ABSTRACT

The term Quality Control refers to building in the quality of a product and not inspecting that quality in. Total Quality Control, 1QC as defined by A. V. Feigenbaum, is an effective system for integrating the quality development, quality maintenance, and quality improvement efforts of the various groups in an organization so as to enable production and service at the most economical levels which allow for full customer satisfaction. A total quality program encompasses both Quality Control and Total Quality Control, in that it is a dedication of the entire organization to the continuous improvement process. The output of the total quality program is to eliminate all waste and non-value operations resulting in increased value to the customer. As illustrated in Fig. 2-1, the evolution of the Quality effort has progressed from simple final inspection to a program of ongoing continuous improvement. During this quality evolution; the organization for effective implementation of Quality has gone through several key milestones. The first occurred during World War II with widespread use of statistical methods applied to improve product yields, and increased reliability.