ABSTRACT
Owing to current market requirements and continually increasing pressure of competition error-free delivery of products and services represents a decisive competitive advantage for many businesses. There is general agreement about the need to remove errors and company weak points on a long-term basis. However, in spite of attempts using currently available methods of quality management to overcome error problems in order to achieve increased or stable product quality and reduce costs, everyday practice shows how difficult it is to achieve this goal. Studies show that German businesses expend 20 to 30% of their turnover on error removal (Kamiske and Braur 1992, S. 274).
