4.4 - Improving quality

• High Quality Product


  Can increase profits but may have drawbacks
• It's important that companies produce quality goods-poor quality leads to customer dissatisfaction and a bad reputation for the business
• Most customers realise that lower priced goods won't be as high quality as more expensive ones, but they do expect a product to be fit for purpose (to do the job it's intended for)
• Producing high quality products

  • Allows for premium pricing
  • Gives workers pride in their work, which can increase morale and motivation
• Producing high quality products


  1. Reduces raw materials and worker/machinery time used up by mistakes

  2. Reduces need for advertising and promotional material to persuade shops to stock

  3. Reduces complaints and refunds so employees can spend time on other things

  4. Reduces need to discount prices to sell damaged stock

  5. Functions as a unique selling point (USP)

  6. Improves image and reputation of the business

  7. Makes it easy to keep existing customers and attract new customers
• It can be difficult for companies to improve the quality of their products efficiently
• There is a limit to how much quality can be improved-workers have to know when the quality is good enough. Trying to make every single product 100% perfect could prove costly to the business
• If a company outsources some of its work it can be difficult to make sure the outsourced work is of the same quality that is expected within the business
• Quality Control


  Checking goods as you make them or when they arrive from suppliers to see if anything is wrong with them. Often done by specially trained quality inspectors.
• Quality Assurance


  Introducing measures into the production process to try to ensure things don't go wrong in the first place. Assumes you can prevent errors from being made in the first place, rather than eliminating faulty goods once they've been made.
• Quality Control


  • Assumes that errors are unavoidable
  • Detects errors and puts them right
  • Quality control inspectors check other people's work, and are responsible for quality
• Quality Assurance


  • Assumes that errors are avoidable
  • Prevents errors and aims to get it right first time
  • Employees check their own work. Workers are responsible for passing on good quality work to the next stage
• Quality assurance is a more modern approach to quality control
• Under a self-checking system, it's everyone's responsibility to produce good work. Everyone should try to get it right first time. Workers can reject components or work in progress if they're not up to standard. They don't pass the poor quality off as someone else's problem
• Empowering employees to self-check the quality of their work can be highly motivating
• Training for quality assurance


  1. Workers have to be trained to produce good quality products and services

  2. New recruits get this as part of their induction

  3. Experienced workers might need to be retrained
• Workers must be motivated and committed to quality for quality assurance schemes to work
• The ultimate aim of quality assurance is to create a culture of zero defects
• Both methods have their drawbacks - unless all products are tested during quality control, some faulty products will slip through. Quality assurance can result in products only being 'acceptable', not of a high standard
• Total Quality Management (TQM)


  The whole workforce is committed to quality improvements. Every department focuses on quality in order to improve the overall quality of the products and services.
• TQM


  • Every employee has to try to satisfy customers and co-workers
  • Customers need to be happy with products or services they are being sold
  • Co-workers need to be happy with work you are passing on to them
• Disadvantages of TQM


  • It can take a long time to introduce
  • Companies might not see immediate improvements in quality
  • It can demotivate staff as it can seem like a lot of effort to think about quality in all parts of the business
  • It is usually expensive to introduce as it often means investing in training for all employees
• Advantages of TQM


  • It boosts a company's reputation for providing quality services or products
  • Because all employees are involved with improving quality, it can help to bond them as a team
  • It usually leads to fewer faulty products being made - so the business creates less waste
• Quality Circles


  • Meet at regular intervals to discuss quality control issues
  • Use the knowledge of employees from various departments and all levels of the organisation
  • Aim to identify and solve specific quality problems that arise
  • A great way to get staff involved and can lead to increased motivation and productivity
• Disadvantages of Quality Circles


  • Suggestions can often be unrealistic
  • Management may not listen to the floor staff
• Kaizen


  • A lean production method where employees should be improving their work slightly all the time, instead of just making one-off improvements
  • Employees are encouraged to question why a problem has occurred
  • Employees at the bottom of the hierarchy have to be given some control over decision-making
  • Helps workers feel involved in quality assurance and is cheap to introduce
• Disadvantages of Kaizen


  • Because it makes small changes over time, it's not great for businesses that urgently need to improve quality
  • It needs the firm to be willing to commit to the method in the long term