Quality management in SME for cost reduction: Case study of aqua vis co.,ltd.

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to identify what factors can help Aqua Vis Co., Ltd., an OEM manufacturer of wakeboard and kiteboard, to improve product quality in order to reduce the costs, and to discover how each factor affects product quality. This research aims to develop suitable solutions to improve each factor to improve product quality, and also find out expected improved quality and cost reduction. From literature review, there are five factors for quality management which can improve product quality. These factors are top management support, employee involvement, quality of suppliers, process management, and customer involvement. In order to find out relationship between these factors and quality improvement, qualitative research method is applied. This research collects data by interviewing all full-time employees to acquire information in each factor. The research results show that top management support, employee involvement, quality of suppliers, and process management are the main important factors for improving quality in organization but customer involvement is inconclusive because only respondents in management team believes that customer involvement can improve product quality, while respondents in production line do not agree that customer involvement has an impact on quality improvement. The recommended solutions for quality improvement include statistical process control (SPC) development, incentive system development, preventive maintenance schedule development, training, and supplier evaluation. Furthermore, the expected quality index for these solution can possibly increase from 0.35 to 0.85 and also costs can possibly be reduce by 27 percent which can increase gross profits by 7.3 percent.

KEY WORDS: Quality management / Statistical process control (SPC)