Quality

Quality is the degree to which a product, service, or process meets customer expectations and conforms to specified requirements. It encompasses attributes such as reliability, durability, performance, and aesthetics.
See also: Quality Management, Customer Satisfaction

Quality 4.0

Quality 4.0 represents the evolution of quality management in the digital era. It integrates advanced technologies—such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and automation—to enhance quality assurance, streamline quality control, and drive continuous improvement within smart manufacturing and service systems.
See also: Industry 4.0, Digital Transformation

Quality Assurance (QA)

Quality assurance is the planned and systematic set of activities implemented in a quality system so that quality requirements for a product or service will be fulfilled. It focuses on preventing defects by ensuring that appropriate processes and standards are in place and adhered to during product development and operations.
See also: Quality Management, Process Improvement

Quality Auditor

A quality auditor is a professional who reviews and evaluates the quality management system (QMS) and processes within an organization. Their role is to check for compliance with internal standards, industry regulations, and customer requirements, and to recommend improvements.
See also: Internal Audit, Compliance

Quality by Design (QbD)

Quality by Design is an approach to product development that emphasizes designing quality into products from the outset. It involves understanding customer needs, incorporating risk management, and establishing robust process controls to ensure consistent product performance.
See also: Process Design, Risk Management

Quality Circle

A quality circle is a small group of employees who voluntarily meet on a regular basis to identify, analyze, and solve work-related quality problems. This grassroots approach fosters teamwork, improves process efficiency, and creates an environment of continuous improvement.
See also: Employee Involvement, Continuous Improvement

Quality Control (QC)

Quality control is the subset of quality management that focuses on monitoring and measuring the attributes of a product or service. It involves activities such as inspections, testing, and statistical process control to detect and correct defects.
See also: Quality Assurance, Inspection

Quality Control Circle

A quality control circle is similar to a quality circle but with a specific emphasis on controlling and monitoring quality. These groups concentrate on identifying defects, analyzing process variations, and implementing corrective actions using data-driven tools.
See also: Quality Circle, Continuous Improvement

Quality Costs

Quality costs refer to the total costs associated with ensuring and maintaining quality. They are typically categorized into:

• Prevention Costs: Investments made to prevent defects (e.g., training, process design).
• Appraisal Costs: Costs of measuring and monitoring quality (e.g., inspections, testing).
• Internal Failure Costs: Costs due to defects found before delivery (e.g., scrap, rework).
• External Failure Costs: Costs incurred after delivery (e.g., warranty claims, returns).
  See also: Cost of Quality, Continuous Improvement

Quality Engineer

A quality engineer is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining systems that ensure the quality of products and processes. They work on developing inspection plans, conducting tests, analyzing data, and driving process improvements to meet quality standards.
See also: Quality Assurance, Process Improvement

Quality Excellence for Suppliers of Telecommunications (QuEST) Forum

The QuEST Forum is an international organization that provides best practices, tools, and frameworks for enhancing quality and reliability in the telecommunications industry supply chain. It aims to facilitate collaboration among suppliers, manufacturers, and service providers to achieve excellence in quality.
See also: Supplier Quality Management, Industry Standards

Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

Quality Function Deployment is a structured methodology that transforms customer requirements into specific technical features and specifications during product development. Often visualized as the House of Quality, it ensures that the customer's voice is incorporated throughout the design process.
See also: Voice of the Customer, Product Design

Quality Improvement

Quality improvement is an ongoing effort to enhance products, services, or processes. This systematic approach relies on continuous feedback, data analysis, and iterative adjustments to achieve higher performance and customer satisfaction.
See also: Continuous Improvement, Lean, Six Sigma

Quality Loss Function (Taguchi Loss Function)

The Taguchi loss function quantifies the economic loss incurred when a product deviates from its target performance specifications. Instead of a binary pass/fail view, it emphasizes that any deviation (even within tolerance) results in a loss that increases quadratically with the amount of deviation.
See also: Robust Design, Cost of Quality

Quality Management (QM)

Quality management is an all-encompassing approach that involves planning, controlling, assuring, and improving quality in all areas of an organization. Its goal is to ensure that the organization’s products or services consistently meet or exceed customer expectations.
See also: Quality Assurance, Quality Control

Quality Management System (QMS)

A quality management system is a formalized framework of policies, processes, procedures, and resources that organizations use to implement quality management. It ensures that all aspects of quality are addressed systematically and consistently across the organization.
See also: ISO 9001, Quality Manual

Quality Manual

A quality manual is a document that outlines an organization’s quality management system. It typically includes the quality policy, procedures, responsibilities, and instructions necessary for maintaining quality and ensuring that standards are consistently met.
See also: QMS, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Quality of Conformance

Quality of conformance refers to the extent to which a product or service adheres strictly to its design specifications and standards. High quality of conformance means the product is produced with minimal defects and variance.
See also: Quality Control, Process Capability

Quality of Design

Quality of design is concerned with how well the product design meets customer needs and expectations. It goes beyond mere conformance by incorporating innovation, functionality, and user experience into the product’s features.
See also: Quality by Design, Customer Satisfaction

Quality Plan

A quality plan is a document that outlines the strategies, resources, activities, and responsibilities required to achieve quality objectives for a project, product, or service. It serves as a roadmap for managing quality throughout the lifecycle.
See also: Quality Planning, QMS

Quality Planning

Quality planning is the process of identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project or product and determining how to satisfy those standards. It involves setting quality objectives, defining roles, and outlining methodologies for risk mitigation and continuous evaluation.
See also: Quality Plan, Project Management

Quality Policy

A quality policy is a formal declaration by an organization’s top management detailing its commitment to quality. It sets the overarching intentions and direction regarding quality and provides a framework for setting quality objectives.
See also: Quality Management System, Continuous Improvement

Quality Score Chart

A quality score chart is a visual tool used to display and track quality performance metrics against established standards or benchmarks. It often aggregates scores across different quality dimensions to provide insight into overall quality performance.
See also: Performance Metrics, Dashboards

Quality System

The term quality system refers broadly to the integrated set of policies, procedures, processes, and resources implemented by an organization to ensure consistent quality in its products and services. It encompasses all aspects of quality management, from design and production to service delivery and continuous improvement.
See also: QMS, Quality Management

Quality Technician

A quality technician supports quality engineers by conducting inspections, performing tests, collecting data, and ensuring that products meet quality standards. They play a key role in the day-to-day monitoring and maintenance of product quality.
See also: Quality Control, Quality Assurance

Queue Time

Queue time is the period during which work-in-progress items or jobs wait before being processed. In a production or service environment, long queue times may indicate process inefficiencies or bottlenecks and can negatively impact throughput and customer satisfaction.
See also: Lead Time, Process Efficiency