Hi friends, 'Quality' has been in the colloquial realm for time immemorial, with different meanings and connotations to different people, even at different points in time or while donning a different hat ! We have been using it as a user, consumer, professional, in making judgments, determining value proposition, etc. Here's a take on 'Quality' - right from a lay man's perspective or what the Oxford English Dictionary says, the definition as per ISO 9000, to what Legends of Quality like Juran, Crosby & Deming have to say and ultimately... Read on

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Deepak Gupta
3rd March 2017
Meaning of ‘Quality’

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Meaning of ‘Quality’
OED contains 17 meanings, most of which are related to personal
characteristics, but three are relevant to the quality of product
• A particular class, kind or grade of something, as determined by its
character, especially its excellence
• The standard or nature of something especially as measured against
other things of similar kind
• The degree of excellence possessed by a thing
– used by the general public
Please remember – dictionaries capture common usage and implied
meanings not legally correct definitions or as agreed by experts.
Why do we need such 17 meanings? E.g. Quality of life, quality of education or
even quality of mercy (William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice – Act IV,
Scene I)

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Meaning of ‘Quality’
JM Juran – freedom from deficiencies or defects – used by those making a product
or delivering a service
Philip B. Crosby – conformity to requirements – used by those designing a product
or service or assessing conformity
JM Juran – fitness for use – used by those accepting a product or service
UK sale and supply of good act 1994 – fitness for purpose – used by those selling
and purchasing goods
ISO 9000 standard – degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of an object
fulfils requirements (3.6.2) – used by those managing or assessing the
achievement of quality

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Meaning of ‘Quality’
William E. Deming – sustained satisfaction –
used by those in upper management using quality for competitive advantage.
(Actually Deming wrote – a product or service possesses quality if it helps
somebody and enjoys a good and sustainable market)
Please note – the definition uses the word ‘degree’, i.e. Quality is not an absolute
but a variable!
I will leave you with one final thought –
The customer decides
In the final analysis it is the customers who set the standards for quality
and they do this by deciding which products to purchase and whom to buy
them from.
From Kaizen by Masaaki Imai

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apollotyres.com
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Wins !