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Quality Control
When the Cost of Poor Quality in a process sporadically flares up to unusually high levels, it triggers a reaction often called troubleshooting, or corrective action associated with quality control. Control consists of three elements: measuring process performance, comparing the actual performance to the established standard measurement, and then taking action on the difference. |
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Control employs a corrective action feedback loop. The elements of the feedback loop (and hence, of control) are:
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The control subject, which is the process or product characteristic to be controlled |
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A sensor, which measures the control variable |
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An umpire, who receives the measure from the sensor |
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The target or standard (expressed in units of measure) |
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If the standard is not met, the umpire energizes an actuator who adjusts the process to bring it back into compliance with the standard-The actuator may be a supervisor, a task, or another employee |
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Control is a form of improvement in the sense that a bad situation-failing to meet the agreed upon standard-is made better by re-establishing the current standard, but it is not breakthrough improvement. It is merely removing unwanted change and restoring the process to meet the current standard. Control is carried out by a standard sequence of events: |
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Evaluate Actual Performance |
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Compare Actual Performance with the Standards |
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Act on the (Bad) Difference |
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Juran can help your organization with quality control by teaching your staff how to compare actual process performance to established standard measurements, and then correct the difference. |
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