Quality Measuring Tools

Metrics

• Quality metrics are the parameters of a quality measurement program. They include definitions of quality terms, how your measurement process relates to customer specifications and the decision process to accept or reject items inspected. Although there are some basic quality control concepts and techniques, quality programs are specific to businesses, industries and customer needs. If your business's customers have a specific need for speed in receipt of their orders, you will measure the things that affect the speed of your delivery process. If the most important issue for your customers is availability of sales representatives, your quality measurements will focus on your sales staff accessibility. Quality metrics are the language and written processes and procedures of a quality measurement program and an important quality measuring tool.

Error Counts

• An error count is a basic quality measuring tool, tallying the number of errors in the production process or service. Error counts provide information about how much the quality errors are affecting business processes but don't allow for further analysis about causes or the value of losses. As a simple quality measuring tool, error counts can be a place to start measuring quality or a motivating tool to raise awareness and generate ideas to reduce errors. Further analysis of the error issue is necessary to figure out why the error is occurring and how to reduce or eliminate it.

Bench Marking

• Bench marking is a quality measuring tool that establishes a starting point for a quality issue against which future quality measures will be evaluated. Bench marking involves quality data on issues such as the number of customers a company serves, the number of customer service calls a customer service department answers or the number of defective product items a company receives back from customers. Bench mark data is used in scorecards, quality reports, accounting systems and statistical analysis.

Gauges

• Gauges are quality measuring tools for use on machinery and mechanical processes. Gauges indicate size, length and quantity of items processed through a machine and other measurements to compare against specifications. Gauges for part size, drilled hole size, punch-out section size and length size check production accuracy against customer order specifications. Operators, quality control technicians, production leads and supervisors may perform measurements with gauges or the gauge measurement may be an automatic part of production.