INTRODUCTION

Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Lack of quality it affects the entire organization from supplier to customer and from product design to maintenance.
Multiple Dimensions of Quality
The concept of quality includes not only the product and service attributes that meet basic requirements, but also those that enhance and differentiate them from competing offerings. However, not every firm needs to compete along the same dimensions of quality. David A. Garvin (1984) observes that quality consists of eight basic dimensions. Dr. Garvin identified 8 dimensions as a framework for thinking about the basic elements of product quality. Each dimension is self-contained and distinct; a product can be ranked high on one dimension while being low on another. Together, the 8 dimensions of quality cover a broad range of concepts. Several of the dimensions involves measurable product attributes, others reflect individual preferences. Some are objective and timeless, while others shift with changing fashions. Some are inherent characteristics of goods, while others are ascribed characteristics.

The following graph shows the 8 dimensions; they are put in order from basic/essential to additional but not les important characteristics:
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l. Performance
A product's primary operating characteristics. It refers to product’s primary operating characteristics; in other words it refers to the efficiency with a product achieves its intended purpose. i.e.: acceleration in an automobile.

2. Features
The "bells and whistles" of the product. They are the "bells and whistles" of products, the extras that supplement the performance characteristics. i.e.: free drinks in a plane flight.

3. Reliability
The probability that a product will operate properly over a specified period of time under stated conditions of use. It reflects the probability of a product’s failing within a specified period of time; in other words it reflects the propensity of a product to perform consistently over its useful designed life. Common measures of reliability in durable goods: MTFF (mean time to first failure) and MTBF (mean time between failures)

4. Conformance
The degree to which physical and performance characteristics of a product match pre-established standards. It refers to the degree to which a product's design and operating characteristics match pre-established standards. It involves:

• Internal elements (within the factory): conformance is measured commonly by the incidence of defects (proportion of all units that fail to meet specifications and so required rework or repair).

• External elements (in the field): conformance is measured commonly by the quantity of repairs under warranty.

5. Durability
The amount of use one gets from a product before it physically deteriorates or until replacement is preferable. It refers to the measure of product life, defined in 2 dimensions: • Technically: durability is the amount of use one gets from a product before it physically deteriorates, and the repair is impossible (i.e. after so many hours of use, the filament of a light bulb burns up and the bulb must be replaced).

• Economically: durability is the amount of use one gets from a product before it breaks down, and the repair is possible.

The product’s life is determined by repair costs, personal valuations of time and inconveniences, losses due to downtime and other economic variables

6. Serviceability
It refers to the speed, courtesy, and competence of the repair service. Objective and subjective views play a role in defining serviceability. The speed, courtesy, and competence of repair.

7. Aesthetics
How a product looks, feels, sounds, tastes, or smells (appearance and impression): quality is view as the combination of these attributes that best match the consumer preferences. How a product looks, feels, sounds, tastes, or smells.

8. Perceived quality
The manner and feel the consumers’ experiment using the product. Durability and Reliability are related: a product that fails frequently (low Durability), is likely to be scrapped earlier than one that is more Reliable.

REFERENCES

➢ Dr. GARVIN (1984): Product Quality

➢ Heizer J, Render B (2012): Principles of Operations Management8th edition. Prentice Hall