Unit 18TotalQualityControlText Qualitycontrolinconstructiontypicallyinvolvesinsuringcompliancewithminimumstandardsofmaterialandworkmanshipinordertoinsuretheperformanceofthefacilityaccordingtothedesign.Forthepurposeofinsuringcompliance，randomsamplesandstatisticalmethodsarecommonlyusedasthebasisforacceptingorrejectingworkcompletedandbatchesofmaterials.Rejectionofabatchisbasedonnon-conformanceorviolationoftherelevantdesignspecifications. Animplicitassumptioninthesetraditionalqualitycontrolpracticesisthenotionofanacceptablequalitylevelwhichisanallowablefractionofdefectiveitems①.Materialsobtainedfromsuppliersorworkperformedbyanorganizationisinspectedandpassedasacceptableiftheestimateddefectivepercentageiswithintheacceptablequalitylevel.Problemswithmaterialsorgoodsarecorrectedafterdeliveryoftheproduct. Incontrasttothistraditionalapproachofqualitycontrolisthegoaloftotalqualitycontrol.Inthissystem，nodefectiveitemsareallowedanywhereintheconstructionprocess.Whilethezerodefectsgoalcanneverbepermanentlyobtained，itprovidesagoalsothatanorganizationisneversatisfiedwithitsqualitycontrolprogramevenifdefectsarereducedbysubstantialamountsyearafteryear②.ThisconceptandapproachtoqualitycontrolwasfirstdevelopedinmanufacturingfirmsinJapanandEurope，buthassincespreadtomanyconstructioncompanies.TextThebestknownformalcertificationforqualityimprovementistheInternationalOrganizationforStandardization’sISO9000standard.ISO9000emphasizesgooddocumentation，qualitygoalsandaseriesofcyclesofplanning，implementationandreview. Totalqualitycontrolisacommitmenttoqualityexpressedinallpartsofanorganizationandtypicallyinvolvesmanyelements.Designreviewstoinsuresafeandeffectiveconstructionproceduresareamajorelement.Otherelementsincludeextensivetrainingforpersonnel，shiftingtheresponsibilityfordetectingdefectsfromqualitycontrolinspectorstoworkers，andcontinuallymaintainingequipment.Workerinvolvementinimprovedqualitycontrolisoftenformalizedinqualitycirclesinwhichgroupsofworkersmeetregularlytomakesuggestionsforqualityimprovement.Materialsuppliersarealsorequiredtoinsurezerodefectsindeliveredgoods.Initially，allmaterialsfromasupplierareinspectedandbatchesofgoodswithanydefectiveitemsarereturned.Supplierswithgoodrecordscanbecertifiedandnotsubjecttocompleteinspectionsubsequently③. Thetraditionalmicroeconomicviewofqualitycontrolisthatthereisan“optimum”proportionofdefectiveitems.Tryingtoachievegreaterqualitythanthisoptimumwouldsubstantiallyincreasecostsofinspectionandreduceworkerproductivity.TextHowever，manycompanieshavefoundthatcommitmenttototalqualitycontrolhassubstantialeconomicbenefitsthathadbeenunappreciatedintraditionalapproaches.Expensesassociatedwithinventory，rework，scrapandwarrantieswerereduced.Worker’senthusiasmandcommitmentimproved.Customersoftenappreciatedhigherqualityworkandwouldpayapremiumforgoodquality.Asaresult，improvedqualitycontrolbecameacompetitiveadvantage. Ofcourse，totalqualitycontrolisdifficulttoapply，particularinconstruction.Theuniquenatureofeachfacility，thevariabilityintheworkforce，themultitudeofsubcontractorsandthecostofmakingnecessaryinvestmentsineducationandproceduresmakeprogramsoftotalqualitycontrolinconstructiondifficult④.Nevertheless，acommitmenttoimprovedqualityevenwithoutendorsingthegoalofzerodefectscanpayrealdividendstoorganizations. Example：ExperiencewithQualityCircles Qualitycirclesrepresentagroupof5to15workerswhomeetonafrequentbasistoidentify，discussandsolveproductivityandqualityproblems⑤.Acircleleaderactsasliasonbetweentheworkersinthegroupandupperlevelsofmanagement.Appearingbelowaresomeexamplesofreportedqualitycircleaccomplishmentsinconstruction：Text ①OnahighwayprojectunderconstructionbyTaiseiCorporation，itwasfoundthatthelossrateofready-mixedconcretewastoohigh.Aqualitycirclecomposedofcementmasonsfoundoutthatthemostimportantreasonforthiswasduetoaninaccuratecheckingmethod.Byapplyingthecircle’srecommendations，thelossratewasreducedby11.4%. ②InabuildingprojectbyShimizuConstructionCompany，manycasesoffaultyreinforcedconcreteworkwerereported.Theironworkersqualitycircleexaminedtheirworkthoroughlyandsoonthefaultyworkmanshipdisappeared.A10%increaseinproductivitywasalsoachieved.workmanshipn.手藝，技藝，做工，技巧optimumadj.最好的，最佳的；最有利的masonn.，vt.泥瓦匠；用磚瓦砌成dividendn.被除數(shù)，股息，紅利，額外津貼，年息recommendationn.推薦，介紹（信），勸告，建議implicitadj.暗示的，盲從的，含蓄的，絕對的microeconomicn.個體經(jīng)濟，微觀經(jīng)濟certificationn.證明，認證statisticalmethod統(tǒng)計方法randomsample隨機抽樣liasonn.聯(lián)絡(luò)QualityCircle質(zhì)量（控制）循環(huán)、質(zhì)量（管理）小組Inspectionn.視察，檢查Improvementn.改進，改善Organizationn.組織；機構(gòu)；體制；團體Commitmentn.承諾，保證；委托；承擔義務(wù)；獻身Corporationn.公司；法人（團體）；社團Inaccurateadj.錯誤的NewWordsandPhrasesNotes（1）Animplicitassumptioninthesetraditionalqualitycontrolpracticesisthenotionofanacceptablequalitylevelwhichisanallowablefractionofdefectiveitems. 在這些傳統(tǒng)的質(zhì)量控制實踐中有一個隱含的假設(shè)（概念）———可接受的質(zhì)量水平，它是指缺陷項的允許比例。 本句中有一個定語從句，其中whichisanallowablefractionofdefectiveitems是anacceptablequalitylevel的定語，來解釋說明“可接受的質(zhì)量水平”的范圍。（2）Whilethezerodefectsgoalcanneverbepermanentlyobtained，itprovidesagoalsothatanorganizationisneversatisfiedwithitsqualitycontrolprogramevenifdefectsarereducedbysubstantialamountsyearafteryear. 盡管零缺陷目標是永遠不可能達到的，但卻為組織提供了一個目標，即使缺陷項目逐年都有顯著的減少，組織對其質(zhì)量控制計劃也從不滿足。 本句中While.是一個讓步狀語從句，其中it指的是thezerodefectsgoal。Notes（3）Initially，allmaterialsfromasupplierareinspectedandbatchesofgoodswithanydefectiveitemsarereturned.Supplierswithgoodrecordscanbecertifiedandnotsubjecttocompleteinspectionsubsequently. （工程建設(shè)）初期，來自某一個供應(yīng)商的所有材料都要被檢驗，有任何缺陷的批次都會被退回。隨后，有良好記錄的供應(yīng)商可以經(jīng)核準免去全項檢驗。 本句中notsubjectto為“無須承擔”之意，此處可譯為“免去”。（4）Theuniquenatureofeachfacility，thevariabilityintheworkforce，themultitudeofsubcontractorsandthecostofmakingnecessaryinvestmentsineducationandproceduresmakeprogramsoftotalqualitycontrolinconstructiondifficult. 每一項建筑設(shè)施獨一無二的特征，勞動力的不穩(wěn)定性，分包商的多樣性以及員工教育與施工程序上的必要支出都使得在建筑施工中開展全面質(zhì)量控制計劃顯得異常困難。 本句中有多重主語，要注意謂語動詞make的時態(tài)及make.difficult句型的用法，即make+something+adj.（形容詞）。Notes（5）Qualitycirclesrepresentagroupof5to15workerswhomeetonafrequentbasistoidentify，discussandsolveproductivityandqualityproblems. 質(zhì)量控制循環(huán)即為5至15個操作工人組成的小組，他們經(jīng)常碰面以確定、討論和解決生產(chǎn)力及質(zhì)量問題。 Who.是定語從句，修飾workers。1.項目經(jīng)理對于質(zhì)量和安全控制的重要性給予了越來越多的關(guān)注。建筑設(shè)施的缺陷和失效可能會讓人付出慘重的代價。即使是一些微小的缺陷也需要返工，設(shè)施的功能也會受到影響。2.如同成本控制那樣，有關(guān)整個設(shè)施質(zhì)量的最重要決策是在設(shè)計和計劃階段，而不是在施工階段作出的3.建筑業(yè)中的質(zhì)量控制通常是通過保證材料和工藝達到最低標準，從而確保建筑設(shè)施依照設(shè)計標準進行工作。4.全面質(zhì)量控制是對一個組織結(jié)構(gòu)所有部分的質(zhì)量承諾，通常它涉及到許多要素。5.工程建設(shè)是一個相對來說比較危險的行業(yè)。事實上，由于傷病較多，建筑業(yè)中的病假和缺勤要比任何其他產(chǎn)業(yè)多得多。6.Ifprocessdesignandqualitycontrolengineeringarenotcapableofsufficientlyreducingdeviationbyprocessadjustments,theninspectionmaybeaneconomicallyusefulalternative.7.Ideally,anintegratedsystemofoverallqualitycontrol,inwhichallactivitiesinteracttoproduceproductswithminimumdeviationsfromtargetvalues,willminimizequalitycostsandmakethemosteconomicuseofhumanandothercompanyresources.Exercises （TranslatethefollowingChineseintoEnglish,orEnglishintoChinese）8.Thebroadpurposeoftheoverallqualitysystemistoproduceaproductthatisrobustwithrespecttoallnoi