Intended learning outcomes: Produce an overview on the quality of processes, products and organizations as well as its measurability. Present the concept of quality measurement and Six Sigma.
The historical development of the topic of quality management resulted in very different ideas about what the term means. In common usage, quality means the good characteristics of an object. For instance, we speak of a “quality object” and mean that an object is well-made. In that usage, quality is equated with good quality, the term being used to indicate a positive value. However, particularly in the field of economics, it has become customary to use the term quality as a neutral term, following its original definition.
The term quality originated in the sixteenth century, derived from the Latin “qualis,” meaning to be made in some way or being in a certain condition or state. According to dictionaries, quality always refers to an object and stands for its state, feature characteristic, or nature.
It is only according to the sense of this definition that degrees of quality (excellence) can be stated, that we can speak of “quality improvement.” However, in many discussions on quality, it is apparent that people have certain angles of vision or standpoints. There are indeed different ways to view quality. For example, Joseph M. Juran defines quality as “fitness for use” [Defe16, see also www.juran.com]. Consumers and suppliers have different understandings of quality, as the different organizational units within a company usually do. “Quality” is hence a multilayered term. It is not by chance that the following four disciplines, among others, have dealt with the concept of quality: philosophy, business sciences, marketing, and operations management.
In the company environment, quality can relate to various objects. At the foreground stand the processes and the products of an enterprise or a service-providing public organization. In the sense of total quality, however, the company or service provider as a whole is such an object.
Course section 18.1: Subsections and their intended learning outcomes
18.1 Quality: Concept and Measurement
Intended learning outcomes: Produce an overview on the quality of processes, products and organizations as well as its measurability. Present the concept of quality measurement and Six Sigma.
18.1.1 Process Quality
Intended learning outcomes: Produce an overview on process, service, and a service provided to dependents. Present the characteristics of the quality of processes. Identify process quality, process time, and process load.
18.1.2 Product Quality
Intended learning outcomes: Identify product quality. Differentiate between a simple product and a product in a broad sense. Present the characteristics of the quality of products.
18.1.3 Organizational Quality — Quality Towards the Stakeholders of an Organization
Intended learning outcomes: Identify organizational quality. Describe the concept of quality toward the stakeholders of an organization.
18.1.4 Quality and Its Measurability
Intended learning outcomes: Explain the problems of the measurability of indicators and the step from measurement to corrective actions. Describe the issue using the example of the measurement of customer satisfaction.
18.1.5 Quality Measurement and Six Sigma (6σ)
Intended learning outcomes: Describe the metric of six sigma (6σ) and the sigma conversion table. Identify Six Sigma Quality. Differentiate between three Sigma and Six Sigma process reliability.
Course 18: Sections and their intended learning outcomes
Course 18 – Quality Management — TQM and Six Sigma
Intended learning outcomes: Produce an overview on concept and measurement of quality. Explain quality management tasks at the operations level. Describe quality management systems.
18.1 Quality: Concept and Measurement
Intended learning outcomes: Produce an overview on the quality of processes, products and organizations as well as its measurability. Present the concept of quality measurement and Six Sigma.
18.2 Quality Management Tasks at the Operations Level
Intended learning outcomes: Produce an overview on the Deming Cycle (PDCA Cycle) and the Shewhart Cycle as well as the Six Sigma Phases. Present the phases of quality planning, control, assurance, and activation of the Deming Cycle. Describe the Six-Sigma phases of define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. Differentiate between continual improvement and reengineering.
18.3 TQM (Total Quality Management) and Quality Management Systems
Intended learning outcomes: Present standards and norms of quality management: ISO 9000:2015. Describe the optimization paradigm: models and awards for Total Quality Management. Produce an overview on audits and procedures for assessing the quality of organizations, as well as on benchmarking.
18.4 Summary
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18.5 Keywords
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