How To Get A Quality Assurance Program In Place
| Business : Small Business Ideas In the increasingly competitive global marketplace, one of the key aspects to successful business is consistent quality of goods and services at the consumer level. If customers find a brand or item they are happy with, they are likely to stay with it unless the quality is compromised or they find a similar item of greater quality. Successful businesses know that consumer perception and confidence are the single greatest factors in determining their survival. Assuring quality at the consumer level consist of two things: quality control and quality assurance. Quality control is the mechanism whereby finished products are routinely checked to ensure defective units are taken out of the supply chain. As part of quality control, if a particular defect is found consistently, a re-mediation plan is put into motion to correct the problem. Quality assurance (QA), deemed by most companies to be of equal importance, is a mechanism designed to ensure the minimum amount of defects possible. It includes the raw materials, production processes, and other manufacturing procedures utilized in the field or on the floor. There are two parts to an effective QA program. The first is known as “fit for purpose”. In other words, is the finished product fit for its intended purpose? The second is called “right first time”, which means defects should be kept to a minimum. When both elements are properly dealt with, a QA model will most likely be effective. Quality assurance becomes extremely important when management understands the impact of eliminating defects. Defective products are a waste of materials, labour, and energy, both in the production process and dealing with them after the fact. The company that can implement effective QA measures will reap direct financial benefits almost immediately. The international standard for quality is [link]http://www.qmsuk.comISO 9001[/link] which puts a quality assurance management structure in place. Good quality assurance has another benefit rarely understood by managers: it increases worker morale. Employees who don't have a set of standards to follow have difficulty consistently producing quality work. Add to that a modest to high defect rate and it becomes quite easy for workers to be discouraged. In comparison, workers who know exactly what is expected of them will produce quality work or be forced out of a job. Lower rejection rates will result in higher output and greater employee satisfaction. One of the most difficult parts of quality assurance lies in the fact that companies evolve over time. Products and services being offered today may look different next year, or even be eliminated altogether in favour of new ones. Good QA requires an ongoing analysis of every aspect of a business in order to insure it adapts to changes in consumer needs, government regulation, and available resources. Despite the effort required, competent quality assurance will give a company long-term stability. In today's world consumers have a wider range of choices than they did in years gone by. As competition heats up among the various players in a given industry, the ones who deliver the highest quality at a reasonable price are the same ones who will survive in the marketplace.
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