count for so much in modern business. Recognition for quality can lead a business to get awards and nomination for the way it works. This may lead to new contracts and privileges which are not available to businesses that do not meet the same strict quality control measures.