Planning and Implementation of Quality Control in a Manufacturing Company

ABSTRACT

The broad objective of this study is to examine the impact of production planning and control on manufacturing process using Nigeria Brewery in Lagos State as case study,as case study. Survey research design was employed for the study and with the aid of convenient sampling technique seventy-nine(79) participant was selected for the study who are staff and management in Nigeria Brewery Lagos State. Well structured questionnaire was issued to the respondent of which 70 were retrieved and validated for the study. The data obtained were analyzed using frequency counts and simple percentage. Hypothesis test was conducted using Chi-Square statistical package for social science (SPSS v.23). Findings of the study reveal that quality control implementation involves some methodologies which includes: the planning phase, the procedure phase and organizational change phase, thus Organization highly committed to the implementation of quality control usually maintain quality standard in production which in turn provides a direction to the business. The study therefor recommends that Proper production planning and control should be performed by considering all components required for effective production in manufacturing industries. Periodical review of production planning and control should be serious considered in order to detect any possible loophole that will increase operational cost as well as low product quality.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

The pressure from globalization has made manufacturing organization moving towards three major competitive arenas: quality, cost, and responsiveness. The process of production planning and control is central to the success of any manufacturing company.The Manufacturing sector comprises establishments engages in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products. Manufacturing industries wish to satisfy customer demands expressed in terms of real or estimate need and expectations. Moreover, due to the current technological developments, manufacturing companies need to perform engineering changes in manufacturing systems to adapt their manufacturing program and enhance the products, while reducing manufacturing costs. These needs various facilities are complex, dynamic, stochastic systems. Starting at the beginning of organized manufacturing, workers, supervisors, engineers, and managers have developed many clever and practical methods for controlling production process and activities (Denkena & Winter, 2015).

In order to survive and be able to provide customers with good products, manufacturing organizations are required to ensure that their processes are continuously monitored and product quality are improved. Manufacturing organization applies various quality control techniques to improve the quality of the process by reducing its variability.Quality can be defined as fulfilling specification or customer requirement, without any defect. A product is said to be high in quality if it is functioning as expected and reliable.

Quality control refers to activities to ensure that produced items are fulfilling the highest possible quality.Demirbag (2006) notes that quality control and improvement is one of the most important factors in every organization. Successful enterprises understand the dominant influence customer-defined quality can have on business. Hence many competitive companies constantly enhance their quality standard by introducing total quality control departments in their organizations whose policies are aimed at satisfying customers by giving them standard quality products, excellent services and timely delivery. They go further to explain the need for organizational development by training staff for such responsibilities. Taking a historical perspective, organizations who are highly committed to the implementation of quality control usually maintain quality standard in production which in turn provides a direction to the business.

Statement of the problem

Every manufacturing activity requires resource input in terms of men, materials, money and machines. Hence any business that produces a product or service production activity must be related to market demands as indicated by the continuous stream of customers’ orders. Jain and Aggarwal (2008) state that for maximum effectiveness, this must be done in such a way that customers’ demands are satisfied, but at the same time production activities are carried on in an economic manner. Although several reasons have been accountable for substandard products in manufacturing sector, Arora (2009) notes that quality of goods is determined by customers. This is due to effective quality which determines the rate of productivity and thus becomes an important factor in organization and also contributes to the growth of the economy. Bizarrely, the usage of poor basic materials for production process has given way to the existence of substandard products in the Nigeria industry, making the product not to measure up to the standard of specification as expected. Some producers produce sub-standard varieties of products, different from the ones they presented for certification to regulatory agencies. This has resulted in productivity of organizations dropping because of customers’ inability to buy such bad products. Where the company fails to measure up and the products identified, such products are usually confiscated or destroyed and such company may be closed-down by the regulatory agencies pending when issues are resolved. So, instead of the companies making profit, huge amount of loss is incurred as a result. Therefore it is upon this premise that this study seeks to examine planning and implementation of quality control in a manufacturing company using Nigeria Brewery, Lagos State.

Objective of the study

The broad objective of the study is to examine planning and implementation of quality control in a manufacturing company using Nigeria Brewery, Lagos State as case study. Specifically, this study seeks:

1. To examine the techniques of quality control applicable in manufacturing industry.
2. To ascertain whether inspection of technique will affect production control
3. To ascertain if there is any effect of quality control technique on product quality

Research Hypothesis

HO1:Inspection technique has significant positive effect on production control

HO2: There is a significant positive relationship between quality control technique and product designing.

Significance of the study

The outcome of this study will educate the manager of industries and other stakeholders in the manufacturing sector on ways by which production planning and control can drastically reduce the operational cost in an industry. It will also educate on the effect of production planning and control on organizational effectiveness, profitability and productivity. This research work will constitute a body of literature to the existing scholarly materials on the impact of production planning and control on operational cost to help strengthen and promote organizational development. Empirically, the study would serve as a reference material to scholars and student who wishes to conduct further studies in related field.

Scope of the study

The scope of this study borders on thee planning and implementation of quality control in a manufacturing company. The study will further discuss techniques of quality control applicable in manufacturing industry, ascertain whether inspection of technique will affect production control, and and determine if there is any effect of quality control technique on product quality. The study is however delimited to Nigeria Breweries, Lagos State.

Limitation of the study

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering on Nigeria Breweries. Thus findings of this study cannot be generalized for other manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. Despite the constraint encountered during the research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

Definition of terms

Planning: Planning is the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel.

Production: Production is the process of combining various material inputs and immaterial inputs (plans, know-how) in order to make something for consumption (output).

Manufacturing Process: Process manufacturing is a production method that creates goods by combining supplies, ingredients or raw materials using a formula or recipe. It is frequently used in industries that produce bulk quantities of goods.