The Dimensions of Quality in Production

What is Quality?

Quality can be defined as the ability of a product to meet or exceed customer expectations. As customer expectations are often changing, the definition of quality must also change. In this blog, we will define some of the dimensions that are used to describe what quality means for consumers.

The 9 Dimensions of Product Quality

Customer expectations on the quality of a product can be broken down into 9 dimensions. The dimensions of product quality were developed by David A. Garvin as a way to analyze the quality of items. These dimensions are:

Performance - This describes the main characteristics of the product. Generally, if the performance is equal to the overall expectations or exceeds them, your product will be considered of high quality. However, if the performance rating falls below the customer’s expectations, your quality rating will suffer.
Aesthetics - This involves the characteristics of the product that are related to its appearance, feel, smell, or taste (if applicable). Aesthetic and style choices are not universal, so it will be impossible to meet everyone’s expectations for this dimension of quality.
Special Features - This dimension involves all of the additional features of the product that supplement the basic functioning of the product. This is usually what provides an additional dimension of appeal to the customer.
Conformance - This describes how well the product meets the design specifications and any industry standards and requirements. During the product design process, the specifications are established along with the tolerated deviations.
Reliability - This is how well you can depend on the performance of the product. If the item has variability in its performance and you cannot reliably depend on it, it is not of high quality. If the product (and the overall company) performance consistently meets expectations, then it is considered of high quality.
Durability - This is the product’s performance over time. A durable product is of high quality when its performance does not decrease as it is being used. Customers are typically more inclined to pay more for products that will last them a long time.
Perceived Quality - This is how the customer perceived the standard of quality of the product. An important note here is that perception is not always the same as quality and the reputation of a company can greatly affect how the quality of items are perceived.
Serviceability - This is how well your organization is able to handle service-related issues such as customer complaints or product repairs. This can also include the ease of repair of the product, which can be a determinant in whether the customer will buy the product.
Consistency - Finally, the last dimension of product quality is that the quality doesn’t vary. This includes variation over time and for all products offered by the company.

Benefits of Quality

It is no surprise that having products of high quality has many benefits for companies as a whole. Some of these benefits include:

Increased satisfaction of consumers - Customers are some of the people that benefit greatly from having high quality processes in manufacturing. The consumers get better quality products and are more satisfied with their purchases. This indirectly benefits your company as your reputation will improve and you are likely to maintain the loyalty of these customers.
Reduced cost of production - While some may think that having high-quality products costs more, it can actually reduce the overall costs of production. This is because you will save money on scraps and re-work as well as utilize your resources more effectively once you analyze your production processes.
Improved employee morale - When people talk about the benefits of having quality products, they often mention the end consumer. However, employees can also be considered a type of “internal consumer’. When they receive products of high quality from upstream processes, they will have fewer difficulties performing their tasks. In addition, improving the processes and reducing the need for rework will ensure that the production operations are running smoothly.
Increased sales - Customers are attracted to products of high quality. They are more likely to purchase from a company that they trust to have high-performing, durable, and reliable products.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling System and Quality

The importance of quality within your manufacturing facility cannot be understated. This is why using an Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) System like PlanetTogether APS that can help you improve the quality of your production operations. PlanetTogether APS will allow you to effectively locate bottlenecks in production before they become an issue, reduce lead times, and locate the most advantageous production schedule. This will allow you to identify areas and processes that can be improved so that you can reduce costs of production and increase profits.

Visibility is a key component in ensuring quality within your manufacturing operations. As quality assessment is no longer performed only at the latest stage of production, it is important to collect and analyze the product quality data throughout the supply chain. Having an integrated system that allows visibility between multiple departments is a must for modern manufacturing operations.

PlanetTogether allows us to provide a quality product to our customers in a timely manner.
GREGORY VAN LEIRSBURG, PRODUCTION SCHEDULER, STANDARD PROCESS SUPPLEMENTS

PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Softwares have become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations as customer demand for increased product assortment, fast delivery, and downward cost pressures become prevalent. These systems help planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans. APS Systems can be quickly integrated with an ERP/MRP software to fill the gaps where these systems lack planning and scheduling flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.

With PlanetTogether APS you can:

Create optimized schedules that balance production efficiency and delivery performance
Maximize throughput on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
Provide company-wide visibility to resource capacity
Enable scenario data-driven decision making

The implementation of an Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency by taking advantage of the operational data you already possess in your ERP system. APS is a step in the right direction of efficiency and lean manufacturing production enhancement. Try out a free trial or demo!