Project report On Quality Assurance

“QUALITY ASSURANCE” AS A PART OF FULFILLMENT OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

This is to certify that the term paper titled “QUALITY ASSURANCE� has been completed by Mr.XYZ ,student of M.B.A in partial fulfillment of Master of Business Administration Examination 2009. This is a record of his own work carried out by him under my supervision and guidance.

Place: Date:

XYZ

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With pleasure I extend my deep sense of gratitude to my supervisor PROF. XYZ, Dean, Department of management studies, J.N.V University, Jodhpur, for her Honorable guidance and encouragement. Without her valuable views this study would not have seen the light of day.

I would take this opportunity to thank Dr XYZ, Head of the Department, DMS for giving me the opportunity to explore and get acquainted to the corporate world.

Lastly, I would sincerely like to thank all the staff members and friends for their valuable suggestions and cooperation given in doing the work on this term paper.

XYZ

CHAPTER SCHEME 1. Introduction 2. Evolution of Quality 3. What is Quality Assurance 4. Product Quality Assurance 5. Quality Assurance Process 6. Implementing QA in service & Mfg. Industry 7. Quality Surveillance 8. Quality Assurance Audit 9. Quality Assurance v/s Quality Control 10.Quality Assurance Standard 11.Case Study 12.Findings 13.Recommendations 14.Conclusion 15.References 16.Bibliography

INTRODUCTION Quality assurance is the main pillar of any business. Whatever is the business, either finance or a storage facility or any service, quality is the most important aspect, which affects the level of success of the business. Being an entrepreneur, one should never ever compromise with the quality aspect. The popularity of your product or service will enhance, only if you provide quality. Low price is also another way to increase sales. But, if your product or service does not have standard quality, then a customer will never use it in future, even if it has the lowest price. Thus, you have to assure the quality of your product or service by conducting some scientific measures.

Quality assurance, QA, refers to planned and systematic production processes that provide confidence in a product's suitability for its intended purpose. It is a set of activities intended to ensure that products (goods and/or services) satisfy customer requirements in a systematic, reliable fashion. QA cannot absolutely guarantee the production of quality products, unfortunately, but makes this more likely.

Two key principles characterize QA: "fit for purpose" (the product should be suitable for the intended purpose) and "right first time" (mistakes should be eliminated). QA includes regulation of the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components; services related to production; and management, production and inspection processes.

Why Quality Quality Up Processing Time down

Image up Service cost down Sales Volume up

Price(?)

Competition down

Rework & Scrap cost down

Inventory Down [assume-goods sold] Complaint & Warranty cost down

Inspection & test cost down

Scale Economies up

Capital cost down-?

Productivity Up---meaning?

Revenue up

Operation Cost down Profits up

Evolution of Quality Management

Evolution of Quality Management Concept Management of Quality by Inspection only

Segregate Good and bad

Bad

Management of Quality during manufacturing

Management of Quality during design

Process under control

Design & Manufacturing: ok

Good

Despatch

Rework

Good

Bad

scrap

Final quality is not ok

Poor Product design

Quality Still not ok

Management of Quality during design, manufacturing, & deployment Management of quality thru company-wide quality mgmt system

Poor evaluation of customer needs

Inspection  Quality control  Quality assurance  Total quality management (TQM)

Time

Events

Prior to

Quality is an art

20th

Demand overcome potential production

century

An era of workmanship

F. Taylor,

Scientific approach to management resulting in the greater need for

1900s

standardization, inspection and supervision.

Shewart,

Statistical beginning and study of quality control

1930s Late 1930s

Quality standard and approaches are introduced in France and Japan.

Beginning of SQC, reliability etc

1942

Seminal work by Deming at the ministry of war in USA, concept of acceptance sampling,

1944

Dodge and Deming carried out seminal work on acceptance sampling

1945

Founding of Japan Standards Association

1946

Founding of the ASQC (American Society for Quality Control)

1950

Visit of Deming in Japan at the invitation of K. Ishikawa

1951

Quality assurance increasingly acceptable

1954

TQC in Japan (Feigenbaum and Juran), book published in 1956

1957

Founding of European Organization for the control of quality (France, Germany, Italy, Holland, England)

1961

The Martin Co. in USA introduced the zero-defect approach. Quality motivation started in USA

1962

Quality Circles are started in Japan

1964

Ishikawa publishes a book on Quality Management

1970

Ishikawa publishes on basics of Quality circle, concepts of Total quality is affirmed and devised in Japanese industries.

WHAT IS QUALITY ASSURANCE? Quality assurance is the process of verifying or determining whether products or services meet or exceed customer expectations. Quality assurance is a processdriven approach with specific steps to help define and attain goals. This process considers design, development, production, and service.

The most popular tool used to determine quality assurance is the Shewhart Cycle, developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. This cycle for quality assurance consists of four steps: Plan, Do, Check, and Act. These steps are commonly abbreviated as PDCA. The four quality assurance steps within the PDCA model stand for: •

Plan: Establish objectives and processes required to deliver the desired results.

•

Do: Implement the process developed.

•

Check: Monitor and evaluate the implemented process by testing the results against the predetermined objectives

•

Act: Apply actions necessary for improvement if the results require changes.

 Quality Assurance (QA) is a way for your organization to make sure that it is always delivering the best it can to its service users, members, volunteers and funders.  A QA system is a way of checking, through continuous monitoring and evaluation of your performance and through the collection of evidence, that your organization is continuously improving what it does and how it does it.

 QA can also be a way of measuring what your organization does against other organizations doing similar work or against set, recognized standards.  This system of checking your organization’s quality is an ongoing process.

The monitoring of what your organization does and how it does it is continuous to ensure that you are always meeting the new standards that are always developing

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSURANCE •

Understanding Product Quality Assurance The term Product Quality Assurance has a very wide scope. Let us try to understand it. During the entire product lifecycle from concept to obsolescence, various activities are performed. It is important to assure the quality at each stage in order to meet the customer requirements consistently.

Given below are the product quality assurance activities at each stage of product lifecycle Introduction In this stage, the concept is developed and the product is designed and introduced into the market. Product quality assurance plays a critical role during this stage. It decides the customer requirements and based on that decides the product requirements. During the design stage, quality control evaluates and validates the product i.e. the quality control engineer will compare the product designed with respect to the product and customer requirements and confirm whether the design would meet them. Once the product is validated, it is released for manufacturing. Quality control also has to make sure that the processes being used to manufacture and inspect the product are correct. They also have to create the standard inspection

procedures, which are used by quality control to do periodic inspection of the products.

Growth During this stage, the demand for a product increases and so the quantity of production increases. At this stage, the role of quality control is to make sure that in the race to manufacture more, the organization does not compromises on quality. The processes for higher production have to be implemented.

Since during this stage the competition increases and the costs have to be kept low, various low cost alternatives are explored. If some processes involved in manufacturing the product are outsourced then product quality control also has to ensure that the processes followed by the vendor are capable of delivering the required quality.

Maturity During the maturity stage, the competition further increases and the pressure on margins is felt. Moreover, with various options available, the customers become more demanding. Value for money is the theme. Role of quality control almost remains similar to the one during the growth stage.

Decline During this stage, the alternate products start eating up the market share and hence sales start declining. Product quality control has a little role to play during this stage. The most important role to be played during this stage is planning for the obsolescence of the existing product.

Apart from these roles, some product quality control roles remain active throughout the life of the product. Product quality audit is one such role wherein the quality control team does random audits of the products ready to

be dispatched to the customers. This is generally done in order to keep a check on the entire process of procurement, production, and inspection.

Another such role is handling customer complaint. During the entire life of the product, there will be customer complaints because of some errors during the process or due to component quality or due to the misuse of the product.

The product quality control has to find out the root cause of the complaints and put processes in place to ensure that such occurrences do not get repeated.

QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCESS •

Steps In Quality Assurance Process The product quality assurance process is a series of steps taken at the different stages of the product life cycle i.e. from the product concept to the launch of the product to its obsolescence.

Define the Objectives The first step while undertaking QA of any project is to define its requirements. For e.g. if the quality planning process has to be evolved for launching a new product or service in the market, then the first step in quality planning should be to understand and document the need of this project and its ultimate goal. At this stage, it is necessary to document the quality goals. These goals should be set according to the quality standards, customer requirements, with reference to the organizations own benchmark performance, competitors performance, according to the law and so on.

Understanding Customer Needs

The next step in product QA process involves knowing and understanding the needs of the customers. All these needs should be fully explained and documented so that it can be accessed by all the involved personnel whenever required. There are two kinds of customers, i.e. internal and external customers. For example, the manufacturing department is an internal customer of the design department as the designs for manufacturing are supplied by them. Similarly, there are many other internal customers in an organization. So, it is necessary to understand the needs of both internal and external customers.

Designing the Product The product should be designed keeping in view the quality goals and needs of the customers defined in step 1 and step 2 respectively. The cost benefit analysis also has to be done in order to ensure that the product will be manufactured at low cost with high quality in order to be successful in the market.

Product Pilot Testing Once the product design is ready, the next step of QA process is product testing. The pilot batch of the product is manufactured. The product is tested for various attributes in accordance with the standards, customer requirements, and regulatory requirements. This is to ensure that the product meets the set goals. Once everything is found satisfactory, the product is approved.

Process Development

Once the product design has been approved, the entire lists of tasks and activities that will be required for manufacturing the product are listed. The workflow plan is developed. The teams are formed and given specific responsibilities. The timelines for each and every task are specified. Process capability is also measured during this stage of QA process to ensure that the processes are capable of meeting design requirements.

Start Manufacturing Once the processes are developed, the required process controls are put in place. Tools like process failure mode and effects analysis are used to identify the likely modes of failures of the process and the effect of those failures on the product performance. Actions are initiated for high-risk items.

Audits are planned to periodically measure the performance and give feedback to the manufacturing and design department.

Life Cycle Management During the life of the product, the quality will be periodically monitored through inspections and audits. These inputs will result in improvements of the processes or the product design. Customer complaints, if any, will also act as inputs for product and process corrections and improvements.

Hence, the product quality assurance process plays an important role during the entire life of the product to ensure that the customer gets a quality product.

QUALITY ASSURANCES 1)

How Quality Assurances Are Implements in Service Industry Quality assurances are very important for the service industry in order to deliver services in accordance to the expectation of the customers. With so much competition in the market today, the importance of delivering quality service cannot be overlooked. However, maintaining and delivering quality services is not very easy as the expectations and needs of customers are different and ever-changing. Also, it is difficult to measure quality parameters in the service industry.

Hence, more and more service industries are nowadays implementing QA systems that help them to improve their services and woo their customers.

Each service industry is different and has different ways to implement quality assurances procedures and systems.

Steps To Implement QA in Service Industry Identify the Expectations of the Customers The company has to first identify the expectations of their customers. To know the feedback and expectations of the clients and customers, the organizations can use feedback forms, market surveys, secret shoppers etc.

The customer feedback can also be used to set performance standards. Like, the organization can set the performance standard as 90 percent of customer satisfaction score and so on.

Determine the Standards Depending on the feedback and the expectations, the organization can determine its quality standards. For example - A restaurant that wants to improve its quality should set goals for itself like minimum time to deliver the orders, quality of food, providing good experience to the customers, reducing wastage etc. In a similar manner each industry like hospitals, spas, property management services, banks etc should set their own quality standards.

Measure and Compare Performance The current performance should then be measured. This current performance can be also compared with target quality standards to find the gap.

Analyze

The organization should find the cause of the gap. The entire workforce should be encouraged to participate in the process so that they can help to find the root cause of customer complaints and dissatisfaction. The various departments of the organizations should work proactively to analyze the present situation.

Plan Depending upon the gap and the problems, the organization should plan to achieve its set quality goals. Various teams can be formed in order to address different areas identified in the gap. These teams should be given a time target to bridge that gap.

Control Once the organization achieves its set quality goals, the final step should be to maintain it consistently. This can only be possible if the changes made to achieve the target have been made part of the quality systems and are reviewed periodically.

This type of approach used in service industry for quality assurances is also known as DMAIC approach, which means Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. The organization can implement these systems on its own, if it has trained and experienced QA staff. Else, the organization can hire the QA management services. These services help the organizations to improve their quality, increase customer satisfaction, train employees, ensure compliance with standards, market surveys etc. The organizations that have successfully implemented QA systems benefit from the increased margins, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, expansion, and satisfied workforce.

2)

Importance of Quality Assurance in Manufacturing Quality assurance is the process of using systems and methodologies that ensure that the manufactured products meet the required quality standards consistently. The aim of QA is to produce goods right at the first time, without any rework. Organizations, usually, have a separate department to assure the quality of their products. For this they may also use the services of the consultants.

QA is crucial for the manufacturing industry. With so much competition and such few margins, no manufacturing industry can afford to spend time and money on rework. Every activity in the industry costs money and so does rework, but customers do not pay for rework. Customers pay for the value addition by the company and if they see more valuable additions by some other company being offered at same or lower costs, they move to that company. Hence to assure good quality to customers, quality assurance plays a significant role.

Benefits of Quality Assurance some of the benefits the organization derives from this role are: o

Improve Quality

QA professionals are involved in all critical activities of the organizations like design, manufacturing, material procurement, packaging, logistics etc.

Since all the processes are being tracked and monitored properly, there are fewer chances of bad quality or non-compliance of products with respect to the requirements. These requirements could be standard requirements, customer requirements, or even legal requirements. o

Low Cost

It reduces the overall costs to the organization. When the product is right the first time, there are no rework costs, no wastage of material, no wastage of manpower, and no disruptions in the production process. There are fewer claims for warranties and guaranties. In short, the cost of poor quality goes down. All this reduces the operating costs of the organizations and hence results in increased operating profits. o

Reputation

Since the organizations are able to manufacture good quality products that are made according to the requirements of the customers, the market reputation of those organizations improves. This helps the organizations to retain the existing customers and get more business from them. At the same time this also helps them in attracting new customers. These in turn increase the revenue and profit of the organizations. o

Reduce Execution Time

The systems implemented to improve quality reduce the cycle time i.e. time taken for the execution of the orders. If the quality of products is bad then there will be more customer complaints and more production downtime.

This results in huge loss of time and resources. Hence, if QA systems are implemented properly in the organization, the order execution time automatically gets reduced. o

Compliance To Standards

It ensures that the organizations meet all the standards and guidelines required for different quality management systems like ISO and other quality certifications awarded to it.In short, to meet customer requirements effectively and consistently, it is very important for every manufacturing industry to have a QA department. This will ensure that the efforts and

processes are moving in right direction so that the end product not only meets but exceeds the customer’s expectations.

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE •

Steps In Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

Quality assurance surveillance plan is an important plan that is meant to ensure conformance to the performance statement of work. This plan is beneficial for the government as they conform whether the deliverables from contractors are according to the set standards that they agreed upon while giving the contract or as stated in the performance statement of work. This plan can be an inspection before taking the delivery or it can be a series of regular or random inspections.

While agreeing on this plan for surveillance, the frequency of inspections, the standards that will be followed while inspecting and the quality requirements are given in detail.

Steps in QA Surveillance Plan Review of Processes, Products, or Services This involves the inspection of the processes and products or services of the contractor by representatives of the government. The entire technical and managerial processes are reviewed to know how the quality systems are implemented in organizations and how effective they are in delivering good quality.

Adherence to Contract Once the entire systems, products or services are reviewed, the next step in QA surveillance plan is to check whether the products or services conform to the quality levels and requirements of the contract. If any non-conformance is observed, the same is reported with the help of non-conformance report.

The cause of low quality is determined. It is determined whether the problem is due to the negligence of the contractor or due to miscommunication from the government.

Corrective Action Based on the results of the inspection, various discussions are held to find the solution i.e. how the products or services can match to the required standards. All the shortcomings in the products or services are then corrected through proper rework as decided so that they conform to the standards of the government.

Different Methods of Surveillance Random Inspections The government, sometimes, performs random inspection to ensure that the contractor follows the right procedures to ensure quality. For this the inspector may take random samples to check whether they meet the specified requirements or not. The inspectors also follow guidelines as how to select the random inspection lot, how they should be tested for conformance etc.

Planned Inspections Some inspections are planned with the contractor beforehand while chalking out the quality assurance surveillance plan. What kind of inspection will be conducted and how it will be done, is also conveyed to the contractor, well in advance. The outcome of the surveillance is measured against the standard set in performance worksheet.

Customer Inputs Sometimes, customer inputs are also treated as method of surveillance. In this case, the government takes inputs from customers on the quality of service provided by the contractor and based on that the performance of the

contractor is judged. Properly documented customer complaints become performance indicator of the contractors work.

100 Percent Inspection 100 percent inspection of any work is very rarely done, since it is a very costly affair. However, in cases of health and safety, it may be unavoidable.

In short, QA surveillance plan is the most important document in any contract work since it defines all the requirements related to the deliverables of the contractor. The method of measurement of performance is also made clear so that there is no dispute later. This also ensures that there is minimum wastage for the government as well as the contractor.

•

Types of Quality Assurance Audits Quality assurance audit is performed in order to ensure that the systems are in place and being followed religiously to provide good quality to the customers. It also highlights the need for any improvement in the systems in order to consistently deliver good quality products or services. The audits are also performed to make sure that the organization is following the legal and regulatory requirements. Some audits are conducted by internal auditors whereas some are performed by external ones.

Various Quality Assurance Audit Types Are System Audit The organization has various systems which when put together make a whole system. A system audit is an audit performed on any of these systems.

Any non-conformity during a system audit is critical, since if the system itself is wrong, the output is likely to be wrong.

Product or Service Audit The product or service audit is performed on the product or service to find out if the product or service meets the requirements of the customers and the standards set by the organization. There are various stages at which this can be performed. It could be during the process of product manufacturing, after the product has been manufactured, or even after the product is packed and ready to be delivered to the customer. The nonconformities found during this quality assurance audit are taken very seriously, since all these nonconformities are equivalent to customer complaints.

Department Audit As the name suggests, the department audit is performed with a focus on a given department. The scope of the audit covers all the activities performed, all the procedures followed and all the systems available in the department.

This audit highlights the areas for improvement in that department.

Process Audit Various processes are critical for the smooth running of an organization.

Actually speaking, all the activities from order inquiry to delivery of products follow a defined process in any organization. Hence, an audit of such processes is performed to identify the areas for improvement. Process audit also covers the audit of some special manufacturing processes that are critical for the quality of the end product. These processes may be in-house or at the suppliers place, the one to whom that process has been outsourced to.

Conformance Audit The external parties normally perform this QA audit. It is a form of third party audit where the auditing party evaluates if the organization does meet the requirements as are supposed to by the systems. This could also be for any kind of system certifications that organizations wish to apply for. The certificate-awarding

agency

also

conducts

the

conformance

audit

periodically to make sure that the organization is meeting the certification requirements.

Compliance Audit

Compliance audit is performed by regulatory agencies to confirm if the organization is meeting the legal and regulatory requirements. In case of any non-conformity, a re-audit may be required. The purpose of the re-audit is to ensure the effectiveness of the corrective actions taken.

The output of the audit is an audit report that is circulated to all the concerned people. The purpose of any type of QA audit is not to find mistakes, but to find the areas for improvements. If it is taken by the auditor and the audited party in this spirit, the organization can be sure that it is on the path to improvement and will be able to consistently meet all customers, system, legal or regulatory requirements.

QUALITY CONTROL V/S QUALITY ASSURANCE  Quality Assurance (QA) refers to the process used to create the deliverables, and can be performed by a manager, client, or even a thirdparty reviewer. Examples of quality assurance include process checklists, project audits and methodology and standards development.  Quality Control (QC) refers to quality related activities associated with the creation of project deliverables. Quality control is used to verify that deliverables are of acceptable quality and that they are complete and correct.

Examples of quality control activities include inspection, deliverable peer reviews and the testing process. 

Quality Control v/s Quality Assurance - The Difference Between Them Many people including some quality professionals do not know what quality control v/s quality assurance is. Both these terms are often used interchangeably. However, both terms are different in meaning as well as purpose.

Given here are main points of quality control v/s quality assurance Approach Quality guarantee or assurance is based on process approach. Quality monitoring and its assurance ensure that the processes and systems are developed and adhered in such a way that the deliverables are of good quality. This process is meant to produce defect-free goods or services which means being right the first time with no or minimum rework. Quality control is product-based approach. It checks whether the deliverables satisfy the quality requirements as well as the specifications of the customers or not.

Depending upon the results, suitable corrective action is taken by quality control personals.

Sequence One of the major points of quality control vs. QA is that assurance of quality is done before starting a project whereas the quality control begins once the product has been manufactured. During assurance of quality or monitoring process, the requirements of the customers are defined. Based on those requirements, the processes and systems are established and documented. All

this is done to ensure that the requirements of the customers are met stringently. After manufacturing the product, the quality control process begins. Based on the customer requirements and standards developed during the quality guarantee process, the quality control personal check whether the manufactured product meets all those requirements or not. So, assurance of quality is a proactive or preventive process to avoid defects whereas quality control is a corrective process to identify the defects in order to correct them.

Activities Most activities falling under the purview of quality guarantee or its assurance are performed by managers, customers, and third party auditors.

These activities include process documentation, establishing standards, developing checklists, conducting internal audits, conducting external audits, failure mode effect analysis and training. Engineers, inspectors, and supervisors on the shop floor perform quality control activities. Their activities include performing and receiving inspection, final inspection, inprocess inspection etc.

Interdependence Both, quality control and assurance of quality are largely interdependent.

The quality guarantee department relies mostly on the feedback provided by the quality control department. For example, if there are recurrent problem with the quality of the products, then the quality control department provides feedback to the quality monitoring and assurance personnel that there is a problem in the process or system that is causing product quality problems.

Then the assurance of quality department determines the root cause of the problem and then brings changes to the process to ensure that there are no quality issues in future. Similarly, the quality control department follows the guidelines and standards established by assurance of quality department to

check whether deliverables meet the quality requirements or not. Hence, both these departments are essential to maintain good quality of the deliverables.

Although both quality control and quality guarantee are different processes, but because of their strong interdependence, it becomes difficult to pin point the differences between the two. In fact, there is a very thin line that separates the two functions. Moreover in some organizations, one department performs the functions of both. All this leads to confusion between quality assurance and quality control.

QUALITY ASSURANCE STANDARDS •

Quality Assurance Standard for ISO 9001 Quality assurance standard is a written set of instructions and guidelines followed by various industries in order to maintain the quality of their products or services. Big as well as small businesses adopt these quality standards worldwide and get certification after audit from the authorized body that ensures the company and its manufacturing or service delivery steps and procedures are in compliance with the laid down standards and polices. This certification enhances the brand value of the organization, its products or services and it also instills confidence in the customers. Some QA standard documents are industry specific while some apply to all

organizations. One such universal standard that applies to all types of organizations is ISO 9001.

What Is ISO 9001 ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization. ISO standards for quality are recognized worldwide and hence ISO certified organizations have far better opportunities to trade in the international market. ISO 9001, quality assurance standard can be followed by any kind of industry, whether it is service or manufacturing industry. Each organization should develop its own quality management system in order to adhere to ISO 9001 guidelines.

To get ISO 9001 certification, the organization has to undergo three audits.

The first audit is conducted by the quality monitoring and inspection professional from within the organization i.e. internal auditor. The second such audit is conducted by the customers using the product or service in question, and the third audit is conducted by the organization that is authorized to grant ISO certifications for quality maintenance.

Benefits Of ISO 9001 2008 The ISO 9001 standard was first published in 1987. The latest edition of the standard is ISO 90012008, which was released in December 2008. This edition has minor changes as compared to the earlier one i.e., ISO 90012000.

Adhering to this standard benefits the organizations in the following way Systematic Approach The standard helps the organizations to function in a more systematic manner. There are defined systems, processes, and procedures in the

organizations to do each and every task. Teams are designated to perform these tasks. Hence, it results in more organized and systematic approach to work which improves employee satisfaction and retention.

Improved Quality The systems are integrated in the whole organization to deliver good quality products or services. This leads to improved quality and less rework. All this helps the organization to reduce wastage and increase margins.

Customer Satisfaction The customers trust the organizations that are ISO 9001 certified because this QA standard certification offers a sort or a assurance of the good practices and systems in organizations. When customers get good products or services in accordance to their requirements, their loyalty towards the organization increases. This results in more business for the organization.

The profits of the organization also increase.

Increased Margins Margins of the organization improve due to multiple effects. Some of the reasons for increase in margins are – o

When good quality products or services are manufactured or delivered, there is very little rework and fewer customer complaints.

This results in lesser wastage and hence increased margins.

o

Since according to the requirement of QA standard , there are set procedures, it results in greater employee satisfaction, which in turn

results in greater productivity and improved margins. It also reduces the cost of training the employees. o

Since organization gets more business, their margins improve.

JQA, as a pioneer in the certification of management systems, provides advanced certification services that are capable of responding to all your requests, and offers the certification services of management systems against various standards and criteria, not only ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, but also sector standards such as those for automotives, aerospace, telecommunications, medical devices, etc., as well as the certification of management systems for food safety, occupational health and safety, information security, IT services, etc.

ISO9001

(Quality)

The quality management system standard that aims to enhance the level of customer satisfaction through products or services. If you obtain the certification of ISO 9001, it will help you to enhance not only the level of your quality assurance and customer satisfaction but also the value of your organization, because it is effective also for the improvement in your work efficiency and for the reinforcement of your organizational

structure.

ISO14001

(Environment)

ISO 14001 is an environmental management system standard that aims to enable the simultaneous pursuit of business achievements and contribution to the reduction of environmental risks and the environment. The certification to this standard will contribute to the enhancement of confidence by a wide range of stakeholders (interested parties) and to the enhancement of the value of the organization aspiring to

realize

sustainable

development.

ISO27001

(Information

Security)

An information security management system standard for the continuous assurance and maintenance of the "confidentiality", "integrity" and "availability" of information. This standard is effective for the appropriate control of risks related to information, enabling the effective utilization of information, and at the same time for the development of a structure for internal control and compliance.

ISO/TS16949

(Automotive)

The quality management system standard for the automotive industry for evaluating the organization's management system to see if it is in satisfaction of the requirements of the standard and the customer specific requirements of each manufacturer, as well as the regulatory requirements and others. This standard is such that answers to the requirements of almost all automotive manufacturers in the world.

OHSAS18001

(Occupational

Health

and

Safety)

This is a standard for occupational health and safety management systems for the purpose of reducing the number of reduction of occupational accidents and associated management risks and is adopted by the largest number of organizations in the world. The introduction of OHSAS 18001 enables the enhancement of the level of satisfaction by employees and to create a good work environment, to win the social confidence in the organization.

ISO20000

(IT

Service)

The international standard for IT service management systems developed on the basis of "ITIL" that makes the overall summary of the best practices of IT service management. The standard enables to steadily provide high quality IT services and

enhances the level of the confidence held by customers and the competitiveness of the organization

JIS

Q

9100

(Aerospace)

This standard was established in Japan as the quality management system standard for the aerospace industry and is applicable worldwide like AS 9100 and EN 9100 and is technically equivalent to both standards of AS and EN.

ISO13485

(Medical

Devices)

A quality management system standard for the industry of medical devices. This standard is developed on the basis of ISO 9001 specialized in specific requirements assuring the safety and effectiveness of medical devices. This standard will lead to the development of systems that respond to the legal regulations of medical devices that are different from one country to another, and is effective also for the expansion of the international transactions of such products.

ISO22000

(Food

Safety)

A management system standard for the safety of foods that integrates the approach to management systems of ISO 9001, to the HACCP system of the Codex Committee that is widely adopted in the world as a tool for controlling the safety of foods.

TL9000

(Telecommunications)

This standard was established by QuEST Forum that was established for the improvement of quality of telecommunication by the telecommunications industry mainly of the USA.

QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR STRAWBERRIES: A CASE STUDY The two most important factors for quality assurance of strawberries are temperature and rapid marketing. Fresh strawberries are one of the most popular items in the produce case; however, strawberries are also one of the most perishable of fresh commodities. The berries are very fragile and susceptible to mechanical injury, their thin skin results in rapid loss of Water in low humidity environments and strawberries has one of the highest respiration rates of all fresh commodities. For these reasons, establishment of a successful quality assurance program is essential to a profitable marketing program for strawberries.

Will quality assurance cost me money? Actually, quality assurance should save you money. Estimates of losses at wholesale, retail and consumer levels range from 28 to 41% with 9 to 11% at the wholesale and retail levels. The major cause of loss was grey mold which was associated with bruising and soft or leaky berries. If a shipper sells 100,000 strawberry trays per month at $6.50 per tray and was able to cut product losses by 3% (from 7% to 4%) by implementing a successful quality assurance program, he would save$19,500 per month or $234,000 per year.

Assuming extra costs are incurred with a quality assurance program of $60,000/year associated with salaries and$8,000/year, associated with equipment and supplies, the net increase would be $166,000. Quality assurance can really pay for itself and also improve product quality to the customer.

What are the quality factors for strawberries? The factors which are important for strawberry quality include: •

degree of ripeness, generally judged by percentage of pink or red color

•

gloss, an indication of freshness and absence of water loss

•

absence of defects such as decay, bruising, and shriveling

•

flavor, determined by sugars, acidity and flavor volatiles (see Table 1)

•

berry size and uniformity

•

firmness, absence of soft, overripe or leaky berries

•

price and availability

Table 1. Influence of relative levels of sugars and acids on strawberry flavor.

Determining quality specifications.

The first step in setting up a quality assurance program is to determine the company’s criteria for quality for the product. What do your customers want? Are they more concerned with price and availability than quality? Is ripeness and flavor important or is appearance most important? There may be different quality factors for different types of customers. Once the critical quality factors are determined, develop objective means to measure those quality factors. Keeping records of quality-related factors can allow evaluation of company performance and assist in management decisions regarding quality assurance.

Varieties and ripeness at harvest.

Quality assurance for strawberries begins in the field with variety selection.

Strawberry varieties vary greatly in berry firmness when ripe, sugar and acid content, disease susceptibility, and yield. Selection of the varieties to grow can have a tremendous impact on potential fruit quality. Fruit with better flavor may have lower yields or less disease resistance. Management must determine which varieties will be grown and at which stage of ripeness fruit will be harvested to best meet their goals for fruit quality. Strawberry fruit do not continue to ripen after harvest and will not increase in sugar content. There-fore, riper fruit will have higher sugar content and better flavor quality. Several commodity groups have found that a percentage of customers will pay more for riper fruit with higher sugar content (soluble solids content). To supply consistent flavor quality to these customers, soluble solids content (SSC) should be monitored to ensure a minimum SSC is reached. A minimum of 7%SSC is recommended for strawberry and 10% would be excellent. The level of ripeness should be monitored in harvested trays to check picker performance.

Cultural practices affect quality.

Cultural practices and pre harvest disease control can have a tremendous influence on post harvest quality and storage life. Because post harvest fungicides are not used on straw-berries, pre harvest disease control is very important. Low light intensity has been associated with lower levels of ascorbic acid, red color and SSC. High nitrogen fertilization has been associated with softer fruit, lower SSC and less flavor.

Avoiding berry injury and diseased fruit.

Careful handling and sorting during harvest to prevent berry injury and avoid placing injured or diseased berries in the tray is needed. Training and supervision is critical. Harvesters should be given an incentive to harvest with care. Monitoring of

harvested trays for the presence of defects provides critical information to crew supervisors to give them the tools necessary to improve overall harvested quality.

Rapid cooling and prompt marketing are critical.

After harvest, the most critical factors to monitor for strawberry quality maintenance are pulp temperature sand time delays in the system. The faster the fruit are cooled and the closer the pulp temperature is maintained to 0°C (32°F), the higher the fruit quality and the longer the shelf life. Low temperatures slow fruit softening and slow growth of decay-causing pathogens. The time between harvest and cooling of the berries is critical for quality and shelf life. A record of harvest time and picker number should be kept with each tray harvested. The elapsed time from harvest to cooler should be recorded along with fruit pulp temperatures.

A management

decision must be made regarding the acceptable time from harvest to cooler. Less than a one hour delay is recommended to avoid losses in strawberry quality and post harvest life. An investment in additional small trucks and drivers may be necessary to ensure more frequent trips to the cooler.

Cooling of berries.

Upon arrival at the cooling facility, pallets should be transported immediately to the forced-air cooler. Cooler temperature should be maintained at-1 to 0°C (30 to 32°F) and 90 to 95% relative humidity. Fruit should be cooled to 0 to 1°C (32 to 34°F) before movement to the cold storage room. Separate cooler and cold storage rooms can allow for more efficient cooling. If the refrigeration system cannot keep cooler air temperatures near 0°C (32°F), additional refrigeration capability may be necessary, requiring a capital investment in quality. Cooler air temperature and pulp temperatures of the warmest berries upon removal from the cooler should be monitored regularly. Cold storage air temperatures should also be monitored and records maintained.

Management of shipping temperatures.

Management must also determine the temperature at which fruit will be allowed to be shipped.

It is highly recommended to cool berries to 0°C (32oF) before

shipment, especially if pallet covers and modified atmosphere (MA) are to be used.

Transport vehicles do not have the capability to cool product but only have the capability to maintain product temperature.

This is a critical area where

commitment to quality must be balanced with market demands and volume flow.

Shipping strawberries across country at temperatures warmer than 0°C (32°F)will greatly reduce fruit quality and shelf-life.

See Figure 1 for a sample Wholesale Shipping Checklist Truck loading.

Careful attention to the transport vehicle at product loading is essential. Trucks should be cooled to near 0°C (32°F) prior to product loading. The condition of the insulation, doors, refrigeration system and air delivery shoot should be checked on each load. Strawberries should be center loaded, to prevent warming or freezing of product during transit, and well secured. If the truck condition fails to meet the criteria established to maintain fruit quality during shipment, the buyer should be notified that the seller cannot guarantee the arrival condition of the fruit due to truck conditions.

Wholesale and Retail Quality Assurance: Incoming product should be inspected immediately for pulp temperature. If berries are warmer than 4°C(39°F), fruit quality would be benefited by forced-air cooling.

A small, portable forced-air cooler can be use din the cold room to recool strawberries which have warmed during transit. Alternatively, pallets or trays can be spread in the cold room to facilitate rapid cooling. Cooler temperature should be maintained at0°C (32°F) with 90 to 95% relative humidity. The condition of the transport vehicle should also be checked, including incoming air temperature. If MA pallet bags are present, they should be checked for arrival condition and then removed to allow for product recooling. After product has been transferred to the

cooler, an inspection of berry condition should be conducted. Fruit should be evaluated for color, firm-ness, gloss, shrivel and decay. If decay is discovered, trays should be repacked as quickly as possible avoiding excessive warming of the fruit during this period.

The temperature of outgoing product and the condition of

delivery vehicles should also be carefully monitored, as described previously for shippers Discarding inferior product.

One of the most important quality assurance decisions that management must make is to determine the minimum level of quality at which product will continue to be marketed. The difficult decision to discard inferior quality product ,especially when additional product is unavailable and demand is high, requires a firm commitment to quality. The causes of product losses should be recorded as this information can be useful for management decisions to improve product quality. The length of time product I shield in the cooler should also be recorded At the retail level, strawberries should be displayed in refrigerated cases or returned to the cold storage room at night. If relative humidity in this room is lower than 85%, placing clean, plastic film over the strawberry trays may help to reduce water loss by creating a humid environment around the trays

source: Pam Moyer, Post harvest Outreach Program , University of California, Davis, CA 95616 or Fax 916 752-8502, 4 pages.

FINDINGS Understanding the mechanism and the emotional energies required to make the change needed to become a QUALITY ASSURANCE organization is critical, but part of the difficulties inherent in making the move to QUALITY ASSURANCE is a result of the potential conflicts with the culture of the organization. Culture is the common behaviors and internalized codes of conduct that guide people’s daily actions. Organizational behaviors are shaped by the way people internalize the assumptions and values that define, either explicitly or not, the culture of the organization.

It would be recall that the objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of QUALITY ASSURANCE on corporate performance and productivity. A thorough review has been carried out on all available opportunities and other factors that would boost productivity and enhance performance generally since quality is regarded as a key element of competitiveness. Similarly, repeated studies have shown the central role quality plays in improving market shares and raising profitability. Based on the analysis of the data collected, and revelation from interactions with employees in the cause of research, the following findings emerged:  The study revealed that there are ample opportunities for training of staff on QUALITY ASSURANCE to enhance corporate performance and productivity in the company.  The study also revealed that quality is regarded or taken as a way of life, hence every one in the company is quality conscious.

 It was also further observed that high level of cross functional co-operation in the company with the top level executives leading the way to total quality management exist.  The company measure quality by the level of customers satisfaction at lowest overall cost;  The study further revealed that the company based its high level of performance and productivity on positive determination of its staff through cooperation and high level of motivation.  Also revealed in the study is the fact that the company has continued to promote the concept of continuous improvement towards error free output.

In spite of the above positive findings, there were also some areas of weakness still requiring attention from the management. The following weaknesses were observed in the cause the study:  The study revealed that the company is yet to put in place, strong cultural commitment to QUALITY ASSURANCE;  The study also revealed that traditional management style still dominate the company’s operations which equally affects its decisions;  The analysis also reveals that the company needs to do more in areas of employees’ participation or involvement in areas of policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.  The study further reveals that the company needs to improve on creating QUALITY ASSURANCE awareness among its staff.

RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the research findings and the above conclusion, on the impact of QUALITY ASSURANCE on corporate performance and productivity, the following are highly recommended towards improving QUALITY ASSURANCEin the sector:  The practice of QUALITY ASSURANCE should be regarded as an ongoing activity. As long as there are new ideas, innovations, developments, there should be no end to QUALITY ASSURANCE process, so as to be able to cope with the dynamism of the modern world;  There is need for top management to be more committed to QUALITY ASSURANCE, as well as providing an enabling environment to incorporate all within the system in the QUALITY ASSURANCE process. Similarly, there should be QUALITY ASSURANCE awareness campaign a well as QUALITY ASSURANCE meetings where programmes/ideas can always be discussed.  The company should intensify efforts on cost reduction exercise. This can be done by providing regular staff training programmes for the staffs as this will help increase their knowledge, skills and prepare them for future challenges.  The benefits of QUALITY ASSURANCE should not be over stated, rather the whole quality effort should be dedicated to and judged by predetermined results.

Hence, there should be reasonable focus in setting strategic objectives and building organizational routing that link many units and levels as much as

possible. And there should be no organizational barriers between departments and managerial operational procedure within the company. ďƒ˜ The QA approach to any process should be based on the requirements of external customers for the sake of their satisfaction because if the QUALITY ASSURANCE activities are not geared towards customers’ satisfaction, the concept will fail.

Finally, management of organizations, irrespective of size, structure, and operations should bear in mind that success only comes to firms that can fully internalize and adopt QUALITY ASSURANCE strategies to their own business environment. It is only those that maximize quality to their customers while at the same time meeting the needs of its staffs that will succeed. It must also be borne in mind, that it is not just implementation of QUALITY ASSURANCE that matters. The recipes for success

require

enhanced

organizational

staff

cooperation

for

improved

customers/clients satisfaction. This is what adds to product and quality services, reduces or increases revenue. Internalization of QUALITY ASSURANCE strategies is also the recipes that provide long-term approach to improving shareholders value by ensuring corporate survival and growth. Success requires the company literally builds customers needs and expectations (including meeting of these needs and expectation) into daily organizational routines with the aim of enhancing corporate performance and increasing productivity in the market.

CONCLUSION In evaluating data gathered and systematic analysis of the reports in the course of the study regarding the impact of QUALITY ASSURANCEon corporate performance and productivity in the brewery sectors in Nigeria, the following conclusion can be drawn: ďƒ˜ There are signs that QUALITY ASSURANCE concepts improves the performance of an organization in terms of cost reduction, increase in corporate performance and productivity, profitability and market shares, competitiveness and customer satisfaction; ďƒ˜ The concept of QUALITY ASSURANCE has been highly welcomed in the company as a way of life for customer satisfaction, making the customer delighted as well as staff and in achieving corporate goals and objectives.

Finally, the importance of QUALITY ASSURANCE in achieving business success can hardly be denied. Peters and Waterman (1982) found quality to be an important element in the pursuit of excellence. Quality is therefore the best assurance of customer allegiance, strongest defence against competition and the only path to sustained company growth and earnings. Involvement of all members of the

company in the system is crucial if improvement in the performance and productivity is ever to be achieved with the adoption of QUALITY ASSURANCE. Though, this is not easy to achieve but it must come from personal example and commitment. In addition, there must be consistency in the system, as this can help change the entire process and maintain the competitive edge which the company seek to attain.

REFERENCES Sistrunk, W.A. and J.R. Morris. 1985. Strawberry quality influence of cultural and environmental factors. In: Pattee, H.E., ed. Evaluation of Quality of Fruits and Vegetables.

Wesport, CT: AVI Pub. Co. 217-256.

Harvey, J.M. 1982. CO2 atmospheres for truck shipments of strawberries. In: Richardson, D.G. and M.Meheriuk, eds. Controlled Atmospheres for Storage and Transport of Perishable Agricultural Commodities. Port land, OR: Timber Press. 359-365.

AASHTO, 1996, “Implementation Manual for Quality Assurance,” American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C

Weed, Richard M., 1996, “Quality Assurance Software for The Personal Computer.

Demonstration Project 89, Quality Management,” FHWA-SA-96-026.

The Man Who Discovered Quality (1990) by Andrea Gabor. Times Books (a division of Random House, N.Y.) “... a comprehensive review of the influence Deming has had to date in America and Japan, [and] an acute assessment of how his theories might be implemented in the future.�

BIBLIOGRAPHY WEBSITES www.totalqualityassuranceservices.com/some-basic-quality-assurance-testingconcepts http://www.iso.org/iso/en/iso900014000/understand/selection_use/selection_use.html www.quality-assurance-solution.com www.qualityassurancemag.com http://www.asq.org/ http://www.wfl.fha.dot.gov/ql-pay/index.htm

http://www.deming.org/deminghtml/wedi.html http://www.juran.com/main.html

BOOKS Godfrey, A. B., "Juran's Quality Handbook", 1999 Ishikawa, Kaoru.

1982.

Guide to Quality Control.

Organization James & james, 2001 “Total quality”, south western P.L. Jain, “production management”, Cbs publisher Dale H. Besterfield, “Quality Control”

Tokyo: Asian Productivity