Enhancement in quality and productivity: a riskless approach based on optimum selection of tolerance and improvement strategies

The need of higher quality products from the customers and the tendency of industries to quality improvement for maintaining their competitive position over the long run are the main motives of using improvement methodologies. However, any use of improvement methodology besides its additional costs will also change the total variability of the process. Changes in total variability will affect the optimal value of tolerance as well as the quality of the product. Therefore, one of the main concerns of the producers is to find an effective way to manufacture their goods in a manner that reduces the production costs and gains customers' satisfaction. To meet these goals, this study introduces an algorithm to propose a riskless approach of improvement that results in the maximum amount of net savings. It is shown that using appropriate improvement strategies simultaneous with a proper selection of tolerance have an important impact to enhance productivity and quality.