UNDERSTANDING PRODUCT QUALITY
If a product fulfils the customer’s expectations, the customer will be pleased and consider that the product is of acceptable or even high quality. If his or her expectations are not fulfilled, the customer will consider that the product is of low quality. This means that the quality of a product may be defined as “its ability to fulfill the customer’s needs and expectations”.
Quality needs to be defined firstly in terms of parameters or characteristics, which vary from product to product. For example, for a mechanical or electronic product these are performance, reliability, safety and appearance. For pharmaceutical products, parameters such as physical and chemical characteristics, medicinal effect, toxicity, taste and shelf life may be important. For a food product, they will include taste, nutritional properties, texture, shelf life and so on.
To ensure product quality, the entire process of producing the product must be established and streamlined. It includes fixing product specifications, preparing product design, procuring suitable raw materials, preparation for manufacture, manufacture, and post manufacturing until it gets into the hands of the consumer.
In many instances, however, the correction of quality deficiencies is also required at the end of the process since in spite of all the efforts made, the required quality will sometimes not be attained and a company may be faced with a pile of scrap and rework. Corrective and preventative actions have to be taken to avoid unnecessary wastage and rework.
A manufacturer who is determined to ensure product quality could also maintain strict adherence to specifications and product characteristics. Examples of these may be:
Dimensions, such as length, diameter, thickness or area;
Physical properties, such as weight, volume or strength;
Electrical properties, such as resistance, voltage or current;
Appearance, such as finish, colour or texture;
Functional qualities, such as output or kilometre per litre;
Effects on service, such as taste, feel or noise level.
Product quality is obviously the business of everyone within a company, that is, the salesmen, designers, purchasing, stores and methods staff, plant engineers, tool personnel, production planning and production staff, operators, inspection and testing staff, packaging, and even dispatch should have an interest in maintaining quality. Indeed, if care is not taken, it ends up being nobody’s business. Therefore, it is important to ensure that everyone is quality-conscious and that they all work together on matters related to quality.
