L.21 - Quality
Quality well controlled Means reliable product creation, This is secret of well-gained 'Profit', And also customer satisfaction.
UDYAM SHASTRA- Chapter 9, Verse 7
Key Objectives:
Reading this module and doing the students activities will enable the students to:
Understand how quality leads to better business.
Identify ways to control and improve quality through quality planning.
Enterprise Concepts:
Quality: In broad terms 'Quality' of a product or service implies its 'Fitness' for use by a customer.
Reliability:This broadly refers to 'Quality' performance of a product for a specified period of time.
Quality procedures: For clarity of instructions about 'Quality' an entrepreneur would need to make written procedures called Quality Procedures.
Quality planning: Quality Planning comprises activities required to put the enterprise in readiness to meet its standards of Quality(Q) Quality Planning comprises three aspects given by the short form acronym I.I.P. You may also call it I2P
I: Instruments Plan : to measure Quality Parameters of the production of an enterprise.This plan also calls for choosing the right Machines and Tools of manufacture, apart from Measuring Instruments so that these are adequate to hold and meet the design tolerance.
I: Information Plan to ensure that data and information is collected, analysed and distributed to all levels of the organization e.g. workmen, supervisors, entrepreneur etc. so that they can take action based on the information to control Quality.
P: Process Control Plan i.e plan the sequence of events by which a process is kept free of sporadic troubles.Planning for process control requires that "Specifications of Quality" characteristics are identified and made known to all concerned workmen. Checks are then defined to measure the actual Quality being achieved. The latter is then compared to specifications and if there is deviation, then corrective steps are taken to change the variables that affect product quality. The "Variables that affect Product Quality" could include the following:
· Training of workmen · Condition of tools · Vendor (supplier) quality etc. Statistical tools like Control Charts, Sampling etc. are available for "Process Control".
Activities:
Activity 1 - SUBRAMANIUM'S QUALITY PLAN
Instruction To Students
Ask the students to read the case study in their groups.
Three students could act out the roles of Abhijeet, Kareem and Subramanium.
The group should then answer the questions given in the worksheet.
The students should study the "Quality Plan Flow Chart".
After completing the activity, each group should present and share its main discussion points with the rest of the class.
CASE STUDY
(Please read case study in Activity 3 of Module SG5 "We share, We Care- Limited Company." And then read case study below)
Abhijeet, Kareem and Subramanium became the Founder Directors of a Limited Company to manufacture and sell products.
"I will look after all manufacturing aspects", said Abhijeet.
"Yes, you are good at that," said Kareem. "And I will look after Design."
"I will look after Quality Planning aspects," volunteered Subramanium.
"Now what is that?" asked Abhijeet and Kareem.
"Well! As a Limited Company, we will have a large number of workmen. The earlier method of ensuring Quality, where each piece assembled or repaired by you both was personally inspected by you, will not be feasible any more," explained Subramanium.
"So, what do we do?" asked Kareem.
"We prepare a Quality Plan. This Plan will have three aspects called I.I.P. or I2P,"continued Subramanium.
"I.I.P? Sounds intriguing. And What is this I.I.P.?" asked Abhijeet.
"Yes,the first I stands for Instruments Plan.We will have to plan our Measuring Instrument, Machines and Tools so that they are adequate to hold and meet the Design tolerances that Kareem will set for us,"said Subramanium.
"Oh! I see? said Kareem, "and the next I?"
"The next I stands for Information Plan. Since our production facilities could be spread in a large factory-shed, we will have to ensure that there is clarity of specifications among the workmen reporting to Abhijeet. These workmen would need to collect data on quality matters and feed it to Abhijeet so that he can plan corrective actions," continued Subramanium.
"Oh my! That sounds so interesting," exclaimed Abhijeet,"I never thought of that. And what is the "P" for?"
"The "P" is for "Process Control Plan". You see, once we become a large company a product may not be assembled completely by just one person like what you both do today. We will need to divide the work into stages and put workmen on each stage. Specifications for desired quality will have to be given to each workman and the quality of his or her work will have to be measured. Kareem, you will need to do some additional work of specifications for this."
" Ah! Yes, now I understand" said Kareem.
"And I will ensure that my workmen measure the Quality and see that it is equal
to the specifications," said Abhijeet excitedly.
"Exactly" said Subramanium
"But what do we do, if the measured quality is not equal to specified Quality?" asked Kareem.
All the three directors looked at each other questioningly.
WORK SHEET:
The group should identify some product that the limited company of Abhijeet, Kareem and Subramanium could produce. Examples could be: Battery eliminator, Torch, Mobile phone, Agriculture tools, radio, ovens, electrical musical bell or any other.
Step 01. What product will your limited Company produce?
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Step 02. What Measuring Instruments, Tools etc. do you need to check the quality of your product? This is your Instruments Plan.
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Step 03. How will you collect data from workmen about Quality for corrective actions? Will you use logbooks, chart sheets etc? Will you need specifically trained people for collecting data? How will the information reach you, the entrepreneur? Will you need to prepare special computer programmes to analyse the data? This is your Information plan.
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Step 4. Help Kareem answer the question, "But what do we do, if the measured Quality is
not equal to specified Quality?" Use the following prompts;
A.What are the variables that affect product quality?
- Is it something to do with training of the workmen?
- Are the tools in good shape or do they need to be re-sharpened, repaired or serviced?
- Do the measuring instruments need to be re-calibrated? Where can this be done? Are there government or private laboratories for recalibration?
- How is the supplier?s quality? Does it need improvement? etc.
B. Do you need to consult a specialist in Quality Control, Statistical-sampling, Reliability studies etc?
Answer to these questions could lead you to Process Control Plan.
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