Technology‐driven forms of quality improvement and technical evolution

The success and extent of quality improvement efforts is largely influenced by the technological options available to a company. Technology, thereby, not only impacts production quality during problem elimination, but also preceding and following an actual improvement in the form of problem prevention. In the process design stage, the production setup determines to a large degree the severity of potential quality problems, and in the quality maintenance stage, the choice of technology has a large influence on the maintenance of efficiency and effectiveness. This article therefore discusses the paramount role of technology connected to quality improvement. It furthermore focuses on the economic implications of different technological alternatives, as well as on success factors to facilitate the determination of a company's quality strategy. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.