Operation Management

1. Why is quality so important to businesses? How can you improve quality?

Quality is a very important factor for businesses since the lack of it will result of bad brand/service reputation. It's easier to maintain customers that to create new ones. Also a low quality product may (and will) cost more at the end since a whole production could end up as scrap, needing more time to re-do a product, high cost of recalls, fines and may happen as well legal issues. In the service case is more subjective, but equally important. This will be estimated on how the customer perceives the wait and the outcome of it.

Quality can always be improved by analyzing all the processes that are involved before the outcome. A good statistical estimation of the sample size needed is crucial, since under verifying can lead to a higher % of non-compliance products and overestimation, will just be a waste of time. Testing and monitoring of all aspect is not only recommended, but needed to have a X certainty of what we are delivering.

2. What are the different dimensions of quality? Give real world examples of such dimensions.

The dimensions of quality include the Performance, Features, Reliability, Conformance, Durability, Serviceability, Aesthetics and Perception. My best example was my first car, a 1989 Toyota Tercel. Even when I bought a car 10 years old, it was fuel efficient, only went to the mechanic for the usual maintenance, the parts for it were accessible everywhere, was a safe car to drive, the construction was a strong one, even when the paint was faded the outside of the car never got rusty. It didn't have all the features I would want, but it did have the ones that were expected for the price: air conditioning and a radio. It is obvious that my perception of the brand fulfill all my requests, and even with the latest quality issues is a brand I trust and all my family relies on. (We all own a Toyota)

3. What is the purpose of TQM and the philosophy behind it?

The main purpose of TQM it to have a continuous improvement of processes, preventing the loss of customer and cost implicated of delivering a low quality service or product. This is possible thru explaining and requesting what is the expected outcome to all components in our supply chain system. This way the customer can get what they expect from the company to have a win-win situation.

4. Why is data so important in quality management?

Data is what provides the needed information to trace a forecast of what may happen in an

X situation. In industries were the daily activities having little or no variability in processes, we can achieve an almost perfect model in which we can eliminate process and maximize productivity.

Recollected data can help us have a glimpse as well