QUALITY CONTROL
Quality Control (QC) may be defined as ‘a system that is used to maintain a desired level of quality in a product or service’. It is a systematic control of various factors that affect the quality of the product. Quality control aims at prevention of defects at the source, relies on effective feed back system and corrective action procedure.
Quality control can also be defined as ‘that industrial management technique by means of which product of uniform acceptable quality is manufactured’. It is the entire collection of activities which ensures that the operation will produce the optimum quality products at minimum cost.
The main objectives of quality control are:
To improve the companies income by making the production more acceptable to the customers i.e., by providing long life, greater usefulness, maintainability, etc.
To reduce companies cost through reduction of losses due to defects. To achieve interchangeability of manufacture in large scale production. To produce optimal quality at reduced price.
To ensure satisfaction of customers with productions or services or high quality level, to build customer goodwill, confidence and reputation of manufacturer.
To make inspection prompt to ensure quality control. To check the variation during manufacturing.
MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
Materials management is that aspect of management function which is primarily concerned with the acquisition, control and use of materials needed and flow of goods and services connected with the production process having some predetermined objectives in view.
The main objectives of materials management are:
To minimise material cost.
To purchase, receive, transport and store materials efficiently and to reduce the related cost. To cut down costs through simplification, standardisation, value analysis, import substitution, etc. To trace new sources of supply and to develop cordial relations with them in order to ensure continuous supply at reasonable rates.
To reduce investment tied in the inventories for use in other productive purposes and to develop high inventory turnover ratios.
MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT
In modern industry, equipment and machinery are a very important part of the total productive effort. Therefore, their idleness or downtime becomes are very expensive. Hence, it is very important that the plant machinery should be properly maintained.
The main objectives of maintenance management are:
1. To achieve minimum breakdown and to keep the plant in good working condition at the
lowest possible cost.
2. To keep the machines and other facilities in such a condition that permits them to be used
at their optimal capacity without interruption.
3. To ensure the availability of the machines, buildings and services required by other sections
of the factory for the performance of their functions at optimal return on investment.