ABSTRACT
Building quality control into manufacturing operations is almost a uniform goal throughout industry and it is judged to be so important that it is essentially a sacred tenet. Certainly the pursuit of improved products through the use of computer control or other appropriate means is an admirable goal. In addition, the search for this goodness is in tune with our apparent need to ever advance on the frontiers of technology, as well as being relatively attainable, unlike other holy grails. But what does quality really mean in the manufacturing environment aside from the terms high, low, medium, etc., that are often discussed? From a technical standpoint, quality implies a degree of excellence which causes a product to be superior to others in performing its intended function. In addition, less tangible factors such as appearance and feel or even market image may be used in the evaluation of an item's quality. Product specifications are one means of comparing the quality of different entities, although this can be deceptive in some instances.
