INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY

H. JAMES HARRINGTON
 From where I stand, CEOs around the world have lost much of
their interest in quality... We are more interested in reducing
cost, removing waste, and reducing cycle time... Maybe it’s
time we got back to basic quality measurements. We talk about
getting to the root cause of the problems.
 Well, I think we need to get to the root results of our actions
by measuring the level of customer satisfaction
improvements, the increase in mean time to failure, reducing
percent defective during the first 90 days of usage, stopping
product recalls, and lowering return rates – not dollars saved,
inventory turns, or output per hour. We are trying to do
everything for everybody, and as a result we are missing the
real quality objective – better and better products and
services
 We need to take pride in what we do. When you go home at
night and look in the mirror, will you be able to smile and say
“I did my very best”? Too many of us stop short of being our
best. We say “That’s good enough,” never knowing how
good we could be...
 To make up for these sloppy work habits, we are using
information technology to offer the lack of interest in the
job and the lack of commitment to the organization...
 What we need to do is get back to basics. The things that
made us great in the first place are hard work, pride in
accomplishment, technical education, and strong family
values.
QUESTION

 Does quality matter to you personally as a

consumer and future employee or manager?
INTRODUCTION

 The first job we have is to turn out quality

merchandise that consumer will buy and keep on
buying. If we produce it efficiently and
economically, we will earn a profit, in which you
will share. (William Cooper Procter,1887)
 Productivity is the measure of efficiency or the
amount of output achieved per unit of input)
 Cost of operation and quality of the goods and
services that create customer satisfaction.
 All contributing to profitability.
 Quality is uniquely positioned to accelerate
organizational growth through better
execution and alignment and it also provide
the voice of the customer critical to
developing innovative products and services.
 High quality goods and services can provide
an organization with a competitive edge.
 It generates satisfied and loyal customers
who reward the organization
SPEED OF DELIVERY
CONSISTENCY PERFECTION
ELIMINATING WASTE
PROVIDING GOOD, USABLE PRODUCT
TOTAL
COMPLIANCE
CUSTOMER
WITH POLICIES
AND PROCEDURES
SERVICE AND
SATISFACTION
DOING IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
DELIGHTING CUSTOMERS
TRANSCENDENT (JUDGMENTAL)
PERSPECTIVE
 It is synonymous with superiority or
excellence.
 Walter Shewart (1931) defined quality as a
goodness of product.
 “both absolute and universally recognizable, a
mark of uncompromising standards and high
achievement.”
 Quality cannot be defined precisely – you just
know it when you see it. High quality is not
correlated with price.
TRANSCENDENT (JUDGMENTAL)
PERSPECTIVE
 Transcend ( to rise above or extend notably
beyond ordinary limits)

Little practical value to managers

It does not provide a means by

which quality can be measured or
assessed
PRODUCT PERSPECTIVE

 Quality is related to the quantity of some

product attribute or the number of different
features in a product like mobile phones.
 Larger number of product attributes are
equivalent to higher quality, so designers
incorporate more features into products,
whether customers want them or not.
 Good marketing research is needed to assess
what features customers want in a product.
USER PERSPECTIVE

 It leads to user-based definition of quality –

fitness for intended use, or how well the
product performs its intended function.
 Both a Cadillac CTS and a Honda Civic are fit
for use, they simply serve different needs and
different groups of customers.
VALUE PERSPECTIVE

 Quality is based on value that is the relationship

of product benefits to price.
 Consumers no longer buy solely on the basis of
the price, they compare the total quality of the
total package of goods and services that a
business offers (customer benefit package) with
price and with competitive offerings.
 A good example is generic pharmaceuticals
which provide same medical benefits at a lower
price.
VALUE PERSPECTIVE
 In 1990s, P&G instituted the concept of value pricing – offering
products at “everyday” low prices in an attempt to counter the
common consumer practice of buying whatever brand happens
to be on special. In this way, P&G hoped to attain consumer
brand loyalty and more consistent sales.
 Competitive demands in business continually seek to satisfy
consumers’ needs at lower prices.
 The ability to keep prices low requires a strong internal focus on
efficiency and quality, as quality improvements in operations
generally reduce costs by reducing rework and scrap.
 Organization must focus on continually improving both the
consumer benefit package and the quality and efficiency of
their internal operations.
MANUFACTURING PERSPECTIVE

 For the Donald R. Keough, former president and COO of

Coca-Cola Company, quality is “about manufacturing a
product that people can depend on every time they reach
for it.”
 Quality is defined as conformance to specifications. To
determine if a good is manufactured or a service is
delivered as it was designed.
 Specifications are targets and tolerances determined by
designs of goods and services.
 Targets are ideal values for which production is to strive.
 Tolerances are necessary because it is impossible to meet
targets all of the time.
CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

 ANSI and ASQ (1978) defined quality as the

totality of features and characteristics of a
product or service that bears on its ability to
satisfy given needs.
 Quality is defined as meeting or exceeding
customer expectations.(1980)
 Customers can be internal or external
 INTEGRATING QUALITY PERSPECTIVES
IN THE VALUE CHAIN
Transcendent User
perspective and Product perspective
Perspective

Customer Marketing
Value
Perspective

Design
Customer
perspective

Information flow Manufacturing

Product flow Distribution

Manufacturing
Perspective
 Figure1.1 shows the essential elements of a
value chain in manufacturing for developing,
producing and distributing goods to
customers.
 Each function is an internal customer of
others, and the firm itself may be an external
customer or supplier to other firms.
 Customer perspective provides the basis for
coordinating the entire value chain.
QUESTION

Based on the discussion about the

perspective about quality, which do
you think best describe quality?
Why?
HISTORY OF QUALITY
MANAGEMENT
 Quality has been an important aspect of
production operation throughout history.
 Modern quality assurance methods actually
began ages ago in China during the Zhou dynasty.
Specific departments were created and given
responsibility for: Production, inventory and
product distribution of raw material (SCM);
production and manufacturing; formulating and
executing quality standards; supervision and
inspection.
THE AGE OF CRAFTMANSHIP
 During the middle ages in Europe, the skilled craftsperson
served both as manufacturer and inspector.
 QA was informal; every effort was made to ensure that
quality was built into products by the people who produced
them.
 In mid-18th century, Honore Blanc developed a system for
manufacturing muskets to a standard pattern using
interchangeable parts.
 Thomas Jefferson brought the idea to US and in 1798, the
new US govt awarded Eli Whitney a 2-year contract to supply
10000 muskets to its armed forces. QA becomes a critical
component of the production in the Industrial Revolution.
EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

 The work of Frederick W. Taylor, father of

scientific management, led to a new philosophy
of production. Taylor’s innovation was to
separate the planning function from the
execution function.
 Inspection was the primary means of quality
control during the first half of the 20th century.
 Henry Ford, Sr., one of the leader of 2nd industrial
revolution, developed many of the fundamentals
of what now call “total quality practices”.
EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY
 The Bell System was the leader in the early modern
history of industrial quality management. Western
Electric Company – Bell Telephone Laboratories
 The early pioneers of quality – Walter Shewhart, Harold
Dodge, George Edwards, Joseph Juran and W. Edwards
Deming were members of Western Electric Company.
 Quality Assurance refers to any planned and
systematic activity towards providing consumers with
products of appropriate quality, along with the
confidence that products meet consumers’
requirements and developed many useful techniques
for measuring, controlling and improving quality.
EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

 The W. E group led by Walter Shewhart

ushered in the era of statistical quality
control, the application of statistical methods
for controlling quality.
 Shewart is credited with developing control
charts, which became a popular means of
identifying quality problems in production
processes and ensuring consistency of
output.
POST WORLD WAR II

 In most companies, quality remained the

province of the specialist.
 Quality was not the top priority of top
managers, who delegated this responsibility
to quality managers.
 Top management showed little interest in
quality improvement or the prevention of
defects and errors, relying instead on mass
inspection.
 During this time, US consultants, Juran and
Deming introduced statistical quality control
techniques to the Japanese to aid them in
their rebuilding efforts.
 With the support of top managers, the
Japanese integrated quality throughout their
organizations and developed a culture of
continuous improvement (Kaizen)
THE U.S. “QUALITY REVOLUTION”

 US consumers purchased domestic goods and

accepted “made in Japan” quality without question.
 “If Japan can... Why can’t we?” Deming’s statement
during NBC special program
 Quality became recognized as a key to worldwide
competitiveness and was heavily promoted
throughout industry.
 Most US firms instituted extensive quality
improvement campaigns, directed not only at
improving internal operations but also toward
satisfying external customers.
 Xerox made a quality improvement to meet
the challenge
 Xerox and CEODavid Kearns revolutionize
“Leadership through Quality” to lead the
promotion of quality among U.S.
Corporations.
 5 years continuous improvement – Baldrige
Award 1989
 overall product quality improved 93%
EARLY SUCCESSES
 The government recognized how critical quality is to
the nations economic health.
 In 1984, the US government designated October as
National Quality Month.
 The majority of states in the US developed award
programs for recognizing quality achievements in
business, education, not for profits and government.
 In 1999,Congress added nonprofit education and
health care sectors to the Baldrige Award and other
non-profit organization became eligible in 2007.
FROM PRODUCT QUALITY TO TOTAL
QUALITY MANAGEMENT
 Total Quality (TQ) is a people-focused management
system that aims at continual increase in customer
satisfaction at continually lower real cost.
 TQ is a total system approach and an integral part of
high level strategy.
 It works horizontally across functions and
departments involves all employees, and extends
backward and forward to include the supply chain and
the customer chain.
 TQ stresses learning and adaptation to continual
change as keys to organizational success.
 The foundation of TQ is philosophical:
scientific method.
 TQ includes systems, methods and tools.
 The system permit change
 TQ is anchored in values that stress the
dignity of the individual and the power of
community action.
MANAGEMENT FAILURES

 TQM failures rooted in flawed organizational

approaches and management systems, such as
poor quality strategies or good strategies that
were poorly executed and not because of the
underlying principles of quality management.
 TQM failures just prove that bad management is
still alive. Although quality can drive business
success, it cannot guarantee it, one must not infer
that business failures or stock price drops are the
result of poor quality.
PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE

 An integrated approach to organizational

performance management that results in
 Delivery of ever-improving value to customers and
stakeholders, contributing to organizational
sustainability.
 Improvement of overall organizational
effectiveness and capabilities and
 Organizational and personal learning
EMERGENCE OF SIX SIGMA

 From the failures of TQM

 Emerged in the late 1990’s as approach to
quality improvement
 It is customer-focused, results oriented
approach to business improvement
 A way of revitalizing quality efforts
 Integrated with lean tools