ABSTRACT

If we adopt the definition of quality as ‘meeting the customer requirements’, we have already seen the need to consider the quality of design and the quality of conformance to design. To achieve quality therefore requires:

Already quality management has been broken down into a series of

each task until it is of a manageable size. Considering the design stage, it is vital to ensure that the specification for the product or service is realistic. Excessive, unnecessary detail here frequently results in the specification being ignored, at least partially, under the pressures to contain costs. It must be reasonably precise and include some indication of priority areas. Otherwise it will lead to a product or service that is unacceptable to the market. A systematic monitoring of product/service performance should lead to better and more realistic specifications. That is not the same thing as adding to the volume or detail of the documents.