Page 11 - DMGT524_TOTAL_QUALITY_MANAGEMENT

Total Quality Management

Notes “Quality is meeting the (stated) requirements of the customer – now and in the future.”
—Mike Robinson
“Quality is the total composite product and service characteristics of marketing,
engineering, manufacturing and maintenance through which the product and service in
use will meet the expectations by the customer. “
—Armand Feigenbaum

1.3.1 Integrating Perspectives on Quality

Eight principal quality dimensions defined by Garvin are:
Performance: This refers to the primary operating characteristics of the product or service;
they are usually measurable, e.g., miles per gallon, time for 0 to 60 miles for a car; number
of rooms, baths, etc. in a house.
Features: These are additional characteristics that enhance the product/services appeal to
the user, e.g., deleaded ink used for newspapers, glare reducing coatings on bulbs, etc.

Reliability: Is the precision with which the product or service meets the specified standards.
Approaches such as using pre-specified tolerance limits, Taguchi’s quality loss function,
Motorola’s 6S (six sigma) limits.
Conformance: Garvin (1988) came up with eight dimensions of quality to link customer
requirements to engineering design.
Durability: Durability measures the length of a product’s life, e.g., light bulbs, car mufflers.
When a product can be repaired, estimating durability is more complicated.

Serviceability: Serviceability is the speed with which the product can be put into service
when it breaks down, as well as the competence and behaviour of the service person. The
speed of service can be measured by response time and mean time to repair (MTTR).

Aesthetics: Aesthetics is the subjective dimension indicating the kind of response a user
has to a product. It represents the individual’s personal preference – the ways an individual
responds to the look, feel, sound, taste and smell.
Perceived Quality: This is also a subjective dimension. It is the quality attributed to a good
or service based on indirect measures, for example, inferring the quality of an airline by
the cleanliness of the flip-down tray. Well maintained tools and an immaculate workplace
may indicate a good workman.

On the basis of these quality dimensions and the varied definitions, we look below and the
Quality Policies of a few companies from the Manufacturing Sector, and the Service Sector.
1. Life Insurance Corporation of India Ltd.

Quality Mission: To explore and enhance the quality of life through financial security by
providing products and services of aspired attributes with competitive returns.
2. Sony Music: Their Quality Policy is as under:

“Improve: We will lead in the use of advanced technologies development and processes.
Surpass: Every one of us is totally dedicated to exceeding our artists and customers
expectations by striving to deliver the highest quality music and media careers.

Optimize: As a team we expect the best because we are committed to being the best.”

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