The Crosby Philosophy
Crosby philosophy on quality management is based upon the absolutes of quality management and basic elements of improvement .The absolutes of quality management are: quality is conformance to requirements not elegance, there is no such thing as a quality problem, no such thing as economics of quality, the only performance measure is cost of quality, the only performance standard is zero defects , and the basic elements of improvement include determination, education and implementation.
Quality Guru Philip Crosby has developed 14 steps for an organization to follow in building an effective quality program:
1. Management is committed to quality and this is clear to all
Clarify where management stands on quality. It is necessary to consistently produce conforming products and services at the optimum price. The device to accomplish this is the use of defect prevention techniques in the operating departments:
- Engineering
- Manufacturing
- Quality Control
- Purchasing
- Sales and others.
2. Create quality improvement teams with representatives from all work groups and functions
These teams run the quality improvement program. Since every function of an operation contributes to defect levels, every function must participate in the quality improvement effort. The degree of participation is best determined by the particular situation that exists. However, everyone has the opportunity to improve.
3. Measure processes to determine current and potential quality issues
Communicate current and potential non-conformance problems in a manner that permits objective evaluation and corrective action. Basic quality measurement data is obtained from the inspection and test reports, which are broken down by operating areas of the plant. By comparing the rejection data with the input data, it is possible to know the rejection rates. Since most companies have such systems, it is not necessary to go into them in detail. It should be mentioned that unless this data is reported properly, it is useless. After all, their only purpose is to warn management of serious situations. They should be used to identify specific problems needing corrective action, and the quality department should report them.
4. Calculate the cost of (poor) quality
Define the ingredients of the COQ and explain its use as a management tool.
5. Raise quality awareness of all employees
Provide a method of raising the personal concern felt by all personnel in the company toward the conformance of the product or service and the quality reputation of the company. By the time a company is ready for the quality awareness step, they should have a good idea of the types and expense of the problems being faced. The quality measurement and COQ steps will have revealed them.
6. Take actions to correct quality issues
Provide a systematic method of permanently resolving the problems that are identified through previous action steps. Problems that are identified during the acceptance operation or by some other means must be documented and then resolved formally.
7. Monitor progress of quality improvement establish a zero defects committee
Examine the various activities that must be conducted in preparation for formally launching the Zero Defects program . The quality improvement task team should list all the individual action steps that build up to Zero Defects day in order to make the most meaningful presentation of the concept and action plan to personnel of the company. These steps, placed on a schedule and assigned to members of the team for execution, will provide a clean energy flow into an organization-wide Zero Defects commitment.
Since it is a natural step, it is not difficult, but because of the significance of it, management must make sure it is conducted properly.
