The computer industry has always been at the forefront of developing and utilizing quality concepts. Quality failures of hardware, software, or services are both immediately obvious to customers and seriously damaging to their trust in the supplier. Hewlett-Packard, the worldwide information systems company, was one of the first to make a success of the internal-customer concept in its operations. One part of the way it used the concept was a short but effective checklist ‘pocket guide’ which was distributed throughout the company. It suggests each part of the organization should ask itself seven questions, which it regards as fundamental to the operation:
1. Who are my customers?
2. What do they need?
3. What is my product or service?
4. What are my customers’ expectations and measures?
5. Does my product or service meet their expectations?
6. What is the process for providing my product or service?
7. What action is required to improve the process?

H-P then went on to devise a problem-solving methodology, based on its seven questions, the stages for which are as follows:

Select the quality issue. Collect and analyze the data.
Write an issue statement. Identify the major causes of the quality issue

Identify the process. Plan for improvements.
Draw a flow chart. Take corrective action.
Select a process performance measure. Collect and analyze the data again

Conduct a cause-and-effect analysis. Are the objectives met?

a) What do you see as the limitations of the set of questions which comprises Hewlett-Packard’s internal customer checklist?

b) Do you think anything is missing from the problem-solving methodology described above?

c) What seems to be the implied problem-solving methodology described above?

d) How does it compare with the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)?

e) State and explain the seven basic tools of quality.

f) Discuss the four traditional categories of quality costs.