BY ANJALI CHAWLA
Definition: Quality standards
A product is said to be of quality if it is free from any manufacturing defect, deficiency or significant variation in order to do certain specific standards need to be set so that uniformity is achieved in the entire set of products being manufactured. The standard defined should be such that the features and specifications offered by the product should be capable to meet the implied need of the product.
Indian quality standards
It is often pointed out that a man is at maximum a manufacturer of one product or a single service provider. But the very same man is a consumer of more than a 1000 products and services in his daily life. Every person is a consumer. We use thousands of products and pay for hundreds of services that we use for our day to day activities. It is obvious in such a scenario that all of us have gone through instances of service or product dissatisfaction. But unless it is something severe in nature, we avoid getting into the depth of the case. Even in cases where the monetary loss associated with the defective service or product is a reasonable amount, the companies are quick to cover up for it and the issue is settled. But there are cases where we feel cheated and there is no adequate compensation given but we do not have time in our fast moving lives to pursue the case further or some people do not have the correct knowledge. The general tendency is to avoid buying the product in future. While this strategy may work in small cases of petty financial loss but when the stake is higher ( eg - gold items, LCD TV, automobiles ) a onetime loss can be too severe to ignore. The speed at which telecom services have grown over the last decade, there is no surprise that a huge number of calls are made by customers alleging fraud by telecom companies to their respective customer helplines.
It is often pointed out that a man is at maximum a manufacturer of one product or a single service provider. But the very same man is a consumer of more than a 1000 products and services in his daily life. Every person is a consumer. We use thousands of products and pay for hundreds of services that we use for our day to day activities. It is obvious in such a scenario that all of us have gone through instances of service or product dissatisfaction. But unless it is something severe in nature, we avoid getting into the depth of the case. Even in cases where the monetary loss associated with the defective service or product is a reasonable amount, the companies are quick to cover up for it and the issue is settled. But there are cases where we feel cheated and there is no adequate compensation given but we do not have time in our fast moving lives to pursue the case further or some people do not have the correct knowledge. The general tendency is to avoid buying the product in future. While this strategy may work in small cases of petty financial loss but when the stake is higher ( eg - gold items, LCD TV, automobiles ) a onetime loss can be too severe to ignore. The speed at which telecom services have grown over the last decade, there is no surprise that a huge number of calls are made by customers alleging fraud by telecom companies to their respective customer helplines.
Need for quality standards
Quality has different meanings subject to different interpretation, it may mean hygiene in health and hospitality, safety in electrical and electronics and in services it may refer to speed and reliability. Cost of a product may also be referred to as a quality measure. But we will refer to quality in the operational context as conformance to establish standards. Quality controls refer to activities undertaken to maintain specific quality of products within reasonable limits. It involves the determination of quality standards to ensure that the established standards are followed. The aim is to secure a reasonable product quality at a competitive cost level by achieving a systematic control over the variables involved in manufacturing the product.
Maintenance of a satisfactory level of quality is essential for the success and survival of any company. Quality control offers advantages such as improvement in the brand image, facilitation of standardization and cutting down of costs by avoiding defective production. It also leads to increase in sales and makes the company competitive by helping in accurate prediction of costs involved.
Quality has different meanings subject to different interpretation, it may mean hygiene in health and hospitality, safety in electrical and electronics and in services it may refer to speed and reliability. Cost of a product may also be referred to as a quality measure. But we will refer to quality in the operational context as conformance to establish standards. Quality controls refer to activities undertaken to maintain specific quality of products within reasonable limits. It involves the determination of quality standards to ensure that the established standards are followed. The aim is to secure a reasonable product quality at a competitive cost level by achieving a systematic control over the variables involved in manufacturing the product.
Maintenance of a satisfactory level of quality is essential for the success and survival of any company. Quality control offers advantages such as improvement in the brand image, facilitation of standardization and cutting down of costs by avoiding defective production. It also leads to increase in sales and makes the company competitive by helping in accurate prediction of costs involved.
Certification marks in India
India has a system of product certification governed by laws made by the parliament. These certification hold a mandatory legal status for essential products to an advisory one for others. All certifications related to industrial products are governed by the national standards body - BIS (Bureau of Indian standards) while standards for other areas (like agricultural products) are developed by other agencies. The ISI mark and the BIS hallmark are the most significant.
ISI mark
It certifies that an industrial product conforms to standards laid by the BIS.
BIS hallmark
This mark certifies the purity of gold jewellery (since1999) and silver jewellery (since2005)
Conclusion
After knowing all about Indian quality standard. I believe that more than half of the population of India is uneducated. As a result they are unaware of all these quality standards. Some are unaware because they are uneducated whereas others are ignorant if it is a matter of petty amount people tends to ignore the case. Just because of the illiteracy of the people of India there is less development and less scope of globalisation. Therefore there are very less possibilities for the international companies to make in India. And if there is no scope of globalisation than there is no need of translators and language professionals in international business industry.
India has a system of product certification governed by laws made by the parliament. These certification hold a mandatory legal status for essential products to an advisory one for others. All certifications related to industrial products are governed by the national standards body - BIS (Bureau of Indian standards) while standards for other areas (like agricultural products) are developed by other agencies. The ISI mark and the BIS hallmark are the most significant.
ISI mark
It certifies that an industrial product conforms to standards laid by the BIS.
BIS hallmark
This mark certifies the purity of gold jewellery (since1999) and silver jewellery (since2005)
Conclusion
After knowing all about Indian quality standard. I believe that more than half of the population of India is uneducated. As a result they are unaware of all these quality standards. Some are unaware because they are uneducated whereas others are ignorant if it is a matter of petty amount people tends to ignore the case. Just because of the illiteracy of the people of India there is less development and less scope of globalisation. Therefore there are very less possibilities for the international companies to make in India. And if there is no scope of globalisation than there is no need of translators and language professionals in international business industry.
Therefore the illiteracy of the people of India is hampering the professional development of translators and language professionals.
