Quality

The quality is an inherent property of anything that allows it to be valued with respect to any other of its kind. The word quality has multiple meanings. Basically, it refers to the set of properties inherent to an object that give it the ability to satisfy implicit or explicit needs. On the other hand, the quality of a product or service is the perception that the client has of it, it is a mental fixation of the consumer that assumes conformity with said product or service and its capacity to satisfy his needs. Therefore, it must be defined in the context that is being considered, for example, the quality of the postal service, dental service, product, life, etc. It is the ability of a product or service to satisfy the needs of the user. Quality is internal or external. Internal quality is planned and achieved in a laboratory and external quality belongs to the client and is the .

Definitions from a production perspective

Quality is the degree to which a product meets design specifications. The specifications are the values desired by the company of certain characteristics of the good or service taking into account the requirements of the client. The concept is subjective since it influences the customer's conformity with the product. They must meet certain standards to be marketed and certify quality standards. Quality is an inherent property of the production or operations system used, the greater the maturity, the closer it will be to meeting the customer's requirements. Within the Monozukuri, Lean Manufacturing and Toyota Production System production systems, quality measurement is considered a tactical indicator, together with execution time and costs.

Transcendent definitions

It means seeking a higher standard instead of being satisfied with the mediocre. It is an innate quality, an absolute and universally recognized characteristic.

Definitions from a product perspective

It is to differentiate qualitatively and quantitatively with respect to some required attribute. It is the amount of an attribute that is not monetarily quantifiable that each unit contains.

From a user perspective

The ability to satisfy consumer desires. It is suitability for use. It depends on how it responds to customer preferences.

From a value perspective

They are the virtues and qualities that a product or service must have. Quality means providing value to the customer, that is, offering conditions of use of the product or service that are superior to those that the customer expects to receive and at an affordable price. Quality also refers to minimizing the losses that a product may cause in human society and the degree to which customer satisfaction is maintained. A current vision of the concept of quality indicates that quality is delivering to the customer not what he wants, but what he never imagined he wanted and that once he gets it, he realizes that it was what he had always wanted.

Formal definitions

Other definitions from recognized organizations and experts from the world of quality are:

• ISO 9000 Standard: Quality is the degree to which a set of features inherent in an object (product, service, process, person, organization, system or resource) meets the requirements.
• Real Academia Española: property or set of properties inherent in a thing that allows to appreciate it as equal, better or worse than the rest of its species. Very similar to how it defines ISO 9001
• Philip Crosby: Quality is compliance with a customer's requirements.
• Joseph Juran: quality is adequacy to customer use. Only focused on use which is only one aspect.
• Armand V. Feigenbaum: is the degree of satisfaction of the client's expectations.
• Genichi Taguchi: is the level of losses (monetaries) that the product or service causes to society since it is issued.
• William Edwards Deming: it is the satisfaction that produces the client.
• Walter A. Shewhart: quality is the result of two-dimensional interaction: subjective dimension (what the client wants) and objective dimension (what is offered). Denoting the importance of subjectivity in the process.

Never confuse quality with higher levels of product or service attributes, but rather with the regular and permanent attainment of the attributes of the good offered that satisfy the customers for whom it has been designed. This information is obtained from customer complaints.

Factors related to quality

To achieve a high degree of quality in the product or service, three important aspects must be taken into account (basic dimensions of quality):

1. Technical dimension: encompasses the scientific and technological aspects that affect the product or service.
2. Human dimension: are the relationships between customers and companies.
3. Economic dimension: try to minimize costs for both the customer and the company.

For this, the right and desired amount of product that must be manufactured and offered must be established. The exact price of the product and distribute them quickly. In addition, queries must be answered as quickly as possible.

Quality parameters

• Design quality: is the degree to which a product or service is reflected in its design.
• Quality of conformity: It is the degree of fidelity with which a product or service is reproduced with respect to its design.
• Quality of use: the product must be easy to use, safe, reliable, etc.
• The customer is the new target: the new theories place the customer as an active part of the quality rating of a product, trying to create a standard based on the subjective point of a customer. The quality of a product is not to be determined only by harshly objective parameters but including the opinions of a customer using a particular product or service.

Basic concepts in quality standardization

Objectives of standardization

It pursues the following objectives:

• Possess a concise process with minimal characteristics.
• Comply with hygiene and safety standards.
• Protect the interests of consumers and generals of society so that the product is widely accepted.
• To cover general costs for this we must define the desired amount to produce, the exact price and plan the logistics to distribute it.

Applicable fields of normalization

• Analytical tools. Methodological tools for calibration of the equipment and materials used in relation to the instrumental part should be standardized.
• Products.
• Machines.
• Quality Management of Products and Systems.
• Environmental Management.
• Risk management at work.
• Information Security Management.
• Data. These are made up of the results of the tests obtained from the chemical measurement processes (PMQs).
• Management of analytical, test and calibration activities. Individual work and organization should be managed as a whole.
• Management of Inspection Activities.
• Provision of one Service.
• Process management.

Quality infrastructure

In 1957, the European Organization for Quality (EOQ) was founded in Europe. In 1988 the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) was created with the aim of promoting Total Quality Management. The most important organizations in Europe are:

1. Standardization Bodies:

• CEN (European Standardization Committee),
• CENELEC (European Electrotechnical Standardization Committee)
• ETSI (European Institute of Telecommunication Standards).

2. European Accreditation Bodies (EA)

3. Control and Certification Body (EOTC).

4. Metrology Agency (EUROMET).

5. Quality infrastructure in Spain (MINER): The Ministry of Industry and Energy (MINER) is in charge of reviewing and adapting the infrastructure for quality and industrial safety. This infrastructure can be made up of:

• Standardization agencies
• Accreditation entities (ENAC in Spain):
• Accreditation entities (UKAS in the UK - The most internationally recognized one according to the EA-1/06 agreements):
  • Certification and registration (telematic certification and validation of certification status):
    • Certification of management systems.
    • Product Certification.
    • Service certification.
    • People's Certification.

6. Test Laboratories.

7. Calibration laboratories.

8. Auditing and Inspection Entities.

• AENOR website
• GlobalGROUP Spain
• LRQA Business Assurance
• DNV Spain

Note: The Latin American Quality Institute is the Latin American body commissioned and responsible by the UN for officially celebrating "World Quality Day" for Latin America. Latin American Quality Week is the main event held in Latin America for those who have assumed Total Quality as their mission. Held in the second week of November. It culminates with the delivery of the coveted "Latin American Quality Awards". Daniel Maximilian Da Costa, CEO of this organization, is a professional with more than 10 years of experience in the field of Total Quality.

Internal management and quality assurance

Quality assurance could be defined as those actions that make a product or service meet certain quality requirements. If these quality requirements fully reflect the needs of customers, it can be said that quality assurance is met.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance can be defined as the total effort to plan, organize, direct and control quality in a production system with the aim of giving the customer products with adequate quality. It's just making sure the quality is what it should be.

• Modern quality assurance methods were created and refined in manufacturing industries. The introduction and adoption of quality assurance programmes in services has been lagging behind manufacturing, perhaps as much as a decade.
• The administrators of service organizations have assumed that their service is acceptable when customers do not complain frequently. Only in recent dates have they realized that the quality of the service can be administered as a competitive weapon.
• Manufacturing quality assurance: Guaranteeing manufacturing quality is at the heart of the quality management process. It is at this point, where a good or service occurs, where the quality is "inter built" or incorporated.
• The general administration or Sereneela, where finance and sales groups are, has the overall responsibility to plan and execute the quality assurance program.

Internal assurance or internal quality management system

The standards that include the guidelines for implementing internal quality assurance systems are:

• UNE*EN*ISO 9000 “Systems of quality. Standards for Quality Management and Quality Assurance.”
• UNE*EN*ISO 9004 “Quality management and element of a Quality System”.
• LAQI 1000 "Latin American Quality Institute - Latin American Quality Institute for the Development of Standards and Standards and Standards" Latin American Quality Institute certifies the Quality Managers of the leading Latin American organizations with the certificate of "Quality Assurance Manager".

External assurance system

Reasons for external quality assurance:

• Internal improvement.
• Commercial reasons “marketing”.
• Supplier control and development.
• Legal requirements or our clients.
• As a first step towards an Excellent Management.

Design and product quality

To obtain quality products and services, we must ensure their quality from the moment of their design. A quality product or service is one that satisfies the customer's needs, therefore, to develop and launch a quality product it is necessary:

• Know the customer's needs.
• Design a product or service that meets those needs.
• Perform the product or service according to the design.
• Get the product or service at the minimum time and at the lowest possible cost.

Design

The design of a new product can be summarized in these stages:

• Project development: Your Quality will depend on the feasibility of manufacturing and producing the product according to the planned specifications.
• Technical definition of the product: this definition can be carried out through a planned activity, using some technique such as AMFE or applying design standards such as ECSS.
• Control of the design process: the design process must be controlled, to ensure that the results are specified.

Product

Product: It is the result of a process in which several interrelated activities participate.

To evaluate the quality of a product, you can count on these indicators:

• The quality of conformity: is the extent to which a product corresponds to the specifications designed, and in accordance with the requirements of the project.
• The quality of operation: indicates the results obtained when using the manufactured products.

Quality in purchases

It is necessary to ensure the quality of purchases to ensure that the products or services purchased meet the necessary requirements. The best way to guarantee the quality of products and services is based on the responsibility of the supplier, to manufacture a good product and provide the corresponding quality tests.

Supplier evaluation

The quality of an organization's products or services depends to a significant extent on its suppliers. In order to develop new products and services with a high degree of reliability, it is essential that the supplier collaborate from the initial phase of development.

It is important to bear in mind that a supplier well stimulated and supported by the organization can make an irreplaceable contribution of creativity and technological innovation in new products and services and can also actively work to continuously reduce costs.

Verification of purchased products

Reception control consists of verifying that the products or services purchased have the desired quality and meet the specifications. Verification is a very simple way to detect defective products, but nevertheless it tends to disappear due to the inconveniences associated with it:

• Large costs that do not improve the quality of the product (does not provide an added value to the product produced by a poor verification when a model or comparison pattern is not available as standards).
• In some cases the company does not have the necessary systems to inspect certain characteristics of the products.
• The 100 per cent inspection of the products received does not ensure that all approved products are defect-free, that is why for large batches it must be made representative sampling, sometimes suggested, sometimes taxed.
• There are cases where self-control when part of the production process can cause defects, it is important to maintain the distance and independence for verification.

Concerted quality

It is the agreement established between the buyer and the supplier, according to which, the supplier is attributed a certain responsibility for the quality of the batches supplied, which must meet previously agreed quality levels. This agreement should be signed in the form of a contract.

Quality in production

It is carrying out the necessary activities to ensure that the required quality is obtained and maintained, from the moment the product design is taken to the factory, until the product is delivered to the customer for use. The main objectives of quality assurance in production are:

• Minimize costs.
• Maximize customer satisfaction.

Planning quality control in production

The planning of quality control in production is one of the most important activities since it is where it is defined:

• The processes and jobs that should be controlled to get products without fail.
• The requirements and form of acceptance of the product that guarantee the quality of the same.
• The necessary measuring equipment to ensure the correct check of the products.
• How to collect data to maintain control and undertake corrective actions when necessary.
• Staff training and training needs with inspection tasks.
• The tests and supervisions that ensure that these activities are performed correctly and that the product is free of fault.

Product verification

The verification of the product, service or process must be considered as an important part of production control, being able to find three types:

• Inspection and testing of input materials.
• Inspection during the process.
• In the finished products.

Control of inspection, measurement and test equipment

Some of the activities necessary to ensure good control of measurement and test equipment are:

• Develop an inventory.
• Develop an annual calibration plan.
• Control calibrations and establish traceability.
• Conduct preventive and predictive maintenance of equipment.
• Manage teams.
• Identify the measures to be taken and the accuracy to be required.

Quality management in services

One of the first actions in service quality is to find out who the customers are, what they want and expect from the organization. Only in this way can the products and services, as well as the processes, be oriented towards their best satisfaction.

• Latin American Quality Institute (LAQI): In Latin America, the Institute is responsible for the official certifications in Total Quality as well as those responsible for the World Quality Day in Latin America. Daniel Maximilian Da Costa, CEO of this Agency is carrying out numerous projects to support the development of total quality in companies as well as development projects for Social Responsibility and Environmental Preservation in the countries where LAQI maintains presence.

Quality customer service

Quality is understanding that the client is the one who defines the quality of our service. Becoming obsessed with pleasing customers and not being content with just (relieving them of their immediate problems), is a process that involves all employees. The quality is assured from the initial moment in which the inputs are obtained; Quality is not controlled, it is produced from daily work in a responsible manner, it is based on forecasting and not on the detection of failures and errors. It is the set of benefits that the customer expects, in addition to the basic product or service. To provide the best service, the set of benefits that the client wants must be considered:

• The added value to the product.
• The service itself.
• Business experience.
• The customer's benefit.

Basic customer needs

The main basic needs of a customer are:

• Be understood.
• Feel welcome.
• Feel important.
• Feel comfort.
• Feel confidence.
• Feel heard.
• Feel safe.
• Feel valuable.
• Feel satisfied.
• Integrated feeling

The importance of service quality management

The importance of service quality can be understood for the following reasons:

• Growth of the service industry.
• Competition growth.
• Better customer knowledge.
• Quality of service to the customer, being satisfied according to their perspective.

Customer service

In order to provide adequate customer service, you must:

• Identify who the customers are.
• Shake them in different types.
• Identify the requirements clients, as well as to know where and as customers want it in addition to the increase in productivity, it is essential for every company.

Data quality as a critical success factor for information systems

Data quality, the lack of data quality is one of the main problems faced by those responsible for information systems and companies in general, as it constitutes one of the "hidden& #3. 4; most serious and persistent in any organization in the world.

For this reason, it is extremely important to verify the authenticity and veracity of the electronic data source, as well as to do a little investigative work to find out how much the author knows and has worked with the subject matter. We also have to take into account how current and relevant the information is at the time of the query.

Finally, it would be very useful to create a body that regulates contributions without harming freedom of expression, but having some kind of electronic labeling to differentiate professional contributions from unsubstantiated personal opinions.

Quality Maturity Models

A Capability Maturity Model is considered as a simplified representation of the essential elements of effective processes, (Paulk, Curtis, Chrissis & Weber, 1996), this concept was touched for the first time by Crosby (1979) in its representation of the Quality Management Maturity Chart or Quality Management Maturity Grid, (QMMG) and is based on the concepts of statistical process control and continuous improvement developed by Shewhart (Paulk, Curtis, Chrissis & Weber, 1996)

The QMMG was introduced as a simple way for managers to determine the current situation of their processes with respect to Quality Management and determine through maturity levels the expected benefit of working on prevention and continuous improvement. It is currently called the Capability and Maturity Model.