Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

FITNESS FOR USE

-Fitness for use views quality as meeting the purpose for which the
product was purchased and fulfilling customer requirements.
-This does not mean that fitness to standard concept can be
dispensed with. Rather, this concept emphasizes that fitness for
use should be used in addition to fitness to standard.
-This concept focusses on the real needs of the customers and the
demands of the marketplace rather than just focusing on the
standards set by the designer. This concept assures that the
product can be used in a manner as the customer wants to use it.
Screw-driver example.
-So, when the product can meet the varied needs of the customer,
then according to this concept, it is of good quality.

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

FITNESS FOR USE

-MAIN LIMITATIONS: This concept used alone as definition of quality
has two main weaknesses:
a.Here also quality of product is judged through inspection process.
Results in certain conflict between workers and inspectors.
b.Fitness for use focusses on use-based competitive advantage. If a
company clearly understands the real needs of the user (i.e. fitness
for use), it may gain a monopoly position, so that it can charge high
prices high enough to compensate for the higher cost of higher
quality through inspection. However, competitors offering equally
good products for cheaper prices quickly spring up, eliminating the
monopoly position.
-Thus, the companies started moving away from this concept of high
costs of inspecting quality in to building quality in.
- During the early 1970s, companies started moving to the next
level of quality
called, fitness of cost.

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

FITNESS OF COST
-Fitness of cost means achieving high quality at low
cost.

-Achieving high quality at low cost requires reducing

the variability of the production process producing
the product, so that all the units being produced are
within the specification limits/ inspection limits and
none/ few have to be discarded.
-This requires feedback and correction at each step
of production rather than just at the end of the
production process.
-Thus, this concept of quality means shifting the
focus from controlling the output through inspection
to controlling the production process.

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

FITNESS OF COST

-Thus, this concept of quality means shifting the focus from controlling
the output through inspection to controlling the production process. This
shift requires the use of the following:
a.Monitoring the process in addition to the output.
b.Extensive use of Statistical Quality Control (control charts, acceptance
sampling procedures etc.).
c.Providing for feedback and correction at each step of production,
whereby each line worker notices the work of his predecessor, and
ensures that mistakes are correctly immediately.
d.Instituting line worker participation in the design and improvement of
the production process, to make the production process continuously
more reliable. Workers are empowered to create this kind of continuous
change through standardized tools and practices such as 7QC process
steps, 7 Quality tools (Magnificent tools or Ishikawas tools) etc.

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

FITNESS OF COST

-Fitness of Cost concept made the concept of quality,

MULTIDIMENSIONAL. This concept gave rise to the ideology that
quality is everybody's/ every sections responsibility and not just of the
production and inspection department. Before this concept, quality
meant just identifying product defects through inspection, but with this
concept, quality meant much more.
-Main Limitations of this concept:
Companies following this concept can produce highly reliable and
functional products at low costs. However, within a short time,
competitors can create similarly reliable and functional products even
at a lower cost. This happened to Japan in the 1980s. Korea, Hong
Kong, Taiwan adopted Japanese technologies but had labour costs of
only about half to two thirds of the labour cost in Japan. Thus, Japanese
companies started facing stiff competition from these countries.
- To overcome these limitations, Japanese companies in a standardized
way (in the early 1980s) started creating innovative products to outsell
competitor's products. This raised product quality to the next level
called, Fitness to Latent Requirements.

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

FITNESS to Latent Requirements

-Two main business strategies:

a. Competition through efficiency

b. Competition through innovation

-Fitness to latent requirements means meeting

the customer requirements/ needs before even the
customers are aware of those needs.
-If a company can determine the latent
requirements of the customers/ marketplace, and
develop products/ services to address those
needs,
it can achieve a monopoly for a little
while. The company can ask for a higher price,
which can be very profitable. SONYs Walkman, as
it arrived was an instant hit.

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

FITNESS to Latent Requirements

-Weaknesses can remain even in companies
that systematically meet their customers
latent requirements. These weaknesses arise
NOT from the companys current processes
for product or from production process
design,
but
from
the
speed
and
appropriateness of improvement and change.
- Many companies go out of business,
because they are not able to improve and
change, as quickly and appropriately, as their
competitors.

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

THE THREE GREAT LEAPS

-Thus, to summarize, the concept of quality has
evolved through three great leaps:
i.First Leap: From fitness to standard to fitness
for use: Shift to the concept of MARKET.
In
fitness
to
standard
concept,
standardization, inspection/ testing etc. were
the main tools to achieve quality. With the
consumer revolution, fitness for use became
the new tool. In fitness for use, there was
thrust on market research to find out the real
customer needs and also cross-functional
involvement to achieve it.

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

THE THREE GREAT LEAPS (continued)

ii. Second Leap: From Fitness for use to Fitness of
Cost: Shift to the concept that Price is Set in the Market.
-In fitness of cost, the thrust was on reducing the cost
while increasing the quality. This required production
processes with low variance. So, the focus was to control
each and every production process, actively involving
production workers.
- The main tools used for quality achievement for this leap were:
a.The Seven Quality tools (Histograms, Pareto Charts,
Fishbone Diagrams, Scatter Diagrams, Run Charts, Flow
Charts, and Control Charts).
b.The Seven Quality Control Steps (Select theme, Collect
and analyse data, Analyse causes, Plan and implement
solution, Evaluate effects, Standardize solution, Reflect
on process)

Four Kinds of Fitness (Four

Levels of Quality)

THE THREE GREAT LEAPS (continued)

ii. Third Leap: From Fitness of Cost to Fitness of
Latent Requirements: Shift to the concept of
Continuous change in market needs and thus the
continuous change in product development cycles.
-In fitness of latent requirements, the thrust is on
adding design value so that products could satisfy
latent needs.
- The main tools used for quality achievement for this
leap were:
a.Quality function deployment (QFD)
b.The Seven Management and Planning Tools (Affinity
Diagrams, Force Field Analysis, Matrix Diagrams, Tree
Diagrams, Process Decision Program Charts, Process
Flow Charts, Block Diagrams)

QUALITY: Essential Components

The central concept in all definitions of quality is
that QUALITY IS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OR
MEETING CUSTOMERS REQUIREMENTS. The
question arises how does the manufacturer
meet the customer requirements i.e. what are
the essential components of building quality
into a product/ service.
There are two important components which lead
to customer satisfaction. Thus, there are two
main components of quality:
1) PRODUCT FEATURES (or QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS)
2) FREEDOM FROM DEFICIENCES

Essential Components of Quality

PRODUCT FEATURES (Quality
PRODUCT
FEATURES: The attributes/characteristics
Characteristics)

or properties
product/service through which the customer requirements are met.

of

Technological Characteristics: These include performance characteristics and properties

etc. viz. dimensions, strength, fuel consumption, power rating etc.
Psychological Characteristics: These include characteristics like taste, odour, aesthetics,
esteem value etc.
Time-oriented Characteristics: These include characteristics like reliability, maintainability
etc.
Ethical Characteristics: These include characteristics like courtesy of sales persons,
honesty of service, promptness of service, timely delivery of product at the promised date.
Contractual Characteristics: These include characteristics like guarantee provisions,
warranty etc.
Miscellaneous Characteristics: These include characteristics like environmental norms of
regulatory bodies, ergonomic considerations, availability of service stations etc..

PRODUCT FEATURES/ Quality

Characteristics
For PRODUCTS

Performance
Reliability
Maintainability
Serviceability
Ease of Use
Ease of Availability
Expandability
Aesthetics
Guarantee Provisions
Safety
Esteem Value
Environmental Norms
Ergonomic Considerations

For SERVICES

Accuracy
Timeliness
Completeness
Courtesy
Honesty
Promptness

Essential Components of Quality

FREEDOM FROM DEFECIENCIES
Freedom from deficiencies mean that the product should be
free from defects, errors or problems at the time of
delivery, during use, and after service.
DEFECT is a departure of a quality characteristic from its
intended level or state that occurs with a severity sufficient
to cause an associated product or service not to satisfy
intended normal or reasonably foreseeable usage
requirements.
(ANSI/ASQC Standard A3-1987)
DEFECTS or Product Deficiencies can take such forms as:
FIELD FAILURES, FACTORY SCRAP and REWORK, LATE
DELIVERIES, ERRORS IN INVOICES etc. Each of these cause
trouble
to
the
customers
and
hence
Customer

Dissatisfaction.

 Customer Dissatisfaction can be in the form of COMPLAINTS,

RETURNS and CLAIMS etc.

If the extent of Dissatisfaction is very high or the response by

the manufacturer to the dissatisfaction is inadequate,
external customers may stop buying the product and go
elsewhere. This will lead to lower sales, higher costs and lower
productivity. In case of internal customers, dissatisfaction will
lead to lack of cooperation between the departments, mutual
blame and poor morale.

QUALITY: Essential Components

Product Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction are not
Opposites.
For the most part, these two concepts are unrelated. Product
satisfaction has its origin in Product Features, and is why
customers buy the product. Product dissatisfaction has
its origin in Product Deficiencies, and is why customers
complain.
There are many products which give little or no dissatisfaction:
the product does exactly the same what the supplier had promised it
would. Yet the product is not saleable because some

competitor product provides greater

satisfaction because of better features.

product