Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Juran Philosophy

Juran defined quality as
(1) product performance that results in customer satisfaction;
(2) freedom from product deficiencies, which avoids customer dissatisfaction-- simply summarized as "fitness for use."

This definition can be broken down into four categories:

(1) quality of design,
(2) quality of conformance,
(3) availability and
(4) field service.

Quality of design concentrates on market research, the product concept, and design specifications.Quality of conformance includes technology, manpower, and management.
Availability focuses on reliability, maintainability, and logistical support.
Field service quality comprises promptness, competence, and integrity.

The pursuit of quality is viewed on two levels:

(l) The mission of the firm as a whole is to achieve high product quality; and

(2) The mission of each department in the firm is to achieve high production quality.

Juran's prescriptions focus on three major quality processes, called the Quality Trilogy:

(1) quality planning --the process of preparing to meet quality goals;
(2) quality control-- the process of meeting quality goals during operations; and
(3) quality improvement --the process of breaking through to unprecedented levels of performance.

Quality planning begins with

(1) identifying customers, both external and internal,
(2) determining their needs and
(3) developing product features that respond to those needs at a minimum combined cost.
(4) the process that can produce the product to satisfy customers' needs and meet quality goals under operating conditions must be designed.
(5) compares results with previous plans, and meshes the plans with other corporate strategic objectives.

Quality control involves

(1) determining what to control,
(2) establishing units of measurement to evaluate data objectively,
(3) establishing standards of performance,
(4) measuring actual performance,
(5) interpreting the difference between actual performance and the standard and
(6)taking action on the difference.

Quality improvement program involves

(1) proving the need for improvement,
(2) identifying specific projects for improvement,
(3) organizing support for the projects,
(4) diagnosing the causes,
(5) providing remedies for the causes,
(6) proving that the remedies are effective under operating conditions and
(7) providing control to maintain