9.2.1 Quality control and quality assurance
Quality in terms of meeting customer expectations
Definition Quality is the ability of a product or service to meet customers' expectations — to be 'fit for purpose'.
A quality standard is the expectation of customers, expressed in terms of the minimum acceptable production or service standards.
Quality is relative to expectations and price. A ₹300 pair of sandals and a ₹30 000 pair of designer shoes can both be high quality if each meets the expectations of its own customers. Quality covers not only the product's performance and reliability but also its design, durability, delivery, after-sales service and the customer's whole experience.
The importance of quality
| Benefits of high quality | Costs of poor quality |
|---|
| Customer satisfaction, loyalty and repeat purchases | Lost customers and sales; damage to brand reputation |
| Ability to charge premium prices; stronger brand | Costs of scrap, rework and wasted materials |
| Lower costs of waste, rework and returns | Refunds, replacements, warranty claims and product recalls |
| Competitive advantage and positive word of mouth/reviews | Legal action and fines for unsafe products |
| Easier to gain contracts with business customers that require quality certification | Demotivated workforce and complaints- handling costs |
Worked calculation
Reject rate (%) = number of defective units ÷ total output × 100
A component plant produced 24 000 units in a month, of which 360 failed inspection.
Reject rate = 360 ÷ 24 000 × 100 = 1.5%
If each reject costs ₹450 in wasted materials and labour, the monthly cost of poor quality = 360 × 450 = ₹162 000 — before any cost of lost customers.
Quality control
Definition Quality control is based on inspection of the product, or a sample of products, at the end of (or at stages during) production, by specialist quality inspectors, to find and remove defects before products reach customers.
| Advantages of quality control | Disadvantages of quality control |
|---|
| Defective products are identified before they reach customers | Detects faults after they occur — waste and rework have already happened |
| Relatively simple; specialist inspectors develop expertise | Costly — inspectors add no value to the product |
| Sampling (statistical process control) can reduce inspection costs | Workers may feel quality is 'someone else's job'; little motivation to improve |
| Sampling may miss some defects |
Quality assurance
Definition Quality assurance is a system of agreeing and meeting quality standards at each stage of production — design, sourcing, production and delivery — to prevent faults from occurring, so that the final product meets customer expectations. Workers are responsible for checking their own work.
| Advantages of quality assurance | Disadvantages of quality assurance |
|---|
| Prevents defects rather than detecting them — lower waste and rework | Costs of setting up systems, documentation and staff training |
| Workers responsible for quality — more motivating (Herzberg: responsibility) | Relies on workers' commitment; may be bureaucratic |
| Can lead to recognised certification such as ISO 9001, attracting business customers | Certification focuses on following procedures, which does not guarantee a good product |
| Fewer specialist inspectors needed | Benefits take time to appear |
| Quality control | Quality assurance |
|---|
| Approach | Detect (inspection) | Prevent (systems at every stage) |
| Timing | Mainly at the end of production | Throughout the process, starting at design |
| Responsibility | Specialist inspectors | Every worker checks their own work |
| Cost of faults | Faults found after resources are wasted | Fewer faults occur |
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Definition Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach to quality that aims to involve all employees in the quality-improvement process, with the goal of zero defects and complete customer satisfaction. Every employee treats the next person in the process as an internal customer whose needs must be met.
- quality is everyone's responsibility — not just the quality department's
- internal customers: every stage must deliver perfect work to the next stage
- zero defects — getting it right first time
- continuous improvement (kaizen) — small, ongoing improvements (Topic 9.3.4)
- employee empowerment and teamwork — quality circles, the authority to stop production when a fault is found
- top management commitment and a culture focused on the customer
| Impact of TQM — benefits | Impact of TQM — drawbacks |
|---|
| Very low defect rates; much lower costs of waste and rework | Requires a change of culture — slow and difficult to introduce |
| Strong reputation for quality; customer loyalty | High training costs; management time |
| Motivated, empowered employees (soft HRM) | Resistance from managers and workers used to traditional methods |
| Continuous improvement keeps the business competitive | Results may take years; can become a slogan without genuine commitment |
Example Tata Steel won the Deming Application Prize for its TQM programme, and Sundaram-Clayton, an Indian auto-components maker, was the first Indian company to win the Deming Prize, in 1998. Toyota (Japan) built its reputation on TQM and kaizen — any worker can stop the production line if a defect appears. In contrast, quality failures such as Boeing's 737 MAX problems show how damaging lapses can be to reputation, sales and share price.
Analysis chain
Business replaces end-of-line inspection with quality assurance and TQM → workers check their own work and stop production when faults appear → defects are prevented rather than discovered → waste, rework and warranty costs fall; reliability rises → lower costs and a stronger reputation give a competitive advantage — after an investment in training and culture change