Quality Control, Quality Management, and Quality Assurance - Literature review Example

Running Head: Quality Management Quality Management [Writer’s Name] [Institute’s Name] Quality Management Acknowledgments Letter of Transmittal This report “Quality Management” had been written on.................................. by ............................. for ....................................... The report deals with the main principles of Quality management and the main factors that deal in increasing a product’s quality. It has been dealt within in this report in a brief manner as to how an organization can make sure that its aims and goals can be achieved in one too many ways by following some of the main principles that are related to Quality management. Executive summary Quality management has been broken down into three main sections. These sections include quality control, quality management and quality assurance. Quality management does not only deal with the quality of a certain product but it is the means of achieving the quality of a specific product in a strategic manner. In the world of business it is being seen that with time competition is becoming fiercer. With this the challenge that is to be faced by the businesses and many organizations at a global level is the maintenance of the quality of their products. Within such a competitive arena, competitive norms are required to survive. To succeed in the modern competitive environment, every business is in need of manufacturing as well as supplying the best quality products in accordance with the demands of the customers. This can help the company in making its position and reputation within the market place. It can also be helpful in making the company understand as well as realize its position and role that needs to be played in the marketplace. As has been mentioned, quality management refers to the increase and enhancement of a product quality and the process of reaching to that quality. It has been seen that the quality management thereby makes use of quality assurances as well as control processes that lead to better product production so a product is in concord with the customers’ demands. Table of contents Introduction.......................................................................................................6 Assumptions......................................................................................................9 Recommendations............................................................................................10 Conclusion.......................................................................................................11 References........................................................................................................12 Introduction Storey (2004) says that quality management has been seen to be a recent ideology in the world of business as its importance has been realized in the present days. In addition it has been realized by businesses and organizations that customer demands have to be kept in mind. All the demands of the customers can be summed up to better quality of products. In historical times, the advanced civilizations are the ones who can be referred to as the ones who can be taken into an example while the considerations of quality management are taken into account. These have been the civilizations showing to be very considerate about everything the customers would demand and in this regard it has been seen that the clients and the customers were the ones who were allowed to make a choice in goods and services being provided. These had been the products of higher quality standards, satisfying the customer needs. Hoyle (2006) has included the fact that arts and crafts were highly supported and admired in advanced civilizations. It has been seen that the societies as well as civilizations in which arts and crafts are highly supported craftsmen were highly regarded as they were the ones highly responsible for the satisfaction of the customers in terms of their demands. In these days some of the main responsibilities that the craftsmen had included are the designing as well as the maintenance of their arts studios, to train and to mange and supervise the craftsmen who worked for them and also the apprentices and learners. Master craftsmen used to be the one who set quality standards and therefore he used to be the one reviewing the work of the other craftsmen. Oakland (2003) has added by saying that in this case there had been one limitation and that had been the limited production of crafts. It can be argued here that although the crafts were produced in a lesser number, they were still the products that achieved all the customer appreciation and the customer demands were being met in all ways. This has been the crafts based approach that has been shaped up to the modern phenomenon of quality management as it is from here that the quality management has been adopted as a part of management sciences in these days. Quality control Gitlow et al. (2004) say that the main part of quality management is quality control. Quality control as well as quality engineering are used for the development of the system that makes sure that the quality of the products are maintained at a highest level and that the products attain the best level of customer appreciation and satisfaction. Dowd, Tilson, and Carlton (2001) say that quality control is the branch of engineering as well as manufacturing which deals with the assurances related to products’ quality and failure testing in the products’ design that may result in an increase or a decrease in the customer satisfaction. One of the most important parts and processes in quality assurance paradigms is the Shewhart cycle or the PDCA cycle. PDCA stands for Plan Do Check Act. This cycle, being an important part of quality control processes, is based on the fact that the satisfaction of all the customers must be helpful in changing the demands of the goods reflecting the tolerance range as well as the steps needed to improve the quality of the goods. Stress testing or failure testing is the process for checking the operations related to the products until the products start failing and wilting. Dalal-Clayton et al. (2002) have added that a product is made to go through the stressful modes such as more heat, temperature, and also higher more humidity as these are the factors that may act to affect the functioning of a particular product. Analysis of the Quality management Nike is based in Beaverton, Oregon and it is known as the world’s leading designers among foot wear manufacturers in the world. Although it is a well known fact that Nike is not only manufacturing successful brands of footwear but also the sports wears. Quality management at Nike - Nike air zoom dunkesto Brady and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (2005) say at Nike it has been realised that the statistical process control is the function and process used on a product so as to bring it in the six sigma level of quality. In addition to this the solution to the quality management that has been found out by Nike is referred to as InfinityQS. The product to be discussed here is Nike Air Zoom dunkesto. This product has had the best quality design that has been required by the modern customers. It is a mix of the Dunk silhouette with the neoprene upper that has been derived from th Presto. It has a complete blend of the zoom air technology with the maximum breathability along with the trimmed suede. The shoe has a considered design which contributes to high performance. Considered design is a representation of Nike’s continuous obligation toward designing and not compromising either the performance or the environment. Nike is an icon of innovation and sustainability as has been through considered design. Nike envisions a “closed loop” future which means that the products used today can be recycled and made into new products later on. The quality of the this shoe has been found to be quite great and there have been several positive reviews on the Nike website by various customers. It has been found to be perfectly comfortable and a great fit. Overall, Nike has managed to continue with its quality management through this product of theirs. Bolman and Deal (2003) argue that the customary statistical control processes are the ones that are run by random sampling of a product and then testing a certain function of the product’s output. In this case the main factors that are kept in mind are the critical tolerance factors that are constantly tracked and monitored. In addition to this, the manufacturing process in relation to a product is also monitored in a detailed manner so that there are no bad parts in production. Quality management at Adidas – Adidas Running Shoes Adidas in competition with the brands such as Nike is the one well known leading sports apparel manufacturer being the NBA apparel provider. Quality assurance at Adidas is planned, organized as well as systematic way of manufacturing the production or towards the production. This is the part of quality management that provides and adds up to the confidence in the quality of the Adidas product. At Adidas it is made sure that the product can function in a proper manner for the process it is produced. Beckford and NetLibrary, Inc. (2003) say that quality assurance is the set of activities that makes sure that a product functions according to the demand of the customers within a proper, systematic and reliable way that can help the organization gain an assurance of support from the customer. Here it needs to be argued that quality assurance does not mean that the product can be produced in the highest quality standards; however, quality assurance can guarantee that it can be done in a plausible manner. Reebok– Easy tone rush As compared to Nike and Adidas, Reebok is third most influential sports brand. But the success story has discontinued as the quality of the products have been seen to fall. This is the main strategy that has been realised since some years at Reebok. At Reebok it has to be realised that there are two main principles that characterize quality assurance and these are inclusive of fit for purpose and right first time. As far as the first principle is concerned, it makes sure that the product should be suitable for the purposes it has been designed and the second principle deals with the fact that any mistakes and errors in the production of a product should be eliminated, or to some extent minimized. This is the shoe that has been brilliantly designed for the ways walking and has been made for the true demanding customers. Balance pods have been used in the shoes to create the stability. This is the shoe that has been loaded with the smooth fit technology. Rating Scale Rating scales can be seen on online sites such as Amazon.com that employ rating scale. In this case the rating scale can be developed on the various features of the products such as those mentioned in the above table. Rating could be given by the customers on various features such as whether the customer finds the products comfortable; whether he is satisfied with his purchase; whether he feels that the product is worth the price he gave for it; whether he has found any faults with the product. The ratings for each of the features of the product can be put together and an average can be found in order to find the overall rating for the product. Assumptions for the SportsBrand success in Quality management Al-Dabal (2001) says there are some quality management principles that have been given by ISO 9000:2005 as have been derived from the main line of the principles from ISO 9000:2000. Customer focus, as has been said that the firms and the organizations are the ones dependent on customers and thereby they need to understand all the customer demands. It makes the company gain by having more of the market share as well as the revenues. Moreover, it helps in communicating the customer needs throughout an organization. Customer relationships and customer satisfaction can be managed and made stronger. Grimes (2003) says that within the department of quality management and improvement leadership is a feature of an organization that helps in establishing a purpose. An environment must be created in which all the people should be fully involved in working for the objectives of an organization. By doing this the employers as well as the employees can understand the goals and aims of an organization and can work on those likes as it is realized that the main aim for any organization is to gain more and more attention from the customer circle. Another important principle of quality management is process control. Within an organization all the processes and activities, related to manufacturing as well as the customers, are managed as a process can be helpful in achieving the desired results. This can be helpful as lower cost and shorter cycle times can be achieved as well as improved results in manufacturing. In this case, as has been considered to be the most important advantage is that the risks can be evaluated in a well fashioned manner. Brady and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (2005) have argued that all energies and efforts in this case can be aligned to one of the key processes aligned. The objectives of an organization can be achieved by restructuring all the processes in a systematic manner that can help in achieving consistency, effectiveness as well as increasing the efficiency of an organization. The interdependencies of the processes are to be understood in this case as well so the processes can be integrated and incorporated in a systematic way. Oakland (2003) says that there is always room for improvement and this phrase needs to be realized at an organizations’ end as it has been said that if an organization can continuously improve in customer satisfaction and the product quality branch, success is not a far reaching story for the organization. It is one way through which an organization can gain its goals that have been aligned by the management and this concludes one of the most importantly held principle in quality improvement. Recommendations for the Brands Capabilities of an organization can be improved in this way giving the organization an edge in performance. A consistent organization wide approach is needed to be implemented so that continuous improvement can be made possible. Here it needs to be argued that the organization, when is in the phase of continuous improvement by the implementation of all of the aforementioned principles, can surely have an effect on the out coming product as well. As in this case the main aim of an organization is to have the best quality product made and designed for the customer, who in the end is the stakeholder for an organization. Thereby, satisfaction of a customer is the main strategy that asks for management and an organization wide systematic approach. An organization can only work in better ways when it is aware of its own successes and failures that can be said to be the data that is available to an organization. By constantly being updated to this data the company needs to be in the decision making mode so as to decide and implement upon the changes that are needed to gain customer satisfaction. Risk taking minds are needed in this case so as to review and make the decisions that are needed by an organization even in case of manufacturing as well as in gaining customer support without which an organization cannot stand in the face of the competition between business entities. Conclusion Quality management and improvement are the processes that can be seen to be the base and forming a rationale to all the other organization related strategies. In the end these are the processes that help in gaining for an organization the desired market share as well as an increase in the customer support as these are the factors that can help in maintaining an image of an organization in the business world. As has been mentioned, competition in the business world is increasing and these are the two main logical processes that, if understood in a strategic manner, can give an organization a win-win situation. References Al-Dabal, K. Jamal. (2001). Is Total Quality Management Enough for Competitive Advantage?: Realities in Organizations Implementing Change Initiatives with Examples from the United States and the Developing World. Universal-Publishers. Beckford, John., and NetLibrary, Inc. (2003). Quality. 2nd ed. Routledge. Bolman, G. Lee ., and Deal, E. Terrence. (2003). Reframing organizations: artistry, choice, and leadership. 3rd ed. Jossey-Bass. Brady, John., and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. (2005). Environmental management in organizations: the IEMA handbook. Earthscan. Dalal-Clayton, Barry, D., Bass, Stephen., Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development., and United Nations Development Programme. (2002). Sustainable development strategies: a resource book. OECD Publishing. Dowd, B. Steven., Tilson, R. Elwin., and Carlton, R. Richard. (2001). Quality management review. 3rd ed. Cengage Learning. Gitlow, S. Howard., Oppenheim, Rosa., Oppenheim, Alan., and Levine, David. (2004). Quality management. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Grimes, R. Kevin. (2003). ISO 9001:2000: a practical quality manual explained. American Society for Quality. Hoyle, David. (2006). ISO 9000 quality systems handbook. 5th ed. Butterworth-Heinemann. Oakland, S. John. (2003). Total quality management: text with cases. 3rd rd. Butterworth-Heinemann. Storey, John. (2004). Leadership in organizations: current issues and key trends. Routledge. Read More