Quality Management Practices

Quality Management Practices

Quality management practices were originally developed after World War II for restructuring the economy of different countries. The main focus in these practices is continuous improvement in the field of product or services. These practices were also focused on improving the quality of products or services as per customer requirements. The ultimate objective is pleasing the customer, which can only occur through providing the best quality of products or services at the right time, in the right place, and at minimum cost. This requires a huge effort by all the employees of the organisation. A prerequisite of quality management practices is support from the top management who make the quality policy and the quality management system, and make the team of members and assign them the responsibility of completing the task. These practices improve the employer and employee relationship by simply making a synchronisation between the needs of the employees and the organisation. These practices focus on improving the quality of the products and services from the design stage to the distribution stage, i.e. from beginning to end, so as to ensure a defect-free operation. It shows the culture and mindset of a company that is always trying to provide the best quality of product or service as per customer requirements. Quality management practices are a powerful tool which require the overall involvement of people in the organisation. These practices are used in all industries, whether that is a manufacturing or a service industry. It focuses on eliminating those wasteful practices which create loss.

Various Approaches to Control and Management of Quality

All organisations nowadays use quality control tools to monitor and manage their quality initiatives for better customer satisfaction. In general, there are seven basic types of quality control tools that are mostly used in organisations. These tools are the different problem-solving techniques and can be used in all the different scenarios required in industries. These tools can be used in all types of industry, whether in the service sector or in the manufacturing sector. They are as follows:

• 1. Check sheet.
• 2. Histograms.
• 3. Pareto diagram.
• 4. Scatter diagram.

• 5. Process flow diagram.
• 6. Cause-and-effect diagram.
• 7. Run charts.

Descriptions of all these tools are as follows:

Check Sheet

A check sheet is a simple and useful tool of quality control. A check sheet is a planned document that is used to record all the activities that happen during a specific period of time on the shop floor. It collects real-time data at the location where the process has occurred. It provides the required information in a quick, easy, and efficient manner. A check sheet is a quality control tool that allows the collection and compilation of data in an efficient manner. It is a simple form in which all the information has been recorded in an organised manner by simply putting a tick mark in the column. A check sheet contains all the information regarding the process, including the location. A check sheet is a fundamental quality control tool that collects information in the required format. The check sheet shows how frequently an event occurs during a defined period of time. A check sheet, in short, can be defined as a structured form for collecting and analysing real-time data. It is used for the collection and organisation of the real-time data in a systematic process. It can collect and analyse both qualitative and quantitative data.

Data collection plays a significant role in decision-making, as it is the starting point of any analysis. In all organisations, data collection can be considered a difficult and hectic task as it generally occurs in an unstructured manner and is a cumbersome exercise. Data collection is the prerequisite for all statistical analysis. Data collected through check sheets can be used in brainstorming which is one of the best techniques for idea generation. A check sheet is used for investigating how many times a certain incident happens in the organisation. By just putting a tick mark on a check sheet, data can be collected easily which can then be used for obtaining the essential information.

A check list sometimes works as an input for other processes. It helps managers to ensure that all assigned tasks in a process have been completed. It is used as a guide to control risks. Managers use the check sheet to collect the data and then take corrective measures for resolving the different issues. It helps a manager to take corrective action so that the problems will not occur in future. Records in a check sheet can be collected on daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis as per the requirement of the organisation. The person using the check sheet collects the required information by performing an inspection. The check sheet also eliminates the possibility of skipping any necessary information. A check sheet is also a very powerful technique of performing stratification. A check sheet is a simple way of maintaining the records and facts of all incidents that have frequently occurred on the shop floor. It provides the basis for identification of problems that have occurred on the shop floor.

The check sheet is typically designed in such a manner that it can point out possible sources of errors. Because of the development of the computers and software which are capable of maintaining and keeping the high volume of data in the required format, check sheets are not in fashion nowadays. Still, they are a basic and necessary tool used in quality control and are used in the manufacturing sector, like automobile and steel industries, to obtain data. The purpose of the check sheet is to collect the data in raw form, which can then be easily processed for making decisions.

Steps Involved in Making a Check Sheet

• 1. Identify the problem or event for which the check sheet should be prepared by a critical analysis of the processes.
• 2. Decide the time and duration of the data collection.
• 3. Design the check sheet form carefully so that important information will be collected.
• 4. Test the check sheet properly for a small interval of time to ensure the appropriate data collection occurs in an effective and efficient manner.

Advantages of Using a Check Sheet

• 1. Data collection through a check sheet is an effective and efficient way of collecting and displaying data.
• 2. After making a check sheet, it is easy to analyse the data in a process.
• 3. A check sheet is an effective method of identification of the root cause of a problem occurring in a process/operation.
• 4. It is the very first step of preparing the other graphical tools.
• 5. It is a structured and uniform method of data collection.

Examples of a Check Sheet

(1) A plant XYZ makes water bottles in three different sizes: 300 ml, 500 ml and 1000 ml. The inspector inspects these bottles and observes its defects, recording those defects for noting the trends of problems occurring (Table 3.1).

The inspector observes that in the 300 ml bottle, the problem of a scratch occurs, so he makes a tick mark for ‘loose cap,’ and notes more water bottle leakage, and it is observed that during a day shift, a total of 6 bottles have the problem or are defective. Similarly, 11 bottles of 500 ml are defective, and 11 bottles of 1000 ml also have the defects. Therefore, the inspectors observe overall that 28 bottles are defective by marking the check sheet. By doing so, the inspector can easily identify the most prominent problem in making water bottles.

(2) ABC is a production plant manufacturing a product. The supervisors observe that making a check sheet shows the defects and occurrence of defects during a shift of 5 days per week, 8 h per shift (Table 3.2).

The supervisor observes that on Monday, there are 4 pieces which have defects of loose screws, 5 pieces have defects of dust in the sensor, 4 pieces have a bonding defect, and 3 pieces have lost part defects. Therefore, he summed up that on Monday, overall, 16 defective pieces have been manufactured. Similarly, at the end of the week, he concluded that on Tuesday, there were 20 defective pieces, Wednesday, 21 defective pieces, Thursday, 17 defective pieces, and on Friday, 16 defective pieces had been made (Table 3.2).

TABLE 3.1

An Example of a Check Sheet

TABLE 3.2

Check Sheet Example Showing the Defects and the Occurrence of Defects

Histogram

A histogram is one of the basic tools of statistical process control. It is one of simplest ways of understanding the distributed data. It is represented as a vertical rectangular bar showing the frequency of data in a graphical format. The bars of histograms start from the horizontal axis. The histogram is used to represent a large amount of data in a graphical format. It shows the maximum value and minimum value of data, and the spread of data so that it is easy to understand, if data is represented in a tabular format. Histogram is the visual/pictorial representation of data by using varying heights. The varying heights of the bars represents the variation of data.

A histogram is the graphical representation of the data in which the parameters like defect, height, etc. are on the x axis and the frequency/occurrence of data is on the у axis. The range of data is divided into equal numbers of smaller sections and the frequency of this data is counted to prepare the frequency distribution table. With the help of this frequency distribution table, the vertical bars formed originated from the horizontal axis. The height of the vertical bars is directly proportional to the frequency of that smaller section. It is generally used to show the graphical representation of frequency of a sample, number of defects, population, etc. The histogram represents how frequently each value in a group of data occurs. It is used for analysis of a process just by reading the average value and degree of variation of graph. It provides the improvement area in a process. The objective of a histogram is to represent the distribution characteristics of the different parameter. It also represents the skewness of data as it can be symmetrical data, right-oriented skewness, or left-oriented skewness. Therefore, it can conclude that the histogram is very useful to understand the properties of data. It is useful to understand the required parameters.

Advantages of Histogram

• 1. A histogram is used only for numerical data; it is unable to process qualitative data.
• 2. It represents the dispersion and the central tendency of data, to analyse the process and provide the basis for corrective actions as per customers’ expectations.
• 3. It is useful to analyse the output from the supplier point of view.
• 4. It shows the process variation during a specified period of time.
• 5. It can also be used to compare more than one different process.

Example of Histogram

Table 3.3 shows the price range of pencils (in Rupees) and the number of the pencils a person sold.

Step 1: Draw the x and у axis and make an equal interval of each axis.

Step 2: Put the price of the pencils on the x axis and the number of pencils sold on the у axis and then level the axes.

Step 3: Choose a suitable scale for the у axis. The number of pencils sold ranges between 5 and 25. So say the scale 1 cm = 5 pencils on у axis.

Step 4: On the x axis, write the price range of the pencils.

Step 5: Draw the appropriate bars for each class interval. As for the price range of 5 to 10, the frequency is 10, so draw the bar of an appropriate length. Similarly, other bars of different length can be drawn and the histogram shown in Figure 3.1.