QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Quality' of an individual, entity or object may be explained as the features, whether inherent or evolved over
a period of time, which specifically defines the basic nature e and conduct of the individual, entity or object.
Some of the synonyms of 'Quality' are character, essence, trait, attribute, property, feature, etc.

Definitions of Quality from Various Perspectives

Customer’s View
The underlying principle behind the end-users' perspective is that the quality lies in the eye of the customer.
This perspective, which is largely demand-oriented and subjective in nature, treats the quality as per maximum
satisfaction at the customers' level. A product or service is required to go through a chain of individual’s
entities or departments, before it reaches the ultimate consumer.
Similarly, there exist internal customers in an organization who are recipients of goods and services from the
Suppliers, which are in fact various departments of the same organization. The above point of view is symbolic
of the fact that customers' satisfaction is the final authority. Customers are free to convey their level of
satisfaction in respect of a product or service, although at times it is not easy to know the rationale behind their
opinion in the matter. Managers and researchers, while defining the quality for a company, take the help of
certain marketing tools, which enable them to take subjective aspects also into account.

Manufacturer's View
The manufacturer's view basically emphasizes on supply side and relates to prevailing engineering and
manufacturing practices. Compliance with the specifications developed internally by the company with a view
to have a higher production at the lowest cost gets importance in it.
Prescribing a level for various standards for goods and services opens up another aspect of defining quality.
Which is compliance with the prescribed standards for goods and services. Such standards are nothing but the
targets and tolerances decided by the originators of the goods and services. Targets are the ideal values, which
are rather difficult to achieve, and as such tolerance limits (range of permissible variations from the target) are
also prescribed. Given below examples would make the point clearer.

Transcendent View
The transcendent view of quality is characterized by the highest level of standards and compliance thereof in
a careful manner. In the field of performing and visual arts, this view is generally applied. This view 5
Supported by the argument that the recognition of quality by people is a learning process, which can be
mastered with experience through proper exposure from time to time.

Product View
This view of quality focuses on those features of a product, which are missing in other similar products
manufactured by the competitors. Such features add value to that product, which becomes a point of attraction
for a customer, and ultimately that product becomes a success in the market. A quality product, due to its
unique attributes, stands apart in the market from other similar products, and as such a customer takes pride in
buying and owning such products.

Value-Based View
The definition of quality under the value-based view' is based on the value and market price of a product.
Keeping in view a proper balance between the performance and price of a specific product, quality may be
defined briefly as "affordable excellence".
Before a final decision with regard to buying a product every customer undertakes an exercise of what may be
termed as 'cost-benefit analyses'. A product needs to exhibit a number of good features and should be available
at a low price in the market. The features and benefits accruing from buying the product should overweigh its
price, so that during the exercise of cost-benefit analyses. The customers find the Product more attractive.
Return on investment made by a customer on purchase of a product in the form of better features, low cost,
higher benefits, etc., are some of the factors.
Characteristics of Quality
1) Customer Dependent: The true assessment of quality of a product or service is made by the customers, who
are external to the manufacturing or service providing company. Customer satisfaction is the measurement of
quality, which requires a number of traits in a product or service to satisfy numerous or wide-ranging
anticipation of existing and potential customers.

2) Dynamic and Different: Quality is highly dynamic in nature. It needs to be subjected to the continuous
process of improvement over a period of time with changing market trends, customer’s preferences,
competitors' moves, etc. It is necessary to bring continuity about improvements and required changes with the
changing times in order to stay in the market by ensuring that the customers remain satisfied. The meaning of
quality is generally perceived differently by different set of people. Therefore, the companies in the business
of manufacturing goods or providing various sorts of services need to be very careful in identifying their
prospective customers, their preferences and accordingly design their products or services.

3) Market Attributed: A company interested in launching a quality product or service in a specific market
segment is required to have clear vision of the attributes important for that specific segment, customer’s
preference in that market segment, etc. Quality may also be considered on the basis of the following
benchmarks:

i) Technical: Length, frequency, diameter, viscosity, etc.

ii) Psychological: Sensory qualities such as taste, odour and beauty, etc.
iii) Time Based Items: Such as reliability, maintainability, life, etc.
iv) Contractual : Such as guarantee, safety, etc.
v) Ethical: Such as honesty, integrity, etc.

4) Efficiency and Performance: Goods and service, having better quality, function successfully in the market,
yielding optimum results by using minimum amount of resources. The efficiency level of their performance
can be maintained only through on-going monitoring and control and ensuring improvements therein. In
today's market, it is necessary to keep changing the strategy according to the changing market dynamics.
Utilization of resources in an effective manner is another aspect which needs to be given proper attention.

5) Fitness for Use (Juran): If any equipment and its parts are working efficiently, various other parts of the
equipment are also considered to be of good quality- From this statement, another definition of the quality
emerges, which is fitness for use"
6) Grade: The unique characteristics of a product, such as its appearance, performance, life, reliability, taste,
odour, and maintainability, etc. may also be viewed as its quality. They are normally referred to as the quality
characteristics
7) Degree of Preference: Quality may also be viewed as the extent to which a particular product and service
gets preference over other products and services of similar nature offered by competitors. This, termed as
'customer preference', is decided by the customers on the basis of comparative study undertaken by them.
8) Conformity to Requirements (Philip Crosby): This is one of the most significant features of the quality. It
measures the extent to which a product has been actually designed or performed vis-à-vis prescribed
specifications.

Cost of Quality
'Cost of quality' or Quality Cost' is the forgone quantity of money lost by business on account of not rendering
the product or a service in the right way. A product or service which is not produced right in the first time is
required to be re-made. It may also lead to many types of costs such as remaking the good or suffering a
lawsuit filed by the buyer. Quality costs may account for 15 to 30 percent of total costs incurred by a company.
Thus, Cost of Quality is any cost which a company has to suffer for not making perfect quality goods or
services.
"Quality costs are the foundation for quality- Systems economics".
Types of Quality Cost :
1) Appraisal Costs: These are the direct Costs associated with measuring quality. Quality may the ability to
meet with the expectations of the customers. These costs include the costs relation to inspecting, testing and
carrying out related activities for finding out the shortcomings and defectives. Field test, quality audits and
laboratory costs are also included in the category of appraisal costs. Costs of implementing the quality
measures are also included in this head
i) Inspection Costs and Testing: The costs of carrying out tests and inspection of materials, tools and parts
are included in this category.
ii) Costs of Test Equipment: These costs are related to buying the equipment for testing the product.
iii) Operator Costs: These are the costs related to the manpower required for carrying out the tests.

2) Prevention Costs: these are the costs which are incurred to stop the defects from occurring in the initial
Stage. This process ensures the quality of the process and reduces the likelihood of the defects occurring. The
costs related to setting up the quality system is also included in this category. Administration costs vendor
management costs and training costs are also part of prevention costs.
Examples of prevention costs are given below:
i) Quality Planning Costs: The costs related to the development and implementation of quality management
program.
ii) Product-Design Costs: Costs related to the design of the product are included in this category.
iii) Process Costs: These are the costs incurred for ensuring that productive processes are according to the
quality specifications.
iv) Training Costs: The costs incurred for developing and training the employees and managerial personnel.
v) Information Costs: The costs related to the acquisition and maintenance of data related to the quality and
preparation of reports.

3) Internal Failures: These kinds of failures are exposed during the production process. The main reason behind
the occurrence of failures may include improper machines, defective raw material incorrect method and
general carelessness. Following are the main instances of internal failure:
i) Scrap Costs: These are the costs incurred for discarding goods which did not meet quality standards. These
costs include labour costs, material costs and indirect costs.
ii) Rework Costs: These are costs incurred for correcting defective goods so that they may meet quality
standards.
iii) Process Failure Costs: These are the costs for carrying out the tests for determining the reasons behind
production of poor quality products.
iv) Process Downtime Costs: These are the costs of closing down the processes which are developing
defective goods and services.
v) Price Downgrading Costs: Poor quality goods may be sold as 'seconds'. The costs and losses associated
with such sales are included in this category

4) External Failures: These kinds of defects are found after the goods have been delivered to the buyer. These
failures escape detection by the producer. Costs such as complaint handling, warranties, replacements and
compensations are included in this category. On per unit basis, these costs are generally higher than internal
failures.
For example, external failures costs are:
i) Customer Complaint Costs: These costs are related to dealing with the customers and solving their
grievances.
ii) Product Return Costs: These are the costs related to replace and handle poor quality goods which are
given back by the customers.
iii) Warranty Claims Costs: These are the costs associated with fulfilling product warranties.
iv) Product Liability Costs: Such costs are related to defending cases filed by the customers.
v) Lost Sales Costs: lf a buyer is not satisfied with the quality, they are not likely to make repeat purchases.
Such costs are called lost sales costs.
Dimensions of Quality

1) Performance: Performance of a product and service is a crucial dimension of its quality. It is one of the
deciding factors with regard to the customers' satisfaction and profitability level of the organization. It is also
responsible for disputes between the customers and the manufacturer or supplier; it is more so, when there is
a mismatch between the definition of deliverables and the specifications.

2) Features: As the performance specifications generally do not define the requisite features of a product it is
essential for the supplier, who design develop products or services from performance specifications, to be
well-versed with the uses the product is 1ikely to be put to. They also need to remain in close touch with the
end-users of the product / service.

3) Reliability: Reliability and performance of a product and service are two closely-linked dimensions of
quality. Parameters for uptime or acceptable failure rates may form a part of the product specifications.
Reliability is viewed as the basic dimension of the quality by many end-users. It is also considered as the base
for deciding a company's image or its brand.

4) Conformance: All products and services involve specifications of some sort. When products are developed,
these specifications are set and a target is set, for instance the materials used or the dimension of the product.
Not only the target but also the tolerance (the range of permitted deviation from the target) is defined.
Conformance of the product with various specifications, example performance specifications, design
specifications, etc. is yet another dimension of the quality.

5) Durability: Durability of a product is closely associated with its warranty. Generally, procurement contracts
and specifications include the requirements for product durability. This can be illustrated through an example
of fighter aircraft, which is acquired to operate from aircraft carriers. It includes design criteria also with a
view to improving the durability of the product in the setting of demanding environment.

6) Serviceability: Serviceability of a product has gained tremendous significance, and is being used as one of
the criteria for the product selection. End-users lay more emphasis on the total cost of ownership rather than
merely procurement cost.

7) Aesthetics: The physical appearance of a product is an important dimension from the end-user's point of
View. Overall artistic features of a product play an important role in creating a brand's identity. Any deficiency
in a product or service, which impacts only its artistic features in a negative manner without impacting other
dimensions of quality, are likely to result in the rejection of the product or service by the market forces.

8) Perception: Public perception plays a crucial role in acceptance or rejection of a product or service. Even a
product or service with positive attributes and superior dimensions of quality may result in failure, if the public
perception is built against that product or service.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT
The quality management consists of three main factors like quality control, quality assurance and quality
improvement. The quality management aims on both the product quality and also on the factors which affects
it. It uses quality assurance and quality control on the processes and products for getting better a quality.
The quality management is being develop in recent years. In earlier time, the goods which has the use of arts
and crafts would had high quality standards rather than normal goods.

Quality control refers to the operational techniques and activities required for satisfying the quality
requirements. Quality assurance is the efficiently designed I activities inside the quality system for providing
better quality product and service. Quality improvement refers to increasing the capacity of the organizaton
for fulfilling the quality requirement. It includes product improvement, process improvement and people
improvements.
Objectives of Quality Management
1) Assess the Quality: The quality management helps in improving the quality of raw materials, semi-finished
goods and finished products at different steps of production process.
2) Compares the Products with Standards: The quality management also check products and services produced
by the organization is according to the predetermined standards and specifications or not. It also checks
whether it fulfil the requirement of the customers.
3) Suggests Improvements: It helps in giving various ways and method for improving the quality of products
and services produced. It may or may not affect the cost of production. The various new techniques and
technology can be used in machines and methods for this purpose.
4) Quality Consciousness: The quality management helps in developing the awareness about maintaining the
quality management in the various department of the organization.
5) Reduce Wastages: Quality management helps in better utilization of resources which help in reducing the
waste of raw materials, men and machine at the time production process.

Importance of Quality Management

1) More Consistent Products and Increased Efficiency: The importance of quality management depends on the
level to which it is helpful for the organisations to enhance the performance, consistency, and robustness of
the products. Differentiation of a business organisation from the rival firms can be ensured by these elements.
Satisfied customers and improved revenue are resulted from improved products. Apart from the quality of a
product, a well-defined communication setup, accountabilities and activities in different departments can be
obtained with the help of, quality management systems, e.g., ISO 9001. Improved morale, performance, and
efficiency of the manpower can be obtained from it.

2) Greater Customer Satisfaction: The prospects Customers can be converted into loyal customers with the
help of quality management. This can be accomplished with the help of regular product improvement,
implementation of different changes and removing any kind of product failure. Apart from this, it is also
helpful to the organisations to receive vital inputs required from the production of products and services which
are demanded by the customers. Improved market share and competitive advantage to the business can be
ensured in long run.

3) Lower Costs, Increased Profits: In order to find out the different areas where improvement can be executed,
total quality management (TQM) practices are implemented by the business in the following areas:
i) Marketing and sales,
ii) Research.
iii) Manufacturing.
iv) Equipment maintenance,
v) Administrative and legal departments, and
vi) Finance and accounting.

4) Reduced Risks: Risk mitigation is not limited only unto the selection of suitable business insurance coverage
and looking for the state of the art data security software. As soon as the product is out of the facility, a number
of threats have to be taken care of. Major long-term financial losses and bad customer experience can result
from product recall. Both the brand and reputation of the firm will be affected. All the expense of product
recall has to be tolerated by the business owner. In fact, here can be the chances of lawsuits and chances of
bankruptcy. Due to these factors, the significance of quality management cannot be neglected by the
organisations

5) Fewer Human Errors: Reduced human errors and improved validation practices of the firm can be obtained
from quality management practices, while performing daily activities, the manpower will have a set of
instructions which are to be followed: this will reduce any kind of presumption and ensure compliance.
QUALITY CIRCLES (QCs)

A quality circle is referred to a collection of six to eight workers of an organisation who voluntarily participate
to form a group under the supervision of a skilled foreman or section head. As the membership is voluntary,
no incentive is given for joining, no punishment is imposed for the non-participation, and there is no
compulsion to join it. The desire to come up with something innovative is the only driving force behind the
formation of this type of group.

A quality circle has its own guidelines, picks up the issues which are not of personal nature and comes up with
the suggestions for resolving them. Thus it can be said that, it does what it is supposed to do instead of doing
something which is imposed on it by the external environment.
"Quality circle is a voluntary group of people who meet together on a regular basis to identify, analyse and
solve quality, productivity, cost reduction, safety and other problems in their work area leading to
improvement in their performance and enrichment of their work life"

Characteristics of Quality Circles

1) Voluntary Membership: The freedom to join the group on their own will helps the workers realise that it is
not the agenda planned by the top management. Such an assurance is quite necessary because if the programme
is labelled as something 'imposed' by the management, the chances are that it would not be acknowledged by
the workforce with consent.

2) Training: To develop a scientific understanding required for recognising issues and resolving them, the
participants of the circle are given guidance and training in different techniques of measurement and quality
tactics.
3) Problem- -Solving: During the process of problem-solving, the workers are inspired to come up with
creative ideas.
4) Group Method: As the members of the quality circle work jointly, they also form a type of social group.
The quality circle renders them the prospects for the identification of their capabilities and attainments. It also
helps in fostering team spirit and a sense of belongingness

5) On-Going Procedure: A quality circle works constantly towards recognising the issues and discovering the
manner in which the production and quality could be enhanced.

6) Support of lop Management: For the smooth working of the circle, it is required that the adminıstration
should be dedicated towards such a programme and should provide monetary and other types of support
needed.

7) Identification and Appreciation: The administration should notice and acknowledge the attainments of the
quality circle and should appreciate its achievements publicly through the in-house journals, meetings,
conferences, etc., which would act as a driving force to motivate the workers to join the quality circle.

Objectives of Quality Circles

1) To contribute towards the improvement and development of the organisation by enhancing its quality and
output.
2) To bring down the cost of production by improvisation in methods of production, enhancement of safety
measures, reduction of wastage, elimination of as many flaws and faults as possible, and optimum utilisation
of resources.
3) To recognise and resolve the issues related with the work that hinders the productivity.
4) To bring out the creativity of the workers of the organisation and thus make the optimum utilisation of the
manpower.
5) To allow the workers to grow and utilise a wide range of knowledge, skills, and expertise. And also
encourage them to implement the same in order to overcome several challenges.
6) To encourage interaction and reduce communication gaps inside the organisation.
7) To boost the devotion and dedication of the workers towards the organisation and towards its objectives.
8) To give respect to humanity and to establish a conducive, pleasurable, and purposeful working atmosphere.
9) To develop the ability, self-esteem, mind-set, and relationships of human resource.
10) To fulfil the desire of the human resource for identification, accomplishments, and personal growth.

Developing a Quality Circle

1) Start-Up Phase: Quite similar to an organisational change programme, OC is also challenging. The success
of an organisational change programme lies in the fact that the people are persuaded about the need for bringing
about change. Hence, the foremost step for QC is to let the entire firm know about it. It is also quite essential
that people are able to appreciate its implication, because people will only participate in QC programme if
they actually want to. For ensuring the smooth working of ỌC in the firm, preliminary training might have to
be provided to some workers.

2) Constitution of QC: QCs can be formed in different working areas of the firm. A QC constitutes the
members either from a similar workplace who do identical tasks. They participate in the QC at their own will.
Those who have joined QC during its inception will have a long lasting relationship with it, which terminates
only if they stop working particular area.

3) Initial Problem-Solving: On getting training and official authorisation, the workers start working on
problem-solving. This step passes through three stages: collection of d data is collected by using numerous
methods such as referring the past data, analysis of data, and problem-solving. The records, getting in touch
with other workers, and one's own suggestions. Through the data analysis, it is tried to ascertain the primary
cause behind a specific problem or the problems on which focus is laid. The foremost phase of the problem-
solving calls for regular participation of all the workers.

4) Presentation and Approval of Suggestions: Such type of presentation in front of the administration can
either be carried orally, or in a form of project report, or in the form of collective assignment of the presentation
of the project. Presentation in front of the administration serves various benefits. For example, it enhances the
interaction between administration and workers
5) Implementation: The last stage is implementing the suggestions, With this idea, different activities are
assigned to appropriate groups on the basis of type of suggestions. In case the suggestion impacts only a
particular work-area without the involvement of the others, then the idea can be implemented only in that
particular work area. Otherwise, it can be allotted to an entire group.

Structure of Quality Circle

1) Top Management: It is quite essential for the top management to provide the requisite support needed to
ensure smooth functioning of QC. They should also attend the presentations and other key activities. By doing
so, they can make Sure that the participants feel their support.
2) Steering Committee: The steering committee refers to a counselling committee, in which head of the firm
acts as Chairman and head of different divisions play the role of members, this is the top most body of the
department, which keeps an eye on the working of quality circle of a particular department and plays the role
of counselling authority.
3) Facilitator: Management has the right to nominate the facilitator. Major chances are that the facilitator is
generally a senior officer of the department. The responsibility of establishing and giving directions for the
working of OC in the organisation lies with him. He is also supposed to influence and motivate other officials
to give support to the actions of quality circle and increase their participation,
4) Leader: The members of the quality circle choose a leader from the group, who can either be a supervisor
or a foreman. The leader can be changed after the Completion of a project so that every member would get the
opportunity to act as a leader.
5) Members: The members of the QC are 5 to 8 workers, who are either from a similar workplace or who do
the identical task. They establish the quality circle at their own will. They act as enduring members of the
group and their relationship terminates only if they do not continue in the same working area. The endeavour
of the members is to ensure efficiency in the working of the quality circle and their objective is to ensure
constant improvement in the working of quality circle in every possible way.

6) Non-Members: Non-member employees are those employees who actually execute the suggestions coming
from the circle for bringing about improvement. Hence, they are an important component of the circle.

7) Coordinating Agency: All the actions of quality circles in an organisation are coordinated by the agencies
known as coordinating agencies. At the preliminary stage when there are only few circles, only one person
can play this role but with the growth in the number of OC and growth in their activities, a separate body has
to be established for this purpose.

Advantages of Quality Circles

1) Work Group: A QC is useful for the work group in the following ways:
i) An optimistic atmosphere, which fosters team spirit, is established.
ii) Members start feeling as a part of the company, which gives way to better job satisfaction.
iii) It enhances the morale and self-esteem of the members as they feel that their ideas are vital.
iv) The members of the group develop a sense of dedication towards their group as well as towards their
work.
v) The members of the group make efforts to enhance quality of their own professional life.
vi) The interpersonal as well as technical skills of the workers are enhanced.
vii) The members of the group can secure their jobs:.
viii) The ways to resolve the group conflicts are also formulated.

2) Management: The OC is useful for the management in the following ways:

i) QC brings relief to the management by solving the problem before it becomes worse.
ii) Better quality and enhanced output are secured by the managers.
iii) More efficient workers are available to help the managers in the attainment of organisational goals.
iv) Managers face lesser number of issues related to grievances, conflicts, unpunctuality, absenteeism, and
other issues which adversely affect the productivity.
v) A relationship of mutual trust is established between the managers and members of the group.
vi) The training and experience of QC widens the knowledge and develop the skills of the managers and their
subordinates.
vii) It gives way to opening and smooth functioning of various channels of communication.

3) Organisation: The QC is useful for the organisation in the following ways

i) The work performance of entire organisation is enhanced, which advances the process of achieving
organisational goals.
ii) It leads to better working abilities of the managers as well as their juniors
iii) Every person concerned with the organisation makes effort for improvement in some or the other aspects
iv) The workers have better job satisfaction and hence the number of human resource complaints, declines
v) The morale and self-confidence of the workers is enhanced.
vi) The focus of everybody is on working thoroughly and enhancing quality
vii) There is better synchronisation and coordination between the management and the groups of workers.
viii) The execution and maintenance of quality circles is comparatively cost-effective and thus saves a lot of
funds

Disadvantages of Quality Circles

1) Lack of Correct Attitude: The foremost problem regarding QC is that the managers and workers do not have
a proper attitude required for it.
2) Lack of Appropriate Level of Education: In India the major problem of QC is that the workers are not
properly educated and they do not have required leadership skills.
3) Late Execution: The ideas suggested by QC are not executed on time, which in turn can adversely affect its
functioning.
4) Disturbance by Non-Members: The disturbance by non- -members can create nuisance which can hinder
the working of QC.
5) Problems Related to its Operations: Sometimes the members are not allowed to conduct meetings during
Working hours, sometimes the meetings are not held at regular intervals, etc., are some of the problems related
to functioning of QC.
6) Lack of Top Management Support: At times, the OC is not able to acquire the support from top management,
though it is supported by the lower level management. But, lack of proper training and lack of support of top
management can only lead to the failure of quality circle.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT (KAIZEN)

Kaizen means "change for the better". It is Japanese terminology. It could also be referred to as "continuous
improvement". The word 'Kaizen' consists of lots of activities which are:
1) Creating a team for making the workplace better to work in.
2) Re-modelling the daily process followed in the firm.
3) Establishing customer's satisfaction by making the job more satisfying and also ensuring safety.

Kaizen is a regular activity which not only consists of simple productivity advancement but also of removing
difficult work and helping the employees in conducting the experiments on the work assigned to them by the
help of scientific methods and also helps them in knowing and removing the waste from the business work.
This is a Japanese technique which has been used by Japanese firms for more than twenty years. In Japanese
industries like electronics, precision, machinery and automobiles, this technology is commonly practiced. It is
basically used for reducing cost at the time of product planning and designing. The basic aim of Kaizen is to
minimise current cost by the help of various advanced techniques like value engineering and functional
analysis of each manufacturing ability.

Principles of Kaizen
1) Human resources are very useful assets of the company. Teamwork helps in giving better outcome and
helps the employees to get the feeling of achievement as it is said that dozen heads are better than one.
2) All the employees should be ready for any advancement and various developments. The plans from workers,
managers, suppliers and customers will result in new, improved and simple methods of doing the work.
3) The small changes done are simpler to follow than overall changes as the employees can easily follow small
changes. The small changes will show in what manner the real outcome gets affected from small
advancements.
4) The use of traditional methods may be easy but it is not very profitable. All the employees of the company
should welcome the changes which are acceptable and important for the growth of the company
5) The waste will be less if the work is done correctly in the first time and the profit will also increase if the
waste is reduced.
6) The errors should be corrected at once when they arise. Equipment breakdown and failures are the outcomes
of not solving the small errors when they arise.

Types of Kaizen
1) High-1mpact Kaizen: It is referred to as making an improvement in the overall production area of the
factory. For example, in an identified shop's floor department selecting a final assembly line, a welding or
department and so on. There is a requirement brazing of extensive training and implementation. It is basically
intended for re-methodising and re-organising the space involved and implementing the main principles of
Lean Manufacturing, by decreasing space need considerably changing the work sequences also lowering the
work-in-process inventory. This type of Kaizen needs the involvement of all the support functions which
includes quality assurance production control, scheduling, purchasing and also accounting and Sales.
Sometimes, a proper plan of action needs the overall decentralisation of the department and introducing the
equipment and operator at point-of-use.
2) Training and Implementation Kaizen: It is made for getting the information of the whole workforce for the
overall peri0d of time. It is a small type of high-impact Kaizen. It also has a second aim known as
"implementation", which means making an important and significant change in the shop floor. In this type of
Kaizen, a particular area is chosen and improvement is done in it till it is near completion. Afterwards, the
team assembles again and get the audit of changes done and checks the work which could not be completed
during the working of the original event.

3) Problem-Resolution Kaizen: It helps to adjust a situation which may affect amount, value or the capability
to accomplish the need of the customers. It is applicable in the areas in which there is huge effect and other
types of Kaizen are being used. The basic aim is to solve the recurring production problems and also to practice
it within the limit of good Lean Manufacturing principles, as they remain a useful change to the factory as the
factory may change from batch production to pull production.

4) Sustaining Kaizen: It refers to having cumulative improvements in an area which has high-impact and where
Kaizen has been used earlier. The Kaizen events are shorter in length and also include human resources
involved in the particular area (i.e., the production supervisor, various production employees, and select
sustaining engineering personnel).

Steps in Kaizen Programme

1) Develop an Understanding of the Processes: As stated by Imai, there are three basic principles which are
included in Kaizen for satisfying the customers, these are given as under:
i) An on-going advancement in the quality assurance system to fulfil the needs of the customer,
ii) An on-going advancement in the cost management system which will help in delivering the product or
Service at a reasonable price to the customer.
iii) An on-going advancement in the delivery system for meeting the need of the customer on time.

2) Identify Corporate Objectives: The top management commitment plays a very important role in Kaizen.
Kaizen is very helpful method for attaining business objectives. The management of the company should
practise SWOT analysis in the working of the company. The entire support system such as present system and
structure needs to be checked for achieving cross-functional goals. A proper planning of all the important
changes in the field like organisation, planning and control and personnel practices should be done. The
objectives should be framed for next five years and all the obligations should be recognized and shared.

3) Plan the Kaizen Programme: A properly planned programme of Kaizen is divided into three segments which
are as follows:
i) Management-Oriented: This type of Kaizen basically aims at the most important strategic issues, processes
and systems.
ii) Group-Oriented: It basically aims at the small-group of activities which may take help of statistical tools
for resolving the problem.
iii) Individual-Oriented: They are basically related to the assumption that every employee can work in an
intelligent manner and help in the advancement process.
4) Develop a Training Plan: The necessity of training the employees should be checked. Proper advancement
programmes about the cross-functional working and information about the on-going problem-solving
technique should be given to the employees. The employees should work with the training department or
consultants for making a training plan.
5) Allocate Resources: The top level of management must be ready for assigning resources. They should
appoint a director for managing the project and a manager is required for executing the plan. All the employees
should be trained and monetary and non-monetary resources should be given to them for providing support.

6) Communicate with Employees: In this process, the representatives from all the departments and functions
should be involved in the planning activity. The important part of Kaizen for accepting changes is cultural
changes, participation of employees and ownership.
7) Focus Training and Development of the 4 Ps of Quality: The different four Ps are:

i) Process Control: The management with the help of process control makes fair and dependable performance
level.
a) Recognise the changes and the reasons.
b) Work with assignable reasons.
c) Work with random changes.
d) Do the process design reviews according to the necessity of the range of analytical and quality
advancement techniques flowcharts, cause-and-effects (or fishbone) diagrams, process models, audits
and process capability studies.
ii) Problem Identification: A problem can be identified with the help various techniques such as quality
system's audits, customer complaint analysis, cost of quality studies, benchmarking, departmental purpose
analysis and customer and employee surveys. If the cause of process variation is not known then it will lead
to wrong identification of problem.

iii) Problem Elimination: The various problem solving tools such as Pareto diagrams, cause-and- effect
diagrams, histograms, control charts and scatter diagrams should be used accurately to earn profit for the firm.
All the solutions should be checked to see their working and it also helps in preventing any kind of problem
arising from it. The solution should be implemented only after having proper Knowledge about the dynamics
of change.
iv) Permanence: Improvement is an on-going process. The employees need to make sure that they are
committed to the changes which have already been made and also they should continuously improve it. The
various kinds of methods such as policy deployment, TQM review and quality function development should
be used. The top managers should be a part of every kind of quality improvement group meetings and also try
to maintain the growth and obligation of the company

8) Set up a Suggestion Scheme: As given in individual-oriented Kaizen, the involvement of employees is an

important part of the industry. The suggestion scheme helps in increasing the contribution of the employees.
The various suggestions given by the employees should be taken and the employees should also be given
recognition and rewards according to pre-decided methods.

9) Review: The Kaizen program should be reviewed. The process-oriented cultural changes should be
measured. All the achievements should be recognised land further training should be given.

Advantages of Kaizen
1) Continuous Inspection: By the execution of Kaizen, all departments of the company are continuously
inspected.
2) Eliminate Waste: By the help of Kaizen, there is reduction in the generation of waste in inventory, waiting
times, transportation, worker motion, employee skills, over--production, excess quality and in process. Kaizen
helps in reducing waste in the overall organisation and also helps in reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
The product and service quality is upgraded and is also inspected on the regular basis.

3) Increase Efficiency and Productivity: Kaizen helps in advancing the space utilisation, product quality use
of capital, Communications, production capacity and employee retention. It also assists 1n increasing the
productivity as the workers are also included in the decision-making process and they give their suggestions
also.
4) Provides Immediate Results: It helps in giving fast outcomes. Kaizen basically focuses on innovating
investments which help in solving lots of small problems instead of focusing on large and capital intensive
advancements.

5) Improve Processes: The large capital projects need lots of changes. Kaizen also helps in upgrading the
procedure of capital process. As Kaizen is a continuous process which helps in continuously making small
changes, it also helps in improving the process and in reducing the waste.
6) Employee Satisfaction: Kaizen assists in upgrading the satisfaction of the employees by taking the
suggestions for improvement from the workers by involving them in the processes and system. It will help in
increasing the employee's sense of worth and job satisfaction by the implications of new ideas.

7) Improved Safety: Kaizen helps in improving safety at the working place. It is done with the help of
implemented ideas which assists in cleaning the workplace of the employees which in turn helps them in
controlling equipment’s and processes. The safety training helps the management and staff in reducing the
accident related injuries which give rise to decrease in production and the employees taking break to handle
the emergencies.

Disadvantages of Kaizen
1) Difficult to Return to Previous Management Systems: Kaizen bring permanent change to the management
system. If these changes are implemented, it is very difficult to return to previous management System even
if the demand or need arise. It is difficult to be followed in other cultures as it is closely associated with
Japanese culture.
2) Increase Burden on Lower Level Management: Kaizen increases the work load on the lower level of
management as they are present on the shop floor in assisting the implementation of the new plats. They also
have to work for long hours for finishing their regular administration work.

3) Lead to Diminishing Returns: Due to on-going improvement, the basic focus is on the small details which
lead to lowering the returns even with the same amount of inputs.

4) Difficult to Implement: The company needs to do complete changes in their methods and strategies in
Kaizen. Hence they are not easy and give rise to many problems if the management is not ready for the changes.
They should also work in a positive and accessible manner for implementing Kaizen correctly. So, it is very
important for the company to be ready for the changes.

5) Difficult to Maintain: The other reason for failure of Kaizen is that the plans at first seem to be very new
and inspirational but if the employees and the company do not work properly, then the plans may fail and all
the changes may return back to the previous one.

ISO (INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION FOR STANDARDISATION)

ISO is a non-governmental organisation which acts as a linkage. Further, most of the ISO members are either
the part of governmental setup or are supported by their respective governments, while rest of the member’s
are mainly associated with the private organisations which were constituted by the national partnership of
industry associations. Thus, solutions of various issues are attained with the help of consensus enabled by ISO
which can fulfil the requirement of both business organisations and society at large.

ISO Standards
1) Quality: ISO has developed its ISO 9000 series which mainly deals with the class of auditable,
interconnected, international standards and supplementary guidelines associated with quality assurance and
quality management. These standards were first published in 1987 (and regularly updated) by International
Standards Organisation (1SO). These standards are seen as almost universally implementable and recognised
guidelines which are not related to any particular industry, product or service.

2) Environment: The various environmental considerations are combined with the operations and product
standards of ISO 14000 series. The requirements necessary to create an environmental policy, planning
environmental objectives, corrective action, and implementation of programmes to meet objectives,
determining environmental impacts of products or services and management review are provided by standards
of ISO 14000 series.
3) Aerospace: On November 1999, various international quality management standards were published for
aerospace industries in the form of AS9100. AS91000 are especially designed documents that mainly focus
upon aerospace industries for their quality management standards. By some of the authorities such as Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), the standards designed by ISO9000 series were not considered as effective
standards for dealing with the quality and safety of aerospace industries which are especially prone to "high
risk".

4) Automotive: ISO has developed three popular standards which are mainly focussed on the automotive
industries:
i) QS 9000 is a standard which is developed for the suppliers who provide production parts, materials and
services to the automotive Industry QS 9000 is together developed by Daimler-Chrysler, Ford and General
Motors.
ii) ISO/TS 16949 standards are matching with the current American, German, French, and Italian automotive
quality standards and were developed by International Automotive Taskforce.
iii) Due to the requirements of Ford and General Motors, automobile suppliers have to implement different
environmental standards defined under ISO 14001.

5) Statistics: Several methods for collecting, analysing and interpreting crucial information are provided by
statistical standards. Further, for conducting inspection by various characteristics and variables, different
sampling procedures and plans are presented by Z L4-2008 and ANSVASQ Z1.9-2008 respectively.

6) A Telecommunications: In telecommunication industries, various standards for design, production,

development, delivery, installation and maintenance of products and services are provided by TL 9000.
However, for incorporating various industry specific requirements, other standards are also included in TL
9000 along with the original ones.
7) Information: The information security standards are presented by ISO 27000 series (also known as the ISMS
Family of Standards or ISO27k)) International Organisation for Standardisation and the International Electro
technical Commission (IEC) developed these standards together. IS0 27000 series of standards provides the
best practice recommendations related to the information security management, risks and controls with
reference to comprehensive Information Security Management System (1SMS). These standards are very
much similar to environmental protection (ISO 14000 series) and quality assurance (ISO 9000 series).

NSO developed the system and process to obtain certification from ISO. For example, if certification is
required for electronic equipment’s, ISO provides affiliation to IEC (International Electro-technical
Commission, founded in 1906). In order to coordinate various activities for the registration of ISO in India,
STỌC, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, has been recognised by IEC as National
Supervising Inspectorate (NSI). For electronic equipment’s/components certification of ISO standards in
India, the procedure is defined as below:

Advantages of ISO Standards

1) For Users
i) Product and services receive a tremendous confidence related to quality and reliability.
ii) Economy and competitive prices.
iii) Guaranteed after sales service.
iv) Designs, specifications and manufacturers can be traced easily.

2) For Suppliers
i) It is quite easy to identify a vendor. For example, for the reference purposes, a document regarded as
"QC-001005- Qualified product List" is available.
ii) Depending upon various international standards and specification, product parts/components can be
rationalised.
iii) For long-range contracts, it is possible to have easy controls.
iv) CODUS is a worldwide online database available for reference.
3) For Manufacturers
i) Product range is rationalised.
ii) It is not required to invest huge amount of money is Inward Goods Inspection (I.G.I.) departments.
iii) It revokes the requirement of having separate vendor identification/development/evaluation process.
iv) Single agency certification of quality is facilitated.
v) Because of controlled rework and scraps, fewer losses occur.

ISO 9000 Series

ISO 9000 are the combination of five worldwide used standards that make it necessary to have proper
management of the quality. These standards are more of Quality Management System rather than Product
Standards.

Objectives of ISO 9000

1) To support international trade of goods and services.
2) Achieving competitiveness with the help of obtaining necessary quality in a cost-effective manner.

The above objectives can be accomplished with the help of following measures:
1) Endorsing a single third party assessment related to quality standard.
2) Participating in a national/regional/international quality standard formation.
3) Promoting bilateral and multinational agreements in trade, technology and manufacture.
4) Assisting industries to improve their quality standards.
5) Implementing and boosting Total Quality Control (TQC) systems.

Documentation of ISO 9000

As different types of activities and tasks are executed and recorded under ISO 9000, more documentation is
required. These documentations are customer-supplier contractual requirements which establish a living
system. There will be some changes in the documentations if any kind of change is incorporated in a process
or system. All the documentations should be latest, complete and usable.

In, order to maintain the quality level of a product or service, a quality system is implemented. Figure 5.1
represents the system documentations which can be seen as a hierarchy of four tier set up.

If the entire system is implemented quite effectively, then the lower levels changes will not have any impact
on the level above: however, there will be some effects on the following:
1) Policy: The policy manual is the first tier of documentation. What has to be done and the reasons behind it
are explained by these policy manuals. A quality policy manual should be in a written format having clarity,
easy understand ability and accurate execution. The methods required to be taken for meeting the standards
are explained by the remaining part of the policy manual, The policy manual should be treated like
commandments of the system. There is a separate explanation of each element of the standard and normally
Contains one or less page.

2) Procedure: Quality procedure is the second tier of documentation. It consists of various methods which can
be used to implement and execute stated policies. It elucidates who will perform certain activities, the time
when these activities should be performed and where to show the completion of task in these documentations.
The strategy implemented for ensuring the quality of system is created and governed by quality procedure.

3) Work Instructions: Work instructions depict different machines, tasks, department or product-related work
instructions that explain how a job should be executed. These work instructions can be in the form of recipe,
certain job functions, drawing or routing sheets. Employees who actually execute these activities are able to
write these work instructions quite efficiently. They can also explain various types of problems and processes
regarding production/manufacturing work. In fact, there are requirements of documentation specialists for
writing such instructions.
4) Records: Records can be seen as a method of documenting important policies, activities and procedures
they can be in the form of forms, stamp of approval on a product or signature/date on documents like rouing
sheet, etc. Different operations performed on a certain product or batch of product can be tacked down with
the help of these records.

Implementing ISO 9000

Step 1: Commitment from Top Management: The commitment and determination of the top management of
an organisation for the implementation of quality management system is quite necessary. In the absence of
commitment from the top management, no quality initiative within the organisation can be successful. The
commitment of organisation towards quality can be displayed to customers/clients with the help of certification
and registration of ISO 9000 standards. Thus, the top management should really identify that overall efficiency
of the business Can be improved with the help of a quality management System.

Step 2: Establishing an Implementation Team: The responsibility of implementing ISO 9000 is on the
manpower of the firm. A service provider and a Management Representative (MR) head the team formed
specifically for the effective implementation of ISO 9000. Under such situations, all the coordinating activities
are performed by MR and service provider. They share the responsibilities of planning and monitoring the
execution of quality management system. Thus, they act as the link between the ISO 9000 Registrar and the
firm's top management.

Step 3: Conducting ISO 9000 Awareness Programmes: All the employees will be informed about ne objectives
of a quality management system with the help of ISO 9000 awareness programmes. Such programmes include
different bene fits provided to employees and customers, their respective roles and responsibilities in the
system and the manner in which the quality management system functions. With the help of ISO 9000
awareness programmes, various advantages which an organisation can gain through the implementation of
quality management system can be communicated.

Step 4: Providing Training: Quality management system influences all employees and functional areas of an
organisation. Thus, it is important to provide training to all the employees related to quality management
system. The provision for this training should be provided by quality management system. This training should
cover all the basic philosophies and concepts of quality management system along with its influence on the
organisation.
Step 5: Conducting an Initial Status Survey: In this step, a quality management system which conforms to the
standards of ISO 9000 is developed. With this, a comparison between the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 and
prevailing management system of the organisation can be made.
Step 6: Developing a Documented Implementation Plan: Any non-conformance can be controlled with the
help of a documented implementation plan which is executed after the comparison of ISO 9001:2008 with the
quality management system of a firm. In order to make the existing organisation 's quality management system
or the firm according to the ISO 9000 standard, various processes are identified and described by the
documented implementation plan.
Step 7: Developing Quality Management System Documentation: It is quite common to have the non-
Conformation with reference to quality management systems in documentation. The following things must be
Included in the documentation of a quality management system to avoid any kind of non-conformation: \
1) Documented statements of a quality policy and quality objectives,
2) A quality manual,
3) Documented procedures and records required by the standards of ISO 9001:2008 and
4) Documents required for ensuring effective planning, operation and control of processes.

Step 8: Control of Documents: A documented system must be developed in order to regulate the quality
management system documentation. Therefore, it is possible to create, distribute, approve, revise, dispose and
store different types of documentations. There should I not be any kind of difficulties related to the document
control systems. In fact, all the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 should be fulfilled
Step 9: Implementation: It is appropriate for big organisations to implement a quality management system
being documented because the documentation is developed. This can be quite effective in dealing with small
firms in which all the quality management systems are implemented at once in the entire organisation. The
effectiveness of the system in various areas can be evaluated during sequential implementation. Monitoring
the progress of implementation can be done with the help of management review and internal quality audit for
ensuring the effectiveness of quality management system and thus ISO 9000 standards can be matched

Step 10: Internal Quality Audit: With the help of internal quality audits, the effectiveness of the installed
System can be evaluated on regular basis, in a quality management system, the reasons for exception internal
quality audits are stated below:
1) Ensuring that quality management system developed by the organisation matches with the quality
management system requirements of ISO 9001:2008.
2) Ensuring the effective implementation and maintenance of the quality management system

Step 11: Reviewing by Management: Once the quality management system is successfully implemented in an
Organisation, a review from the management should be conducted in every three to six months, 1n order to
ensure the adequate continuous effectiveness and suitability of the quality management system.

Step 12: Pre-Assessment Audit: It is quite common to conduct a pre-assessment audit before applying for
certification. In order to perform this audit, a qualified but independent auditor is provided by the certification
authorities. If everything in the pre-assessment goes well. a state of confidence is gained before the application
for certification.

Step 13: Certification and Registration: Once the quality management system is executed in the organisation
for some months and a stable performance is obtained, a formal application for the certification is sent to the
certification body. First of all, an audit of documents (adequacy audit) is conducted and an on-site audit will
be conducted, if the adequacy audit fulfils all the requirements of quality standard. When the certification body
is fully confident and satisfied with the operation of the system, certification will be awarded. The validity of
this certification will only be 3 years which includes periodic surveillance audits.

Step 14: Continual Improvement: The organisation should always try to improve the effectiveness and
suitability of its quality management system, despite receiving the ISO 9000 certification.

Advantages of ISO 9000 Certification

1) Increased Marketability: It is easily observable that companies certified with ISO 9000 have high market
credibility among existing as well as potential customers. It proves that the organisation is entirely dedicated
towards offering quality of products/services. As a result, firms having ISO 9000 certification have increased
customer retention, greater customer acquisition and more ability to enter new markets.

2) Reduced Operational Expenses: In the rigorous process of obtaining certificate of ISO 9000, firms often
identify their weaknesses and faulty operational areas that either needs to be upgraded or replaced. In order to
receive the certificate, companies take right decisions to upgrade or replace the existing operational processes
to ensure overall improvement. With this improvement in efficiencies, firms reduce their future operational
expenses that include cost of rework, scrap, returns along with workers time on troubleshooting and analysing
different malfunctions.

3) Better Management Control: Rigorous documentation and self-evaluation is required in the registration
process of ISO 9000 that increases the control of firms over their managerial activities. By undergoing through
the registration process, the top management increase their understanding of firms' direction and processes.

4) Increased Customer Satisfaction: Organisations efforts for obtaining ISO 9000 certification creates higher
level of customer satisfaction as the process of certification covers almost every field of product quality.
5) Improved Internal Communication: The process of ISO 9000 certification critically focuses upon self-
assessment and issues of operations management that involve every internal department of a firm to interact
with each other so as to obtain complete understanding about the needs of its internal customers.

Disadvantages of ISO 9000 Series of Standards

1) A lot of resources and time are required for implementing ISO 9000 series of standards. Many considerable
clerical expenses are consumed in the formulisation and documentation of the entire system.
2) Costs associated with assessment and registration process are also quite high.
3) There are chances of being expensive and troublesome, if ISO 9000 standards are not implemented
carefully. They can even hamper other normal operations of the firm.
4) The employees and staff members of a firm usually resist change. Thus, the managing capability of the firm
can be strained beyond its tolerating limits as there will be a requirement for changing the attitude and
accepting new working practices.

ISO 14000
ISO 14000 series envisages environmental management standards, which was developed and published by the
International Organization for Standardization (1SO) for the benefits of business organizations, corporates,
and other institutions, It facilitates to (a) minimize their processes, which impacts the environment negatively,
i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land, (b) comply with statutory and regulatory requirements, and
(c) effect improvement in all the above.

Objectives of ISO 14000

1) To encourage, establish and develop a proficient and efficacious system of environmental management for
the organisation, and
2) To offer requisite mechanisms for the collection of environment related data, their study / analysis and
onward Communication. Such mechanisms are essentially trustworthy, economical, System, and pliable they
facilitate Conformance with the statutory and other requirements with regard to environmental issues,

Elements of ISO 14000 Standard

Clause 4.1 General Requirements: It defines the system layout.
Clause 4.2 Environmental Policy.
Clause 4.3 Planning: It includes environmental aspects, legal and other requirements, Objectives and targets,
and environmental management programs.
Cause 4.4 Implementation and Operation: It includes structure and responsibility, training, awareness and
competence, communication, environmental management system documentation, document control, operation
control, and emergency preparedness and response systems.
Clause 4.5 Checking and Corrective Action: It includes monitoring and measurement of non- conformance
and corrective and preventive action, records and environmental system audit.
Clause 4.6 Management Review: The standard is viewed in Europe as meeting a major component of Eco-
Management and Audit Regulation (EMAR), a European directive for continuous environmental performance
improvement by industrial organizations.

Subjects under ISO 14000

ISO 14OO0 series standards cover two distinct areas: the first one relates to appraisal of an organisation and
its management & systems, whereas the second one relates the appraisal of a product or service with the help
of environmental tools.

ISO 14000 Environmental Management Standards

ISO-14001: Environmental Management System Specifications and Guidance Standard
At present, ISO 14001 standard is the only option before an organisation desirous of getting itself certified
under environmental management system. It envisages provision for the development of an environmental
management system, which can be certified by a registrar (a term used for an external entity).
In a nutshell, following are the prerequisites for a company interested in getting itself certified under ISO
14001 standard:
1) An environmental policy has been framed, and the standards / requirements have been percolated down the
line and properly comprehended and assimilated by each and every employee;
2) A system of development and follow up of environmental issues such as awareness, objectives, and goals
is in place and well established:
3) An appropriate monitoring mechanism in respect of statutory requirements and compliance level is well
established:
4) A system of imparting suitable trainings exists,
5) Documentation is an important aspect of ISO14001 standard. There should be sufficient and manageable
documentation; and
6) The company should be well equipped and in a state of readiness to face and respond appropriately in an
emergent situation.

IS0-1410-12: Environmental Auditing Standard

Environmental Auditing Standard covers various aspects of environmental auditing, such as its comprehensive
principles, procedural details for carrying out such audits, and benchmarks with regard to the qualifications of
environmental auditors. While chalking out the audit programmes, companies are required to cover, besides
the corporates as a whole, various departments / divisions / units, and plants also, which calls for conducting
what referred to as self-audit assessments at periodical intervals.

IS0-1431: Environmental Performance Evaluation Standard

This standard entails assessment of, by a company, its environmental management system, and the requisite
operational systems. Companies are expected to identify a mechanism for the evaluation of its performance
with regard to environmental management. They should also fix targets for various components of
environmental issues, e.g. lowering the level of air pollution generation of harmful wastes, consumption of
various natural and other resources like water, power, etc. Their endeavour should be to ensure bringing down
incidences of penalties and fines from concerned authorities.

Environmental Aspects in Product Standards

Institutions such as American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), American National Standards
Institutes (ANSI), Indian Standard Institute (IS), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), etc.
which construct, develop, and establish standards for other organisations are selected for product standards.
Its main focus is on the factors to be taken into account at the time of formulating product standards, with a
view to lowering environmental damages.

IS0-1421-24 Environmental Labelling Standard

Under this standard prerequisites for different environmental seals and other level planning are prescribed. It
handles entire range of environmental product claims, irrespective of the category of media used. All the cases
of product advertisements and claims for products are required to be carried out in accordance with the
prescriptions set under Environmental Labelling Standard. This standard averts any incidence of fake
advertisement or claims.
IS0-1441-44 Life Cycle Assessment Standard
The standard deals with the fundamentals and guiding rules / regulations necessary for ascertaining the effect
of a product on environment during its entire life cycle (1.e. Various processes involved right from the
conception stage to the disposal stage). During the designing stage (of a product) itself, the companies should
keep the philosophy of 'Design For Environment' (DFE) in view, and ensure that necessary training and revised
engineering processes are in place in this regard, so that the impact of that product on environment may are
kept under scanner.
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL (SQC)
In Statistical Quality Control, the strict measures are replied; the frequency of inspection and number of units
to be inspected may be drastically reduced. Control charts are the main tools employed for this purpose.
Statistical Quality Control (SQC) is a technique for checking, directing and enhancing a process using
statistical analysis. This method is also known as Statistical Process Control. It uses statistical tools to
determine the deviation from set standards. The main purpose of this method is to maintain and improve the
quality of the processes using techniques such as sampling to bring about the uniformity in product.
Objectives of Statistical Quality Control
1) To differentiate preventable variations from allowable variations in quality of the products.
2) For reducing the scope of deviation.
3) For improving the understanding of the products and processes involved.
4) For improving the quality of the product and process.
5) For monitoring and controlling the processes.
6) To aid the process of decision making.

Functions of Statistical Quality Control

To assess the quality of the material used for production, processes and finished products.
To ensure that the processes take place according to the plans and to note down any deviation.
To ensure that the products are of the best quality within the imposed constraints.
To improve the quality and quantity by carrying out analysis and experimentation.

Advantages of Statistical Quality Control

Statistical Quality Control is an important tool in scientific management as it removes the need for 100%%
inspection of the lots.
1) Reduction in Costs: The overall cost of inspection is reduced with the use of Statistical Quality Control as
it requires lesser time.
2) Greater Efficiency: It takes lesser time and thus causes lesser boredom. This process leads to higher
efficiency.
3) Easy to Apply: Statistical Quality Control is an easy to apply method and does not require any specialised
training.
4) Accurate Predictions: Statistical Quality Control is capable of providing specific and accurate predictions
due to its sophisticated methodology.
5) Can be used where Full Inspection is not possible: Many inspection methods are destructive in nature and
therefore cannot use 100% inspection method. In such cases, it is important to use Statistical Quality Control
methods.
6) Early Detection of Faults: Statistical Quality Control is more on time and provides early danger signs. This
method provides a signal as soon as any item falls outside the predetermined limits, as opposed to 100%
inspection method which provides such signal only after a number of items have been produced.

SPC (STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL

The implementation of different statistical methods for ascertaining the performance of the process as expected
is termed as statistical process control.
For supervising the quality and to find out and rectify any kind of irregularities, both the prompt inspection
and Statistical Process Control are used by the World-class organizations. The monitoring of the process is
performed with the help of sampling in statistical process control.

In order to find out whether the process is within the controlled limits, control charts are commonly utilized
by SPC,
1) If the process is found to be" out of control"
2) The various chances to find out and to ascertain the reason behind this situation are facilitated by SPC
3) After finding out the root cause of the issue, formulation of the strategy is done to rectify it
4) Some changes are made in the process in order to prevent the production of defective elements.
Meaning of Control Chart
The mathematical method used for controlling the quality of the product being produced is known as control
chart. It was also known as Shewart charts as it was developed by Dr. Walter A. Shewart. It is being accepted
widely especially in the USA and Europe in a very short period of time. These data can be referred as the way
of measuring the quality characteristics or can be concluded as quality characteristics of sample. It checks the
deviation and also monitor the product according to the standard set.

Types of Control Charts

If in the control chart the quality characteristics Q is being measured in quantitative aspect than it is known as
control chart for variables and in case Q cannot be measured in quantitative aspect than it is known as control
chart for attributes. The product can be divided into defective or non-defective. The two types of control chart
are:

Types of Control Charts

Process Control Chart for Variables
The chart which depends on the measurement of quality feature is known as control charts for variables. The
control chart for variable are cheaper than control charts based on attributes. The most frequently used variable
control chart are average or X -charts, range or R-charts and 𝜎 or standard deviation chats.
The following factors can be seen in the use:
1) There should be control in the process.
2) The standard deviation is in control but the mean of characteristics is out of control. Due to this control
chart for mean (X -chart) is made.
3) As told earlier, the standard deviation is out of control and mean is in control. It can be known by control
chart for range (R-chart). So, range is the way of measuring variability as it can be easily determined.
4) The mean and standard deviation both are out of control. It can be seen by X and R charts both.

Process
In control Average of the Standard deviation out of Both Mean and standard
characteristic out of Control but not mean deviation out of control
Control but standard
deviation in control
Draw X -chart R-chart Draw X and R chart
simultaneous
a
ACCEPTANCE SAMPLING

Acceptance sampling refers to the process in which the quality of a large number of items, such as a batch or
a lot, is determined by taking a quality check of a smaller sample of the items. Such type of sampling nay be
Carried Out by a producer before sending out a lot to the customer or by a customer before accepting a
consignment. Under this type of quality testing, a small sample of n number is collected from the lot and
evaluated.
An acceptable level of defectives is determined and if the actual numbers of defectives are higher than that the
predetermined level, then the entire lot may be rejected. If the number of defective items is less than or equal
to the predetermined level, then the lot is accepted. Such type of testing is done to eliminate the need of testing
each and every article in the lot.

Objectives of Acceptance Sampling

1) It helps in offering protection against the possibility of accepting defective goods.
2) It helps the supplier in improving the quality of their product as required.
3) It helps in optimising production costs.

Terms Used in Acceptance Sampling

Average Outgoing Quality (AOQ)

In many cases, where the lot is rejected pursuant to sampling, the testing of all the goods in the lot may be
undertaken. The defective items are then replaced by standard goods, making the lot 100% defect free.
However, if a lot is accepted on the sampling basis, it may still contain some defective items. AOQ is the
average number of defects in a lot. Following is the formula used for this purpose:

A00=Average number of defectives x 100

No. of items in lot

Acceptance Quality Level (AQL)

It is a tool which is used for determining the trade-off between the client and producer with relation to the
quality level. AQL denotes the level of quality which is acceptable under routine sampling procedures. It is
normally explained as the per cent defective, which is defectives per hundred unit x 100%, that the sampling
plan will accept 95% of the time. It means that there is 95%o probability that the lot fulfilling AQL norms will
be accepted while there are 5% chances of being rejected.

Accepted quality level is a satisfactory level for an examination of sampling size, represented as the maximum
percent of accepted defects. This maximum level is taken as a safest point for a producer which is a
proportionate defect that cannot have any major impact on the customer relation or on further processing of
products. It is a statistical tool for sampling inspection and renamed as "acceptance quality limits". For
example, let assume the producer and consumer are agreed on a particular level of defective item per 10.000
items, the accepted quantity limit would be 0.0001.

The accepted quality level distinguishes the number of defective items per lot and the number of non-defective
items. Sometime a lot with low level of defective items may have chances to get rejected by the consumer;
producer incurred such loss because of sampling errors. These errors are results in producer's risk which further
results in rejection of 'good lot' also termed as Type-I error and represented by the alpha (a), Normally, 1% of
AQL is set for the most of sampling plans, where the chance of occurrence of Type-I error or producers' risk
in sample of items is 1%.

Lot Tolerance Proportion Defective (LTPD)

As opposite to the Accepted quality level, the Lot Tolerance Proportion Defective level (LTPD) is represented
as a ‘Reject able Quality Level’ or (RQL) The LTPD is represented as the maximum percent of defects that
are not accepted by the customer. This proportion of defect is of bad quality which is not tolerated by the
customer and they make sure that the lot will not passed at this level. But, if a lot with maximum level of
defects is accepted by the customer because of errors present in sampling plan, the customer is at loss position.
These errors are results in consumers' risk which further results in acceptance of bad lot or we can say Type-
II error is incurred, represented by the beta. Normally, 10% of LTPD level is set for most of the sampling
plans, where the probability of Type-II error or Consumers' risk in sample of items is 10%.

Alpha
The producer risk is represented as alpha, gives the possibilities of rejecting the good lot or we can say the
occurrence of type I error'. Given risk may show that a random sample has greater percent of defects than the
available defects present in the entire population of the items. The Acceptable quality level (AQL) of a lot is
a medium to Show chance of being rejecting the “good lot”. Nomally, the producer's risk is set at alfa =0.05,
or 5% for most of the sampling plans.

Beta
The consumer’s risk is represented as beta, gives the possibilities of accepting the ‘bad lot’ or we can say the
occurrence of ‘type II error’. Given risk may show that a random sample has lower percent of defect the
available defects present in the entire population of the items The Lot Tolerance Proportion Defective level
(LTPD) of a lot is a medium to show B chance of being selecting the bad lot'. Normally, the consumer’s risk
is set at ß = 0.10, or 10% for most of the sampling plans.

Type I error is denoting the chances of rejecting a 'good lot' while a type II error denotes the chances of
accepting a 'bad lot'

Operating Characteristics (OC) Curves

OC curves describe an important characteristic of acceptance sampling plan. Following are the incidence
which may happen using sampling plans:
1) We accept good lots.
2) We reject bad lots.
3) The bad lot may be accepted.
4) The good lot may be rejected.

In most of the cases, the outcome is as accepted that the bad lots are rejected and good lots are accepted.
However, in many cases, the reverse may also happen. There may be two types of errors. The Type I error is
when a good consignment is rejected and it is also known as producer's risk. It should be endeavoured that the
Type I risk is kept minimum. Type II error occurs when a bad lot is accepted based on the sample lot. This
type of error is known as consumer's risk and is denoted by ß. This type of error is kept minimal

The operating characteristics curve shows the main feature of acceptance sampling plan. It describes how well
an acceptance plan is differentiate between the good and bad Jots.
With regard to above graph, assume that a lot with % or legs defectives is classified as a good lot. It will be
known as the Acceptable Quality Level (AOL), IF the actual number of defectives is equal to 1% then the
probability of the lot being accepted is as high as 95% while there is 5% probability that the lot will be rejected.
The probability of rejection is 5% and is known as producer’s risk and denoted by alfa

Alternatively, the bad lot may be defined as a consignment with 5% or more defectives. This will be called
Lot Tolerance Defective (LTPD). The probability that a lot with 5% defects is accepted should be as low as
10%.
This is known as the consumer's risk and is denoted by beta. The probability of rejecting a consignment with
5% or more defectives is 90%.
Uses of OC Curves
1) Designing and developing sample plans.
2) Evaluating the efficacy of the sample plan.
3) Comparing different sample plans.
4) Matching different types of sampling plans such as,
i) Variables and Attributes.
ii) Fixed and Sequential.
iii) Standard Deviation (known and unknown).
5) Provides the probability of accepting the lot.

Acceptance Sampling Procedure

Acceptance sampling is a statistical method and is used for making decisions for accepting and rejecting the
lot using the sampling method. Following are the main steps undertaken in the process:

Lot Received

Sample Selected

Sample Inspected for Quality

Results Compared with Specified Quality Characteristics

Quality is satisfactory Quality is not satisfactory

Accept the Lot Reject the Lot

Send to Production or Customer Decide on Disposition of the Lot

Once a consignment is received, a sample is taken out for the purpose of inspection. The results are compared
to pre-decided quality features, If the quality is found to be satisfactory then the consignment is accepted and
is sent for production or is given to the customers, as the case may be.

If the quality standards are not met then the consignment is rejected. In such cases, it is the discretion of
managers to decide whether the lot is disposed of or not. Sometimes, the defective items are removed and are
replaced with goods of acceptable quality. Other times, the lot may be sent back to the supplier. The costs
related to extra work are passed on to the suppliers. Such extra expenses may motivate the supplier to undertake
quality control measures.
The statistical procedure involved in such sampling is called hypothesis testing methodology. Following is the
null and alternative hypotheses:

Ho: Good-quality lot

Ha: Poor-quality lot

Following figure shows the results of the hypothesis s testing procedure.

State of the Lot

Ho True Good-Quality Ha False Poor-
Lot Correct Quality Lot
Accept the Lot Correct decision Type II error
(Accepting poor-
quality lot)
Reject the Lot Type I error (Rejecting Correct decision
a good-quality lot)
As it is possible with other hypothesis testing procedures, this testing procedure also has the possibility of
error. Type I error is the possibility of rejecting a good quality lot while Type II error is the possibility of
acceptance poor quality lot. Type I error is more risky for producer and therefore is known as producer's risk.

Types of Acceptance Sampling Plans

1) Single Sampling Plan: Single sampling plan involves two numbers which are n and c. The sample size is
defined by n and is equal to the number of items which are required to be included in a single random sample
collected from the batch. The acceptance number is denoted by 'c' and is the maximum number of defectives
which are acceptable in a lot. If the number of actual defectives is higher than c then the entire lot is rejected.
In many cases, the lot is subjected to 100% inspection instead of entire rejection.

2) Double Sampling Plan: The double sampling plan involves taking two samples. The first sample is of size
and is tested for the defects. If the actual number of defects is equal to or lower than the predetermined cut-off
numbers, denoted by C1, then the lot is accepted. The entire lot is rejected if the number of defectives is higher
than c2.

3) Multiple Sampling Plan: Sequential sampling is the expansion of double sampling procedure. Under this
Type of Sampling, an initial sample of size n, is taken from the batch. The actual numbers of defects are
matched against the predetermined cut-off points.

Advantages of Acceptance Sampling

1) It saves time, energy and money.
2) It causes less damage to the batch during the inspection process.
3) It requires lesser number of inspectors.
4) It forces organisation to improve the quality by rejecting the poor quality lots.
5) It is especially useful in cases where the tests are destructive as they require only small number of samples.
\
Disadvantages of Acceptance Sampling
1) As the entire lot is not inspected, there is always possibility of making wrong decision, which may increase
producer's risk or consumer's risk.

2) The success of this plan is dependent on various factors such as randomness of samples, lot size, the features
of the lot to be inspected and acceptance cut-off rates.

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TOM)

TQM is a management ideology that focuses upon quality management and is derived from other management
theories such as quality circles, strategic planning, etc. Total quality management consists of three words,
which are explained below:

1) Total: The word 'total' in TQM signifies that it is the responsibility of each and every individual of the
organisation to continuously regulate and maintain the quality of products and services. It is an all- inclusive
mode of handling quality-related issues by involving every employee and staff member of the organisation.

2) Quality: Quality is the degree of customer satisfaction Organisations identify the demands of the customers
by accurately analysing their needs. This is essential for ascertaining the quality of product required by the
customers. Hence, the term total quality' signifies the involvement of every employee and staff member
towards the accomplishment of set quality standards.

3) Management: The term 'management' under TOM, explains that in order to achieve total quality, continuous
improvements should be emphasised or rather than quick changes. Hence, every employee and staff member
of an organisation should emphasise upon continuous improvements in quality.
Features of TOM
1) Customer Satisfaction: In order to sustain competitive market competition and a higher rank position, a firm
has to attain customer satisfaction. For achieving customer satisfaction, firms have to develop and maintain
their quality of products, as desired by the customers. For this purpose, they should accurately identify the
quality standards of customers and must adopt TQM practices for meeting those quality standards.

2) Leadership: TỌM entails leadership qualities that a top-level executive must possess. Such executives
provide active leadership which establishes quality as the core value to be assimilated in the company's
ideology.
3) Integrated Activities: TỌM consists of integrated activities that clearly define the target quality standards.
These standards are systematically integrated within the company's management structure.
4) Corporate Culture: TỌM establishes a corporate culture within which every employee and staff member
contributes towards quality improvement.
5) Strengthen Employee Commitment: TQM enables companies to significantly focus on employee
involvement, teamwork and training. With this, employee commitments are strengthened as every employee
is committed to work towards quality improvement.
6) Totality: TQM reflects totality, as it integrates and directs every member of the organisation towards the
same direction, i.e., quality improvement.
7) Documentation: Documentation is the integrated machine-people data that enables TQM within an
organisation. With the help of documentation, all the essential information is circulated and distributed among
all employees, which certainly helps them in identifying their roles and responsibilities towards quality
improvement.
8) Improvements: TQM focuses upon the improvements in quality activities of a firm that significantly
achieves set quality standards and customer satisfaction.

Advantages of TQM
1) Better Employee Relations: An organisation attains better employee relations and a highly motivated
workforce, with the implementation of TQM. Various key indicators are used by successful organisations for
measuring improvement in employees' job satisfaction, behaviour and attitude due to their concentration
towards quality improvement. Such indicators include employee satisfaction, employee attendance, employee
turnover, safety and health.
2) Improved Operational Performance: TQM improves the operational performance of the organisation, which
can be measured through several operational performance indicators. These measures are used by successful
companies to assess the influence of quality improvement on their operational performance. Such measures
involve reliability, timeliness of delivery, order-processing time, production errors, product lead-time,
inventory turnover, and quality costs.
3) Greater Customer Satisfaction: Contrary to traditional viewpoint, which entails that right quality is achieved
by meeting the technical requirements of the product, companies have now understood that quality is defined
by the demands of the customers. Organisations can achieve greater customer satisfaction by offering them
what they want, i.e., high quality of products. Such products can be developed through successful
implementation of TQM.
4) Increased Financial Performance: TQM significantly increases the financial performance' of the company.
As higher quality of products are offered to the customers, their demands will be fulfilled, which will
ultimately result in higher profits and increased financial performance.
5) Creates a Good Corporate Culture: Under TỌM ideology, customer is considered as the ultimate focal point
of the organisation, instead of individual departments or business units. Thus, quality improvement becomes
important not only for the production department, but for all business units. With this, a good corporate culture
is created that focuses on customer satisfaction through quality improvement.
6) Increases Efficiency: Along with increasing the concentration of every employee towards quality
improvement, increasing the process efficiency and productivity of the firm are also among the main functions
of TQM. It eliminates work hurdles and misunderstandings by effectively handling critical areas of production.
7) Organisational Development: TQM is not solely responsible for educating and training employee about the
importance of quality, rather, it also helps in eliminating and preventing their mistakes in business activities,
which ultimately helps in the development of the organisation.
8) Flexibility: TOM is not a rigid structure that concentrates on quality improvement, but it helps in developing
creative and flexible methods for attaining high quality standards. It also creates departmental teams within
different business units that widen the skills and expertise of employees, thereby fostering improved
performance and flexibility in business operations.
9) Promotes Supplier Satisfaction: As TỌM helps in developing communication between organisation and
suppliers, it also fosters satisfaction of the suppliers. This will also be useful for the organisation as supplier
will provide high quality of raw materials and semi-finished products.

Disadvantages of TQM
1) Lack of top Management Commitment and Vision: TOM will only be beneficial when it is successfully
implemented. However, if it lacks top management’s commitment it cannot be successfully implemented.
Often, the top managers fail to visualise the importance of TOM and do not choose to implement

2) Resistance to Change: Resistance to change is the biggest imitation of TQM. Most of the employees and
workers stand against TQM implementation in the organisation. They believe that their occupations will be at
threat as they may fail to adopt new changes.

3) High Costs: There are usually high costs associated with the implementation of a TQM programme. Also,
the advantages of implementing a TỌM will become visible after long period of time. This acts as a big
disadvantage.
4) Reduces Morale and Affect Attitude: For successful implementation of TQM, the mind-set, attitude and
behaviour of the employees and workforce needs to be changed. This often reduces the morale of employees
as they resist changing their way of doing work. This also affects the attitude of employees towards work and
certainly hinders their job satisfaction.
5) Company Culture and Management Style: Implementing TQM means to change company's culture and its
management style, which is not an easy task to perform. It takes years to change the culture of an organisation
and implementing a new one.

6) Resisting Ideology: As TQM aims at improving quality to achieve customer satisfaction, it does not signify
the end point of the process. Customer demands will never end, making TQM a continuous process.
7) Department Based Thinking and Actions: For successful implementation of TQM, organisations have to
leave department-wise thinking strategy and must direct whole organisation towards quality improvement.
This: is often not feasible in many companies with different and customised organisational structures.

8) Poor Appreciation of TQM: Many companies do not appreciate the concepts and principles of TQM, by
considering solely on its drawbacks. This creates a negative psychology towards TQM system, which is
forwarded to other companies as well.

9) Lack of Structure for TỌM Activities: Despite of trainings given to employees about TQM practices, it
cannot be properly taught. These practices can be learned only through experiences. Moreover, training
programmes of TOM are not as effective as they should be. This also restricts successful implementation of
TQM within an organisation.

l0) Deciding How to Start: TỌM activities are difficult to start. It is a continuous process without a starting or
ending point. Most of the companies waste their time and resources in figuring out "how and where to start"
total quality management.