quality

• quality control

  where finished products are checked by inspectors to see if they meet the set standard, occurs at start and end of production processes
• advantages of quality control

  reduces chance of poor quality products from reaching end users, only some employees must be trained as inspectors to look for faults
• disadvantages of quality control

  high wastage costs, faults only found at end of production, reworking faulty products costs time and money
• quality assurance

  quality is built into the production process, all staff check all items at all stages of the production process
• advantages of quality assurance

  mistakes quickly identified, reduce waste, saves company money in the long term
• quality circles

  small groups of workers of different levels in the firm who discuss and solve problems in production together
• advantages of quality circles

  employees become more motivated as they feel valued, employees have a better idea on how to improve processes
• benchmarking

  finding the best practice in your industry and copying the competitor but adding a USP
• advantages of benchmarking

  adds value to the product, provides a goal for employees which increases motivation, makes organisation more competitive
• disadvantages of benchmarking

  time consuming, difficult to gather information from competitors, lack of finance may prevent copying, product will only be just as good as the benchmark
• mystery shopper

  customers hired by the company to pretend to be customers to report back on their experience
• advantages of mystery shopper

  accurate reflection of the service provided to customers
• disadvantages of mystery shopper

  they only see a limited example of the company's customer service to base their judgement on
• advantages of training

  less mistakes made, fewer accidents
• disadvantages of training

  expensive, certain skills are time consuming to build, staff may quit after training so another replacement is needed to train again
• quality standards

  set by the industry or the government and can be awarded to organisations whose products meet certain standards or criteria
• advantages of quality standards

  offer a measure of reassurance to customers, customer loyalty, competitive advantage, higher prices can be charged
• quality management

  where all staff look out for continuous improvement so their product will have no defects and their system is as efficient as it can be
• advantages of quality management

  should result in no errors, drastically reduces waste, motivated staff, highest quality products, increases market share, teamwork, customer satisfaction
• disadvantages of quality management

  need a lot of staff training, require commitment of all staff, time consuming as products must be continuously monitored and compared to policies and procedures