My congratulations to William Raspberry on his excellent column
”American firms are embracing a `new concept`-quality” (Op-Ed, Aug. 26).
The problem Mr. Raspberry seemed to miss explaining, however, is that
”quality” means different things to different people at different times. Defining ”quality” with your customers and potential customers is the key to attaining the right goals in a quality improvement program.
Often, customers don`t expect perfection but rather a reasonably well-produced product or service at an affordable price.
The Japanese have learned to produce increasingly better made products and services through their ”kaizen” processes: quality commitment, quality circles, gain-sharing methods-anything that would contribute to an even slightly better made product or service that the customer wants at an affordable price.
