Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/03/14

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Quality vs Quality Control (Was M6 comments)
From: CHKARNES <CHKARNES@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 00:51:41 EST

In a message dated 98-03-14 08:54:42 EST, Dan C. wrote, in responding to
Milos:

<< 
 At 11:54 AM 14-03-98 +0100, Milos wrote:
 [snip]
 
 >Now, quality - It's way below my expectations. The camera back door doesn't
 >sit on tight and isn't leveled with the body. I have heard of other people
 >with same problems. 

Then Dan C. wrote:

 What you are describing is not the *quality* of tjhe camera, rather what
 seems to be a problem with quality control.  My 2 M6s have none of the
 problems you describe (touch wood).  If the camera was of low quality, ALL
 M6s would be as yours is.  This is no excuse for Leica Camera.  They
 clearly have a quality control problem that must be addressed.  I also own
 several Japanese cameras, and belong to the corresponding mailing lists in
 addition to the LUG, and, for example,  I never read about Minolta cameras
 suffering from all these defects.  It could very well be that many are
 created with these problems, but they never leave the factory.  
 
 Dan C.
 
  >>

Dan,

With all due respect, Dan, I beg to disagree with you. Milos IS talking about
the "quality" of  HIS  M6. And the fact that one (his) M6 has poor quality
does not imply that all M6s are poor quality. The "quality" of a product is
the direct result of the degree of, or the extent of, the "quality control"
exercised during its manufacture. Any well-controlled manufacturing process
maintains the quality of the end result by controlling the quality in each
step of the process -- not at the end.

If quality control is part of each step, then the quality control that must be
imposed after the product finishes the manufacturing line is minimized.
Quality control "after the fact" is called inspection. You are talking about
"inspection" when you mention poorly manufactured cameras never leaving the
factories. You cannot "inspect in" quality. If you try, the cost is a very
large pile of rejects. Please read some of Edwards Deming's principles.

Charlie