Quality 质量

In supplying products or services there are three fundamental parameters that determine their saleability. They are price, quality and delivery. Customers require products and services of a given quality to be delivered by or be available by a given time and to be of a price that reflects value for money. These are the requirements of customers. An organization will survive only if it creates and retains satisfied customers and this will only be achieved if it offers for sale products or services that respond to customer needs and expectations as well as requirements. While price is a function of cost, profit margin and market forces, and delivery is a function of the organization’s efficiency and effectiveness. Quality is determined by the extent to which a product or service successfully serves the purposes of the user during usage (not just at the point of sale). Price and delivery are both transient features, whereas the impact of quality is sustained long after the attraction or the pain of price and delivery has subsided.
在提供产品或服务时,有三个确定其适销性的基本要素:价格、质量和交货。顾客要求具有确定质量的和反映金钱价值的价格的产品和服务在确定的时间交货或获得。这些是顾客的要求。只有组织创造并把握住得到满足的顾客，组织才能生存下去，而且只有在组织提供响应顾客需求和期望，以及要求的产品或服务的产品，组织才能达到生存的目的。价格取决于成本、利润率和市场力量【确定市场价格的力量——jelly】的函数，交货取决于组织效率和有效性，而质量则取决于产品或服务顺利地达成用户在使用过程中（而不是在销售网点）的目的的程度。价格和交货具有转瞬即逝的特性，相反在经历了价格和交货的吸引或痛苦后，质量的影响则来得长久。
The word quality has many meanings: 质量一词具有多种含义：
● A degree of excellence 卓越的程度【韦伯大辞典的定义——jelly】
● Conformance with requirements 符合要求【质量控制理论对质量的定义——jelly】
● The totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs 实体依赖于其能力满足明示或暗示的需求的特性总和【ISO9000老掉牙版本对质量的定义——jelly】
● Fitness for use 适用性【即满足预期用途——jelly】
● Fitness for purpose #@（&×【质量保证理论的概念，我不知道该翻译为什么好。另一种说法是meeting the customer's requirement and no more恰好满足顾客要求，不提供超出顾客要求质量的产品——jelly】
● Freedom from defects imperfections or contamination免于不良【质量管理大师朱兰给出的定义——jelly】
● Delighting customers取悦顾客【这好像是QFD的言论——jelly】
These are just a few meanings; however, the meaning used in the context of ISO 9000 was concerned with the totality of characteristics that satisfy needs but in the 2000 version this has changed. Quality in ISO 9000:2000 is defined as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils the requirements. The former definition focused on an entity that was described as a product or service but with this new definition, the implication is that quality is relative to what something should be and what it is. The some thing may be a product, service, decision, document, piece of information or any output from a process. In describing an output, we express it in terms of its char acteristics. To comment on the quality of anything we need a measure of its characteristics and a basis for com parison. By combining the definition of the terms qual ity and requirement in ISO 9000:2000, quality can be expressed as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils a need or expectation that is stated, generally implied or obligatory.
这里只列举了几个含义，ISO9000所采用的是特性的总和满足需求，而到2000版进行了变更。ISO9000：2000中把质量定义为一组固有特性满足要求的程度。前一个定义侧重于被描述为产品或服务的实体，而新定义的暗示是质量与某一事物应该是什么样子的和它就是什么样子的有关。这个某一事物可以是产品、服务、决定、文件、信息、或其它任何过程的输出。通过合并ISO9000:2000质量和要求的定义，质量可以表述为一组固有特性满足明示、通常暗示的和法规的需求或期望的程度。

This concept of “degree” is illustrated in Figure 1.2. The diagram expresses three truths: 图1.2示出了“程度”的概念。图表表示三个事实：
● Needs, requirements and expectations are constantly changing 需求、要求和期望是不断变化的
● Performance needs to be constantly changing to keep pace with the needs （体系）绩效需要不断地变化，以追上需求变化的步伐
● Quality is the difference between the standard required and the standard reached 质量是标准要求与达到标准之间的差
This means that when we talk of anything using the word quality it simply implies that we are referring to the extent or degree to which a requirement is met. It also means that all the principles, methodologies, tools and techniques in the field of quality management serve one purpose, that of enabling organizations to close the gap between the standard required and the standard reached.
这表明但我们使用词汇“质量”谈论什么事情时，就意味着我们讨论满足要求的程度。这也意味着质量管理领域所有的原则、方法、工具和技术都为一个目标服务，即使组织弥补标准要求和达到标准之间的差距。
Therefore environmental, safety, security and health problems are in fact quality problems because an expectation or a requirement has not been met. Even if it had there would be no problem. Having made the comparison we can still assess whether the output is “fitness for us”. In this sense the output may be of poor quality but remain fit for use. The specification is often an imperfect definition of what a customer needs; because some needs can be difficult to express clearly and it doesn’t mean that by not conforming, the product or service is unfit for use. It is also possible that a product that conforms to requirements may be totally useless. It all depends on whose requirements are being met. For example, if a company sets its own standards and these do not meet customer needs, its claim to producing quality products is bogus. On the other hand, if the standards are well in excess of what the customer requires, the price tag may well be too high for what customers are prepared to pay – there probably isn’t a market for a goldplated mousetrap, for instance, except as an ornament perhaps!因此，环境、安全、健康问题实际上是质量问题，因为没有满足期望或要求。即使如果这称其为是个问题。进行这样的比较我们至少可以评价（过程）输出是否“适合我们”。如此说来，输出可能是不好的质量但依然适用。规范通常是顾客需求不完美的表达；因为某些需求是很难表达清楚的，这不意味着不合格品不适用。符合要求的产品也可能完全不适用。所有这一切都取决于要被满足的要求。例如，如果一家公司制定了它自己的标准，而这些标准未满足顾客需求，那么该公司声称生产符合质量要求的产品就是扯淡。另一方面，如果这些标准远远超出了顾客要求的，那么价格就大大超出了顾客准备支付的价位——例如，或许一个镀金的老鼠夹是没有市场的，也许装潢例外。