Misplaced Pages

#166833

48-552: The Irish Universities Quality Board ( IUQB ) was established in 2002. The purpose of the board, which operated from 2002 to 2012, was to promote quality assurance at Irish universities including via institutional quality reviews, whilst the board is not specifically created by an Act of the Oireachtas it does undertake the functions of the Universities Act 1997 (Section 35) in doing its work. The functions of

96-400: A model , model variant , or model number (often abbreviated as MN , M/N or model no. , and sometimes as M- or Mk ). For example, Dyson Ltd , a manufacturer of appliances (mainly vacuum cleaners), requires customers to identify their model in the support section of the website. Brand and model can be used together to identify products in the market. The model number is not necessarily

144-406: A product is an object, or system, or service made available for consumer use as of the consumer demand; it is anything that can be offered to a domestic or an international market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer . In retailing , products are often referred to as merchandise , and in manufacturing , products are bought as raw materials and then sold as finished goods . A service

192-443: A quality system so that requirements and goals for a product, service or activity will be accomplished. It is the systematic measurement, comparison with a standard, and monitoring of processes in an associated feedback loop that confers error prevention. This can be contrasted with quality control , which is focused on process output. Quality assurance includes two principles: "fit for purpose" (the product should be suitable for

240-427: A "Classification of Products by Activity" among other product classifications. The United Nations also classifies products for international economic activity reporting. The Aspinwall Classification System classifies and rates products based on five variables: The National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) developed a commodity and services classification system for use by state and local governments,

288-408: A Sears item number and a manufacturer's model number. Sears uses the departments and product groupings with the intention of helping customers browse products by function or brand within a traditional department-store structure. A product line is "a group of products that are closely related, either because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through

336-540: A laboratory must do to become accredited. Management system refers to the organization's structure for managing its processes or activities that transform inputs of resources into a product or service which meets the organization's objectives, such as satisfying the customer's quality requirements, complying with regulations, or meeting environmental objectives. WHO has developed several tools and offers training courses for quality assurance in public health laboratories. The Capability Maturity Model Integration ( CMMI ) model

384-408: A low quality culture had increased costs of $ 67 million/year for every 5000 employees compared to those rated as having a high quality culture. QA is not limited to manufacturing, and can be applied to any business or non-business activity, including: design, consulting, banking, insurance, computer software development, retailing, investment, transportation, education, and translation. It comprises

432-578: A more circular economy . Product information management (PIM) is the process of managing all the information required to market and sell products through distribution channels . This product data is created by an internal organization to support a multichannel marketing strategy. A central hub of product data can be used to distribute information to sales channels such as e-commerce websites, print catalogues, marketplaces such as Amazon and Google Shopping , social media platforms like Instagram and electronic data feeds to trading partners. Moreover,

480-686: A more comprehensive approach to quality, the US continued to apply the Quality Control (QC) concepts of inspection and sampling to remove defective products from production lines, essentially unaware of or ignoring advances in QA for decades. It is valuable to failure test or stress test a complete consumer product. In mechanical terms this is the operation of a product until it fails, often under stresses such as increasing vibration , temperature, and humidity . This may expose many unanticipated weaknesses in

528-477: A quality improvement process, which is generic in the sense that it can be applied to any of these activities and it establishes a quality culture, which supports the achievement of quality. This in turn is supported by quality management practices which can include a number of business systems and which are usually specific to the activities of the business unit concerned. In manufacturing and construction activities, these business practices can be equated to

SECTION 10

#1732783675167

576-525: A relationship. During the Middle Ages , guilds adopted responsibility for the quality of goods and services offered by their members, setting and maintaining certain standards for guild membership. Royal governments purchasing material were interested in quality control as customers. For this reason, King John of England appointed William de Wrotham to report about the construction and repair of ships. Centuries later, Samuel Pepys , Secretary to

624-535: A retail location where it is purchased by consumers. In the EU, under the renewed Sustainable Product Policy Initiative , the inclusion of a Digital Product Passport has been proposed. A material passport is a document consisting of all the materials that are included in a product or construction. It consists of a set of data describing defined characteristics of materials in products, useful for recovery, recycling , re-use and various evaluations. They may contribute to

672-683: A specific unit of a product is often (and in some contexts must be) identified by a serial number , which is necessary to distinguish products with the same product definition. In the case of automotive products, it is called the vehicle identification number (VIN), an internationally standardised format. Product information, beyond currency price information, can include: Many of these types of product information are regulated to some degree, such as to some degree prohibiting false or misleading product information or requiring sellers or manufacturers to specify various information such as ingredients of food-, pharmaceutical- and hygiene-products. There also

720-409: A standard product was produced, while quality was the responsibility of machine inspectors, "placed in each department to cover all operations ... at frequent intervals, so that no faulty operation shall proceed for any great length of time." Out of this also came statistical process control (SPC), which was pioneered by Walter A. Shewhart at Bell Laboratories in the early 1920s. Shewhart developed

768-518: A television set software project at Philips Semiconductors is described. where inspection and structured testing are the measurement phase of a quality assurance strategy referred to as the DMAIC model ( define, measure, analyze, improve, control ). DMAIC is a data-driven quality strategy used to improve processes. The term "control" is the fifth phase of this strategy. Quality assurance comprises administrative and procedural activities implemented in

816-434: A tool in any quality improvement effort to track quality data. Product quality data is statistically charted to distinguish between common cause variation or special cause variation. Walter Shewart of Bell Telephone Laboratories recognized that when a product is made, data can be taken from scrutinized areas of a sample lot of the part and statistical variances are then analyzed and charted. Control can then be implemented on

864-400: Is standardization . Marketing to entice the shopper is often prioritized over accurate, high-quality or extensive and relevant information. Product information is often a key element in the buyer decision process . Relevant factors include trust in the accuracy of the information and social normative pressure. Easily accessible and up-to-date medicinal product information can contribute to

912-521: Is also regarded as a type of product. In project management , products are the formal definition of the project deliverables that make up or contribute to delivering the objectives of the project. A related concept is that of a sub-product, a secondary but useful result of a production process. Dangerous products, particularly physical ones, that cause injuries to consumers or bystanders may be subject to product liability . A product can be classified as tangible or intangible . A tangible product

960-534: Is an actual physical object that can be perceived by touch such as a building, vehicle, gadget, or clothing. An intangible product is a product that can only be perceived indirectly such as an insurance policy. These services can be broadly classified under intangible products, which can be durable or nondurable . In its online product catalog, retailer Sears, Roebuck and Company divides its products into "departments", then presents products to potential shoppers according to (1) function or (2) brand. Each product has

1008-451: Is widely used to implement Process and Product Quality Assurance (PPQA) in an organization. The CMMI maturity levels can be divided into 5 steps, which a company can achieve by performing specific activities within the organization. During the 1980s, the concept of "company quality" with the focus on management and people came to the fore in the U.S. It was considered that, if all departments approached quality with an open mind, success

SECTION 20

#1732783675167

1056-746: The NIGP Code . The NIGP Code is used by 33 states within the United States as well as thousands of cities, counties and political subdivisions. The NIGP Code is a hierarchical schema consisting of a 3 digit class, 5 digit class-item, 7 digit class-item-group, and an 11 digit class-item-group-detail. Applications of the NIGP Code include vendor registration, inventory item identification, contract item management, spend analysis, and strategic sourcing. A manufacturer usually provides an identifier for each particular design of product they make, known as

1104-501: The assembly lines . Pioneers such as Frederick Winslow Taylor and Henry Ford recognized the limitations of the methods being used in mass production at the time and the subsequent varying quality of output. Taylor, utilizing the concept of scientific management, helped separate production tasks into many simple steps (the assembly line) and limited quality control to a few specific individuals, limiting complexity. Ford emphasized standardization of design and component standards to ensure

1152-463: The health literacy . Online shopping is usually more informationally rich than shopping at physical stores traveled to and usually has higher comparability and customizability. Production information-related developments can be useful for enabling, facilitating, or shifting towards sustainable consumption and support more sustainable products . Environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely used for to assess environmental impacts across

1200-548: The insurance industry, product lines are indicated by the type of risk coverage, such as auto insurance , commercial insurance and life insurance . Various classification systems for products have been developed for economic statistical purposes. The NAFTA signatories are working on a system that classifies products called NAPCS as a companion to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The European Union uses

1248-608: The software engineering processes and methods used to ensure quality. Various methods or frameworks are employed for this, such as ensuring conformance to one or more standards, e.g. ISO 25010 (which supersede ISO/IEC 9126 ) or process models such as CMMI , or SPICE . In addition, enterprise quality management software is used to correct issues such as supply chain disaggregation and to ensure regulatory compliance ; these are vital for medical device manufacturers. Consultants and contractors are sometimes employed when introducing new quality practices and methods, particularly where

1296-585: The American Society for Quality. 75% of senior or C-suite titles believed that their organization exhibits "a comprehensive, group-wide culture of quality." But agreement with that response dropped to less than half among those with quality job titles. In other words, the further from the C-suite, the less favorable the view of the culture of quality. A survey of more than 60 multinational companies found that those companies whose employees rated as having

1344-567: The British Admiralty, appointed multiple such overseers to standardize sea rations and naval training. Prior to the extensive division of labor and mechanization resulting from the Industrial Revolution , it was possible for workers to control the quality of their own products. The Industrial Revolution led to a system in which large groups of people performing a specialized type of work were grouped together under

1392-466: The application of control charts to munitions manufacture at the Army's Picatinny Arsenal in 1934. That successful application helped convince Army Ordnance to engage AT&T's George Edwards to consult on the use of statistical quality control among its divisions and contractors at the outbreak of World War II. After World War II, many countries' manufacturing capabilities that had been destroyed during

1440-422: The board were passed to Quality and Qualifications Ireland on 6 November 2012. Quality assurance The terms "quality assurance" and "quality control" are often used interchangeably to refer to ways of ensuring the quality of a service or product. For instance, the term "assurance" is often used in a context such as: Implementation of inspection and structured testing as a measure of quality assurance in

1488-483: The control chart in 1924 and the concept of a state of statistical control. Statistical control is equivalent to the concept of exchangeability developed by logician William Ernest Johnson , also in 1924, in his book Logic, Part III: The Logical Foundations of Science . Along with a team at AT&T that included Harold Dodge and Harry Romig, he worked to put sampling inspection on a rational statistical basis as well. Shewhart consulted with Colonel Leslie E. Simon in

Irish Universities Quality Board - Misplaced Pages Continue

1536-460: The environment, a device, or a mission, product assurance plays a particularly important role here. It has organizational, budgetary and product developmental independence meaning that it reports to highest management only, has its own budget, and does not expend labor to help build a product. Product assurance stands on an equal footing with project management but embraces the customer's point of view. Software quality assurance refers to monitoring

1584-428: The intended purpose); and "right first time" (mistakes should be eliminated). QA includes management of the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components, services related to production, and management , production and inspection processes. The two principles also manifest before the background of developing (engineering) a novel technical product: The task of engineering is to make it work once, while

1632-607: The life cycle of products. There are LCA datasets that assess all products in some supermarkets in a standardized way. Consumers may seek reliable information to evaluate relevant characteristics of products such as durability and reliability. Development of 'transparency by design' scenarios have been suggested to "complement the physical product with layers of digital information", improving transparency and traceability (T&T). The app CodeCheck gives some smartphone users some capability to scan products for assessed ingredients. Many labels are considered to be flawed and few have

1680-425: The medical field because it helps to identify the standards of medical equipment and services. Hospitals and laboratories make use of external agencies in order to ensure standards for equipment such as X-ray machines, Diagnostic Radiology and AERB. QA is particularly applicable throughout the development and introduction of new medicines and medical devices. The Research Quality Association (RQA) supports and promotes

1728-542: The models for quality assurance defined by the International Standards contained in the ISO 9000 series and the specified specifications for quality systems. In the system of Company Quality, the work being carried out was shop floor inspection which did not reveal the major quality problems. This led to quality assurance or total quality control, which has come into being recently. QA is very important in

1776-426: The part in the form of rework or scrap, or control can be implemented on the process that made the part, ideally eliminating the defect before more parts can be made like it. The quality of products is dependent upon that of the participating constituents, some of which are sustainable and effectively controlled while others are not. The process(es) which are managed with QA pertain to Total quality management . If

1824-418: The product, and the data is used to drive engineering and manufacturing process improvements. Often quite simple changes can dramatically improve product service, such as changing to mold -resistant paint or adding lock-washer placement to the training for new assembly personnel. Statistical control is based on analyses of objective and subjective data. Many organizations use statistical process control as

1872-409: The quality of research in life sciences, through its members and regulatory bodies. The term product assurance (PA) is often used instead of quality assurance and is, alongside project management and engineering, one of the three primary project functions. Quality assurance is seen as one part of product assurance. Due to the sometimes catastrophic consequences a single failure can have for human lives,

1920-449: The relevant skills and expertise and resources are not available within the organization. Consultants and contractors will often employ Quality Management Systems (QMS), auditing and procedural documentation writing CMMI , Six Sigma , Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and Advance Product Quality Planning (APQP). Product (business) In marketing ,

1968-727: The same as the manufacturer part number (MPN). Because of the huge amount of similar products in the automotive industry , there is a special kind of defining a car with options (marks, attributes) that represent the characteristics features of the vehicle. A model of a car is defined by some basic options like body, engine, gearbox, and axles. The variants of a model (often called the trim levels ) are built by some additional options like color, seats, wheels, mirrors, other trims, entertainment and assistant systems, etc. Options, that exclude each other (pairwise) build an option family. That means that you can choose only one option for each family and you have to choose exactly one option. In addition,

Irish Universities Quality Board - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-480: The same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges." Many businesses offer a range of product lines which may be unique to a single organisation or may be common across the business's industry. In 2002 the US Census compiled revenue figures for the finance and insurance industry by various product lines such as "accident, health and medical insurance premiums" and "income from secured consumer loans". Within

2064-548: The specification does not reflect the true quality requirements, the product's quality cannot be guaranteed. For instance, the parameters for a pressure vessel should cover not only the material and dimensions but operating, environmental, safety , reliability and maintainability requirements. ISO 17025 is an international standard that specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and or calibrations . There are 15 management requirements and 10 technical requirements. These requirements outline what

2112-563: The supervision of a foreman who was appointed to control the quality of work manufactured. During the time of the First World War , manufacturing processes typically became more complex, with larger numbers of workers being supervised. This period saw the widespread introduction of mass production and piece work , which created problems as workmen could now earn more money by the production of extra products , which in turn occasionally led to poor quality workmanship being passed on to

2160-465: The task of quality assurance is to make it work all the time. Historically, defining what suitable product or service quality means has been a more difficult process, determined in many ways, from the subjective user-based approach that contains "the different weights that individuals normally attach to quality characteristics," to the value-based approach which finds consumers linking quality to price and making overall conclusions of quality based on such

2208-411: The time to "study the true environmental impact of every purchase". Full product transparency is a concept of making the full life-cycle impacts public. An important element that is required for various product information is supply chain transparency, which relates to human rights and supply chain sustainability . Produce traceability makes it possible to track produce from its point of origin to

2256-523: The war were rebuilt. General Douglas MacArthur oversaw the rebuilding of Japan. He involved two key people in the development of modern quality concepts: W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran . They and others promoted the collaborative concepts of quality to Japanese business and technical groups, and these groups used these concepts in the redevelopment of the Japanese economy. Although there were many people trying to lead United States industries toward

2304-423: Was possible if management led the quality improvement process. The company-wide quality approach places an emphasis on four aspects (enshrined in standards such as ISO 9001): The quality of the outputs is at risk if any of these aspects is deficient. The importance of actually measuring Quality Culture throughout the organization is illustrated by a survey that was done by Forbes Insights in partnership with

#166833