American and japanese quality

It is appropriate to start this article with a comparison of American and Japanese quality practices. The Japanese have had great successes over the last decade in producing items of high quality. Perhaps something can be learned from them.

Juran conducted an in-depth analysis of Japanese and American quality with particular attention to the colour TV set. He observed the following differences in quality practices between the two countries:

1. Scrubdown of new products. In Japan, a very careful procedure is followed prior to the introduction of a new product to ensure the quality of design and conformance. This process of pilot production is called “scrubdown” and is aimed at getting the bugs out of the product before regular production begins. In the United States, scrubdown procedures are also used, but inevitably the conflict between the schedule and quality emerges. In most cases, the United States companies decide to go to market and meet the schedule while correcting the quality defects on the fly. The Japanese scrubdown procedure is more careful and deliberate.

2. Emphasis on quality characteristics. A TV set has three principal quality characteristics: picture quality, cabinet appeal, and reliability. It appears that Japan has emphasized reliability to a much greater extent than the United States while competing favourably on picture quality and cabinet appeal. Although the Americans have been attempting to close the gap, the Japanese still have the lead in quality and particularly in reliability.

3. Marketing structure. In Japan, the major TV producers have their own retail outlets and service shops. In Japan, their sets are not sold through huge retail chains and repaired by independent dealers, as TV sets are in the United States. The manufacturer in Japan does it all. As a result, the manufacturers pay more of the real cost of failure; logically, therefore, they stress reliability.

4. Components. As any TV manufacturer knows, a key to quality is the use of quality components. The Japanese carefully test all components prior to putting them in a set. They also select vendors carefully to get the best possible supplier from a quality-price standpoint. The Americans do less screening and end up with a much higher rate of in-plant failures.

5. Training. The Japanese emphasize quality training at all levels. Top management attends classes on quality principles.

6. Employee relations. The Japanese stress teamwork and worker responsibility for quality. There is a pride in workmanship which starts with top management and permeates the entire organization. The line managers and workers are put in a decision-making role, and the staff is advisory. As a result, the workforce knows it is responsible for producing a quality product and accepts that responsibility. There is a great emphasis in Japan on the total quality concept described above and on doing things right the first time.

Many people feel that the Japanese methods may be all right for Japan but that they will not work in America.

The Americans are improving quality today as a matter of survival. Customers demand and expect better quality. Much can be learned from the Japanese, who have already succeeded in transforming their World War II image of cheap Japanese goods to the current image of cheap but high-quality Japanese goods.

Запомните необходимый лексический минимум

conduct	сопровождать, руководить
conformance	соответствие, единообразие
independent	независимый, самостоятельный
emerge	появляться, возникать
succeed (in)	иметь успех
advisory	сводка; совещательный, рекомендательный
failure	неудача, неисправность
deliberate	тщательно спланированный
permeate	проникать, распространяться
reliability	надежность, достоверность
retail	розничная продажа
schedule	схема, график
vendor	продавец, поставщик, производитель

Задание I

А. Подберите эквиваленты к словам, обозначенным цифрами

appropriate	сравнение
comparison	благоприятно
item	мера, степень
decide	соответствующий
current	принимать; допускать
survival	настоящий, данный, текущий
extent	решать
favourably	полный, целый, весь
accept	изделие
entire	выживание

B. Подберите эквиваленты к словосочетаниям, обозначенным цифрами

stress reliability	начать выпуск продукции
pilot production	заводские дефекты
plant failures	приемочный контроль
introduce a new product	соблюдать сроки (график)
attend classes	ответственность за качество
meet the schedule	центры продажи
cost of failure	придавать особое значение надежности
retail outlets	изготовление опытных образцов
close the gap	посещать занятия
responsibility for quality	гордиться мастерством
scrubdown procedure	стоимость брака
pride in workmanship	ликвидировать разрыв в качестве

C. Заполните пропуски, используя предложенные слова или словосочетания

a) contamination b) entire c) advances d) appreciate

e) technologies f) standard g) established

1. Thanks to globalization and rapid ____ in technology, today’s manufacturing environment is increasingly competitive.

2. Save time and money with unlimited access, which allows you to train your ____ team without leaving the office. 

3. Space-age technology designed to keep food safe in outer space may soon become ____ here on Earth.

4. There is increasing public health concern about chemical ____ of food: for example, the effects of lead in food on the nervous system.

5. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has ____ HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) for meat and poultry processing plants, as well.

6. New ____ have had a significant impact on organizations over the last few years.

7. The manager needs to ____ the role of information in control indeed.

Задание II

А. Найдите в тексте предложения с модальными глаголами и переведите их

B. Подберите английский эквивалент слову, данному в скобках

1. Zero defects programs (могут) have a dramatic effect on

quality and the cost of quality.

2. Quality measurements (должны) be established not only for the product, but for operations in the service and office areas and also for the vendors.

3. All employees – office, factory, and service people (следует) be involved, as well as vendors.

4. Steel companies in the Far East (могли) produce high-quality steel for much lower prices than American companies did.

5. Firms (приходится) reward people for learning new skills and using them proficiently.

6. Organizations in the service sector (были неспособны) to boost the productivity of their employees.

7. The faulty goods (не нужно) be replaced right away. We’ll do it ourselves in two days.

C. Найдите в тексте предложения с пассивными конструкциями и переведите их

Задание III

А. Ответьте на вопросы

1. Are there any differences in quality practices between the

United States and Japan?

2. What is the scrubdown procedure aimed at?

3. Who pays for the real cost of failure in Japan and in the United States?

4. Do the Japanese pay much attention to quality training?

5. Why do the Americans improve quality nowadays?

B. Завершите предложения в соответствии с содержанием текста

1. The Japanese have had a progress in producing items of ____.

2. Juran considered some differences between _____.

3. A very careful procedure to ensure the quality of design and conformance is called ______.

4. In producing TV sets Japan has emphasized ____.

5. The manufacturers in Japan pay for the real cost of failure therefore they pay more attention to ____.

6. It’s well known that a key to ____ is the use of quality of components.

7. The manufacturers in Japan stress teamwork and ____.

C. Определите, являются ли истинными данные ниже утверждения

1. Japanese quality practice has been greatly developed in recent years.

2. The analysis of Japanese and American quality shows that quality practices between the two countries are similar.

3. Scrubdown of new products in the United States is more careful and deliberate than in Japan.

4. The Japanese put reliability of the new products on the first place.

5. The American manufactures sell their TV sets through huge retail chains.

6. The Japanese methods of producing quality items may be equally all right for both Japan and the United States.

7. Nowadays manufactures have to improve quality of ready products as a matter of survival.

Задание IV

Выполните письменный перевод части текста, где дана сравнительная характеристика японского и американского подхода к контролю качества