About us
Subject Description
Quality Technology and Logistics include principles, working methods, and tools for
a customer and sustainability-oriented product and process improvement as well as refining, processing, and management of flows. The subject has an industrial base with applications in goods and service production.
Our Research
The research in quality technology is directed towards quantitative working methods and tools such as trial planning, traceability, time series analysis and system reliability as well as more qualitative parts of quality development, such as leadership, learning and implementation issues. Our research is based on the needs of industry and other organisations and in close collaboration with society's various actors.
In our research, we are working with the methods and working methods that lead to higher quality, i.e., better goal fulfilment, more satisfied customers, and better conditions for running a business in a sustainable, economical, ecological, and ethical way.
The concept of "quality" is about customer satisfaction. When we say that something has a high quality, we mean that what we are talking about – an act, a product, or a service, has proved to cope with what we had expected and maybe more.
When we perform something for someone else – privately, at work or when we deliver products to a customer, we want the recipient to be satisfied. We want customers to return and feel pride as suppliers, employees or fellow humans.
To get there, we need to identify those we want to create value for, and here for the sake of simplicity, we call these people or organisations for our customers.
When we know our customers, we must understand their needs and expectations. When we know the customers' needs, we should then, in a systematic and economically efficient way, convert our knowledge into something we can work with and improve. For a company or organisation, it is about converting the needs into characteristics of the goods or services.
To ensure that our changes improve customer satisfaction, we should also continuously measure customer satisfaction and bring the experiences back to the organisation, thereby creating the conditions for further improvements.
However, remember that for an organisation there are always many groups or individuals who have views on us or are affected by our activities. For example, we cannot make paying customers happier by stop charging for our products; then the owners will be unhappy, and we will probably lose our jobs. Nor can we stop paying taxes and lower the price without the state becoming dissatisfied and accusing us of tax crimes.
It is, therefore, probably impossible to succeed in satisfying everyone who has views on a large business. Leading a business is often about balancing different needs and values of which stakeholders have legitimate demands and the opportunity to influence or damage the organisation if their demands are unmet. Working with quality development is about finding a balance between satisfying the needs of other stakeholders and working with means that satisfy the business's customers. These customers (or patients, students, users, etc.) are why we exist. For us as suppliers, it is usually important that the customers return as our customers and spread their knowledge of our high quality.
Quality technology is thus a broad and interdisciplinary research topic. It is not just about using appropriate decision-making tools. We need an appropriate organisation focusing on processes and committed leadership that supports continuous learning and creates the conditions for all employees to use available resources best.
Many concepts have been launched as “the best” approaches to drive improvement. Total Quality Management (TQM), lean, Six Sigma, or process management can be mentioned here. Many organisations also have similar concepts under their own names.
Regardless of the name, these concepts have similar components and borrow methods from each other but differ at crucial points. Different approaches suit different organisation types, so it is not certain that the fashion concept of the day will suit your business.
Mission Statement
We shall educate, research and change knowledge with society on management and development in Quality Technology & Management and Environmental Management.
We develop and spread methodologies and methods for continuous improvement of processes and products to create a sustainable society.
Our operations shall rest on a scientific foundation and be anchored in and attractive to business and other parts of society. Our operations shall be performed in such a way that students and others are well prepared for a changing future in an international community.
Our operations shall be international, but we have a special focus on contributing to the development of our local business and other local parts of society.
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