Question

Describe the philosophical differences between inspection, prevention, quality, quality control, statistical quality control, statistical process control, total quality management, and continuous improvement.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Consider the following differences in definitions of the terms:

1. Inspection is often defined as the act of finding defects in the already completed products.
2. Prevention, on the other hand, is the process of preventing defects or errors in the products. One advantage of the prevention process over inspection is that errors are detected before the products are completed; leading to better product performance.
3. Quality simply refers to the visible properties of the product. It can either be 'good quality' or 'bad quality' the product.
4. Quality Control involves a detail step of inspection and product specifications in other to achieve the best quality in the mind of the customer.
5. Statistical quality control (SQC), is a method used to monitor the quality of products produced so that they do not have variations in the quality of produced products.
6. Statistical Process Control (SPC) on the other hand, is a method used to control how the production processes are done, in other to identify any defect in the product or service beforehand. By means of the SPC method, losses arising from a poor production process can be reduced.
7. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a method that obligates the company to offer the best quality products or services to its customers.
8. Continuous Improvement (CI) is concerned with continuous product and service improvement. Here, the company's top level management makes it a goal to constantly and continuously improve the production process.