Production of goods and the provision of servies

• Define 'Quality control'

  The process of inspecting products and services to ensure that what customers receive is of a high standard.
• State 3 ways in which a business could conduct quality control:

  • Feedback, conducted either at the point of sale or electronically
  • Factory inspectors (Used at the end of production to ensure that products are a high standard before reaching customers)
  • One hundred percent inspection system (Products are fully checked before given to the customer. If it is not of high standard, the product is made again
• State an advantage of using quality control

  • Reduces the number of faulty or sub-standard products that reach customers
• State a disadvantage of using quality control

  Faults are only identified at the end of production, which can be quite expensive to fix than if they were found immediately due to having to rebuild the whole product.
• Define 'Quality assurance'

  The process of carrying out quality checks at specific stages during the production process
• State what is meant by quality assurance making quality responsibility of employees involved in the production process.

  As a business needs to develop a good business culture where the attitudes and behaviours of employees within the business ensure that they are focusing on producing high-quality products.
• What do managers expect of employees when using quality assurance?

  To be aware of their quality responsibilities.
• State 2 disadvantages of using quality assurance

  • Training staff and employing highly-skilled staff can be expensive
  • The added costs are reflected in what customers are charged, may dissatisfy customers