Quality

adj. excellent, having superior characteristics, fine

n. degree of excellence; characteristic, attribute; nature, character; excellence

Quality in everyday life and business, engineering and manufacturing has a pragmatic interpretation as the non-inferiority, superiority or usefulness of something. This is the most common interpretation of the term.Many different techniques and concepts have evolved to improve product or service quality, including SPC, Zero Defects, Six Sigma, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, quality circles, TQM, Theory of Constraints (TOC),Quality Management Systems (ISO 9000 and others) and continuous improvement.The meaning for the term quality has developed over time. Various interpretations are given below:ISO 9000 - "Degree to which a set of inherent characteristic fulfills requirements" (Philip B. Crosby in the 1980s)- "Conformance to requirements". The difficulty with this is that the requirements may not fully represent customer expectations; Crosby treats this as a separate problem.(Joseph M. Juran).- "Fitness for use". Fitness is defined by the customer.(Noriaki Kano and others)- A two-dimensional model of quality. The quality has two dimensions: "must-be quality" and "attractive quality". The former is near to the "fitness for use" and the latter is what the customer would love, but has not yet thought about. Supporters characterize this model more succinctly as: "Products and services that meet or exceed customers' expectations".(Gerald M. Weinberg)- "Value to some person". (W. Edwards Deming)- "Quality and the Required Style of Management" 1988 See http://www.deming.org/. "Costs go down and productivity goes up, as improvement of quality is accomplished by better management of design, engineering, testing and by improvement of processes. Better quality at lower price has a chance to capture a market. Cutting costs without improvement of quality is futile." (Genichi Taguchi). "The loss a product imposes on society after it is shipped". Taguchi's definition of quality is based on a more comprehensive view of the production system.Energy quality, associated with both the energy engineering of industrial systems and the qualitative differences in the trophic levels of an ecosystem.One key distinction to make is there are two common applications of the term Quality as form of activity or function within a business. One is Quality Assurance which is the "prevention of defects", such as the deployment of a Quality Management System and preventative activities like FMEA. The other is Quality Control which is the "detection of defects", most commonly associated with testing which takes place within a Quality Management System typically referred to as Verification and Validation.
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Noun
1. an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare
(hypernym) attribute
(hyponym) appearance, visual aspect
(attribute) good
(derivation) qualify, characterize, characterise
2. a degree or grade of excellence or worth; "the quality of students has risen"; "an executive of low caliber"
(synonym) caliber, calibre
(hypernym) degree, grade, level
(hyponym) superiority, high quality
(attribute) superior
(derivation) qualify, measure up
3. a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something; "each town has a quality all its own"; "the radical character of our demands"
(synonym) character, lineament
(hypernym) property, attribute, dimension
(hyponym) texture
(derivation) qualify, characterize, characterise
4. (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); "the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely"; "the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet"
(synonym) timbre, timber, tone
(hypernym) sound property
(hyponym) resonance
(classification) music
5. high social status; "a man of quality"
(hypernym) social station, social status, social rank, rank
(derivation) qualify, measure up
Adjective
1. of superior grade; "choice wines"; "prime beef"; "prize carnations"; "quality paper"; "select peaches"
(synonym) choice, prime(a), prize, select
(similar) superior
2. of high social status; "people of quality"; "a quality family"
(similar) upper-class

(n.)
The condition of being of such and such a sort as distinguished from others; nature or character relatively considered, as of goods; character; sort; rank.
  

(n.)
That which makes, or helps to make, anything such as it is; anything belonging to a subject, or predicable of it; distinguishing property, characteristic, or attribute; peculiar power, capacity, or virtue; distinctive trait; as, the tones of a flute differ from those of a violin in quality; the great quality of a statesman.
  

(n.)
Superior birth or station; high rank; elevated character.
  

(n.)
Special or temporary character; profession; occupation; assumed or asserted rank, part, or position.
  

(n.)
An acquired trait; accomplishment; acquisition.
  

The totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.