Introduction
Quality of services and products determines whether an organization will be successful or not. Consumers essentially expect the business organizations to maintain high quality level and at the same time consider it as an imperative aspect of satisfaction. For that reason, quality management becomes very crucial as far as any business organization is concerned. This quality management can in real sense be accomplished through a variety of quality control techniques. Quality control and quality assurance are objective oriented and can actually be achieved by statistical quality control.
As a result, quality control refers to a process through which the entries review quality of all the factors that are involved in the production of goods and services. It can also be defined as a process of evaluating the output relative to a given standard and taking corrective action when the output fails to meet the standards that are essentially predetermined. It is interesting to note that this approach in real sense puts emphasis on 3 important aspects. First of all, it emphasizes on elements like job management, controls, integrity and performance criteria, defined as well as well managed processes, and records identification (Heizer 265). On top of this, quality control approach places emphasis on competence such as qualifications, knowledge, experience, and skills. Finally, it emphasizes on soft elements, for example, integrity, personnel, organizational culture, confidence, team spirit, motivation, and quality relationships. Given that any of the mentioned aspects is deficient by any means, the outputs’ quality is at risk.
In relation to the customers, quality control would actually be a continuous act of ensuring that products, both manufactured and designed are produced to both meet and exceed the customers’ needs. Thus the aim of quality control is to ensure that specific processes are performed according to a set of standards or the organization or company. This means that controls include the product inspection where each product is inspected visually, and frequently using stereo microscope for details that are fine prior to the sale of a product into external market. As a result, inspectors are provided with the lists and descriptions of products defects that are unacceptable like surface blemishes or cracks for instance.
Quality control is thus fundamental in operations management. This is actually a management area that is concerned with designing, overseeing, and controlling production process and redesigning the business operations in production of services or goods. Operations management involves the obligation of making sure that business operations are essentially efficient in terms of utilizing as few resources as required, and effective in meeting the requirements of the customers.
There is a distinction between quality control and quality assurance. Quality control puts emphasis on products testing so as to uncover any defects and report to the management who make important decision to either allow or deny the release of the product. This means that quality control is a system, which utilizes inspection as a method of finding and defects in a service or a good being provided. The inspectors are thus employed to check completed work accuracy.
On the other hand, quality assurance is an approach that attempts to stabilize and improve production as well as the associated processes so as to at least minimize, or minimize the issues that contributed to the occurrence of the defect(s) in initial place. Consequently, quality assurance aims to improve or achieve the quality through organizing each process so as to get the product that is right at the first time and prevent the occurrence of mistakes. It thus concentrates on production process as self-checking idea is fundamental to quality assurance.
For the contract work, especially the work that is awarded by the government agencies, sues of quality control are among the main reasons when a contract is not renewed. There are 3 quality assurance phases. The least progressive is the acceptance sampling, which is the inspection before and after the production. It is then followed by process control that is the inspection and corrective action during the production. The most progressive is continuous improvement where the quality is normally built into process (Stevenson 479).
In operations management, quality control dictates that quality goods and services are produced. This quality is in point of fact is established upon the needs of the customers. However, the quality that is right is not necessary the best quality. For that reason, it is determined by product cost and technical characteristics as they are suited to specific requirements. Quality in operations management is thus the features of a product or service, which allow it to delight or satisfy the customers. Since this quality depends on the individuals’ opinion, different views exist on what quality means. The measures of quality that are used for a business must be measurable.
Examples of quality measures in operations management include customer satisfaction ratings, customer complaints, punctuality, and wastage rate or scrap rate. In terms of customer satisfaction ratings, a customers’ survey can be used to reveal the customers’ opinions on numerical scale or through the use of qualitative measures such as good, very good, excellent. Since the aim of a service or a product is to satisfy the customers’ needs, this is actually an excellent method of measuring if quality has been achieved (Heizer 204). Under the customers’ complaints, the number of those customers who make complaints is calculated. Albeit this quality measure might be seen as negative approach, it is really a better way of measuring if an organization has problems, which are needed to be solved.
Wastage rate or scrap rate is the other measure of operations management. Under this measure, an organization calculates number of items that are rejected during the process of production as a percentage total number of units produced. When this is done, it shows the business if its methods of production are working in an effective manner hence this guide it towards the areas, which might require improvement. In terms of punctuality, the organization calculates degree to which an organization provides its services or delivers its products. It is frequently measured by the following formula as a percentage.
Punctuality = (deliveries on time/total delivers) * 100
Many businesses use this measure particularly those that are involved in the transportation of goods or customers.
In operations management, total quality management or total quality control is essentially an approach, which extends beyond the normal techniques of statistical quality control and the quality improvement methods. This approach implies complete overview and the re-evaluation of a product specification instead of just considering extra limited changeable features within a product that is present. Given that the original specification fails to reflect quality requirements that are correct, quality cannot be manufactured into a product. In simple terms, total quality management is management methods that are used to enhance the productivity and quality in business organizations (Russell et al 78). This approach is an all-inclusive management approach, which works horizontally across a business organization that involves all the employees and departments and extends forward and backward to include both customers/clients and suppliers. Furthermore, this approach provides a framework that is crucial in implementing effective productivity and quality initiatives, which can raise the competitiveness and profitability of business organizations.
There are various benefits that come with quality control in operations management. The quality of a service or a product is actually used to ensure whether designing process that is proper is followed. The designing process requires to be backed by a process design that is appropriate supported by a right technology that confirms to customers’ requirements (Greasley 284). This crucial approach in operation management ensures that errors and defects are actually prevented and at the end removed from the product or process. As a result quality control should be composed of designing, planning, identifying gaps, implementation, and improvisation.
Reduction of product defects result to less variable costs that are associated with material and labor for an organization that implements stringent quality control. Thus this means that quality control reduces the variable costs of production as a result of reduction in the products defect. The other merit of quality control is that it leads to reduction in scrap, wastage, and pollution. These three lead to losses in an organization. In addition, an organization that engages itself in these three activities goes against the business ethics that require all business organizations preserve the environment. For that reason, quality control approach ensures that environment is preserved as it is against activities that lead to its pollution.
The other advantage of quality control in operations management is that it increases employees’ quality awareness and motivation. Organizations that apply this approach encourage their employees to work harder and as a result they all become aware of product or service quality. This leads to another benefit that is increase in efficiency and the overall productivity. Production process becomes efficient hence this increases the production that in turn generates more profit as the services and products that are offered for sale are of high quality, and at the end large pool of customers become more satisfied.
Moreover, quality control in production management decreases the maintenance costs. With quality maintenance, the needs for inspection decreases hence this reduce the maintenance costs. In operations management, quality control is a secure system than the one which trusts every person to do her job properly, especially if the employees want to sidestep their responsibilities. Last but not least, inspectors that are used in quality control might be possessing highest skills in detecting the problems and also they might spot the quality problems, which are being reiterated by various workers (Greasley 310). Thus, this ensures that all standard procedures are actually followed and an organization’s products have no any issues. Through this way, an organization give good quality and safe products to the users. Ensuring quality control in an organization is fundamental as it ensures that it makes a lot of returns and have many loyal customers.
Nonetheless, quality control in operations management has some problems. For one, employing a team for inspection is an expense, which can be viewed as needless if products are essentially are produced in the right manner for the first time. Additionally, through placing the responsibility for the quality failures, on an inspector, this approach does little to inspire people to improve their output quality. Finally, giving the employees responsibility for their work aides in increasing variety, responsibility, and interest of their job hence this helps in motivating them.
Inspection is a crucial aspect of service operations and quality control. In production, inspection involves various decisions such as, when to inspect, how frequently to inspect, how much to inspect, whether to inspect variables or attributes, and what to inspect (Stevenson 464). High volume and low cost items need little inspection since the cost that is associated with passing a certain defect is low and processes, which produce these items, are usually very reliable. On the other hand, low volume and high cost items need more inspection since their defects are costly hence automated inspection s normally implemented.
Inspections can really be well-thought-out as an appraisal technique, which compares services or goods to a standard. In operation management quality control, inspection takes place at three important points of production. First it occurs before the production process to ensure that inputs are acceptable. At this point, inspection involves the acceptance sampling procedures. It then occurs during the production process to ensure that inputs conversion into outputs is taking place in an acceptable manner. This is the process that involves process control. Finally, inspection occurs after production to ensure that final verification of the goods. This like inspection before production also involves the acceptance sampling procedures.
Sampling and the corrective action are merely part of control process. For a control to be effective, it needs to be defined, measured, compared, evaluated, corrected, and monitored. One must first define what is actually to be controlled and then decide what to measure. A comparison level must also exist so as to use for various measurements. This must relate to quality level being sought (Stevenson 475). Additionally, an organization should make a definition of "out of control” The core task of the quality control is essentially to distinguish between a non-random variability and a random variability where in the case of a non-random variability, the entire process is in fact “out of control.”
This means that in the case of a non-random variability, a corrective action should take place since the process in this case is “out of control.” A corrective action includes uncovering what causes non-random variability. Once it is corrected, one should monitor results so as to ratify that the process has essentially been fixed. For one to have a solid confirmation, he or she must be put amount of time that is sufficient into this. Ultimately, control is achieved through checking a ration of services or goods, comparing results to a standard that is predetermined, evaluating the departures from that standard, taking the corrective action when required, and then following up to make sure that all the problems have in reality been corrected.
Moreover, in operation management, quality control utilizes the statistical process control. This is that part of quality control process, which discovers the departures from the variation and randomness in the process. A run test or a control chart is used to measure this. The c-chart and p-chart are the 2 types of the attribute control charts (Russell et al 85). The c-chart is actually a control chart for the attributes that is used in monitoring number of defects per unit. On the other hand, p-chart is essentially a control chart for the attributes that are used in monitoring a ratio of items that are defective in a given process.
In quality control, process capability determines if the process that is put forward is able to produce the output, which is within a range that is acceptable. Three frequently terms are used to refer to process output variability. They include process variability, control limits, and specifications or tolerance. The process variability reflects inherent or natural variability in a given process. It is measured by process standard deviation. The control limits are statistical limits, which neglect extent to which the sample statistics like ranges and mean vary due to the randomness alone. Last but not least, specifications/tolerance are established by the customer requirements Russell et al 94). Specifications indicate range of where the individual output units should fall for them to be acceptable.
Works cited
Heizer, Jay H, and Barry Render. Operations Management. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall, 2001
Stevenson, William J. Operations Management. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2005.
Russell, Roberta S, and Bernard W. Taylor. Operations Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Greasley, Andrew. Operations Management. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2008.
