Quality control is a technique of scientific management which has the object of improving industrial efficiency by concentrating on better standards of quality and on controls to ensure that these standards are always maintained….It is not intended to show what is wrong with current technology, but rather to establish what can be achieved with existing methods when they are operated correctly. ”

Quality Control: Meaning, Importance, Definition and Objectives

By Smriti ChandQuality Control: Meaning and Importance, Definition and Objectives!

Meaning and Importance:

Present era is the ‘Era of Quality’.In this age of cut­throat competition and large scale production, only that manufacturer can survive who supplies better quality goods and renders service to-the consumers. In fact quality control has become major consideration before establishing an industrial undertaking. Proper quality control ensures most effective utilisation of available resources and reduction in cost of production.

The word quality control comprises of two words viz., quality and control. It would be appropriate to explain these two words separately to understand clearly the meaning of quality control.
According to Dr. W.K. Spriegel “The quality of a product may be defined as the sum of a number of related characteristics such as shape, dimension, composition, strength, workmanship, adjustment, finish and colour”.
In the words of John D. McIIellan, “Quality is the degree to which a product conforms to specifications and workmanship standards”.
It is clear from these definitions that quality refers to various characteristics of a product and their excellence. Quality is a relative term and is never absolute depending upon the use of the product and circumstances under which it is used.
To achieve and maintain a satisfactory level of quality of products is a very difficult task.
It involves many steps to be undertaken viz:
(a) Product must possess a minimum level of quality so that it could be easily sold in the market.
(b) In order to measure quality, accurate standard measurements must be established.
(c) Reasonable deviation from the pre-determined standards must be determined.
‘(d) Satisfactory level of quality must be achieved with a minimum cost.
Control refers to the use of all the ways and means whereby quality standards could be maintained. Control precisely aims at bringing the product up to pre­determined standards by minimising deviations from established and present standards.
According to Henry Fayol, “Control consists in verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the plan adopted, the instructions issued and principles established. It has objected to point out weaknesses and errors in order to rectify them and prevent recurrence. It operates on everything things, people, actions”.
In the words of Theo Haimann, “control is the process of checking to determine whether or not, proper progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary to correct any deviation”.
From the above mentioned definitions, it is clear that a good control system should be such which suggests corrective remedies so that negative deviations may not re-occur in future. The scope of the term ‘control’ is wider, including not only product to be produced but also extending to workmen and their methods of operations.
In the absence of effective control over production operations, desired quality in products to be produced cannot be achieved. How it may be pointed out here that words quality and control cannot be studied separately in this context but as ‘Quality Control’.
Quality control is concerned with the control of quality of the product during the process of production. It aims at achieving the predetermined level of quality in a product. In other words quality control is concerned with controlling those negative variances which ultimately affect the excellence of a manufacturer in producing the products.

Definition:

Some of the important definitions of quality control are enumerated as under:
“Quality control may be defined as that industrial management technique or group of techniques by means of which products of uniform acceptable quality are manufactured. It is indeed the mechanism by which products are made to measure up to specifications determined from customer’s demand and transformed into sales, engineering and manufacturing requirements. It is concerned with making things right rather than the discovering and rejecting those made wrong”.
—Alford and Beatty
“Quality control means the recognition and removal of identifiable causes and defects, and variables from the set standards”.
—J.A. Shubin.
“Quality control is used to connote all those activities which are directed for defining, controlling and maintaining quality”.
—K.G. Lockyer.
“Quality control is systematic control by management of the variables in the manufacturing process that affect goodness of the end-product.”
—H.N. Broom.
“Quality control is systematic control of these variables in the manufacturing process which affect the excellence of the end product. These variables result from the application of materials, men, machines and manufacturing condition. The production system possesses those inputs to produce desirable outputs.
Only when these variables in the inputs are regulated to the extent that they do not deviate unnecessarily from the excellence of the manufacturing process as reflected in the quality of the finished product, can the control of quality be said to exist. ”
—Bethel, At water and Stackman
“Quality control includes techniques and systems for the achievement of the required quality in the articles produced and for the elimination of sub standard goods.”
—Tome, Simen and HcGill.
“Quality control is a system of inspection, analysis and action applied to a manufacturing process so that, by inspecting a small portion of the product currently produced, an analysis of its quality can be made to determine what action is required on the operation in order to achieve and maintain the desired level of quality.”
—Joseph Manueb.

From the above mentioned definitions, it is clear that quality control is concerned with controlling the negative variables which affect the ultimate quality of a product and in a broader sense it is concerned with the performance of those activities leading to fulfillment the company’s objectives.

Objectives of quality control:

Following are the important objectives of quality control:
1. To establish the desired quality standards which are acceptable to the customers?
2. To discover flaws or variations in the raw materials and the manufacturing processes in order to ensure smooth and uninterrupted production.
3. To evaluate the methods and processes of production and suggest further improvements in their functioning.
4. To study and determine the extent of quality deviation in a product during the manufacturing process.
5. To analyse in detail the causes responsible for such deviation.
6. To undertake such steps which are helpful in achieving the desired quality of the product.

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