UNIT 4

Quality Control: concepts and functions of Inspection and Quality Control Department, Statistical Quality
Control, acceptance Sampling, Control charts, Total quality management (TQM): concepts and characteristics.

QUALITY CONTROL (QC)

Quality control (QC) is a procedure or set of procedures intended to ensure that a

manufactured product or performed service adheres to a defined set of quality criteria or
meets the requirements of the client or customer.

QC is similar to, but not identical with, quality assurance (QA). QA is defined as a
procedure or set of procedures intended to ensure that a product or service under
development (before work is complete, as opposed to afterwards) meets specified
requirements. QA is sometimes expressed together with QC as a single expression,
quality assurance and control (QA/QC).

In order to implement an effective QC program, an enterprise must first decide which

specific standards the product or service must meet. Then the extent of QC actions must
be determined (for example, the percentage of units to be tested from each lot). Next,
real-world data must be collected (for example, the percentage of units that fail) and the
results reported to management personnel. After this, corrective action must be decided
upon and taken (for example, defective units must be repaired or rejected and poor
service repeated at no charge until the customer is satisfied). If too many unit failures or
instances of poor service occur, a plan must be devised to improve the production or
service process and then that plan must be put into action. Finally, the QC process must
be ongoing to ensure that remedial efforts, if required, have produced satisfactory results
and to immediately detect recurrences or new instances of trouble.

Definition:

Some of the important definitions of quality control are enumerated as under:

Quality control may be defined as that industrial management technique or group of

techniques by means of which products of uniform acceptable quality are manufactured.

It is indeed the mechanism by which products are made to measure up to specifications

determined from customers demand and transformed into sales, engineering and

manufacturing requirements. It is concerned with making things right rather than the

discovering and rejecting those made wrong. Alford and Beatty

Quality control means the recognition and removal of identifiable causes and defects,

and variables from the set standards.

J.A. Shubin.

Quality control is used to connote all those activities which are directed for defining,

controlling and maintaining quality.

K.G. Lockyer.

Quality control is systematic control by management of the variables in the

manufacturing process that affect goodness of the end-product.

H.N. Broom.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Quality has been defined as fitness for use, conformance to requirements, and the
pursuit of excellence. Even though the concept of quality has existed from early times,
the study and definition of quality have been given prominence only in the last century.
1920s: quality control. Following the Industrial Revolution and the rise of mass
production, it became important to better define and control the quality of products.
Originally, the goal of quality was to ensure that engineering requirements were met in
final products. Later, as manufacturing processes became more complex, quality
developed into a discipline for controlling process variation as a means of producing
quality products.
1950s: quality assurance and auditing. The quality profession expanded to include
the quality assurance and quality audit functions. The drivers of independent verification
of quality were primarily industries in which public health and safety were paramount.
1980s: total quality management (TQM). Businesses realized that quality wasnt just
the domain of products and manufacturing processes, and total quality management
(TQM) principles were developed to include all processes in a company, including
management functions and service sectors.
Quality management today. There have been many interpretations of what quality is,
beyond the dictionary definition of general goodness. Other terms describing quality
includereduction of variation, value-added, and conformance to specifications.

Difference between quality assurance and quality control

Quality assurance consists of that part of quality management focused on providing

confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled. The confidence provided by quality
assurance is twofoldinternally to management and externally to customers,
government agencies, regulators, certifiers, and third parties.

Quality control is that part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality

requirements.

While quality assurance relates to how a process is performed or how a product is made,
quality control is more the inspection aspect of quality management.

Inspection is the process of measuring, examining, and testing to gauge one or more
characteristics of a product or service and the comparison of these with specified
requirements to determine conformity. Products, processes, and various other results can
be inspected to make sure that the object coming off a production line, or the service
being provided, is correct and meets specifications.

OBJECTIVES OF QUALITY CONTROL

1. To establish the desired quality standards which are acceptable to the customers?

2. To discover flaws or variations in the raw materials and the manufacturing processes

in order to ensure smooth and uninterrupted production.

3. To evaluate the methods and processes of production and suggest further

improvements in their functioning.

4. To study and determine the extent of quality deviation in a product during the

manufacturing process.
5. To analyse in detail the causes responsible for such deviation.

6. To undertake such steps which are helpful in achieving the desired quality of the

product.

SIGNIFICANCE OF QUALITY CONTROL

1. Encourages quality consciousness:-The most important advantage derived by

introducing quality control is that it develops and encourages quality consciousness

among the workers in the factory which is greatly helpful in achieving desired level of

quality in the product.

2. Satisfaction of consumers:-Consumers are greatly benefited as they get better

quality products on account of quality control. It gives them satisfaction.

3. Reduction in production cost:By undertaking effective inspection and control over

production processes and operations, production costs are considerably reduced. Quality

control further checks the production of inferior products and wastages thereby bringing

down the cost of production considerably.

4. Most effective utilisation of resources:Quality control ensures maximum

utilisation of available resources thereby minimising wastage and inefficiency of every

kind.

5. Reduction in inspection costs:Quality control brings about economies in inspection

and considerably reduces cost of inspection.

6. Increased goodwill:By producing better quality products and satisfying customers

needs, quality control raises the goodwill of the concern in the minds of people. A
reputed concern can easily raise finances from the market.
7. Higher morale of employees:An effective system of quality control is greatly helpful in
increasing the morale of employees, and they feel that they are working in the concern
producing better and higher quality products.
8. Improved employer-employee relations:Quality control develops to better industrial
atmosphere by increasing morale of employees which ensures cordial employer-
employee relations leading to better understanding and closeness between them.
9. Improved techniques and methods of production:By supplying technical and
engineering data for the product and manufacturing processes, improved methods and
designs of production are ensured by quality control.
10. Effective advertisement:Organisations producing quality products have effective
advertisement. They win the public confidence by supplying those better quality
products.
11. Facilitates price fixation:By introducing quality control measures, uniform products of
same quality are produced. This greatly facilitates the problem of price fixation. One
price of standard products becomes prevalent in the market.
12. Increased sales:Quality control ensures production of quality products which is
immensely helpful in attracting more customers for the product thereby increasing sales.
It is greatly helpful in maintaining existing demand and creating new demand for the
product. It has been rightly pointed out that quality control is a powerful instrument with
the help of which markets both at home and abroad can be expanded.

FUNCTION OF QUALITY CONTROL

Quality control specialists most commonly work for manufacturing facilities, although
quality control specialists can be found in nearly every industry. Quality control
specialists ensure that the department or process they work with meets minimum quality
standards. Processes vary, depending on the specific process involved. All quality control
processes share some common functions.
Testing
The most basic function of quality control involves testing. Quality control specialists test
the manufacturing process at the beginning, middle and end to ensure that the
production quality remains the same throughout. If the specialist discovers an issue at
any point in the process, she works with the production team to remedy the issue.
Quality control specialists perform quality control tests for services provided as well,
evaluating the quality of a specific service at specified intervals throughout the time of
service. Testing provides quality results as of the date of testing.
Monitoring
Monitoring consists of ongoing testing that the quality control specialist performs on a
regular basis. The specialist repeats the testing and records the results of each test. After
the specialist has performed several tests, he reviews the results and looks for any
trends in quality. If the quality declines, he increases the amount of testing performed in
that area. If the quality maintains or improves, he decreases the amount of testing
performed in that area. The quality control specialist continues to monitor the trending of
the results.
Auditing
Quality control specialists also spend time auditing the quality of a process which the
specialist doesnt work with. The quality control specialist may be auditing the work of
the regular quality control work performed or auditing the quality of a process without
any current quality control work. When performing the audit, the quality control
specialist reviews the results reported by the regular quality control workers to
determine if they performed the original tests correctly.
Reporting
Periodically, the quality control specialist reports the quality results to management. A
high number of quality problems mean something is wrong with the process and there
may be many unhappy customers for the company. Management reviews the number of
quality problems and where they occur in the process and take action to address the
issue.

INSPECTION

Critical appraisal involving examination, measurement, testing, gauging, and comparison

of materials or items. An inspection determines if the material or item is in proper
quantity and condition, and if it conforms to the applicable or specified requirements.
Inspection is generally divided into three categories: (1) Receiving inspection, (2) In-
process inspection, and (3) Final inspection. In quality control (which is guided by the
principle that "Quality cannot be inspected into a product") the role of inspection is to
verify and validate the variance data; it does not involve separating the good from the
bad.

The Need and Function of Inspection

Inspection in industry is done to compare or determine the conformance of product to

specifications. All inspections strive to isolate and assess the relevant detail or quality or
charac-
teristic of a product. Measurement is an important part of inspection. Practice and
proficiency in
efficiently securing accurate measurements are essential. Inspection details measure
and assess
relevant characteristics of a product in terms of requirements and specifications derived
from a
desire to meet expectations about the products level of quality and performance.
Inspection ensures the ongoing maintenance of standards and requirements. This is done
by continually measuring in order to control and reduce the variation that may reach
alarming
limit to threaten the integrity of specification.
Customer requirements, from a producers point of view, balance a blend of quality and
reliability within the products performance with cost. Thus quality levels are customer-
derived and
it is for the inspection department to support these quality levels.
While the quality balance of acceptable versus unacceptable is the responsibility of
inspector,
he must also assess the causes for excessive variation.
Inspection department is responsible for ensuring measurable conformance and also for
judging appearance

According to the level of sophistication of inspection, it may be classified as :

(i) manual,(ii) visualmanual, (iii) test, (iv) mechanized or automatic.

According to the area in which the inspection is performed, it may be classified

as (i) process
(ii) batch, (iii) final, (iv) receiving, (v) tool and gauge.

STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Statistical Quality Control (SQC) is the term used to describe the set of statistical tools
used by quality professionals. SQC is used to analyze the quality problems and solve
them.

Statistical quality control refers to the use of statistical methods in the monitoring and
maintaining of the quality of products and services.

All the tools of SQC are helpful in evaluating the quality of services. SQC uses different
tools to analyze quality problem.

1) Descriptive Statistics

2) Statistical Process Control (SPC)

3) Acceptance Sampling

Descriptive Statistics involves describing quality characteristics and relationships. SPC

involves inspect random sample of output from process for characteristic. Acceptance
Sampling involve batch sampling by inspection.

Improsys's strategic approach to problems make us understand the root causes of

problems and helps our customer to come up with a long lasting and effective
solution.With our expertise in understanding the business and its all aspects we provide
solutions that will satisfy our customers deeply. It has successfully implemented the
quality control solutions in various organizations.

BENEFITS OF STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

1) It provides a means of detecting error at inspection.

2) It leads to more uniform quality of production.
3) It improves the relationship with the customer.
4) It reduces inspection costs.
5) It reduces the number of rejects and saves the cost of material.
6) It provides a basis for attainable specifications.
7) It points out the bottlenecks and trouble spots.
8) It provides a means of determining the capability of the manufacturing process.
9) It promotes the understanding and appreciation of quality control.

METHODOLOGY & TOOLS OF STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Statistical quality control refers to the use of statistical methods in the monitoring and
maintaining of the quality of products and services.
All the tools of SQC are helpful in evaluating the quality of services. SQC uses different
tools to analyze quality problem.
1) Descriptive Statistics
2) Statistical Process Control (SPC)
3) Acceptance Sampling

Descriptive Statistics involves describing quality characteristics and relationships. SPC

involves inspect random sample of output from process for characteristic. Acceptance
Sampling involve batch sampling by inspection.

tools used for Statistical Process Control are,

Cause and Effect Diagram

Defect Concentration Diagram
Control Chart
Scatter Diagram
Check Sheet

ACCEPTANCE SAMPLING

In quality control, the statistical procedure employed in determining whether to accept or

reject a production batch. If the proportion of the units having a certain negative
characteristic exceeds the acceptable limit for a given batch, it is rejected. Two types of
acceptance sampling are (1) Attributes sampling, in which the presence or absence of a
characteristic in the inspected item is only taken note of, and (2) Variable sampling, in
which the presence or absence of a characteristic in the inspected item is measured on a
predetermined scale.

Acceptance sampling uses statistical sampling to determine whether to accept or reject a

production lot of material. It has been a common quality control technique used in
industry. It is usually done as products leaves the factory, or in some cases even within
the factory. Most often a producer supplies a consumer a number of items and a decision
to accept or reject the items is made by determining the number of defective items in a
sample from the lot. The lot is accepted if the number of defects falls below where the
acceptance number or otherwise the lot is rejected.
Example of an attribute acceptance sampling plan

For example, you receive a shipment of 10,000 microchips. You either cannot or do not
want to inspect the entire shipment. An attribute sampling plan can help you determine
how many microchips you need to examine (sample size) and how many defects are
allowed in that sample (acceptance number).
In this case, suppose your acceptable quality level (AQL) is 1.5% and the rejectable
quality level (RQL) is 5.0%, and you assume alpha = 0.05 and beta = 0.1. Minitab
generates a sampling plan that indicates that you need to inspect 206 chips. If 6 or less
of the 206 inspected microchips are defective, you can accept the entire shipment. If 7
or more chips are defective, you must reject the entire shipment.

CONTROL CHARTS

Control charts are used to routinely monitor quality. Depending on the number of process
characteristics to be monitored, there are two basic types of control charts. The first,
referred to as a univariate control chart, is a graphical display (chart) of one quality
characteristic. The second, referred to as a multivariate control chart, is a graphical
display of a statistic that summarizes or represents more than one quality characteristic.

DEFINITION OF 'QUALITY CONTROL CHART'

A graphic that depicts whether sampled products or processes are meeting their
intended specifications and, if not, the degree by which they vary from those
specifications. Analyzing the pattern of variance depicted by a quality control chart can
help determine if defects are occurring randomly or systematically.

Different types of quality control charts, such as X-bar charts, S charts and Np charts are
used depending on the type of data that needs to be analyzed.
 If a single quality characteristic has been measured or computed from a sample, the
control chart shows the value of the quality characteristic versus the sample number or
versus time. In general, the chart contains a center line that represents the mean value
for the in-control process. Two other horizontal lines, called the upper control limit (UCL)
and the lower control limit (LCL), are also shown on the chart. These control limits are
chosen so that almost all of the data points will fall within these limits as long as the
process remains in-control. The figure below illustrates this.

TYPES OF CHARTS

The types of charts are often classified according to the type of quality characteristic that
they are supposed to monitor: there are quality control charts for variables and control
charts for attributes.Specifically, the following charts are commonly constructed for
controlling variables:

X-bar chart. In this chart the sample means are plotted in order to control the
mean value of a variable (e.g., size of piston rings, strength of materials, etc.).

R chart. In this chart, the sample ranges are plotted in order to control the
variability of a variable.

S chart. In this chart, the sample standard deviations are plotted in order to control
the variability of a variable.

C chart. In this chart, we plot the number of defectives (per batch, per day, per
machine, per 100 feet of pipe, etc.). This chart assumes that defects of the quality
 attribute are rare, and the control limits in this chart are computed based on
the Poisson distribution (distribution of rare events).

U chart. In this chart we plot the rate of defectives, that is, the number of
defectives divided by the number of units inspected (the n; e.g., feet of pipe, number of
batches). Unlike the C chart, this chart does not require a constant number of units, and
it can be used, for example, when the batches (samples) are of different sizes.

Np chart. In this chart, we plot the number of defectives (per batch, per day, per
machine) as in the C chart. However, the control limits in this chart are not based on the
distribution of rare events, but rather on the binomial distribution. Therefore, this chart
should be used if the occurrence of defectives is not rare (e.g., they occur in more than
5% of the units inspected). For example, we may use this chart to control the number of
units produced with minor flaws.

P chart. In this chart, we plot the percent of defectives (per batch, per day, per
machine, etc.) as in the U chart. However, the control limits in this chart are not based
on the distribution of rare events but rather on the binomial distribution (of proportions).
Therefore, this chart is most applicable to situations where the occurrence of defectives
is not rare (e.g., we expect the percent of defectives to be more than 5% of the total
number of units produced).

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Total Quality management is defined as a continuous effort by the management as well

as employees of a particular organization to ensure long term customer loyalty and
customer satisfaction. Remember, one happy and satisfied customer brings ten new
customers along with him whereas one disappointed individual will spread bad word of
mouth and spoil several of your existing as well as potential customers.

You need to give something extra to your customers to expect loyalty in return. Quality
can be measured in terms of durability, reliability, usage and so on. Total quality
management is a structured effort by employees to continuously improve the quality of
their products and services through proper feedbacks and research. Ensuring superior
quality of a product or service is not the responsibility of a single member.

Every individual who receives his/her paycheck from the organization has to contribute
equally to design foolproof processes and systems which would eventually ensure
superior quality of products and services. Total Quality management is indeed a joint
effort of management, staff members, workforce, suppliers in order to meet and exceed
customer satisfaction level. You cant just blame one person for not adhering to quality
measures. The responsibility lies on the shoulder of everyone who is even remotely
associated with the organization.
W. Edwards Deming, Joseph M. Juran, and Armand V. Feigenbaum jointly developed the
concept of total quality management. Total Quality management originated in the
manufacturing sector, but can be applied to almost all organizations.

Total quality management ensures that every single employee is working towards the
improvement of work culture, processes, services, systems and so on to ensure long
term success.

Total Quality management can be divided into four categories:

Plan
Do
Check
Act
Also referred to as PDCA cycle.

Planning Phase
Planning is the most crucial phase of total quality management. In this phase employees
have to come up with their problems and queries which need to be addressed. They
need to come up with the various challenges they face in their day to day operations and
also analyze the problems root cause. Employees are required to do necessary research
and collect relevant data which would help them find solutions to all the problems.

Doing Phase
In the doing phase, employees develop a solution for the problems defined in planning
phase. Strategies are devised and implemented to overcome the challenges faced by
employees. The effectiveness of solutions and strategies is also measured in this stage.

Checking Phase
Checking phase is the stage where people actually do a comparison analysis of before
and after data to confirm the effectiveness of the processes and measure the results.

Acting Phase
In this phase employees document their results and prepare themselves to address other
problems.\

TQM IS BROADLY BASED ON THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES:

Customer Centric Approach Consumers are the ultimate judge to determine whether
products or services are of superior quality or not. No matter how many resources are
pooled in training employees, upgrading machines and computers, incorporating quality
design process and standards, bringing new technology, etc.; at the end of the day, it is
the customers who have the final say in judging your company. Companies must
remember to implement TQM across all fronts keeping in mind the customers.

Employee Involvement Ensuring total employee involvement in achieving goals and

business objectives will lead to employee empowerment and active participation from
the employees in decision making and addressing quality related problems. Employee
empowerment and involvement can be increased by making the workspace more open
and devoid of fear.

Continual Improvement A major component of TQM is continual improvement.

Continual improvement will lead to improved and higher quality processes. Continual
improvement will ensure companies will find new ways and techniques in producing
better quality products, production, be more competitive, as well as exceed customer
expectations.

Strategic Approach to Improvement Businesses must adopt a strategic approach

towards quality improvement to achieve their goals, vision, and mission. A strategic plan
is very necessary to ensure quality becomes the core aspect of all business processes.

Integrated System Businesses comprise of various departments with different

functionality purposes. These functionalities are interconnected with various horizontal
processes TQM focuses on. Everyone in the company should have a thorough
understanding of the quality policies, standards, objectives, and important processes. It
is very important to promote a quality work culture as it helps to achieve excellence and
surpass customer expectations. An integrated system ensures continual improvement
and helps companies achieve a competitive edge.

Decision Making Data from the performance measurement of processes indicates the
current health of the company. For efficient TQM, companies must collect and analyze
data to improve quality, decision making accuracy, and forecasts. The decision making
must be statistically and situational based in order to avoid any room for emotional
based decisions.

Communications Communication plays a crucial role in TQM as it helps to motivate

employees and improve their morale during routine daily operations. Employees need to
be involved as much as possible in the day to day operations and decision making
process to really give them a sense of empowerment. This creates the environment of
success and unity and helps drive the results the TQM process can achieve.

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT BENEFITS

 1. Strengthened competitive position
2. Adaptability to changing or emerging market conditions and to environmental and
other government regulations
3. Higher productivity
4. Enhanced market image
5. Elimination of defects and waste
6. Reduced costs and better cost management
7. Higher profitability
8. Improved customer focus and satisfaction
9. Increased customer loyalty and retention
10. Increased job security
11. Improved employee morale
12. Enhanced shareholder and stakeholder value
13. Improved and innovative processes

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE TQM SYSTEM ARE:

1. Everyone must have the required training and be familiar with the necessary TQM
techniques.
2. Anyone can suggest areas for improvement - as general operatives will be more
familiar with their work station than anyone else is, valuable ideas for
improvement at a production line level can, in many cases, come from line
workers.
3. All departments are expected to focus on quality and productivity improvement
and implement changes for their area.
4. In addition, all departments interact with each other to fix common problems in the
product or process.
5. Collaboration on external issues (end-user defects for example) is expected from
all departments.

6. Decisions made are based on the best solutions, not on hidden agendas or
favoritism.
7. Quality becomes a governing part of operations, with decisions that impact on
quality, rejected immediately, despite perceived cost-savings involved.

FEATURES OF TQM:

1. Customer Focus: - - TQM Palaces emphasis in meeting the requirement of both the
internal as well as the external customer. In order to meet the requirements for the
external customer, it is necessary to meet the needs of the internal customer. The initial
focus should be on meeting needs of internal customer before an attempt is made to
meet the requirements of the external customers.

2. Continuous Process: - TQM is a continuous process. Constant and continuous efforts

are made to improve the quality, and to reduce internal costs. Quality improvement
helps the organisation to face the challenges of the competitors and to meet the
requirements of the customers. TQM is a process which goes on forever, because at no
time the quality can be 100% right. There is always a possibility for new and better way
of doing things.
3. Defect-free Approach: - TQM place emphasis on the defect-free work most of the time.
The defect free approach is phrased in various ways as right first time, working smarter
or zero defects.

4. Employees Involvement: - in TQM everyone is involved in the process from the

management director to the junior clerk or worker in the organisation. It is not just
manufacturing people, but also the accounting, finance, marketing, and even the
canteen people are involved in the TQM process.

5. Recognition and Rewards: - Recognition and rewards is an integral part of companys

TQM Programme. Positive reinforcement through recognition and reward is essential to
maintain achievement and continuous improvement in quality.

6. Synergy in Team Work: -The Japanese are great believers in synergy (to work
together). Engineers, technicians, and workers look upon themselves as equals and
communicate easily as they work side by side. They create what professor Okuda has
called a synergetic Partnership.

7. Techniques: - TQM can take place by following various techniques such as quality
circle, value engineering, statistical process control, etc. Through such techniques it is
possible to improve systems and procedures.

8. System Approach: - TQM is a system approach to managing the business and

improving the performance. Without the total commitment on the part of chief executive
officer and his senior executives, TQM cannot take off to a good start.