1. Quality Concept
W. Edwards Deming
“Quality is translating the future needs of users into measurable characteristics, only in this way can a product be designed and manufactured to satisfy a price that the customer will pay; quality can only be defined in terms of the agent ”.
Joseph M. Juran
"The word quality has multiple meanings. Two of them are the most representative.
- Quality consists of those product characteristics that are based on customer needs and therefore provide product satisfaction. Quality is freedom after deficiencies. "
Kaoru Ishikawa
“In a brief way, quality means product quality. More specific, quality is quality of work, quality of service, quality of information, quality of process, quality of people, quality of the system, quality of the company, quality of objectives, etc. ”
Philip B. Crosby
"Quality is compliance with the requirements. The requirements have to be clearly established so that there are no misunderstandings; measurements must be taken continuously to determine compliance with those requirements; the non-conformity detected is a lack of quality ”.
In summary, we can say that quality is: Comply with the requirements that the client needs with a minimum of errors and defects.
2. Importance of quality
As mentioned above, quality is meeting the needs of customers, this results in the importance of having quality in all of them in organizations.
According to Carlos Colunga Dávila, the importance of quality translates into the benefits obtained from a better way of doing things and seeking customer satisfaction, such as: reducing costs, presence and permanence in the market and job creation.
Costs reduction.
Automatically costs are reduced since the organization will have fewer reprocesses, with this, the parts that were discarded, will now be used, the people who were in charge of reprocessing these parts again, will now be able to dedicate themselves to production and the time they dedicated to it they can use it to innovate new products or improve their production systems, also saving time and the materials used to make the product.
Decrease in prices.
As a consequence of the reduction in costs, caused by the lower use of materials, by the reduction in reprocessing, by less waste and by less human wear and tear, productivity increases considerably and the price of the product or service may be lower.
Presence in the market.
With a quality superior to that of the competition, with a competitive price, with innovative and more and more perfected products, the market recognizes the brand creating a reliability towards the manufactured products or service provided; which results in an outstanding presence in the market.
Permanence in the market.
As a consequence of the aforementioned advantages, the company has a high probability of remaining in the market with loyalty from consumers.
Job creation.
By improving quality, at a competitive price, with presence and permanence in the market, more jobs can be provided, which in turn demonstrates growth in the organization and fully meets one of the company's objectives.
3. Quality objectives
The quality objectives can be seen from different points of view. On the one hand, we seek complete customer satisfaction for different purposes, on the other hand, it can be to achieve maximum productivity from the members of the company that generates higher profits, it can also be seen as a degree of excellence, or it can be part of a requirement to remain in the market even if you are not fully convinced of the scope of quality.
However, the fundamental objective, and the reason why quality exists, is to meet the expectations and needs of customers. Carlos Colunga Dávila establishes it as follows: “Quality is satisfying the customer. How?. Meeting the requirements and providing good service. Until where?. As far as the action taken helps the permanence of the company in the market. That is the limit ”.
4. Principles of quality
Jesús Alberto Viveros Pérez, tells us that quality is established by 13 principles:
- Do things right the first time. Satisfy customer needs (both externally and internally widely). Find solutions and not be justifying mistakes. Be optimistic. Have a good deal with others. Be timely in completing tasks. Be punctual. Collaborate with kindness with your teammates. Learn to recognize our mistakes and try to correct them. Be humble to learn and teach others. Be orderly and organized with the tools and team. Be responsible and generate confidence in the rest. Simplify the complicated, debureaucratizing processes.
All of the above leads us to a quality product or service. By having more quality, you can sell more and have a better service, therefore, generating more profit, which is one of the main objectives of all companies.
5. Requirements to achieve quality
Cuauhtémoc Anda Gutiérrez tells us that in an organization aimed at quality, the following requirements must be taken into account to achieve it:
- It must be constant in the purpose of improving the service and the product. Being in a new economic era, we are obliged to be more competent. The service or product from the beginning must be made with quality. The price of the products must be in relationship with their quality. The production and service system must be constantly improved to improve quality and productivity in order to reduce costs. Modern methods of training and coaching must be established. Leadership doses to help staff improve their own performance. An environment conducive to personal performance safety must be created. Interdepartmental barriers must be removed.Workers, instead of numerical goals, must draw a path to improve quality and productivity. The worker must be proud of the work they do. The education of all personnel and their self-development must be promoted. They must be established all the necessary actions to transform the company towards a quality end.
These requirements must be taken into account so that any organization can implement quality in both the products it offers and the service it provides us, this can only be achieved by persevering in applying the aforementioned steps, in order to make the quality a commitment for each of the members of the institution.
6. Quality philosophies
In order to better understand quality, it is important to know the great master creators of the different philosophies, as well as the environment in which they developed.
The following are the contributions of the main Masters, also called by the media Gurus of Quality, who were released after the Second World War. The impact of their philosophies and concepts helped build Japan's rebirth as an industrial power.
The philosophy of William Edwards Deming
William Edwards Deming (1900-1993), was an American statistician, who laid one of the main foundations regarding statistical quality control, in 1927 he met Dr. Shewhart, with whom he worked closely giving a series of courses on statistical control of the process at Stanford University. In the summer of 1950 he taught in Japan the technique of statistical process control and the philosophy of quality management, that same year, the Japanese Union of Science and Engineering (UCIJ) instituted the Deming Prize for quality and reliability of products and services.
His main contributions were:
A. Deming's 14 points.
1. Create consistency in the purpose of improving the product and service, with the aim of becoming competitive, staying in business and providing jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy.
We are in a new economic era and the different objectives must be aware of the challenge, they must learn their responsibilities and take over the leadership to change.
3. Stop relying on inspection to achieve quality.
Eliminate the need for mass inspection, incorporating quality into the product first from good worker training to after-sales.
4. End the practice of doing business based on price.
Instead, minimize the total cost. Tend to have a single supplier for any item, with a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
5. Constantly and always improve the production and service system, to improve quality and productivity, and thus continuously reduce costs.
6. Modern training methods.
It is vitally important to update the training to take advantage of both machines, tools, and raw materials.
7. Implement leadership methods.
The goal of supervision should be to help people and machines and appliances to do a better job. The supervisory function of the management needs a review as well as the supervision of the operators.
8. Eliminate fear, so that everyone can work effectively for the company.
9. Break down barriers between departments.
People in research, design, sales and production must work as a team to anticipate production problems and during product use that may arise with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and goals to ask the workforce for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create more adverse relationships, since the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and therefore fall beyond the possibilities of labor.
11. This point is divided into two:
- Eliminate work standards (quotas) in the plant. Substitute for leadership. Eliminate management for objectives. Eliminate management by numbers, by numerical objectives. Substitute for leadership.
12. Two points are made:
- Remove the barriers that deprive the worker of his right to be proud of his work. The responsibility of supervisors must shift from mere numbers to quality. Eliminate barriers that deprive engineering and management personnel of their right to be proud of their work. This means, among other things, the abolition of the annual or merit rating and management by objectives.
13. Implement a rigorous program of education and self-improvement.
The enrichment of knowledge in the personnel will be of utmost importance in improving their productivity within the company.
14. Put all company personnel to work to achieve transformation.
Transformation is everyone's job, that is, involving everyone to comply with quality.
B. The seven deadly diseases that plague companies.
1. Lack of consistency in the purpose of improving quality.
2. The emphasis on short-term profits, neglecting the permanence of the business in the market and long-term profits with a high probability of continuous improvement.
3. Evaluations of merit or individual performance, which reward short-term actions, limit long-term planning, undermine teamwork and create competition between people from the same company, until achieving a company with premium donuts and fiefdoms in constant struggle against each other.
4. The mobility of senior management, which prevents actions for long-term business permanence.
5. Manage the company based only on visible figures.
6. Excessive medical costs.
7. High operating guarantee costs.
The philosophy of Joseph M. Juran
Joseph M. Juran, a Romanian engineer, lawyer, and advisor, a nationalized American who began his administrative seminars in Japan in 1954, received the Holy Treasure Order, issued by the Emperor of Japan, for the "development of quality control in Japan and the fostering friendship between the United States and Japan. " He has published eleven books, among which are: "Juran Quality Control Manual", "Juran and Leadership for Quality", and "Juran and Planning for Quality".
Juran's philosophy consists of five points, which are:
1. Measure the cost of poor quality.
By fully identifying the costs that poor quality would entail, raising awareness of all to try to always achieve the best quality in all aspects.
2. Fit the product for use.
Manufacture an ideal product or service that fully meets the customer's needs. It is also applied in two ways:
a) The main effect is blamed on sales, generally higher quality costs more.
b) The main effect is charged on costs, generally the higher quality costs less.
3. Achieve compliance with specifications.
Being in constant contact with the end customer to know if their expectations have been met with the product or service offered.
4. Improve project by project.
It means that when performing a service or product it is done with the best possible quality and when performing the next service or product the quality is exceeded.
5. Quality is the best business.
Investing in quality is an excellent business, due to the magnificent results it brings, such as: being competitive, increasing profits, satisfying the customer, reducing waste, etc.
The principles indicated by Juran indicate the following:
- Create awareness of the need and opportunity for improvement Set goals for improvement Organize to achieve goals (establish a quality council, identify problems, select projects, appoint teams, etc.) Provide training Do projects to solve problems.Report on progress. Award acknowledgments. Communicate results. Keep track of results. Maintain momentum by making annual improvement part of the company's regular systems and processes.
The most important contribution is the so-called " Juran Trilogy ", which are the three processes necessary for quality management:
1. Quality planning.
It is the development activity of the products and processes required to satisfy the needs of the clients.
- Determine who the clients are. Determine the needs of the clients. Develop the product characteristics that respond to the needs of the clients. Develop the processes that are capable of producing those characteristics of the product. Transfer the resulting plans to the operating forces.
2. Quality control.
The control acts in the same place where the operating force works, its objective is to monitor that the processes are carried out with the maximum effectiveness.
- Evaluate actual quality behavior Compare actual behavior with quality objectives Act on differences
3. Quality improvement.
This process is a premeditated action determined by the high levels of the management when introducing a new management process in a system.
- Establish the necessary infrastructure to achieve quality improvement annually. Identify the specific needs for improvement (improvement projects). Establish a team of people for each project with a clear responsibility to bring the project to fruition. Provide resources, the motivation and training necessary for teams to:
- Diagnose the causes, encourage the establishment of a remedy, establish controls to maintain benefits.
Kaoru Ishikawa's philosophy
Kaoru Ishikawa (1915-1989), was a Japanese engineer, professor, consultant, and author; President of the Tokyo Musashi Institute of Technology and President of the Japanese representative to ISO. In Japan, he received the Deming Prize and the Industrial Standardization Prize, and in the United States, the Grand Prize of the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), a society that also awarded him the Shewhart Medal for his "outstanding contributions to development from quality control theory, principles, techniques and activities, as well as standardization activities in industry in Japan and other countries, to strengthen quality and productivity. "
His main contributions have been the current configuration of the cause-effect diagram, to carry out causality analysis, named in his honor the Ishikawa diagram and the current structuring of quality circles as they work in Japan.
Ishikawa's philosophy consists of five points described below:
1. Quality first, not short-term profits.
The important thing in any organization is the quality and not the profits that are generated quickly.
2. Orientation towards the consumer.
The services and products must always be directed towards satisfying the customer's needs.
3. The next process is the client.
The priority of all those who make up the organization must be continuously customer-oriented.
4. Respect for humanity.
There must be complete consideration of all individuals, likewise involving all members in the responsibility and realization of the results to be achieved.
5. Cross-functional administration.
It has inter-functional support committees, can provide the necessary path to promote relationships throughout the organization and also enables the efficient development of quality assurance.
The factors that Ishikawa proposes are the following:
- The customer is the most important thing. We must prevent, not correct. Reduce costs and waste in general. Long-term results. Not short paths to achieve quality. Participation and involvement of all members. Teamwork is required. Measure results. Give acknowledgments. Commitment and support from senior management is required. Institute effective and intensive training and development programs. Create awareness of the need. Have a process and tool for permanent improvement.
From this last point, Ishikawa managed to define a technical philosophy that is part of quality, he called this the seven statistical tools of the administration for the analysis of problems such as:
- Pareto Chart. Cause and Effect Diagram. Stratification. Verification Sheet. Histograms. Scatter Diagrams. Charts and Control Charts.
The philosophy of Philip B. Crosby
Crosby is president of his management consulting company and of Quality College in Winter Park, Florida. For 14 years he was vice president and director of quality control at the company "International Telephone and Telegraph". He is best known as the creator of the concepts: "Zero Defects" and "Seize the Day," and as a spokesman for a group of executives who hold the view that problems in American business are caused by mismanagement rather than bad workers.
Crosby mentions, among other things, that the problem of quality management is not in what people do not know about it, but in what they think they know. On quality, it establishes that everyone is in favor of it, everyone believes that they understand it, everyone thinks that in order to enjoy it it is enough to follow one's own natural inclinations and, mainly, most people feel that all problems in These areas are caused by other individuals.
He also explains that there are five erroneous assumptions that management levels have in organizations and that make their quality programs fail:
- Believing that quality means excellence, luxury, brilliance or weight. Quality problems become problems of non-compliance with requirements. Quality is intangible and therefore not measurable. In fact, quality can be measured accurately with one of the oldest and most respected meters, constant, ringing money. Quality is measured by the cost of quality, which is the cost of not complying with the requirements. Believing that there is an 'economy' of quality. It should be remembered that it is always cheaper to do things the first time, or from the beginning to the end. All quality problems are caused by workers, especially those in the production area. Quality originates in the department of quality. The quality department has a guidance and supervision function,You should not do the work of others, because then they will not eliminate their bad habits.
For Crosby, the quality improvement process must start from top management behavior, and a philosophy from which everyone in the organization understands its purposes.
This results in the members of the organization agreeing to improve their performance within the company and to achieve this change, Crosby is based on four principles:
1. "Quality is defined as meeting the requirements."
All members of the company must be aware that everything must be done right the first time.
2. "The quality system is prevention."
It is easier and less expensive to prevent things than to correct them.
3. "The standard of performance is zero defects."
It is to take the requirements seriously, it is to do things right and first, it is to do what was agreed at the agreed time.
4. "The measure of quality is the price of compliance."
A way to assess quality within the organization.
Education has to be a daily process, so that everyone understands the four principles, the process of quality improvement and what it means to promote quality within the organization.
Crosby establishes a Quality Improvement Process in fourteen steps:
1. Management commitment to improve quality.
Management must exercise leadership to implement quality, if not, other employees will not have the necessary drive to achieve on their own.
2. Team building for quality improvement.
Teams are formed whose purpose is to guide the process and promote its evolution, committed to the quality goal.
3. Measurement of quality.
Periodically review with customers if we are meeting their specifications, in order to improve the quality provided.
4. Determination and evaluation of the cost of quality.
It consists of establishing a procedure to determine the cost of activities, to be used as a measure of quality improvement.
5. Create quality awareness.
To all staff through information, about the cost of doing things wrong and the results obtained with the improvement of quality.
6. Corrective action.
Institute supervisory boards to correct observations.
7. Zero defect program planning.
Prepare a development plan for a social coexistence of the company, in which speakers representing clients, unions, communities, and employees will participate.
8. Multidisciplinary education for all staff.
To raise awareness.
9. Zero defects day.
It consists of carrying out what is planned by the company in which no activity will have defects.
10. Set goals.
It is performed after determining and obtaining specific and quantifiable measurements of 30, 60, 90 days.
11. Eliminate the causes of error.
Ask the staff to point out the problems that exist within their activities to resolve the causes of error.
12. Recognition.
Organize the delivery of awards or recognitions to employees who are considered as quality models.
13. Quality advice.
It consists of bringing together all the quality professionals in order for feedback to exist.
14. Repeat the whole process.
By the time a certain maturity is reached in the process, the quality improvement team must transfer all its responsibilities.
7. Bibliography
- Anda, Gutiérrez Cuauhtémoc; "Administration and quality"; LIMUSA Noriega editors; Mexico, 1995. Crosby, Philip B.; "The organization remains successful"; McGraw-Hill Publishing; Mexico, 1988. Colunga, Dávila Carlos; "Administration for quality"; Editorial panorama; Mexico, 1995. Deming, W. Edwards; "Quality, productivity and competitiveness at the end of the crisis"; Díaz de Santos Publishing House; Madrid, 1989.Ishikawa, Kaoru; "What is total quality control?"; Normal publisher; Colombia, 1986. Juran, Joseph M.; “Juran and quality planning”; Díaz de Santos Publishing House; Madrid, 1990. Meneses, Jiménez Marcela Lucina; "Notes on quality statistical methods."; copyright 2002. (no commercial value) Shaw, James G.; "The customer wants… Quality"; Editorial Prentice-Hall Hispanoamericana, SA; Mexico, 1997. Nurseries, Pérez Jesús Alberto;"Notes on quality principles and models."; rights reserved, 2002. (without commercial value).
