Sreyash Sangam

Quality Assurance and Quality Control are both important component for the  robust 'Quality Management System'. 
 
Quality Control (QC) in general is a reactive concept which deals with the intermediate quality parameters of products and process once the activity is performed. e.g, The assembly line in an auto industry have passed certain number of vehicles and than QC Team, based on the agreed and standard set of parameters, does the inspection of the same to check where there are any deviations. In,fact there is a concept in industrial world of TEST - MAKE - INSPECT . So inspection part only comes post the make or manufacturing activity is completed. Another example we can consider is of Pharma industry, Here we have big team of Quality control division, who are  responsible at each stages for checking the conformance to standard of Raw material, Intermediate goods as well as the finished goods. All theses processes involve set of equipment, people and parameters based on standard requirement. Hence the major role of QC function is in ensuring that the standards are adhered to in line with the agreed set of parameters. It is always performed as second check or as the validation of completed process, hence it is reactive.
 
QA or Quality Assurance on the other hand is a larger umbrella or broader concept which is process oriented and take utmost care on minute details at each step, corrects when the process starts deviating. The Quality assurance does derive the Voice of customer and translate those voices into meaningful, relevant and appropriate set of standard parameters & principles customized to organisation internal set of framework. 
 
e.g., If the process has been defined and qualified by the operation steam in any organisation, it requires to be validated by Quality assurance team so that once the process becomes full fledged, it does produce the goods or services with intended quality parameters as expected from the customer. 
Of course, in order to do that, QA continuously need feedback from QC on the quality of product, category & type of deviations. This helps the QA to formulate policies, rules, stringent protocol, so that instead of waiting for the final quality of product or services, the process can be made more robust and continuous monitoring can be done for its effectiveness.
 
In conclusion, both the QC and QA works on continuous feedback loop, wherein based on the reactive approach QC highlights the standard of products/services, eventually gives the feedback to QA, which build a proactive mechanism to ensure process effectiveness.

Process cycle efficiency is the proportion of time a process or activity is involved in carrying out value added activities. Therefore, this is also sometimes referred to as VA/NVA ratio.
All the activities involved within a process or throughout the process can be categorized into value added and Non value added activities. In Lean terms the value added activities are those in which customer is willing to pay. Non value added activities, hence are considered to be the "WASTE" for the process and the organisation. These wastes can be summarized  in terms of TIMWOODS i.e., Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Over processing, Defect and underutilized skills. 
Process cycle efficiency once calculated gives a clear understanding on how much waste exists in the process. Average value added proportion with respect to the Non value added is around 5-10% : 90-95%. Thus the Process cycle efficiency helps significantly a tool or enabler for improving the overall process performance. 
However, it is not considered as the best metric for process efficiency because of following reasons:
 
a. Process cycle efficiency does not include the dynamic performance related to the quality parameters associated with the process. Lets say, in the welding process of sheet metal components , we have done the value added- Non value added ratio mapping and separated the VA and NVA activities. But it does not involve the rejection associated with the process during the welding activity. Process cycle efficiency might not be  the appropriate metric.
 
b. Uncertain breakdowns : Process cycle efficiency does not involve the hidden issues lying with the process. During the normal operation, various issues can erupt which certainly impacts the overall efficiency of the process. 
 
c. Performance of the process is a dynamic concept, in the sense that, it keeps on varying in commensurate to various internal and external factors. Process cycle efficiency will be an inaccurate metric to measure and manage the same. 
e.g, The performance of the Tablet coating machine has many dependent X's like spray rate, inlet pressure, air flow rate etc. and there are also certain  independent variables which are unknown factors. VA-NVA analysis also Process cycle efficiency does in incorporate these transient factors and hence does not qualify to be the best metric.
 
In totality, Process cycle efficiency contributes to build a strong process efficiency, however it cannot be considered as the best metric for measuring the process efficiency. 
We have several Lean metric available which helps to measure and improve the process, for example : Overall  Equipment effectiveness, Yield , Turnaround time etc.
 

Activity based costing is extremely helpful and essential costing technique for effectuating the Top down decision making in Strategic and Operational cases. By offering an opportunities to allocate costs in direct proportion to the activities being performed it helps to develop powerful cost centers in an organisation in layered format ,,say Facilities sustaining activities,Product sustaining activities, Batch level activities and unit level activities.
 
With above advantages these techniques are highly beneficial in industries where higher transactions are happening at different levels in direct and indirect cost components. industries like Pharma, consumer goods and automobiles are the sectors where there are huge burden on overheads reduction ,if not the elimination for cost cutting.Using ABC Techniques help to channelize and prioritize the cost centers for focus and carrying out cost related maidens.
 
However in sectors like  sales and marketing ,after sales service,it might seem complicated coz of lack if organized and structured costing modules.
It becomes slightly difficult to have an organised cost centers in these sectors and hence ABC techniques might not be practical.