Question

Discuss how quality is measured and explain the different dimensions of quality. Define lean production and explain the advantages companies can obtain using lean methods and principles in the supply chains.

Answer 1

Discuss how quality is measured

In order to measure the quality , the business required to develop the key measures to track how well business is meeting standards. Example- how many customers buy your company products, how fast it responds to the customers quires, Failure or reject rate of your product or service, level of product return, number of complaints raised by customers, number of satisfied customer which is usually measured by survey, Customer loyalty - repeat purchase or renewal rates.

It is important for any business to collect & review the result of quality management against their own or industry set benchmarks. It will help to identify the issues and develop the preventive measures to correct the issue or prevent them from getting even worse.

Explain the different dimensions of quality.

Performance: It refers to the operating characteristics of the product/ service . does the product or service do what it is supposed to do.

features: whether the product or service includes all the features which is mentioned or needed for its intended purpose. These are “bells and whistles” of the product or service, which is supplement to their basic functioning.

Reliability: It is the chance of product malfunctioning or failing of the product within particular time period. Most common measure of the reliability are - the mean time between failure, the mean time between first failure, failure rate per unit time. reliability is the main contributor to brand or company image.

Conformance: it refers does the product or service conforms to the specification or degree to which the product or service design and operating characteristics meet the standards.

durability: This is measure of product or service life, it shows how long the product last or performs.

serviceability: it refers to speed, competence, courtesy and ease of repair. is the product is relatively easy to maintain and repair.

Aesthetics: the way product looks, feels, tastes, sounds or smells are important for the customer. This property contribute to company or brand identity.

Perceived Quality: customer do not always have the whole information about the product or service. They make subjective judgement.

Define lean production and explain the advantages companies can obtain using lean methods and principles in the supply chains.

lean production is a systematic manufacturing method used to eliminate the waste in manufacturing system while simultaneously maximizing productivity. This method can be used in all the aspects of the business from design, production to distribution.

Advantages:  

• Reduction in cost to the company - with the help of mass production , it will minimize the unit cost by increasing the total production of the product life cycle.
• Reduced volume of transaction - supply chain became faster and efficient
• Reduce the risk to the organization as it hands over certain task which is not done well by the organization to third party experts.
• Increase in the customer satisfaction.