2. When the decisions have been made as to how centralized the quality-control component is to be, another series of questions follows. How is the work assigned to the quality-control component to be structured in detail? For example, should there be one or more quality-engineering components reporting to the Manager-Quality Control? Should there be more than one process-control-engineering group? Is the quality-information-equipment-engineering activity of a sufficient magnitude to warrant a separate component, or should it be combined with quality engineering in a single component?
Perhaps the most typical question is whether inspection and testing should be broken out of process-control engineering to form a separate component reporting to the Manager-Quality Control. In turn, should there be more than one inspection component or more than one test component?
These questions are discussed in Section 8.16.
3. When determinations have been made concerning centralization or decentralization of quality work activities to the quality function—or to other components of the company—and after structuring has been considered for the work assigned to the quality function, a further area of consideration can be made. This is centralization or decentralization—within the quality function itself—into a quality-“assurance” component and a quality –“control” component. Section 8.17 discusses these questions.
8.15 Should the Quality-Control Function Be Centralized or Decentralized?
Figure 8.7 illustrates those work activities of quality control which, industrial experience indicates, can be considered “fixed” within the quality-control component and those activities which are “variable” and may be suitable for decentralization to other organizational functions in the company. Note from the chart that the work elements appropriate for decentralization are primarily found in the process-control-engineering component and include in-process inspection and testing activities.
Inspection and Test Reporting to Production Operations
In companies with a well-established quality-control organization of proved effectiveness, certain advantages may be obtained by assigning the routine in-process test and inspection elements of process-control engineering to production operations and components. Certain criteria must be observed to make this decentralization effective. Typical of these criteria are the following
1. That a suitable written quality plan must be prepared by Quality Engineering and vigorously followed by Production Operations
2. That a process-control-engineering function must exist within the quality-control component to provide competent technical to Production Operations for help in solving day-to-day quality problems
3. That Process-Control Engineering must conduct a continuous audit on product quality being shipped
4. That Process-Control Engineering must conduct a continuous audit on the degree to which the planned quality procedures are being followed
5. That quality information equipment must be maintained on a planned schedule to assure accuracy and precision of measurements
6. That inspectors and testers must be trained to have the capability required to perform the work to which they are respectively assigned and that this training be kept up-to-date
7. That there must be a clear and continuous understanding of the primary responsibilities for accomplishing each portion of quality work on the part of each organizational component in the company and the continuous fostering of the quality-mindedness which encourages high-quality work
A relationships chart proves quite useful in establishing this primary responsibility for each organizational component. A segment of a typical chart is shown in Figure 8.8.
Figure 8.9 shows an organization where all the variable elements of routine inspection and testing have been decentralized from Quality Control and assigned to Production Operations.
The Closed Feedback Loop in Quality-Control Organization
Note from Figure 8.7 that the major part of the work activities can tend to be in the fixed category because the quality-control function itself is primarily a planning and control, or “feedforward” and “feedback,” function in which “too much division” changes the basic purpose of the function. The continuous feedback cycle of quality-control activities are as follows:
First, quality planning is done by Quality Engineering; this provides much of ongoing planning and control detail within the basic framework of the quality system for the company’s products. Included also is planning for the quality-measurement equipment, which is performed by Quality Information Equipment Engineering.
Second, quality appraising is performed by Process-Control Engineering (also including inspection and testing). It evaluates, in accordance with the quality plan, the conformance and performance of the parts and products with engineering specifications.
Third, there