Page 30 - The Handbook for Quality Management a Complete Guide to Operational Excellence

s discussed in Chap. 1, organizations are traditionally structured
according to functional specializations, for instance, marketing,
Aengineering, purchasing, manufacturing. Conceptually, each func-
tion performs an activity essential in delivering value to the customer. In
the past, these activi ties were performed sequentially. As shown in Fig. 2.1,
Shewhart, Deming, and Juran all depict these activities as forming a circle
or a spiral, where each cycle incorporates information and knowledge
acquired during the previous cycle.

Juran Trilogy
Juran and Gryna (1988, p. 2.6) define the quality function as “the entire col-
lection of activities through which we achieve fitness for use, no matter
where these activities are performed.” Quality is thus influenced by, if not
the responsibility of, many different departments. In most cases, the quality
department serves a secondary, supporting role. While the quality depart-
ment is a specialized function, quality activities are dispersed throughout
the orga nization. The term “quality function” applies to those activities,
departmental and companywide, that collectively result in product or ser-
vice quality. An analogy can be made with the finance department. Even
though many spe cialized finance and accounting functions are managed by
the finance depart ment, every employee in the organization is expected to
practice responsible management of his or her budgets and expenditures.
Juran and Gryna (1988) grouped quality activities into three catego-
ries, sometimes referred to as the Juran trilogy: plan ning, control, and
improvement. Quality planning is the activity of developing the products
and processes required to meet customers’ needs. It involves a number of
universal steps (Juran and DeFeo, 2010):
• Define the customers.

• Determine the customer needs.
• Develop product and service features to meet customer needs.
• Develop processes to deliver the product and service features.
• Transfer the resulting plans to operational personnel.
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