Quality Control Essay Example for Free

Quality Control Essay As products and services evolve, consumer expectations tend to increase so that yesterday’s quality product becomes tomorrow’s junk. Quality revolves around meeting customer expectations, expectations that may be stated or implied. One action that sums up quality from a business perspective is when the customer returns after the sale and the product doesn’t. The statistical definition of quality is a little more precise than other definitions, such as the customer-based concept, and is based on mathematics. When you measure quality statistically, you look for variation in a measurement between what the ? ustomers asks for and what you produce. The less variation you have, the higher the quality of your product or service. All processes have some natural variation; you use statistics to detect abnormal variation that could cause you to produce a bad product or service. You can also use statistics to avoid testing every item that you produce. By testing a sample of what you make or deliver, you can use statistics to measure its quality and find out whether it meets customer requirements the statistical definition of quality is a little more precise than other definitions, such as the customer-based concept, and is based on mathematics. When you measure quality statistically, you look for variation in a measurement between what the customers asks for and what you produce. The less variation you have, the higher the quality of your product or service. All processes have some natural variation; you use statistics to detect abnormal variation that could cause you to produce a bad product or service. You can also use statistics to avoid testing every item that you produce. By testing a sample of what you make or deliver, you can use statistics to measure its quality and find out whether it meets customer requirements. After you as an organization decide on a definition of quality you need standards against which to measure your quality. Many standards are driven by the desire to safeguard the health and well-being of the people who use the products or services companies provide. Quality standards also are critical in support of international trade. Almost every industry has an association or trade group that sets quality standards against which companies can measure the quality of their products or services. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international body made up of the national standards organizations for almost every country. Quality assurance focuses on the ability of a process to produce or deliver a quality product or service. This method differs from quality control in that it looks at the entire process, not just the final product. Quality control is designed to detect problems with a product or service. Quality assurance attempts to head off problems at the pass by tweaking a production process until it can produce a quality product. A process called the Plan-Do-Check-Act, or the PDCA cycle is a powerful tool that requires planning improvements to your process by looking for problems that affect the quality of your product or service. Make improvements by implementing small changes to minimize disruption to your process. Check production results to see if you’ve actually made an improvement. Act on what you discover and roll it out to the entire process. The most basic quality control technique is to inspect the results of your production or service-delivery process to make sure it conforms to customer requirements. In quality control terms, conforming means that an item meets customer specifications, and nonconforming means it doesn’t. You inspect your product or service by measuring one or more of its properties and comparing the measurements to customer specifications. Although inspection can ensure that 100 percent of the products or services delivered to your customers are good, it can be a very expensive process, especially for high-volume, low-value items. Also, inspection is impossible for items where testing can damage the product. The introduction of a quality control process into an organization can be a major shock to its system. The following components are crucial if you want to lessen the shock and gain acceptance within your organization. Advertise acceptance of the program from important stakeholders within your organization. Communicate the reasons for the change and the benefits it will bring to everyone in the organization. Train employees in the new ways of the organization. You want workers doing the right things consistently because success helps to gain support. Like most other changes, quality control is best introduced in small bits. One way to do this is to create a pilot project that allows you to make a small change to a small part of your process to see the change’s effect. If the results are good, you can implement the change on a wider basis; if the change is bad, you’ve limited the damage done. As an example I made a small research on Quest Diagnostics to make a scenario to explain how a company works on quality control. Quest Diagnostics is the nations leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services. The clients include patients and consumers, physicians, hospitals, health insurers, employers and government agencies. Each year the company performs personal health testing on over 100 million patients, over 250 million diagnostic laboratory tests, and more than 6. 5 million gene-based tests. Quest Diagnostics Inc. develops tests that help people live longer, healthier lives. Some of the most notable technological advances include earlier detection of Cervical Cancer. Cervical cancer is almost 100% curable when detected early and clinical studies have shown that the Thin Prep Pap Test increases the early detection of precancerous cells. This test has been hailed as one of the most significant improvements in cervical cancer screening in over 50 years. Every year Chicago Business Unit cytology laboratory performs 1. 1 million Pap smear tests. Currently the business issue is time for Thin Prep Pap Test reports. Many of the clients have complained that the time for Thin Prep Pap Test reports is too slow. Clients also have complained that the patient care is affected due to slower time for test reports. The hypothesis of the business issue is that the time is too slow for reporting the Pap Test results. Management has planned to make improvements for time of Thin Prep Pap Test reports. In order to make improvements, the management needs to research on current workflow processes of Thin Prep Pap Test and then find the possible solution. In order to research the current workflow process of the Thin Prep Pap Test and finding possible solutions following research questions will be researched: What is the volume of Pap Tests? What barrier factors are affecting the time of the Pap test? What is the staffing situation? Is it efficient to handle the volume? What steps are involved in processing of the Pap Test? How much time is spent for each step? Which departments are involved in processing of the Pap Test? What is the current cost for the Pap test? What other new technology is available in the market for faster processing of the Pap tests? What is the cost of the new technology? Is there an approved insurance reimbursement for the new technology? Statistics serve many purposes within quality control. Statistics allow you to determine which processes or parts of processes are causing your company the most problems.

Man vs. Himself: Betrayal and Abandonment Shown in Arthur Miller’s Deat

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman tells the story of a man trying and failing to obtain success for him and his family. Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, has been trying to ‘make it big’ for the majority of his life. Miller’s play explores the themes of abandonment and betrayal and their effects on life’s success. Willy sees himself as being abandoned by his older brother, Ben, and constantly views his sibling’s betrayal as one that changed his prospects forever. Willy, in turn, is guilty of a different type of abandonment and betrayal of his sons, especially Biff. Willy first experiences abandonment through the actions of his brother, Ben Loman. In the first act, Willy sees Ben in his dream, â€Å"walking away down some open road; I was going to find father in Alaska†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Miller 1575). Willy continues a discussion with his brother in which Ben lies and jokingly admits going to Africa. Willy regrets not going with Ben to Africa, because that is where Ben became rich. Because he was not as successful as his brother, Willy views Ben’s going to Africa as a betrayal. Willy’s issues with abandonment began at a young age. He suffered a lot emotionally and he strived to find a role model. This emotional instability and lack of a role model continued to affect Willy later in life physically, Centola makes the comment â€Å"something which often surfaces in his contradictory statements and emotional outbursts† (1). Willy would be vigorous, energetic, and nimble for one minute and then moody, sulky, and cheerless the next. This abandonment and self-worth continued to suffer and became evident when he started a family of his own. This motif of abandonment and betrayal is carried through to Willy’s son, Biff. Biff feels betrayed whe... ... in a cyclical fashion. The Loman family gets so wrapped up in betrayal that it eventually takes someone’s death for the family to finally be ‘free’. Works Cited Centola, Steven R. "Family Values in Death of a Salesman." CLA Journal 37.1 (Sept. 1993): 29-41. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 Dec. 2010. Martin, Robert A. "The Nature of Tragedy in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman." South Atlantic Review 61.4 (Fall 1996): 97-106. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Dec. 2010. Miller, Arthur. â€Å"Death of a Salesman.† The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 1556-1621 Print. Ribkoff, Fred. "Shame, Guilt, Empathy, and the Search for Identity in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman." Modern Drama 43.1 (Spring 2000): 48-55. Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.

Strategic Plan, Part II: SWOTT Analysis

Applying the SHOOT to Pewter's Accounting Services will help identify economic, legal, regulatory forces that affect business. This analysis will not only allow the business to Identify strength but weaknesses In Its Industry. Understanding the weaknesses of the industry will also allow to strategies for different opportunities.By identifying threats and trends we can make bold predictions to take advantage of opportunities and changes before they come to fruition. We will be Identifying seven different forces and trends that affect business. Economic Economic trends play a major role in all businesses. This is a major factor that an accounting services business will have to force to make predictions and adjustments. Based on trends the company may anticipate hiring more or less employees. A positive strength for Peters Accounting Services is that regardless of a good or bad economic year individuals still have to file state and federal taxes.Business will still ay quarterly taxes an d need help with bookkeeping as well as annual filing of taxes for the state and federal government as well. Threats of a poor economy can tend to not impact this industry too much because it is a constant need. An opportunity for this business lies during an economic upswing new businesses are being created meaning the need for an accounting services will be used frequently. Being able to offer year round services will help fight the Idea of seasonal work that tax prepares and consultants have to compete with.Legal and Regulatory In order to be a reputable company the Pewter's Accounting Services should be quipped with Certified Public Accountants. A CPA is an Individual who has taken the time to take a series of four rigorous exams that have to be completed in an 18- month period (CPA Review, 2013). Accountants can don't have to be Spa's but there is an extra allure and makes your information reputable compared to the latter. Accountants are required to take 20 hours of continued education, which Is also referred to as CE credits this allows them to stay updated on new laws and regulations for the upcoming year (CPA Review, 2013).Despite the requirement this is not enough time for an individual to gather and retain much of the information. A lot of time and hours with the organization will need to be dedicated to ensure that all individuals aiding in filing taxes is up to date. Supply Chain and Technology Pewter's Accounting Services will have to take advantage of new technology available to a mass market. This external factor can be seen as both a strength and weakness. There is one major factor that gains an accounting services business.During tax 1 OFF referrals and networking efforts throughout the year. During this time the company can impress new clients and existing clients by providing the newest or most efficient accounting software to help the customers file their taxes electronically. The accounting services will also provide its customers access remotely via a secured online site providing the clients access to their financial information from anywhere in the world. This can provide issues of security because we are dealing with sensitive information that can be used in a malicious fashion if intercepted.Adjusting to Change and Competitive analysis Pewter's Accounting Services will have its headquarters in the San Fernando Valley. A quick yelp search of accountants near the North Hollywood area provides a list of 109 efferent companies that offer accounting services (Yelp, 2014). The last census of North Hollywood estimated that there was over 160 thousand residence, which has only grown in the last 10 years. Despite the large number of competition in the area there are plenty of clients to go around especially when there are new adults entering the workforce every year. Working on referrals will be our strength.Individuals and business owner tend to refer a good CPA when possible. Seasonal business can be lost to conglomer ates like H & R Block who specialize in short form tax solutions at high prices. They however have big advertisement dollars that will need us to think outside the box to get business. They prepare taxes for 1 in every 7 filed returns in the United States (H & R Block, 2013). This leads to staying competitive not necessarily with H & R Block but with other single owner or partnership offices and that is by having our tax prepares go through the training provided by H & R Block.This will give us up to date technician and trends with the industry while also allowing us to make modifications to our own strategies. Strategy Internal factors will include a structured strategy for the company. The strength of strategy will be more control of day-to-day operations. The beginning phase will be consist of building a clientele base by Joining the Los Angels Latino Chamber of Commerce along with other organizations in the area. This will help build the reputation for the firm. Keeping the staf f small will be a must to keep overhead low.Location will not be cheap but will be a necessary evil when trying to attract walk in business. Pricing will be key as well. The company cannot price too low or too high. The companies' long-term plan is to also higher licensed representatives that can give financial advice as well. This phase of the strategy will help earn more trust in the community as well as build market share by reinvesting customers tax returns and also offering tax right off by setting up individual retirement accounts. Processes & systems In order to retain and increase the customer base follow up process need to be in place.Email's, Addresses, and phone number records need to be maintained and scrubbed before outbound calls are made according to the telephone consumer protection act if we are making sales calls (FCC, 2014). Most of our outbound calls will are that will be adopted by the company to standout from other companies. Our systems will also have reminder s and will also send out emails periodically to give our customers industry updates. The systems for internal control will all need password verifications to view customer data.Accessing of this data will ensure that we can keep customer information safe to help fight identity theft. Goals Accounting is a very stable form of earning a living. The goal for Pewter's Accounting Service is to become a leader in the community. Surviving the first couple of years will not be easy, but consistency pays off in the end. Visibility will be important as individuals flock towards others that make a difference and are accessible. Despite the treat of losing customers it is inevitable to suffer attrition, but staying ahead of market trends will be required to avoid huge dips in production.Branching out to being more than Just a seasonal service will also be key. Hiring Spa's and accountants that can assist with other daily activities like payroll, bookkeeping, and advising will help bring in inco me year round. Conclusion The SHOOT analysis assisted in identifying key objectives and obstacles that a new business can face, but over come. The art of planning cannot be understated as we deiced there is internal and external factors that impact business. Perception of the world around the business is a key component of this analysis. Strategic Plan, Part II: SWOTT Analysis Applying the SHOOT to Pewter's Accounting Services will help identify economic, legal, regulatory forces that affect business. This analysis will not only allow the business to Identify strength but weaknesses In Its Industry. Understanding the weaknesses of the industry will also allow to strategies for different opportunities.By identifying threats and trends we can make bold predictions to take advantage of opportunities and changes before they come to fruition. We will be Identifying seven different forces and trends that affect business. Economic Economic trends play a major role in all businesses. This is a major factor that an accounting services business will have to force to make predictions and adjustments. Based on trends the company may anticipate hiring more or less employees. A positive strength for Peters Accounting Services is that regardless of a good or bad economic year individuals still have to file state and federal taxes.Business will still ay quarterly taxes an d need help with bookkeeping as well as annual filing of taxes for the state and federal government as well. Threats of a poor economy can tend to not impact this industry too much because it is a constant need. An opportunity for this business lies during an economic upswing new businesses are being created meaning the need for an accounting services will be used frequently. Being able to offer year round services will help fight the Idea of seasonal work that tax prepares and consultants have to compete with.Legal and Regulatory In order to be a reputable company the Pewter's Accounting Services should be quipped with Certified Public Accountants. A CPA is an Individual who has taken the time to take a series of four rigorous exams that have to be completed in an 18- month period (CPA Review, 2013). Accountants can don't have to be Spa's but there is an extra allure and makes your information reputable compared to the latter. Accountants are required to take 20 hours of continued education, which Is also referred to as CE credits this allows them to stay updated on new laws and regulations for the upcoming year (CPA Review, 2013).Despite the requirement this is not enough time for an individual to gather and retain much of the information. A lot of time and hours with the organization will need to be dedicated to ensure that all individuals aiding in filing taxes is up to date. Supply Chain and Technology Pewter's Accounting Services will have to take advantage of new technology available to a mass market. This external factor can be seen as both a strength and weakness. There is one major factor that gains an accounting services business.During tax 1 OFF referrals and networking efforts throughout the year. During this time the company can impress new clients and existing clients by providing the newest or most efficient accounting software to help the customers file their taxes electronically. The accounting services will also provide its customers access remotely via a secured online site providing the clients access to their financial information from anywhere in the world. This can provide issues of security because we are dealing with sensitive information that can be used in a malicious fashion if intercepted.Adjusting to Change and Competitive analysis Pewter's Accounting Services will have its headquarters in the San Fernando Valley. A quick yelp search of accountants near the North Hollywood area provides a list of 109 efferent companies that offer accounting services (Yelp, 2014). The last census of North Hollywood estimated that there was over 160 thousand residence, which has only grown in the last 10 years. Despite the large number of competition in the area there are plenty of clients to go around especially when there are new adults entering the workforce every year. Working on referrals will be our strength.Individuals and business owner tend to refer a good CPA when possible. Seasonal business can be lost to conglomer ates like H & R Block who specialize in short form tax solutions at high prices. They however have big advertisement dollars that will need us to think outside the box to get business. They prepare taxes for 1 in every 7 filed returns in the United States (H & R Block, 2013). This leads to staying competitive not necessarily with H & R Block but with other single owner or partnership offices and that is by having our tax prepares go through the training provided by H & R Block.This will give us up to date technician and trends with the industry while also allowing us to make modifications to our own strategies. Strategy Internal factors will include a structured strategy for the company. The strength of strategy will be more control of day-to-day operations. The beginning phase will be consist of building a clientele base by Joining the Los Angels Latino Chamber of Commerce along with other organizations in the area. This will help build the reputation for the firm. Keeping the staf f small will be a must to keep overhead low.Location will not be cheap but will be a necessary evil when trying to attract walk in business. Pricing will be key as well. The company cannot price too low or too high. The companies' long-term plan is to also higher licensed representatives that can give financial advice as well. This phase of the strategy will help earn more trust in the community as well as build market share by reinvesting customers tax returns and also offering tax right off by setting up individual retirement accounts. Processes & systems In order to retain and increase the customer base follow up process need to be in place.Email's, Addresses, and phone number records need to be maintained and scrubbed before outbound calls are made according to the telephone consumer protection act if we are making sales calls (FCC, 2014). Most of our outbound calls will are that will be adopted by the company to standout from other companies. Our systems will also have reminder s and will also send out emails periodically to give our customers industry updates. The systems for internal control will all need password verifications to view customer data.Accessing of this data will ensure that we can keep customer information safe to help fight identity theft. Goals Accounting is a very stable form of earning a living. The goal for Pewter's Accounting Service is to become a leader in the community. Surviving the first couple of years will not be easy, but consistency pays off in the end. Visibility will be important as individuals flock towards others that make a difference and are accessible. Despite the treat of losing customers it is inevitable to suffer attrition, but staying ahead of market trends will be required to avoid huge dips in production.Branching out to being more than Just a seasonal service will also be key. Hiring Spa's and accountants that can assist with other daily activities like payroll, bookkeeping, and advising will help bring in inco me year round. Conclusion The SHOOT analysis assisted in identifying key objectives and obstacles that a new business can face, but over come. The art of planning cannot be understated as we deiced there is internal and external factors that impact business. Perception of the world around the business is a key component of this analysis.

Send Information Between Delphi Apps With WM_COPYDATA

There are many situation when you need to allow for two applications to communicate. If you do not want to mess with TCP and sockets communication (because both applications are running on the same machine), you can *simply* send (and properly receive) a special Windows message: WM_COPYDATA. Since handling Windows messages in Delphi is simple, issuing a SendMessage API call along with the WM_CopyData filled with the data to be sent is quite straight forward. WM_CopyData and TCopyDataStruct The WM_COPYDATA message enables you to send data from one application to another. The receiving application receives the data in a TCopyDataStruct record. The TCopyDataStruct is defined in the Windows.pas unit and wraps the COPYDATASTRUCT structure that contains the data to be passed. Heres the declaration and the description of the TCopyDataStruct record: type TCopyDataStruct packed record dwData: DWORD; //up to 32 bits of data to be passed to the receiving application cbData: DWORD; //the size, in bytes, of the data pointed to by the lpData member lpData: Pointer; //Points to data to be passed to the receiving application. This member can be nil. end; Send a String over WM_CopyData For a Sender application to send data to Receiver the CopyDataStruct must be filled and passed using the SendMessage function. Heres how to send a string value over WM_CopyData: procedure TSenderMainForm.SendString() ; var stringToSend : string; copyDataStruct : TCopyDataStruct; begin stringToSend : About Delphi Programming; copyDataStruct.dwData : 0; //use it to identify the message contents copyDataStruct.cbData : 1 Length(stringToSend) ; copyDataStruct.lpData : PChar(stringToSend) ; SendData(copyDataStruct) ; end; The SendData custom function locates the receiver using the FindWindow API call: procedure TSenderMainForm.SendData(const copyDataStruct: TCopyDataStruct) ; var   Ã‚  receiverHandle : THandle;   Ã‚  res : integer; begin   Ã‚  receiverHandle : FindWindow(PChar(TReceiverMainForm),PChar(ReceiverMainForm)) ;   Ã‚  if receiverHandle 0 then   Ã‚  begin   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ShowMessage(CopyData Receiver NOT found!) ;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Exit;   Ã‚  end;   Ã‚  res : SendMessage(receiverHandle, WM_COPYDATA, Integer(Handle), Integer(copyDataStruct)) ; end; In the code above, the Receiver application was found using the FindWindow API call by passing the class name of the main form (TReceiverMainForm) and the caption of the window (ReceiverMainForm). Note: The SendMessage returns an integer value assigned by the code that handled the WM_CopyData message. Handling WM_CopyData - Receiving a String The Receiver application handles the WM_CopyData mesage as in: type TReceiverMainForm class(TForm) private procedure WMCopyData(var Msg : TWMCopyData) ; message WM_COPYDATA; ... implementation ... procedure TReceiverMainForm.WMCopyData(var Msg: TWMCopyData) ; var s : string; begin s : PChar(Msg.CopyDataStruct.lpData) ; //Send something back msg.Result : 2006; end; The TWMCopyData record is declared as: TWMCopyData packed record Msg: Cardinal; From: HWND;//Handle of the Window that passed the data CopyDataStruct: PCopyDataStruct; //data passed Result: Longint;//Use it to send a value back to the Sender end; Sending String, Custom Record or an Image? The accompanying source code demonstrates how to send a string, record (complex data type) and even graphics (bitmap) to another application. If you cannot wait the download, heres how to send a TBitmap graphics: procedure TSenderMainForm.SendImage() ; var ms : TMemoryStream; bmp : TBitmap; copyDataStruct : TCopyDataStruct; begin ms : TMemoryStream.Create; try bmp : self.GetFormImage; try bmp.SaveToStream(ms) ; finally bmp.Free; end; copyDataStruct.dwData : Integer(cdtImage) ; // identify the data copyDataStruct.cbData : ms.Size; copyDataStruct.lpData : ms.Memory; SendData(copyDataStruct) ; finally ms.Free; end; end; And how to receive it: procedure TReceiverMainForm.HandleCopyDataImage( copyDataStruct: PCopyDataStruct) ; var ms: TMemoryStream; begin ms : TMemoryStream.Create; try ms.Write(copyDataStruct.lpData^, copyDataStruct.cbData) ; ms.Position : 0; receivedImage.Picture.Bitmap.LoadFromStream(ms) ; finally ms.Free; end; end;