In simple terms, you can understand product quality as a characteristic that is a further conglomeration of different features for fulfilling the customer needs and maintaining the industry standards, so the product does not include any deficiency.
There are different factors such as raw materials, implementations of product technologies, workforce expertise, and production-related overheads, etc. to decide the quality of a product. In this article, we will be diving deep into the world of Product Quality and try to understand its classifications and how you can maintain good quality for your products. So, let us get started right away-
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Product Quality
In recent years, the companies reached out to their consumers to get to know even if the customers are happy with the product or not. As a result of this process, they concluded that some of the consumers are dissatisfied with their products.
So taking those feedbacks into account, the companies started to improve the quality of their product to meet the consumer’s expectations. This whole process is known as products quality.
It consists of two different types of characteristics- Measured Characteristics & Attributes Characteristics
Let us have a look upon the both here and now-
1) Measured Characteristics of Products Quality
Such sorts of aspects comprise size, shape, color, appearance, strength, weight, height, diameter, thickness, volume, diameter, consumption, fuel, and sorts of traits of a product.
2) Attributes Characteristics of Products Quality
It deals with the checking and controlling of deficiencies per item, defective units per item, cracks in ceramic, number of a mistake on avg. Basis, discoloring of garments, and sorts of feature sets of any product.
Paying heed upon these characteristics and making sure that the product has the adept inclusion of such features based upon the consumer needs, their past feedbacks, and Industry standards are the products quality management.
How these qualities are incorporated into a product decide if the product is of good quality or bad quality.
Let us now go more in-depth and understand the concept in a more comprehensive manner-
What is Products Quality?
The definition of products quality is complicated.
Products quality is making a product flawless and useful, thereby meeting all the requirements/expectations of the consumers.
Also, if any complication is raised in the future about the usage of that product, rectifying it for the better and make it the best again.
So, the products quality is not a static term; it is always dynamic as it evolves to meet the consumer’s requirement of the product.
Products Quality decides the overall goodness of a product and maintaining it is very important for businesses. Let us understand why-
Why is Products Quality crucial to a company?
Products quality is essential to a company, as any business functions because of the consumer’s inclinations, preferences, and loyalties their product.
Hence, without the satisfaction of the customer, there is nearly no future for the company.
It is the customer who decides the business of the company. If the consumers are not happy with the product they are getting, then it won’t turn up well for the company.
So, that is the reason why products quality is vital to a company.
In today’s time and age, consumers are even ready to pay any price to get top-quality products. You must have noticed the recent increase in the selling and consumption of organic foods.
All this is happening because consumers are looking for untouched items in their purest form without any compromise with the quality. Businesses who USP has first-rate products quality always enjoy a more trusted market presence with better loyalty, customer retention, lead generations and conversions.
7 Steps of Products Quality Management
There are lots of factors involved in deciding the products quality.
These factors will explain to you how the products quality of a product is decided and how it plays a role in improving a product.
Below mentioned are seven different factors that are relevant in determining products quality.
1) Checking for the Conformance
When a product is designed and executed, the manufacturer of that product will ensure that the product has met all the requirements. The product will be checked under different circumstances to ensure that the product has absolute dimensions and durability.
They also will check the product for different usage circumstances to ensure that the usage of the product will meet the requirement of the consumers. The design and outcome of a product are seriously viewed because this is the first and foremost factor in creating high products quality.
2) Checking if the product is fit for the purpose
All the products that are manufactured in a company mainly intend to solve an environmental problem that is faced by the people daily.
So, the products quality also comes into the consideration of the fit of the purpose of that product. If there isn’t any requirement for that product in the world, then the product is an utter waste, and there will not be a future either for the product or the company.
3) Paying heed to the feedbacks
The success of a product is mainly based on customer satisfaction. So satisfying all the stream of customers with one product is also a more significant challenge for a company. To find the fulfillment of the customers, the company needs feedback from the customer to improve their product.
It is one of the crucial factors which decide the products quality. The negative feedback from the customers can help the company to improve its product, and reload it with the missing features that are asked by the customer. By doing this process, the company and the product will evolve as per the changing needs of new generations.
4) Checking the Reliability of the product
If the customer can’t rely on the product due to any reason, then the products quality of the product is low. That is the reason why the feedbacks and conformance are helping the company to understand the requirement of the customers, so the company can make an improved and reliable product that will allow the customers to rely on them at every use of it.
Establishing an authentic product is also a challenging factor for every company. For example, take the iPad pro-2019, it had lots of missing features in it, but after hearing the feedbacks of the customers, the company made a new OS separately for the iPad which satisfied every customer’s need and requirement.
5) Analyzing Safety and Security of the product
It is crucial to create a product safe and secure. If the product is neither safe nor secure, it can damage the whole repetition of a company. The product that is created by a company should have all the safety measures and security, so that, the customer can rely on the product without any unease.
These are continuously checked in the conformance session from the start of selecting the raw material to the end of the end product. Even if single gone wrong, the whole repetition of that company will be lost. For example, take Samsung note 9, it had blasted while using the mobile, it somehow made the repetition of the company to low.
6) Analyzing the Efficiency of the product
It is the first and foremost consideration of a product. The quality of a product is mainly decided on its effectiveness. If a product is not efficient, the customers can rely on them every time.
That can slowly spoil the repetition of the product and the company low. So creating a product with maximum efficiency is the first and foremost consideration. The companies all streams always try to create the product with maximum efficiency.
7) Ensuring better user experience with the product management
The user experience of a product is also essential. If the consumers find difficulties to use your product because of your complicated interface, there is a chance for that product to become a failure. The companies always face many challenges to create a user-friendly interface for their products.
But there are numerous challenges in creating interfaces like making the creative and different interface for their product which will make their product distinctive from other company’s products.
These are the factors that decide the product quality of a product. All the companies always follow these factors to make their products in high product quality. But the explanation and usage of these factors vary depending on the product.
How is the quality of a product decided?
The quality of a product is decided depending on various factors. If you need to understand how the quality of a product you should choose, you need to understand the definition of quality.
To define quality is not straightforward because the definition of quality is defined by many terms and many concepts by many philosophers and economists. The description of quality is confusing, but there are some facts by which you can clearly understand the same.
These facts are the collections of explanations and thoughts of quality which is explained by many people.
- The fitness of the purpose of the need
- Making a product flawlessly and defect-free
- Maximum efficiency and completely user-friendly
- Creating the product with good material and precise design
- Come up with a suitable design that will suit the environment
- To introduce the correct solution at the right time
- Giving the product that can fill the problem of environment
- Pricing the product with reasonable value and a worthy product
- To meet all the requirement of the customer
- Understanding customer needs and giving them the correct product
- Giving updates of the product frequently and appropriate to consumer’s feedback
These are facts that explain the quality of the products. This explanation varies depending on the product and the company.
Maintaining Products Quality
Creating a product within a safe and secure circumstance is essential. Maintaining product quality throughout production is a crucial factor.
Considering this factor, the companies have differentiated the maintaining process of product quality into three sections. They are-
- Before production
- During production
- After production
1) Before production
Before the production process, companies will try to find the problems that are faced by people daily. After seeing the problem, the companies will define the problem and give a name to it.
By naming it, the companies will gather information about the identified problem and categorize it based on the preference. The company will try to find a solution during this phase.
2) During production
In this section, the company will design and ideate the answer to the problem that they found previously. They will make a prototype and test it for its compatibility and durability.
If the prototype becomes a success, they will proceed that to the production, and they will plan all the administration and financial report to that product. They will manufacture the complete product in this section.
3) After production
After production, the company will check the product under different possible situations and circumference to test its durability and particle applications.
If the quality of the product clears the entire test and comes within the limits the company fixed, then the product will proceed for the launch.
Products Quality Wrap Up!
Product quality is one of the basic terms in industries and companies. The product quality is the factor that will make a company or an industry to sustain. Without product quality, no product can be said as the right product.
So, if you come across any product from pencil to airplane, all have their product quality, and they are consistently tested and improve by the feedbacks of the consumers continuously.
Paying attention to the product quality and maintaining it as per the feedbacks of the consumers is one of the inevitable functions upon which the success of every business depends.
It is one of the most significant factors behind trust-building, credibility and sustainable existence for any business. So, what are your thoughts about the significance of product quality in running a business?
What according to you, is the most important factor for products quality management? Share your perspectives with us in the comments.
Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Product Management
