Saturday, November 03, 2007

Software Quality Basics

'Quality' is a relative term and it is generally used with reference to the end use of the product. The word 'quality' has variety of meanings including fitness for purpose, grade, degree of preference, degree of excellence & fulfillment of promises.

It may also be defined as a degree of conformance of design and specifications. American Heritage Dictionary defines Quality as "A characteristics or attribute of something". When we examine an item based on its measurable characteristics, two kinds of quality may be encountered:1.Quality of design2.Quality of conformanceThe quality of design of a product is concerned with the tightness of the specifications for manufacture of the product. It depends on the type of customers in the market, capital goods, profit consideration of the organization & special requirements of the product. The quality of conformance is concerned with how well the manufactured product conforms to the quality of design. To achieve this, the incoming raw materials have to be of adequate quality, selection of the process should be proper, operators need to be trained and experienced & proper care should be taken during shipment and storage of finished goods. A proper inspection program & feedback mechanism should exist, both for internal inspection & for the customers.The quality of performance is concerned with how well the manufactured product gives its performance t depends upon the quality of design & the quality of conformance.The cost of carrying out the company's quality functions (meeting the quality needs of the customers) are known as costs of quality. It provides baseline for the current cost of quality and identifies opportunities for reducing the cost of quality in the future. A quality cost committee of the American Society for Quality Control has recommended that quality cost be defined in four categories:

more

No comments: