Introduction

As an independent consultant in Quality Improvement, I will conduct an analysis of the operations of the company `Handles and Hinges`. I will answer how the company competes in its market place, what role does ‘quality' play in its competitive strategy, whether or not I believe the company's use of statistical quality control is sensible, how a TQM approach could benefit the company's operations, and I will also apply the Gap model of quality diagnostics to the company and comment upon its relevance.

Competing in two markets

Handles and Hinges compete in two different markets, the retail market, and the construction market. In the retail market, it is much more aware of costs, and this has placed stress on the
This was due to high quality designs. This is proof that the quality of the design is imperative for a company to succeed, which it has done up to now. However there are some failings that may affect the company in the future. Handles and Hinges are late sometimes when dealing with UK retail customers which make it difficult to keep repeat custom and happy relationships. This is bad because more custom means more money, and it's vital to keep happy relationships to keep the repeat custom alive.

There have also been various amounts of quality problems, which are mainly dented and scratched handles. This again is very bad as it is lowering the amount of quality that Handles and Hinges is producing, and it is again not helping with repeat custom, which as stated before, is vital to the company's well-being. It is damaging to the company's reputation, and if there were other suppliers for the consumers, then they may think about buying from them. This may come down to the fact that the company has decided to purchase material from abroad (such as Poland). These new materials are cheaper because they are thinner, which means it will not last for as long as before and maybe easy to scratch and dent. For the company to continue being profitable in the future, it can be said that they should switch back to more expensive materials, to stop defects coming through and ruining a random sample of items.