|
|
|
This a measure of the satisfaction of the customer of the product that is supplied and is a important determinant of demand for most products. It is often measured in terms of the warranty rate and/or customer surveys.
We separate quality into 2 components - internal and external quality.
A high level of internal quality is attained through motivation and training of people, maintenance of machines, good supplier relations and systems which monitor quality ("quality systems"). This corresponds "quality at the source", and to the techniques of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Deming.
External quality is the quality that the customer sees and could be a result of internal quality or it could be simply the result of extensive inspection at the end of the process. (While the customer does not care how they get quality, external quality is usually much more expensive due to the rework involved.) The quality index curve (see below) is designed to reflect the customers' perception of the quality of the product given the warranty or external defect rate. Different market segments expect different levels of quality as shown in the table below.