High Quality at Economical Cost: Concepts, Approaches, Techniques in Design and Manufacture

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2005), "High Quality at Economical Cost: Concepts, Approaches, Techniques in Design and Manufacture", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 291-292. https://doi.org/10.1108/09544780510594261

Kailash Anand, who recently retired as Professor in the Statistical Quality Control and Operations Research Division of the Indian Statistical Institute, is an independent quality consultant. He examines various factors that influence cost and quality of products.

The book comprises ten chapters supported by 16 annexures, 16 case studies, 69 figures, 137 tables, and nine appendices. Chapter 1 deals with the concepts of quality and cost and the evolution of quality from conformance to standards to meeting societal requirements. Taguchi's loss function is touched upon.

Chapter 2 discusses techniques used for transforming organizations from “low‐quality/high‐cost” producers to “high‐quality/low‐cost” producers, using policy management, six sigma and quality circles. Chapter 3 focuses on issues of quality control and the transformation from a reliance on inspection to planning for quality and quality assurance.

The theme of chapter 4 is the role of statistics in quality management and that of chapter 5 is building quality in manufacturing. The important areas of statistical control highlighted include determination of specifications, assessment/diagnosis of quality, product and process optimization, process control and variability reduction, and problem solving. Also explained in chapter 5 are the ways of preventing potential failures through process failure mode effect analysis, machinery maintenance, good housekeeping, and quality planning and control during manufacturing and post‐production.

Quality without inspection and control is the focus of chapter 6. This chapter shows how to move from “find and fix” mindset to prevention mindset using systems such variety reduction, Poka‐Yoke (mistake‐proofing), and set up approval.

Chapter 7 is a reproduction of Kailash's (1998) article titled “Dispersion control: a company philosophy to meet competitive challenges”, in the Journal of Quality Engineering. After defining what dispersion is, the five sources (personnel, material, methods/processes, machine and measurement) of dispersion and the ways of controlling them are briefly discussed with the aid of case studies.

Achieving high quality at low cost through robust design is the theme of chapter 8. The application of quality function deployment and Taguchi's concept of quality engineering at low cost are explained with six real case studies from different industries. In chapter 9, the attention is turned to important issues related to the supply chain and the factors involved in developing a strong supplier partnership to the benefit of buyers, sellers and the consumers.

Finally, in the last chapter attention is turned to the most vital aspect of quality management, the motivation of employees. Seven most commonly observed de‐motivating factors are explained. A framework for evaluating improvement projects to recognize and reward project teams is presented.

The book would have been more balanced had the human aspects been considered in more depth. Yet, the book is a valuable contribution to the field of quality management that is crucial in this age of globalization and consumerism.