Operations Management: An Integrated Approach, 5th Edition

STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL IN SERVICES

Statistical quality control (SQC) tools have been widely used in manufacturing organizations for quite some time. Manufacturers such as Motorola, General Electric, Toyota, and others have shown leadership in SQC for many years. Unfortunately, service organizations have lagged behind manufacturing firms in their use of SQC. The primary reason is that statistical quality control requires measurement, and it is difficult to measure the quality of a service. Remember that services often provide an intangible product and that perceptions of quality are often highly subjective. For example, the quality of a service is often judged by such factors as friendliness and courtesy of the staff and promptness in resolving complaints.

A way to measure the quality of services is to devise quantifiable measurements of the important dimensions of a particular service. For example, the number of complaints received per month, the number of telephone rings after which a response is received, or customer waiting time can be quantified. These types of measurements are not subjective or subject to interpretation. Rather, they can be measured and recorded. As in manufacturing, acceptable control limits should be developed and the variable in question should be measured periodically.

Another issue that complicates quality control in service organizations is that the service is often consumed during the production process. The customer is often present during service ...