Quality

Front 1

Benefits of maintaining high quality:

Back 1

Easier to create customer loyalty, save on const of customer complaints, less advertising may be necessary as brand image is good, a higher price could be charged.

Front 2

Costs of poor quality:

Back 2

Damage reputation, time and money spent fixing problems.

Front 3

Causes of quality problems:

Back 3

Poorly motivated staff, no quality management programs.

Front 4

What is quality control?

Back 4

A system of maintaining standards in manufactured products by testing a sample of the output against the specification.

Front 5

What is the aim of quality control?

Back 5

To prevent substandard products form reaching consumers.

Front 6

What is the main disadvantage of Quality control?

Back 6

It does not prevent mistakes and therefore can be expensive as resources can be wasted.

Front 7

What is Quality Assurance?

Back 7

A system that involves the whole business so that all quality standards are met at each stage of the production.

Front 8

Main advantages of Quality Assurance over quality control:

Back 8

It makes everyone responsible for quality, it reduces the need for expensive final inspection and correction of final products.

Front 9

What is Total Quality Management (TQM)?

Back 9

A philosophy of management based on the principle that every member of staff must be committed to maintaining high standards of work in every aspect of a company's operations.

Front 10

Advantages of TQM:

Back 10

Increased quality, reduced waste, it is a long term culture that is likely to attract quality employees.

Front 11

Disadvantages of TQM:

Back 11

Requires a lot of leadership from the top (some people can't do this), can be bureaucratic - lots of meetings, may take a long time for culture to be implemented.

Front 12

What is Continuous Improvement (Kaizen)?

Back 12

Kaizen, also known as continuous improvement, is an approach to work that systematically seeks to achieve small, incremental changes in processes in order to improve efficiency and quality.

Front 13

Advantages of Kaizen:

Back 13

Workers come up with idea which means that: they are less likely to be radical, likely to be easy to implement (not cost much time or money), less likely to need a R&D department.

Front 14

What are quality circles (QCs)?

Back 14

QCs are small groups of workers between 5-10 who meet voluntarily in order to discuss methods of improving productivity and quality in their work areas. They are often used as part of a Kaizen program.

Front 15

Limitation of Kaizen and Quality control:

Back 15

Many workers prefer simply being told what to do and are unmotivated by teamwork, extra responsibility and empowerment.

Front 16

What is a benchmark?

Back 16

A benchmark is a standard of reference point. It is a technique of analysing best practice in order to make improvement easier.

Front 17

What are the four types of benchmarking?

Back 17

Competitive (against key competitors), Internal (against another part of organisation), functional (comparing certain functions against other organisations), Generic (against the practices of world class firms)

Front 18

Advantages of benchmarking:

Back 18

Can be a quick way to measure performance, can allow firm to close performance gap between other firms, can focus on customer perception and so insure better quality.

Front 19

Disadvantages of benchmarking:

Back 19

The cost of measurement can be high, may be difficult to measure performance of competitors, it may discourage creative/innovative ideas as if focus' on what other people are doing.

Front 20

What are International Quality Standards?

Back 20

There are many national and international quality awards which are meant to show that certain standards have been met.

Front 21

Advantages of using International Quality Standards:

Back 21

Promotes awareness of quality within business, helps attract high quality employees, gives firms competitive advantages.