Quality itself is no longer a differentiator among manufacturers. High quality is expected and achievable. With enough time and money, any manufacturer can produce a high-quality product. The focus of manufacturing quality has shifted to a discussion about the cost of quality and how to manage it. The manufacturer that can minimize the cost of quality while producing products the fastest, is the one that will win in today’s market.

The “closed-loop” approach to quality management, which uses virtual simulations and tolerance analysis software, can link cost factors with tolerance adjustments so users have the data they need to achieve a strategic balance between quality and cost. With such an approach, users determine how to precisely meet their quality requirements by identifying and focusing on the key points that affect quality and avoiding unnecessarily tight tolerances.

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