INTRODUCTION

1. Basic Concept of Quality

Quality is a concept that widely use to refer ‘how good product is’. In opposite meaning, quality
is confronted with ‘quantity’ as it refers to the number, size, or volume

Fig. 1 Quality vs Quantity

As a concept, quality also more abstract than quantity. If we can so easy to see the level of
quantity, but not for quality.

Fig. 2 Term Related Quality

Quality is an attribute of the product or service. Quality may excellent, good or bad. Good
quality products will give a useful function to it user, lasting longer, and finally bring
satisfaction. But there is no free lunch. Such product must be redeemed with expensive price.
Quality Cycle and Perspective
The issue of quality in our context is the interest of 2 parties at least, the producer or provider
and customer. It started when producer willing to offer product or service to customer. In
designing the product then customer requirement is included as design input. The production
or manufacturing process then will realize the product. In this stage, the main issue is how to
achieved design setting or specification as close as possible (manufacturing perspective of
quality) in acceptable cost.
As product finished, producer will offer to intended customer. It is not product itself actually
need by customer, but its function to fulfill the customer needs. So, it acted as container that
bring value to be used. How well the product can perform it function as its designed can be
considered as product perspective of quality.

Fig 3 Quality Cycle

Furthermore David Garvin in his book Managing Quality described the five perspectives of
quality as follow:
 transcendent - it means that quality is hard to define. It's quite blurred to define. It's
like I can’t define it, but I know when I see it.. The examples of this point of view are: "I
love this product", "I feel beautiful" (after usage of some cosmetic). It's mainly feelings
about something.
 product-based - from another hand, this perspective is about measured how good is the
product. And it's an impartial thing, far away from how the customer feels about this
product. It's answer a question: how does the product work? The product based
scenario based on some hard data, e.g. how fast it restart, or how much time left
between failures, etc. Limitation, in that case, is that the higher quality of the product
 can't ensure that the people will like the product. This perspective doesn't care about
customers individual taste or preference.
 manufacturing-based - it relates to the production and engineering requirements.
When we think about quality from a manufacturing point of view we want to set up the
requirements, specifications, and technology inside the company. Improvement there is
for example to reduce scratch. Quality, in this case, cares about how manufacturing
process looks like. The customer doesn't see this inside work. And he or she wants to
reduce production costs by reducing quality from manufacturing perspective. It's quite a
dangerous situation.
 user-based - it's about how product fulfill the customer needs and expectations. It's also
quite tricky because customers have a wide spectrum of interests, needs, and
expectations. We have to choose if we want to deeply satisfy a few customers or
partially satisfy many customers.
 value-based - quality from value-based perspective is about costs and price. What
cost/price will be acceptable in this case.
Garvin in his book said that we can not think about quality from only one perspective. There
always are a least few perspectives that we need to carry off on different levels.
Garvin also propose quality framework of eight attributes that may be used to define quality:
performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and
perceived quality.

Dimension Description Perspective

Performance a product is expected to work in accordance with its Product base
function. A car (of any type) has a function to speed up a
trip, so the related performance is speed. A battery is its
power capacity. Often efficiency is also included in the
performance domain. For example, what is the fuel
consumption of the car for each kilometer. The point of
performance is the product's ability to perform especially its
main function. In many cases quality in this domain
dominates the quality issue.
Conformance In the production process to realize the product, how well Manufacturing
the product specifications specified in the data design are base
achieved will determine the quality of the product made.
Accuracy in meeting specifications as closely as possible is
an aspect of quality in manufacturing. It is often not easy to
achieve what is targeted in product design because the
conditions of machines and other production technologies
are critical. Machines with high accuracy will be able to
achieve this easily, so that the proportion of products that
 do not meet the requirements or defects can be
suppressed.

In product planning to achieve the best quality, minimum

level specifications are established. For example, in order to
achieve a product with long enough durability, a mixture of
materials is needed to achieve a certain hardness. The
higher the hardness, the longer the shelf life. this requires a
certain mixture of ingredients at minimal composition.

But also often a target is set within a certain tolerance

range (eg diameter: 10,000 ± 0.005 cm). So the closer to the
design target of 10,000cm, the more quality the product
will produce. For example in the manufacture of engine
cylinders, size accuracy is very important, too big or too
small will cause the engine to decrease in performance. In
this case the role of technology and production machines is
very important
Feature Besides its main function, a product is often equipped with Product base
additional functions for various purposes, both to support
functions in the use of the main functions and other
functions related to the use of the product. An example, for
example a cellphone whose main function is to
communicate both voice and data, then added other
camera and video functions. The completeness (quantity)
and performance of these additional functions often give
high product value.
Durability The durability of a product is an aspect that is considered in Product base
determining the quality of a product. Actually this is also
related to performance and reliability. The volume of the
ability to carry out its main function is actually another form
of performance. If a 100 watt battery can run for 2 years,
then the total performance is the same as a 200 watt
battery with 1 year of life. Even so, often the two are not
interchangeable, in the sense that each has its own
importance. What is clear is that products with a longer
service life are generally considered more qualified
Serviceability Nothing is perfect as a man-made item. Apart from Product base
disposable or damaged products are discarded, certain
products that are usually quite complex in design and
expensive every time they break down require repair,
because it is a shame to throw them away. according to the
nature and design each product has its own level of
complexity in repair if it is damaged. Of course the easier
 way to fix it the more preferable than the complicated. The
more so if the repair must be done by the users themselves.
The complexity will have an impact on the cost and time
required to repair. Now more and more manufacturers are
providing repair services for the products they sell,
sometimes even for free.
Aesthetic The aesthetic aspect is included in the realm of quality for Transcendental
products that are used by users when they appear on a User base
daily basis or are related to the completeness of facilities
that are visible to both the owner and other people. In
certain situations, aesthetics may be an important
dimension for products related to fashion, such as clothing,
jewelry, and so on. Although in art product is the main
aspect of quality.
For technical products, it seems that this aspect is not very
important.
Perceive If naturally, quality is a property of a product, but when User base
Quality people have experience with a certain product either Value base
because they use it, see it, even just hear it (advertisements
for example), then the quality of a product is reflected in
the head of each. So this is not the quality of the product
itself, but it can be said as a reflection. The level is
influenced by various factors, including the quality of the
product itself. Promotion may play an important role.
Although it is not necessarily possible to describe the
quality of the product correctly, it plays an important role
when consumers make their choice. Perceived quality is
usually measured based on consumer opinion about a
product.

Servequal
Traditionally, a product is divided into 2 categories, namely goods and services. as explained
earlier in it contains values that can be utilized by users to meet their needs. In an effort to use
the benefits of these products, a certain process is needed which is not necessarily smooth. The
responsible producer usually provides a service (not a service, because it is a type of product) as
a companion to the main product. So even though the type of the product is a services,
sometimes it also requires additional service. For example, in the provision of telephone
services, they also have breakdown service. If this a case, the function of product, connection
services, can not be accessed by customer.
Scientists, have developed a service quality measurement model based on 5 dimensions called
TERRA (tangible, Empathy, Responsiveness, Reliability, and Assurance). Because this kind of
service involves customers, measurement is usually carried out based on customer perceptions.
Therefore, serqual can be categorized as perceived quality.
Environmental and safety issues
In line with the increase in environmental awareness, in recent decades environmental issues
have been included in looking at product quality. Products that have a negative impact on the
environment, for example pollution, are considered to be of low quality. In fact, not only when
it is used after leaving the factory, but when it is produced.

Likewise, the issue of safety in the use of both the user concerned and other parties who may
be affected. This safety function can also be considered as an additional feature of a product.
 2. Quality Process Control

Quality control can usually be carried out as a system that maintains the desired quality level,
by monitoring the process parameters that affect the quality of the results, if there is a
deviation from these characteristics from a certain standard then corrective action is taken.
Given that the product is produced by a process, the object of control is all processes related to
production. Thus, if all processes in the company are applied control mechanisms, it is called
total quality control.
control for each process can be carried out at 3 important points, namely at the beginning
which includes process input, in the middle, namely when the process is in progress, and at the
end, namely at the output of the process.

Fig. 4 Type of Control

Feedforward Control that is carried out on the input side provides the benefit of being able to
prevent problems that may arise in the process which in turn affect the output. The advantage
of early prevention is to avoid potential losses before they occur. However, the drawback is
that it has not been able to ensure 100% that afterwards all problems will disappear, because
often the parameters that are monitored and controlled have an uncertain effect on the next
stage. Parameters monitored include all factors that are input to the process such as raw
materials, operator capability, machine readiness, and so on.
Concurrent control is carried out when an activity in process is ongoing. All process parameters
such as machine parameters (speed, temperature, pressure, time), as well as parameters of
environmental conditions that are known to play a role in determining the results need to be
monitored and controlled. For example, in the process at a fast food restaurant where in the
frying process the oil temperature, the duration time for frying are important parameters that
need to be controlled.
Finally, after the output is obtained, the control at this last point will provide the highest
effectiveness, where the assurance that the results obtained really meet the requirements.
However, the disadvantage is that the efficiency is the lowest, because if an error occurs during
the production process resulting in a defective product, everything has happened and the effort
has been done is useless.
The level of implementation of process control in a company depends on the readiness and
commitment of company management to the extent to which the scope of the process can be
reached and the parameters that can be measured and monitored. The use of statistical
methods is very intensive in quality control using inspection methods which require more effort
and costs.
The most popular example is a control chart for controlling certain parameters of a process.
Statistical control is of course applied to process parameters whose value is an outcome
following a probabilistic event. For process parameters with definite values, such as process
time settings that can be determined and set with certainty, statistical control is not required.
Here is a typical example of a control map, where x is a process parameter (it could also be a
process output) whose values follow probabilistic events.

Fig. 5 Control Chart

At the product realization stage, once the design is established, variability is the main enemy of
the production department. The variability that is meant is the deviation of the results from the
predetermined target design requirements. This deviation can be divided into 2, namely: due to
natural/common factors and special/systematic factors. On every control map, the control
limits are set, where if the statistical data of the monitored parameters fall outside the control
limits it indicates that the process is running unnaturally or normally so it is reasonable to
suspect that there are certain causes that need to be eliminated or corrected.
Notice the picture above UCL is the upper control limit and LCL is the lower control limit. If the
monitoring data falls within the control limits then the process is running normally, no action is
required. But when any data falls outside of control, such as points on a circle, action is
required. Maybe the process needs to be stopped and once the problem is eliminated then it
can be continued again. Correction to eliminate specific causes will only return the process to
its original state and will not change or increase the process's capability.
And now also pay attention to the USL blue line, the upper specification limit, and the LSL, the
lower specification limit. If this is an individual control map then each point represents a single
measure of each event (units of product produced), then any fall outside the blue line is a
defective product. There is no direct relationship between control limits and specification
limits, unless it gives an idea of the process's ability to produce a good product.
The figure below shows an overall process improvement that can reduce variability caused by
common factors, resulting in narrower variability. Improvements to improve process
capabilities include upgrading old machines to new one so that the results are more precise.

Fig. 6
As the capability increased, the possibility of the product falling outside the specification limit
becomes smaller so that the overall proportion of defective products will decrease. From this
point of view, if you pay attention, the product quality does not increase because the
specifications do not change, but the quality of the manufacturing process does. Remember
manufacturing based on quality.
 3. Quality Assurance System
Process vs System
Processes and systems are two different things, but they are related and exist at different
layers. If a process is a series of interrelated activities, working to convert inputs into outputs,
then the system is a collection of components that interact with each other to achieve a
common goal as intended its function.

Fig. 7 Process vs System

The comparison between the process and the system can be seen in the following table:

Process System
Differences
Output Goal/Function
The process is needed to produce the The system is made to carry out a specific
specified output. Production process is function or purpose. Production system
needed in producing products. are intended to produce a product.

Interrelated activities Interacted element

The process consists of activities that a system consists of smaller elements,
are interrelated with the function of possibly a system or a sub system. Each
carrying out the transformation to has their respective roles that support
convert inputs into outputs. each other to overall achieve common
In the production process, there are goals.
various sequential activities such as In the production system, machines,
processing to packaging to produce operators, infrastructure are the elements
products
Synthesis
Processes and systems actually refer to the same physical object. Only the two are in
different layers or dimensions. The production process runs by utilizing the role of
each component of the production system. When the process is running, the system
elements will work according to their role. The interaction between elements occurs
when they are carrying out activities.
Assurance
Quality Assurance System is a system that has a purpose or function to guarantee the quality as
promised. This is done by ensuring that all planned requirement in the process related to
achieving product quality are followed. This is precisely the role and purpose of the quality
assurance function. The objective of the quality assurance function is to have in place a formal
system that continually surveys the effectiveness of the quality philosophy of the company. The
quality assurance team thus audits the various departments and assists them in meeting their
responsibilities for producing a quality product.
There are some formal Quality Assurance System which have now been transformed into larger
systems, namely QMS (Quality management system), such as the ISO 9000 series where the
assurance function is included. In ISO 9001, this is stated in one of its objectives that is to
enable organizations that adopt it to produce consistent output.

Fig. 8 QMS Model

The requirements contained in ISO 9001 become additional requirements when designing
company systems, especially those related to the product related process, from design to
delivery. As an illustration, the following is an example of the requirements of ISO 9001: 2015
clause 8.3.4
 Fig. 9 ISO Requirement Example
Requirements like this need to be added when designing related processes in such a way as to
make the existing system have the specifications and completeness required by the standard.
ISO 9001, which was originally a quality assurance system has evolved into a higher system,
which includes quality improvements as defined in its second goal, namely to enhance
customer satisfaction.

Fig. 10 ISO 9001 Scope

Returning to its function as a quality assurance system, ISO has a mechanism to ensure that all
stipulated provisions are actually implemented, namely by requiring the organization to carry
out an audit as stated in clause 9.2 as follow:

Fig. 11 Audit Requirement