“Quality remains when the price is long forgotten!”
This statement is attributed to Henry Royce, the co-founder of the highly reputable British company Rolls Royce. An analysis of the purchasing behavior of the consumers in the current climate of cut-throat competition and systematic customer-orientation shows that the corporate strategy of “Quality” holds out more promise than ever before, to manufacturing companies [prf]. It is hardly surprising therefore that the competitive element of “Quality” has come to rival the traditional competitive factors “Cost” and “Time” in recent years.
The concept of quality has changed dramatically in recent decades. Whereas the traditional view of quality management was predominantly result-oriented and focused on testing outcomes (input/output orientation), more recent quality concepts have tended to integrate additional quality indicators [pf1]. The realization that “quality begins in the head” [ka1, fei] and that the attitudes and actions of all of the employees are open to influence at each stage in the value-added chain has broadened the focus of quality management. Only integrated quality concepts in conjunction with modifications to the corporate culture can ensure the ability of a company to deliver quality in the future. This comprehensive view of quality management, also known as Total Quality Management (TQM), must be regarded as a corporate strategy whose aim is to ensure that customer requirements are satisfied and which concentrates all efforts firmly on the needs of the internal and external customers.
This book deals with the subject of quality management in all its facets. It examines in detail the principles and ideas underlying modern quality management systems, the techniques and tools used in quality management, quality programs and initiatives. The question arises as to the significance of the quality management systems described in the following section given the multitude of concepts and activities involved.
The previous chapters gave an overview of Total Quality Management and Quality Management systems. Quality information is another multi-phase aspect of quality management. Information is required in order to respond to all quality management-related questions. It is the foundation on which process and product quality are assessed. Nevertheless, industrial practice shows that requirement-oriented provision of information remains a problem for companies, despite hectic developments in the field of IT.
Like any other activity in companies, quality management incurs costs. On the other hand, it leads to a reduction in costs by avoiding or reducing counter-productive and reactive output. It is vital, therefore, to investigate quality-based costs if quality management is to be controlled in economic terms. The objective throughout is to lower costs and, at the same time, increase quality. In the mechanical engineering sector in Germany, the annual expenditure on quality-assuring measures exceeds € 3 billion; this corresponds to around 4 % of sales, or approx. the average return on sales [ris].
Insufficiently high product quality, i.e. a manufacturing non-conformity, is the most frequent reason for complaints and, therefore, for the manufacturer to be held liable. The consequences of such a non-conformity can be diverse: as long as they are of a nonstatutory and, especially, economic in nature and affect the manufacturers themselves (decline in sales, adverse effect on good reputation, reduction in profit, corrective cost etc.), these consequences are of no interest to the lawyer. Lawyers only find them “interesting” when a lack of product quality has an adverse effect on the legal spheres of third parties. When this is the case, there may be consequences under criminal and/or civil law. Consequences under civil law may be of a contractual nature (i.e. they may arise as the result of the conclusion of a contract) or of a non-contractual nature (i.e. they may be based directly in the law, regardless of whether a contract has been concluded between the parties involved). The requirements relating to responsibility for consequences of this nature, in other words for liability for any lack of product quality and for any (consequential) damage arising from the lack of quality, vary (c.f. below) and each case must be scrutinised for any legal grounds or grounds for claims.
Modern quality management encompasses three fundamental management methods, which are closely linked to one another. These methods are embodied in the Juran Trilogie®. In addition to quality assurance, the Juran Trilogie shows the systematic way to improve quality. The individual steps are quality planning, quality control and quality improvement. Planning assumes a position of central importance in this trilogy [jur]. The term quality planning is currently classified as belonging to areas of activity which, as the definition suggests, constitute quality management in its entirety, alongside quality control, quality testing, quality improvement, quality management reporting and the quality audit [dg1]. Quality planning is defined as
“Planning and refining the quality requirements to be met by the unit concerned [dg1].”
Liberalization, infrastructural links between markets, and the opportunities provided by modern telecommunications are leading to the globalization of markets. High-quality goods can now be procured, manufactured and sold at numerous locations around the globe. This has opened the way for many companies to procure more economically worldwide, but it has also compelled them to ensure that they are able to deliver around the world.
The objective of quality management in the manufacturing phase is to apply quality-assurance measures during or immediately after the production process so as to ensure that the quality of the goods produced is faultless. Quality testing has traditionally been carried out to establish whether, and to what degree, products or activities meet the quality requirements specified [din1].
The market has changed radically over the past thirty years. The evolution from a seller’s market (excess demand) through a buyer’s market (excess supply) to the present cut-throat market has necessitated the application of production concepts that are continually updated to keep pace with market developments [bon, köp]. Manufacturers can maintain their market position only if they succeed in meeting their customers’ expectations of high-quality, reliable products in conjunction with the appropriate service.
