QUALITY ASSURANCE IN THE PRODUCTION INDUSTRY

• The need for quality professionals in a competitive global market

The concept of Quality in the contemporary era is described in terms of eight characteristics, namely:

• A shift from quantity to quality;
• A shift from 'buyer beware' market to 'seller beware' market
• A concern for product safety, public responsibility, and product liability;
• A shift from focus on customer needs to focus on society;
• Demands for conservation of energy and natural resources;
• Diversification and globalisation of quality
• A shift from passive product liability to active product liability.

The new concept therefore places a lot of emphasis on the principle of prevention (Quality Assurance) rather than detection of problem as it is in Quality Control.
In a competitive global market, characterised by demand for quality goods and services organisations are not only required to provide evidence of their competence through certification to ISO 9000 quality management system but also demonstrate same to customers by providing THE RIGHT PRODUCT THE FIRST TIME AT THE RIGHT PRICE. In order to survive in such a market our local companies as well as service providers need plan in order to prevent the occurrence of problems in the first place. If, however, problems occur, they should be easy to detect. The causes of the problems should also be determined so that appropriate measures can be taken to prevent recurrence.
A model approach to the establishment of a quality management system along the ISO 9000 standard is to first define sequence and interactions between the various processes of the organisation.( namely the core, support and management processes).
This means that-
i. The critical points in the processes have been identified;
ii. Performance indices have been defined
iii. Performance measurements along with relevant feedback are used to review processes and set targets for improvement

The underlying logic is that, for a product or service to be delivered on time, at the external customer's desired level of quality, all the processes including supporting services such as marketing and purchasing which in effect produce the product must be efficient and effective.

In the early 1980's Polaroid (a company in the US) conducted an internal survey of its operations and identified seven major areas of concern.
1. Quality only becomes a consideration at final assembly rather than early in the design and development stages of the production system.
2. Polaroid employees did not fully understand customer needs and satisfaction.
3. Quality issues failed to gain much attention until problems developed.
4. Management seemed willing to sacrifice quality when it conflicted with costs or scheduling.
5. Operators lacked sufficient training in their jobs and in quality issues.
6. Suppliers also contributed their own quality problems to the system.
7. High quality costs were common.

These issues are not quality problems. They are design problems, marketing problems, manufacturing problems, human resource problems, suppliers' relations problems and financial problems. They involve people, technology, information and management. In other words, businesses must integrate quality into all its operations.

Polaroid's experience is not unique. Many manufacturing companies find themselves in similar circumstances. Serious consideration of the circumstances shows that survival of companies would depend on quality, and not just control of product defect. Quality has to permeate every facet of their businesses.

As companies come to recognise the broad scope of quality, the concept of Total Quality emerged. A definition of total quality was endorsed in 1992 by the chairs and CEO's of nine (9) major US corporation in cooperation with deans of business and engineering departments of major universities and recognised consultants.

Total Quality (TQ) is a people focussed management system that aims at continual increase in customer satisfaction at continually lower real cost. TQ is a total system approach(not a separate area or program) and an integral part of high level strategy; it works horizontally across functions and departments, involves all employee, top to bottom and extends backwards and forward to include the supply chain and the customer chain. The system permits change; the philosophy stays the same. TQ stress learning and adaptation to continual change as keys to organisational success.

The implementation of a Total Quality Management system require Good Leadership as well as Good Policies and Strategies
The kind of leadership that demonstrates –
• Visible involvement in leading the organisation to achieve goals;
• Recognition and appreciation of efforts and success of individuals and teams;
• Support of the quality effort by provision of resources and assistance
• Involvement with customers and suppliers

The organisation's policies and strategies should be based on relevant information on the concept of Total Quality.
The policies and strategies should be communicated to all levels of the organisation
The policies should be understood
The policies should be regularly reviewed.

The quality of the human resource at the operational level is also indispensable to the achievement of quality objectives set by the organisation.
As a minimum, officers responsible for quality assurance need to be equipped with analytical tools that will, for example, enable them find problems and narrow problematic areas (pareto diagram), grasp facts about dispersion and tolerance with respect to specifications (histogram) ,and list probable factors which are responsible for the problem (Cause and Effect analysis).

The human resource should also be managed in a way to ensure that-
a) The skills and capability of the staff are maintained, preserved and developed through recruitment, training and career development.
b) Everyone is empowered through training to take appropriate action for the purpose of achieving continual improvement.

c) People and teams agree on targets and continuously review performance

Total Quality is anchored in values that stress the dignity of the individual and the power of community action. The effective management of the total quality system is expected to result in-

• People & Customer satisfaction;
• Positive impact on society; and
• Positive business results in both financial and non-financial terms.
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The benefits mentioned above, however, can only be realised through the contribution of quality professionals at both the managerial and operational levels.
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The importance of training quality professionals at this stage of our development cannot therefore be over-emphasised. The production of quality products will translate into many benefits including

Sustainability of Entity:
Production of quality goods and services that meet the needs and expectation of consumers ensures that businesses become sustainable as they are able to attract markets for their output and increase exports.

Generation of employment:
As the business become more and more competitive on the global market there will be increased demand and expansion of operations resulting in the generation of employment

Foreign Exchange:
The increased business for quality conscious organisations will result in increased foreign exchange earning for the company and in the process contribute to macro-economic stability.

Import Substitution:
When businesses become more quality conscious, they will produce goods of enhanced quality that meet the needs and expectations of their local customers. The enhanced quality products will become preferred brands thus saving scarce foreign exchange and further contribute to macro- economic stability.

What do we say to all these things?
There is therefore the need to train quality assurance officers in order to equip them with the requisite skill to handle quality issues across every facet of their organisations. This training does not necessarily come out of the formal education attained at the university or polytechnic level. For example, chemistry as thought in these tertiary institution concerns chiefly synthesis, analysis and engineering and poorly so; it is the right foundation for the education of the chemist. Many chemists entering an industrial and for that matter the office of quality assurance soon find that most of the decisions by his concern are not testing of products to the relevant standards but are preventive quality issues of which he knows little or nothing. The literature in this field, if any, may be meagre, scattered or obsolete.

This requires that officers engaged in quality assurance work should have professional training and qualification to enable them carry out their task. In the UK for example, this has been taken up by the Institute of Quality Assurance (IQA). IQA offers courses in quality through their educational centres globally. All quality assurance officers who have no formal training, fresh graduates from tertiary institutions, owners and mangers of small and medium scale enterprises are encouraged to seek training in quality for the development of skills and sustainability of their businesses.

The writer is a quality consultant of Applied Science & Quality Systems in Accra.

Source: www.asqs-ghana.com