In the early 1990s, the work of Frederick W. Taylor, often called the “father of scientific management,” led to a new philosophy of production. Taylor’s philosophy was to separate the planning function from the execution function. Managers and engineers were given the task of planning; supervisors and workers took on the task of execution. This […]

During the Middle Ages in Europe, the skilled craftsperson served both as manufacturer and inspector. “ manufacturers” who dealt directly with the customer took considerable pride in workmanship. Craft guilds, consisting of masters, journeymen, and apprentices, emerged to ensure that craftspeople were adequately trained. Quality assurance was informal; every effort was made to ensure that […]

In a board sense, quality assurance refers to any planned and systematic activity directed toward providing consumers with products (goods and services) of appropriate quality, along with the confidence that products meet consumers’ requirements. Quality assurance depends on excellence of two important focal points in business: the design of goods and services and the control […]