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2003 Annual Meeting - Hyatt Regency Tamaya, New Mexico

Quality Assurance Seminar summary

The Quality Assurance Seminar was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 11. Thirty-five persons attended. The seminar was presented by Professor Charlie Bamforth, with Nona Mundy as the moderator.

The seminar focused on the different principles of quality assurance (QA), including the definition of quality, meeting the customer's expectations, statistics and process control, QA vs. quality control (QC), the cost of quality, and the role of QA. All of the material presented in the seminar can be found in Standards of Brewing: A Practical Approach to Consistency and Excellence by Charles W. Bamforth.

There are many definitions of quality, but in general, "quality is the achievement of consistency and the elimination of unwanted surprises." Many factors can affect beer quality, including raw material variations as well as the process, which can be adjusted to account for changes in raw materials. The quality can also be affected in the package.

Quality has direct consequences on whether or not you meet your customer's expectations. To meet these expectations, it is important to minimize variability and maximize the robustness of the process. For this to occur, you must be able to measure your process, which gives you the information necessary to interpret and react to variability.

Many types of measurements are possible, including "ahead of the game," real time, and after the event. Ideally, measurements will be taken "ahead of the game" because taking them after the event can keep or remove product from the marketplace. The basic tools for making these measurements are statistics and standard methods. A list of basic statistical terms and definitions were outlined, including mean, data spread, standard deviation, variance, process capability, repeatability, and reproducibility. Charting your data with control limits or using cumulative sum plots is another way to monitor your processes.

Many factors are involved in the cost of quality. Appraisal costs are the price of analysis throughout the process; internal failure costs are for product that is out of specification at any stage of the process; and external failure costs are costs due to product getting out into trade with a quality defect. Money spent toward prevention reduces the previous three costs and the overall cost of business.

QC and QA have two different roles in a quality system. QC is reactive and responsible for measuring everything. QA is proactive and responsible for putting systems together so that things are done right the first time.

A QA department has many functions, including coordinating the quality system (what to measure, when, where, how often, and by whom), establishing the quality standards and procedures along with spot-checking them, and auditing and surveying the process and procedures. In addition, it is responsible for project work, training and auditing operators, collaborative exercises, specialized analysis and procedures, troubleshooting, product surveys, complaints, quality awareness, instrument checking and calibration, and coordination of information about cost and quality.

-Dana Sedin

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