The axiom, "You can't manage what you can't measure," has become the rallying cry of the total quality movement. Measurement and quantification are an integral part of identifying areas in the quality process that need improvement. Examples of quality measures include: percent of customer returns and number of customer complaints for quantifying Defect Rate; number of service calls and percent of equipment downtime for Reliability and percentage of warranty claims and average product life for Durability, just to name a few. Metrics forms the foundation of a quality assessment that allows companies to compare current practice to a standard or prior performance. The resulting gap between current practice and the standard forms the basis of devising a strategy for improvement. Many scholars and practitioners alike argue that metrics was one of the key drivers in the total quality management's popularity. After all, if you don't know how you are doing on a task, you won't know if the modifications will help or hurt. This situation would be similar to going on a diet without having a scale. Sure, you may be able to tell if you are becoming overweight, but by that time it may be too difficult to correct. Having a scale can give you an early warning signal—indicating if you are getting off track and if corrective measures are needed. Metrics play a similar role in total quality management (TQM)- they can signal potential problem areas that should be addressed.
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