The Quality Concept

Résumé du document

The quality concept in an industrial sense was first seen in Japan after WW2. In a ruined country, American economists settled an action plan to rebuild the entire economy system.
Their first task was to define this notion. For Juran, "quality is the aptitude to employ" and For Crosby, "the reliability to specifications".
We can define this notion by three ways which match to different ages of Quality but which are its main basis. We must first underline the period after the WW2, and all the rebuilding needs, in Japan and in the rest of occidental countries. In that time, offer couldn't satisfy the population needs. In this way, products are sold very easily if they manage to roughly fit any targeted need. To satisfy a need with success, one must first define the product and its characteristics. A product linked to any need can't be sold! In the 70's and the well-known petroleum crisis the world had to face to an important plummeted consumption. The offer becoming higher than needs, products involved into something much more complicated with new functions.

Extraits

[...] Some cleanliness actions: - give time and money to clean ( but do not clean anything) - settle a “cleanliness - list up all the needs - Ask someone to manage it. And do not forget to delegate tasks. Give medias to manage. The leader has the concern for a stable organization. There are no generalized "panic" and perpetual delays. The concern of quality already appeared. Each one knows that the owner is fastidious on top. The concern of the performance is known. Each one works with machines in good condition. [...]

[...] It is Total Quality. In 1987, the first international Insurance Quality basis appeared: its ISO of the 9000 series. The insurance reaches the services in the 90's. In 2000 the ISO 9000 is no longer the bases of Quality Insurance but the one of Managing systems of Quality. The actual trend is to consider Quality as a global answer to the client but also to the entire society, to the staff, to the shareholders: in other words everybody is concerned. [...]

[...] It is easier to settle a Quality demarche in the case of a participative management which is his natural environment. Management system is the system letting one establishing a strategy, statements and the mission to accomplish those statements The firm is a system that can represented by an amount of processes (production process, payment process, buying process, ).The firm system includes a quality managing system which is the main point from which ISO criteria are established. Due to ISO 9000 it includes at least 4 elements: quality plan, quality awareness, quality insurance and perpetual improvement. [...]

[...] The quality concept The quality concept in an industrial mean was first seen in Japan after WW2. In a ruined country, American economists settled an action plan to rebuild the entire economy system. Their first task was to define this notion. For Juran, “quality is the aptitude to employ” and For Crosby, reliability to specifications”. We can define this notion by three ways which match to different ages of Quality but which are its main basis. We must first underline the period after the ww2, and all the rebuilding needs, in Japan and in the rest of occidental countries. [...]

[...] It is the operational part of the Quality Management. It includes the quality items but also measurable items. Quality Insurance is the part of Quality Management in order to give confidence into Quality wants satisfaction. It is writing what we do, do what we write, write what we did. The last element is the part axed on the effectiveness; reach the result planed, and the efficiency; ratio between the result and used resources, increase. PLAN : prepare the action DO : realise the action CHECK : control and see if objectives are reached ACT : react to correct and improve The settling of a Quality Management System follows these steps: - determine the quality strategy and the quality objectives of the firm - determine the critical processes in order to reach the quality objectives - apply defined measures to determine the actual effectiveness of each process - search for opportunities of effectiveness improvement, output and the process simplification - determine risks - determine and put in order the improvements that can give more results with less risks - plan strategies, processes and means that can settle identified improvements - apply the plan - watch the improvements effects - evaluate results with the ones wanted To conclude, Quality management must be done but in respect of several principles: - An organisation based on the consumer - An organisation defined as UN amount of independent processes - Choices made on the bases of facts and not on feelings and thinks - A search of permanent improvement by the determination of objectives The role of the manager is not only to monitor finances or to ensure contacts with consumers; it is also try to make the quality of products guaranteed. [...]