Quality Assurance (QA) is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or services to customers. ISO 9000defines quality assurance as "A part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled".[1] It thus differs subtly from quality control.
QA is applied to physical products in pre-production to verify what will be made meets specifications and requirements, and during manufacturing production runs by validating lot samples meet specified quality controls. QA is also applied to software to verify that features and functionality meet business objectives, and that code is relatively bug free prior to shipping or releasing new software products and versions.
Quality Assurance refers to administrative and procedural activities implemented in a quality system so that requirements and goals for a product, service or activity will be fulfilled.[2] It is the systematic measurement, comparison with a standard, monitoring of processes and an associated feedback loop that confers error prevention.[3] This can be contrasted with quality control, which is focused on process output.
Two principles included in Quality Assurance are: "Fit for purpose", the product should be suitable for the intended purpose; and "Right first time", mistakes should be eliminated. QA includes management of the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components, services related to production, and management, production and inspectionprocesses.[citation needed]
The standard addition and internal standard
Standard Addition is a technique that helps qualify dubious test results. It means adding known quantities of analyte(s) of interest and is performed to correct for matrix effects. An analyst usually divides the unknown sample into two portions, so that a known amount of the analyte (a spike) can be added to one portion. These two samples, the original and the original plus spike, are then analyzed. The sample with the spike will show a larger analytical response than the original sample due to the additional amount of analyte added to it.
An internal standard is a known amount of a compound, different from analyte, that is added to the unknown. Signal from analyte is compared with signal from the internal standard to find out how much analyte is present.
Internal standards are especially useful for analyzes in which the quantity of sample analyzed or the instrument response varies slightly from run to run for reasons that are difficult to control. For example, gas or liquid flow rates that vary by a few percent .
22) Subject of standardizationStandardization subject to methods used in gathering and treating subjects for a specific study. In order to compare the results of one group to the results of a second group, we must assure that each group receives the same opportunities to succeed. Standardized tests, for instance, painstakingly assure that each student receives the same questions in the same order and is given the same amount of time, the same resources, and the same type of testing environment. Without standardization, we could never adequately compare groups.
For example, imagine that one group of students was given a particular test and allowed four hours to complete it in a quiet and well lit room. A second group was given the same test but only allowed 30 minutes to complete it while sitting in a busy school lunchroom full of laughing and talking children. If group 1 scored higher than group 2 could we truly say that they did better? The answer is obviously ‘no.’ To make sure we can compare results, we must make everything equal between the two or more groups. Only then could we say that group 1 performed better than group 2.
How the typical problems of standardization work
Standardized work is one of the most powerful but least used lean tools. By documenting the current best practice, standardized work forms the baseline for kaizen or continuous improvement. As the standard is improved, the new standard becomes the baseline for further improvements, and so on. Improving standardized work is a never-ending process.
Basically, standardized work consists of three elements:
· Takt time, which is the rate at which products must be made in a process to meet customer demand.
· The precise work sequence in which an operator performs tasks within takt time.
· The standard inventory, including units in machines, required to keep the process operating smoothly.
Establishing standardized work relies on collecting and recording data on a few forms. These forms are used by engineers and front-line supervisors to design the process and by operators to make improvements in their own jobs. In this workshop, you'll learn how to use these forms and why it will be difficult to make your lean implementations "stick" without standardized work.
The baseline standardized work should reflect the agreed upon best practices of the work group: the one best way to perform the work today.
I can readily list 10 benefits associated with implementation of standardized work :
1.Employee involvement and empowerment,
2.Consistency (reduction of variation) among staff members performing the work,
3.Improved productivity without added stress,
4.Improved, consistent quality,
5.Reduction or elimination of errors and mistakes (causes of defects),
6.Work process stability,
7.Increased employee safety,
8.Improved cost management as wastes are removed,
9.Availability of a great tool for staff training, and
10.Visual management--managers and supervisors can see when processes are not operating normally.
However, these benefits come at a cost--they require that managers, supervisors, and staff change how they work today. Everyone's job changes when a laboratory embraces the philosophy of standardized work. Lean transformations and standardized work require discipline to develop and sustain; too many of us have our old ways of doing things to fall back on if we do not practice self-discipline.
23) Objects of standardizationare usually standardization products, processes ( work) services that have the prospect of repeated reproduction , use and which develop certain standards, requirements , features, settings , rules , etc.
Area of standardization is the set of interconnected objects standardization. For example , engineering is an area of standardization and standardization in mechanical objects can be processes , types of motors , machine safety , etc.
The main goals of standardization are derived primarily from the content of the concept.
Specification of common goals related to the implementation of the requirements of the standards, which are mandatory. These include the development of standards, requirements, rules, providing:
- The safety of products , works and services for the life and health of people, the environment and property;
- Interoperability and interchangeability of products;
- Quality products and services in accordance with the level of development of scientific and technical progress;
- Unity measuring;
- Economics all kinds of resources;
- Security service buildings associated with the possibility of the occurrence of various disasters ( natural and manmade ), and emergency situations;
- Defenses and mobilization readiness of the country.
The main results of the standardization activities should be an increase in the extent to which a product (service ) , the processes of their functional purpose , the elimination of technical barriers to the international exchange of goods , promotion of scientific and technological progress and cooperation in various fields .