JJP VERSTER

Professor JJP Verster, Ph D, UOFS, Head of the Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction management, University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein

Strategies for successfully meeting the demands of quality and service excellence

Abstract

The management of quality is crucial to business survival and merits the personal attention and commitment of executive management, but the primary responsibility for quality lies with those who perform the work. To enable production teams to accept responsibility for quality output, management must establish systems for control and verification of that output and must educate and train the workforce in the execution of duty. This training in techniques to achieve quality standards, will be repaid many times over by greater output, less waste, an improved product and higher profits.

Introduction
Definitions of Quality
The determinants of Quality
The balance of functions
Applications
The construction industry, the contractor and quality
Barriers to quality
Steps to quality
Knowledge areas
Vital Conditions for quality
Techniques to be applied in achieving project economics
Managing motivation
Project management that leads to quality products
Summary
Bibliography

Introduction

Quality has at its root the universal idea of inspiration, delight and beauty. In the building industry, quality is vital, since the main functions of architectural design are:

• Functionality
• Structural stability
• Aesthetics

or in architectural terms, referring to the functions according to Vitruvius (Van Pelt & Westfall, 1991:177-180):

• Commodity
• Firmness
• Delight.

If these functions are in harmony, the architectural object will captivate, motivate and inspire.

Through the ages this has been achieved in many locations throughout the world and today those buildings and structures evoke amazement and the question: "How did they do it?"

By comparison, today's challenges are different in many ways, but the essence of life remains unchanged.

The focus of this article is a strategic approach to quality.

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+ site created on : 19 May, 1997 + site updated on : 28 Sep, 2011 +