Quality principles and evolution

"The  cost of quality  is obtained from the sum of all the costs that would disappear if there were  no quality problems ."

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•             Importance of quality in organizations

Origin and evolution of quality

The quality did not appear on a particular moment, it is an idea that has been developed over time according to the circumstances and needs of humanity . Placing ourselves in the industrial era, the evolution of quality can be divided into four stages, according to Garvin (1988) futuretechexpert.

Stage 1 : Quality by Inspection , the inspection function consisted of closely and critically examining the work to check its quality and detect errors. In this 1922 stage, Radford's book, Quality control in the factory, was published. For the first time, quality is seen as a management responsibility naturalbeautytrends.

Stage 2: Statistical quality control (product control) , the key in this stage is related to the results of Shewhart's research at the Bell Company, which culminated in the publication of the book Economics of control in manufactured products, in which it is define the techniques to evaluate production, control in factories and propose different ways to improve quality. Simple statistical techniques were developed to determine the limits of variation and control charts to present the results that allowed distinguishing the problems inherent in the production process techsmartinfo.

In 1946, the American Association for Quality Control (ASQC) was created. At the end of the 1940s, quality was raised to an academic discipline smarttechpros.

Stage 3: Quality assurance (process control) , arises when it is accepted that statistical control has implications beyond the production department and is extended to the administration of the company. In the 1950s, new elements emerged that turned quality control around: quality costs, total quality control, reliability engineering, and zero defects. In 1951, Jurán published the Quality Control Manual, in which he proposed the study of quality costs and the savings that could be generated if it was acted properly.

The costs that Jurán identified were related to: defective products, waste material, hours invested in repairs, rework, time to attend to complaints or the loss of dissatisfied customers that could be avoided.

Armand Feigenbaum was the first to propose the concept of Total Quality Control (TQC). This researcher said that quality products could not be produced if the production department worked in isolation. It proposed the participation of the different departments, through interfunctional work groups, since quality should be everyone's job. Jurán and Feigenbaum agreed on reliability engineering. At this stage the idea of zero defects emerged and focused on the expectations of managers and human relations .

Stage 4: Quality as a competitive strategy (Total Quality Management) , in this stage the methods of the previous stage are still used, important changes occur, since quality becomes of interest to senior management, it is It is related to profitability, it is defined from the customer's point of view and it is included in the strategic planning process and continuous improvement processes are defined. It becomes a key factor in the competitiveness of companies.

Table 1 summarizes the main characteristics of the four stages through which the concept of quality has evolved.

Economic impact of quality

The adoption of measures in relation to quality has as an essential factor an adequate information system, this is configured through a quality cost system.

It is important to mention that the quality cost calculation provides a measurement basis to determine the benefits that quality improvement brings to the organization.

This calculation allows identifying the actions that should be taken to improve competitiveness, it also allows to verify in the end, if the actions taken have been effective.

The cost of quality is obtained from the sum of all the costs that would disappear if there were no quality problems . That is, any cost that would not have occurred if the quality were perfect or when things are not done right the first time, Campanella (1992) 5. In this sense, costs can be classified into two blocks:

to. Control or compliance costs : these are those costs incurred to obtain quality , they originate as a result of the prevention and evaluation activities that the company must carry out. They are divided into two: prevention and evaluation costs.

Prevention costs, arise from reducing failures from the beginning, originate from activities such as quality planning, review of new products, employee training and education, and so on. More than a cost, it can be considered an investment.

Evaluation or verification costs are the result of inspection, measurement and analysis to ensure compliance with established requirements or standards.

b. Costs of failures or non-compliance : these are those incurred by a company as a result of its failures , when the activities were not carried out correctly, they are also called avoidable costs or non-quality costs. They are divided into two: Costs for internal failures and costs for external failures.

Costs for internal failures : are those that are detected before the delivery of the product or service to the customer.

Costs for external failures : these are detected when the customer has received the product, which means that the system did not detect all the errors before delivery to the customer.