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TQM. "Finding the balance between cost and quality" discuss this statement and explain what is meant by it.

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Before we look closer into the subject, first we must look at exactly what is meant by quality and cost.

Quality is the totality of the attributes of a good or service that meet the requirements of the buyer or customers. The materials which make up the product, the design and the engineering of the product, product performance, reliability and durability are all important characteristics of the "quality package", which ultimately influence customers to buy a product and repeat-purchase It. (Pass 1995)

Cost is the expenditure upon resources incurred by a firm in producing and selling its output, Each cost is a charge against revenues and profits for the use or consumption of resources during a trading period. Cost can be classified along …show more content…

The buyers final decision may well be to buy a radio system that he or she would never consider putting in their own car. But yet the decision made will mean that the system chosen will go into thousands of newly built cars. This is because the decision made was not personal; it was made of behalf of a company so it had to suit their needs.

Many purchasing managers are under constant pressure to drive cost down. Even professionals have problems finding the balance between cost and quality when their budget is very low. If costs are too low then it seems inevitable that the quality will suffer. The Ford motor company has suffered the consequences of cutting costs too low. After rave reviews following introduction of the new Ford Focus into the US market, Ford decided to build the car using cheaper components in a bid to save money. The cheaper components included rear wheel bearings that would prematurely wear, causing noise and wheel instability.

Not only does Ford now has to recall thousands of Ford Focuses, but it also has to deal with the fact the this decision has damaged their reputation even further.

As people we are constantly trying to find the balance between costs and are own perception of quality on a daily basis. According to Juran, quality is: "fitness for intended use." This definition basically says that quality is "meeting or exceeding customer

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