Dimensions of Quality

Garvin (1987)
1. Performance:
– Will the product/service do the intended job?
2. Reliability:
– How often does the product/service fail?
3. Durability:
– How long does the product/service last?
4. Serviceability:
– How easy to repair the product / to solve the
problems in service?
 Dimensions of Quality
5. Aesthetics:
– What does the product/service look/smell/sound/feel like?
6. Features:
– What does the product do/ service give?
7. Perceived Quality:
– What is the reputation of the company or its
products/services?
8. Conformance to Standards:
– Is the product/service made exactly as the designer/standard
intended?
Quality in different areas of society

Area Examples
Airlines On-time, comfortable, low-cost service
Correct diagnosis, minimum wait time, lower
Health Care
cost, security
Food Services Good product, fast delivery, good environment
Postal Services fast delivery, correct delivery, cost containment
Proper preparation for future, on-time
Academia
knowledge delivery
Consumer Products Properly made, defect-free, cost effective
Insurance Payoff on time, reasonable cost
Military Rapid deployment, decreased wages, no graft
Automotive Defect-free
Communications Clearer, faster, cheaper service
 What is Quality?
• Conformance to specifications (British Defense Industries
Quality Assurance Panel)
• Conformance to requirements (Philip Crosby)
• Fitness for purpose or use (Juran)
• A predictable degree of uniformity and dependability, at low
cost and suited to the market (Edward Deming)
• Synonymous with customer needs and expectations (R J
Mortiboys)
• Meeting the (stated) requirements of the customer- now and
in the future (Mike Robinson)
• The total composite product and service characteristics of
marketing, engineering, manufacturing and maintenance
through which the product and service in use will meet the
expectations by the customer (Armand Feigenbaum)
 What is Quality?
• “The degree to which a system, component, or process meets
(1) specified requirements, and
(2) customer or users needs or expectations” – IEEE

• The totality of features and characteristics of a product or

• Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils

Juran Quality is fitness for use; quality trilogy

Feignbaum Quality is a total field

Crosby Quality is free; zero defects

Ishikawa Cause-and effect diagrams; quality

Taguchi Taguchi loss function

Ohno and Continuous improvenment

9-6
 Deming’s 14 Principles.
1. “Create Constancy of Purpose”
 Define the problems of today and the future
 Allocate resources for long-term planning
 Allocate resources for research and education
 Constantly improve design of product and service
2. “Adopt A New Philosophy”
 Quality costs less not more
 Superstitious learning
 The call for major change
 Stop looking at your competition and look at your customer instead
3. “Stop Dependence On Inspection For Quality”
 Quality does not come from inspection
 Mass inspection is unreliable, costly, and ineffective
 Inspectors fail to agree with each other
 Inspection should be used to collect data for process control
 Deming’s 14 Principles.
4. “End Proactive Awarding Of Business Based On PriceAlone”
 Price alone has no meaning
 Change focus from lowest inital cost to lowest cost
 Work toward a single source and long term relationship
 Establish a mutual confidence and aid between purchaser and vendor
5. “Improve Every Process Constantly / Forever”
 Quality starts with the intend of management
 Teamwork in design is fundamental
 Forever continue to reduce waste and continue to improve
 Putting out fires is not improvement of the process
6. “Institute Training”
 Management must provide the setting where workers can be succesful
 Management must remove the inhibitors to good work
 Management needs an appreciation of variation
 This is management’s new role
 Deming’s 14 Principles.
7. “Adopt And Institute Leadership”
 Remove barriers to pride of workmanship
 Know the work they supervise
 Know the difference between special and common cause of variation
8. “Remove Fear”
 The common denominator of fear:
 Fear of knowledge
 Performance appraisals
 Management by fear or numbers
9. “Break Barriers Between Staff Areas”
 Know your internal suppliers and customers
 Promote team work
10. “Eliminate Slogans, Exhortations And Targets”
 They generate frustration and resentment
 Use posters that explain what management is doing to improve the
work environment
 Deming’s 14 Principles.
11. “Eliminate Numerical Quotas”
 They impede quality
 They reduce production
 The person’s job becomes meeting a quota
12. “Remove Barriers That Harm Pride Of Workmanship”
 Performance appraisal systems
 Production rates
 Financial management systems
 Allow people to take pride in their workmanship
13. “Institute Programs For Education And Self Improvement”
 Commitment to lifelong employment
 Work with higher education needs
 Develop team building skills
14. “Put Everybody In The Company To Work For This Transformation”
 Struggle over the 14 points
 Take pride in new philosophy
 Include the critical mass of people in the change
 Taguchi’s Contribution
• In the early 1980s, Prof. Genechi
Taguchi introduced his approach to
using experimental design for

1) Designing products or processes so that they are robust to

• By robust, we mean that the product or process performs consistently