ABSTRACT
Manufacturing continues to be the major source for creating wealth and promoting economic growth and development throughout the world. In the U.S. the proportion of jobs in the manufacturing sector has declined for many decades, but the relative impact of job creation in non-manufacturing areas that was generated from manufacturing has increased significantly. This increasing workforce multiplier is due to new and advanced technologies. Global competition has never been greater for introducing and producing new products at reasonable costs that can meet the high expectations of today’s well-informed consumers. Successful producers must not only be efficient and cost effective in producing products, but these products must also meet high customer expectations in terms of their usefulness and overall appeal as well as having high performance. Today the public is well-informed of the availability of products and emerging technologies that will impact the markets and people rightfully demand high quality. Essentially every major company is engaged in some form of total quality management program that is aimed at organizing systematic changes in processes that will ensure continuous improvement. To be effective any such program must receive the support and participation of the employees throughout the organization and they need to be knowledgeable of all aspects of their product quality and the factors that can influence it throughout design and development, production, delivery, and customer use. The modern interpretation of quality is broad and incorporates all of the features and characteristics that influence a product’s value relative to both consumers and producers of the products. To properly account for the total balance of weight or importance that should be given in making economic decisions, which pertain to product quality, it is necessary to consider a systematic view that incorporates all of the invested interests in achieving customer acceptance and economic feasibility for the manufacturer.
