Total Quality Management - CII Institute of Logistics
Total Quality Management - CII Institute of Logistics
Total Quality Management - CII Institute of Logistics
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>Total</strong> <strong>Quality</strong> <strong>Management</strong><br />
1.7 <strong>Quality</strong> and Competitiveness<br />
Attempt to Define and Delineate <strong>Quality</strong><br />
Webster's definition <strong>of</strong> quality is vague and simplistic. "(<strong>Quality</strong> is) that which makes<br />
something what it is; characteristic element."<br />
The ANSI/ASQ definition states quality is "the totality <strong>of</strong> features and characteristics <strong>of</strong><br />
a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy given needs." No single definition<br />
is adequate because customer needs are constantly changing and because quality is<br />
"situational" -- e.g. a good design for one purpose, and in the eyes <strong>of</strong> one set <strong>of</strong><br />
customers, may represent a poor design for another use or another set <strong>of</strong> customers.<br />
Reliance on a single definition <strong>of</strong> quality is frequently a source <strong>of</strong> problems.<br />
Formal definitions <strong>of</strong> quality followed by distilled practitioners are given in the<br />
following table:<br />
Popular <strong>Quality</strong> Definitions<br />
Transcendent definition: Excellence<br />
Product-based definition: Quantities <strong>of</strong> product attributes<br />
User-based definition: Fitness for intended use<br />
Value-based definition: <strong>Quality</strong> vs. price<br />
Manufacturing-based definition: Conformance to specifications<br />
<strong>Quality</strong> definitions, such as the user-based, value-based, and even manufacturingbased<br />
concepts are applicable both to products and services. For example, in a<br />
university setting, fitness for intended use may be seen by the example <strong>of</strong> a small<br />
liberal-arts college that provides an outstanding science curriculum for people who<br />
<strong>CII</strong> <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Logistics</strong> 17<br />
Website: www.ciilogistics.com