http://iso-qms.blogspot.com/ Mohammad Zaid

Philip B. Crosby: Four Absolutes of Quality Management and 14-Step Quality

Improvement Plan

Crosby’s views on quality fall in the first category. In his view, quality is conformance to requirements. For this purpose, he states that it is necessary to translate requirements into measurable product or service characteristics. With requirements stated in terms of numerical specifications, one can measure the characteristics of a product (e.g., diameter of a hole) or service (e.g., customer service response time) to see if it is high quality.

In essence, this means that each requirement must be clear and unambiguously stated, and its outcome verifiable, so that it can be determined unequivocally whether the requirement has been satisfied. One of Crosby’s main contributions to quality was a set of four absolutes of quality management that provide insight into his quality philosophy. The following summary of his four absolutes is taken from the American Society for Quality:

1. Quality has to be defined as conformance to requirements, not as goodness or elegance. Management must establish requirements, supply the wherewithal, and encourage and help employees to get the job done. The basis of this policy is “Do it right the first time.”

2. The system for assuring quality is prevention, not appraisal. The first step to

defect and error prevention is to understand the process* by which a product is produced. When a defect occurs, discovery and elimination are top priorities. Prevention is a knowledge issue for quality-focused workers.

3. The performance standard must be zero defects, not “that’s good enough.”

The only performance standard that makes sense for “do it right the first time” is zero defects. Zero defects needs to be a performance standard for everyone in the company, from top management to workers on the line.

http://iso-qms.blogspot.com/ Mohammad Zaid

4. The measurement of quality is the price of nonconformance, not indices. A dollar figure can be established for the cost of quality (COQ) by determining the difference between the price of nonconformance and the price of conformance. The price of nonconformance is the expense of doing things the wrong way, and can account for 20 to 35% of revenues. Price of conformance is the cost of doing things right — typically 3 to 4%. Managers should spend time identifying where cost of quality is occurring and address what makes it occur.

Built on top of his four absolutes of quality management is Crosby’s 14-step road map for quality improvement in an organization:

Management Commitment: Give clearly visible signals that management is committed to quality throughout the organization.

Quality Improvement Team: Set up quality improvement teams with senior representatives from each department to demonstrate high-level commitment.

Quality Measurement: Measure processes to determine where current and potential quality problems lie.

Cost of Quality: Evaluate the cost of quality, and explain its use as a management tool.

Quality Awareness: Raise the quality awareness and personal concern of every employee.

Corrective Action: Ensure a system is in place for analyzing defects in the system and applying simple cause-and-effect analysis to prevent recurrence.

http://iso-qms.blogspot.com/ Mohammad Zaid

Zero Defects Planning: Look for business activities to which zero defect logic should be applied.

Supervisor Training: Educate and train supervisors on their roles and responsibilities in the quality improvement process.

Zero Defects Day: Hold a Zero Defects Day to show everyone there has been a change, and to reaffirm management commitment.

Goal Setting: Encourage individuals to establish improvement goals for themselves and their groups.

Error Cause Removal: Encourage employees to communicate to management the obstacles they face in attaining their improvement goals.

Employee Recognition: Recognize and appreciate individual and team efforts for quality improvement.

Quality Councils: Establish Quality Councils to discuss quality matters on a regular basis.

Repeat the Cycle of Improvement: Do it all over again and emphasize that the quality improvement process never ends.

http://iso-qms.blogspot.com/ Mohammad Zaid

For Article on Quality visit my blog http:/ / iso-qms.blogspot.com/

Link to Previous Articles

1. Benefits of Implementing a QMS 2. IS TQM A TOTAL SOLUTION?

3.

4.

ISO List

5.

Twelve Obstacles to Implementing Quality

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Quality Control Tools

7.

PDCA Cycle

8.

Top Quality Gurus

9.

Quality management system - Summary of requirements

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Difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control

11.

What is ISO 9000?

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Quality Glossary – A to Z

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The Quality Control Audit - By Kaoru Ishikwa

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The eight principles of quality management

15.

Executive Summary of the 14 Toyota Way Principles

Toyota Production System

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