Page 68 - DMGT206_PRODUCTION_AND_OPERATIONS_MANAGEMENT

Unit 4: Quality Control

4.1 What is Quality? Notes

“Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out
and is willing to pay for.”
– Peter Drucker
Companies offering a powerful combination of low prices and high quality are capturing the
hearts and wallets of consumers. Today as value driven companies are growing in number, they
are moving from competing on price to providing quality, service and convenience. As value
players gain share, at varying speeds, across economies, they change the nature of competition
by transforming consumer attitudes about trade-offs between price and quality. Today, quality
is considered an ‘order qualifying’ and not an ‘order winning’ attribute of the product or service.
How do you, as a consumer, evaluate quality? One approach which customers use to evaluate
quality is to cite attributes of the product or its product delivery process.

Example: If someone were to ask you to judge the quality of a personal computer, you
might reply by citing such things as: the way it looks, how long it took to set up, how long it
takes to boot up, and whether or not it has Intel Inside.
If the product is a service, such as a meal, the determinants of quality might include: the meal
itself, its presentation, the manner in which it was delivered, and quite possibly the behaviour
of the people at the next table.

In effect, you are citing attributes of quality, i.e., the traits associated with quality that can be
identified and, more importantly, measured. Attributes, however, are not the same as quality.
Identifying every attribute of quality for a product would not describe that product’s quality
level. Some attributes used to help define quality are:

1. Freshness: Some products are perishable, i.e., the quality declines over time. Vegetables
fall ”into this category. Fashion items also are subject to obsolescence. At the other extreme,
”the value associated with some products increases with age, as is the case with antiques
and red wine.
2. Reliability: The quality associated with a product often increases with the dependability
of the product customer experience. Patients expect the hospitals to have competent staff.
Customers expect telephones to work. Ni-Cd Batteries manufactured by ECIL should be
as reliable as other internationally manufactured batteries.
3. Durability: The quality attribute that implies product performance under adverse
conditions. Eveready’s Red commercials are designed to convey the durability of its
batteries.

4. Safety: This is an attribute of quality that measures the likelihood of harm from goods or
service. What is safe can be a controversial issue. For instance, is a gun with a safety clip
safe? Is the packaging of a product tamper proof?
5. Environmental Friendly: As is the case with safety, this quality attribute has both societal
aspects and is individual specific. The requirements for being considered an environmental
friendly product are becoming more stringent. For example, firms must now also focus on
how a product is disposed off after its useful life.
6. Serviceability: This attribute relates to the ease and cost associated with servicing a product
after the sale has been made. Products are now being increasingly designed so that they do
not need service, such as car batteries. But many others do require service and this capability

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 63