Quality Management

  • Quality Management generally refers to all processes and systems inside a firm that are involved in the maintenance and improvement of the goods or services’ quality.
  • Companies use Quality Management to ensure their products or services meet or exceed customer expectations.
  • There are four main components to Quality Management: planning, assurance, control, and improvement.
  • Quality Planning is the process where businesses decide what standards of quality will be used and how it will be measured.
  • Quality Assurance involves regularly checking the production process to ensure the agreed-upon standards are kept and products are free from defects.
  • Quality Control is the technique of inspecting finished goods or services to confirm that they meet the expected standards. In case any defects are noticed, corrective measures are taken.
  • Quality improvement involves continuously finding ways to improve products, processes or systems to surpass the agreed-upon standards.
  • Quality Management Systems like ISO 9001 are used in some businesses. They provide a framework for businesses to follow in order to meet customer and regulatory requirements, and to continuously improve effectiveness and efficiency.
  • There’s a cost of quality, which includes prevention, appraisal, and failure costs. businesses use quality cost analysis to identify where resources invested in quality are providing value.
  • Quality Management can be beneficial for businesses as it helps increase customer satisfaction, reduce wastage and rework, and ultimately improve profitability.
  • The impact of Quality Management on stakeholders can be extensive. For instance, customers can get better products and services, whilst workers can enjoy better working conditions due to less defective output.
  • Various quality management techniques are employed by businesses, some of which include Quality Circles, Benchmarking, and Total Quality Management.

Ensure a thorough understanding of these concepts and relate them to practical examples wherever possible when revising for Resource Management.