tqm

1. Course: Quality Management (5575)
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q. 1 Explain tools and techniques for quality management. What tools
could be used for planning, data collection, and analysis, and for
contrinuous improvement?
ANS- Many of the tools and techniques in current use have their roots in post-
World War II Japan. Dr. W. Edwards Deming used statistical methods to improve
quality with a strong focus on the customer or end user, while in the process
making organizations more productive and profitable. Although this user-needs
focus is now widely accepted, it was an unconventional perspective at the time.
Deming's approach was plan, do, check, and act; later he expanded these ideas
to:
1. Design the product.
2. Make it; test it in the production line and the laboratory.
3. Put it on the market.
4. Test it in service; find out what the user thinks of it, and why the nonuser
has not bought it.
Joseph Juran also did much to promote quality improvement, especially a
product's fitness of use. Fitness of use is defined as both 1) freedom from
defects and deficiencies, and 2) product features that meet the user's needs.
These two ideas continue to evolve in more recent quality management ideas
and practices. For example, the Six Sigma principle, which attempts to limit
defective units per billion to two, is a disciplined example of the first definition of
fitness of use above. Individuals working with human factors to understand how
end users interact with various graphical user interfaces would be an example of
the second definition.
Tools and techniques for quality management are numerous. A Pareto diagram
is a histogram with columns or bars ordered from most common to least. Figure
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2. 8-7 from Schwalbe (see below) shows an example of a Pareto diagram. It is a
graphical way of summarizing where most problems occur with a product, or
what most users would like to see included in a product. It is an important
graphical display tool, as often a great majority of problems or needs fall into the
same category. Often, the number of individuals providing input is somewhat
limited, so that issues can be classified and enumerated from the entire
population.
Statistical sampling is often necessary to test the quality of products produced,
as looking at each individual product would be very time consuming and cost
prohibitive. The sample must be random, and large enough to represent the
entire population of products with some degree of certainty.
The term quality means different things to different people. For example, a
quality automobile may be one, which has no defects and works exactly as we
expect. Such a definition would fit with an oft-repeated definition by J.M Juran
"Quality is fitness for use." However, there are other definitions widely discussed.
Quality as "conformance to specifications" is a position that people in the
manufacturing industry often promote. Why? Presumably because manufacturing
can do nothing to change the design; hence this definition. Others promote wider
views which include the expectations that the product or service being delivered
1) meets customer standards, 2) meets and fulfills customer needs, 3) meets
customer expectations, and 4) will meet unanticipated future needs and
aspirations. Still others simply ignore definitions and say "I'll know quality when I
see it." It seems that we all 'know' or 'feel' somehow what quality is. A product or
service that exceeds our preconceived idea about the quality of that product or
service is likely to be judged as having "high quality." It is equally clear that the
best of a group of bad products is not likely to be perceived as a quality product.
Lack of management commitment. When management talks TQM, but its actions
fails to support the effort, it will ultimately fail to meet expectations. The result is
cynicism and mistrust and difficulty launching another attempt. For
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3. implementation to succeed, management must clearly and frequently
communicate the reason for adopting TQM, as if it is another fad.
• Changing organizational culture. Changing an organization’s culture is
extremely difficult and time-consuming. Fear of change must be addressed, past
labor-management conflicts must be resolved, and the organization’s focus must
change from maintaining the status quo. Most employees will need to be
convinced of the benefits that TQM program will provide to buy in to the changes.
This often means that employees need to change behaviors or perform tasks in a
different way than before TQM. If motivation is lacking, frustration and stress are
likely. And trust is a must.
• Preparation. Before implementing TQM, management should strive for an
organization wide commitment, clearly communicate the organization’s vision,
mission, and goals, and foster open communication about the organization’s
changed focus.
• Use of data. TQM relies on databased decision making. To succeed in building
and sustaining a TQM environment, data must be accurate, timely and reliable.
The measurement process used must be valid and consistent, and data access
should be efficient. Decision makers must be trained in data analysis and
interpretation.
Other problems, many of which fall under the four previous categories, include,
but are not limited to:
• Lack of strategic direction
• Lack of shared vision, mission, or guiding principles
• Lack of cooperation and teamwork among different workgroups
• Focus on short-term profits rather than on long-term goals
• Failure to understand what teamwork entails
• Failure to focus on customers’ need and expectations
• Lack of mutual trust and respect among level of employees
• insufficient resources or lack of sustained commitment of those resources
• Lack of continual and effective training and education
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4. • Management’s failure to recognize and / or reward achievements
TQM, as a term, is not used as widely in the United States as it once was. Most
of the concepts, principles, and methodology have been subsumed under the
term quality management. Quality is an important factor in today’s increasingly
globalize and liberalized markets, and it is considered that the application of
quality management techniques will make a positive contribution to the
competitive performance of countries, economic sectors and individual
organizations. Since competitiveness contributes to sustainable development,
the widespread diffusion and implementation of quality management seems
desirable from a national point of view. Recently in Latin America there has been
a growing tendency for governments to establish programmes that promote and
support the dissemination of quality management techniques. In this respect,
quality issues will play an increasingly important role in the economic and social
development objectives of the countries in the region. Nevertheless, the
implementation of total quality management (TQM) innovations has not proved to
be either easy or rapid: for example, in Latin America the ISO 9000 standards for
quality systems have not spread as quickly as in most other regions of the world.
The author identifies market considerations, limited access to resources,
traditional management practices and macroeconomic conditions as obstacles
that have limited the level of quality awareness in the region. These obstacles
may be associated with market flaws that occur within companies, between
companies and in factor markets. Various governments have therefore chosen to
promote quality management techniques in order to make the necessary
adjustments to these flaws. The article concludes with an overview of the
activities carried out in some selected Latin American countries in order to
enhance the diffusion of ISO 9000 quality management systems.
The Seven Basic Tools of Quality is a designation given to a fixed set of
graphical techniques identified as being most helpful in troubleshooting issues
related to quality. They are called basic because they are suitable for people with
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5. little formal training in statistics and because they can be used to solve the vast
majority of quality-related issues.
The Seven Basic Tools of Quality includes :
Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram,
Check sheet,
Control chart,
Histogram,
Pareto chart,
Scatter diagram
Stratified sampling.
Original designation was just ″Seven tools″ and their content was formed during
the fifties and sixties of the last century in Japan by K. Ishikawa and E. Deming.
The designation was inspired by the seven famous weapons of Benkei. At that
time, companies that had set about training their workforces in statistical quality
control found that the complexity of the subject intimidated the vast majority of
their workers and scaled back training to focus primarily on simpler methods
which suffice for most quality-related issues. The Seven Basic Tools stand in
contrast to more advanced statistical methods such as survey sampling,
acceptance sampling, statistical hypothesis testing, design of experiments,
multivariate analysis, and various methods developed in the field of operations
research.
Description of the tools
The seven tools are:
• Cause-and-effect (also known as the "fish-bone" or Ishikawa) diagram
• Check sheet
• Control chart
• Histogram
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6. • Pareto chart
• Scatter diagram
• Stratification (alternately, flow chart or run chart)
Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram
Ishikawa diagram (called sometimes fishbone diagram or cause-and-effect
diagram) was introduced by Kaoru Ishikawa (1968) and show the causes of a
specific event.
Common use of diagram is on brainstorming to find possible cause of a problem.
Nancy R. Tague’s introduced steps how to use the diagram as follows:
1. Agree on a problem statement (effect). Write it at the center right. Draw
draw box around and horizontal line to it.
2. Brainstorm the major categories of causes of the problem.
3. Write categories as branches.
4. Brainstorm all possible causes of the problem category by asking “Why
does this happen?” and write them as branches of the category.
5. Continue to ask “Why?” and reach deeper level of each cause.
6. Focus on empty space when you run out of ideas
Check sheet
Check sheet
The check sheet is a document used to manually capture data from the process,
usually number of defects by type, location or cause or to check probability
distribution of the process or to monitor steps of the process.
Q. 2 Describe how to incorporate quality goals into strategic and
operational plans with suitable examples.
ANS-The key elements of Business Improvement Architect's Strategic Quality
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7. Planning Process are:
Identifying the Organizational Quality Initiatives
We'll work with your organization's Quality Manager and team to identify and
assess all of the various quality initiatives that they have used in the past and the
present.
Understanding the Voice of the Customer
To ensure that the new Quality Strategy has a clear customer focus, we work
with to identify current and future stakeholder/customer requirements through
research and review of your organization's product and services delivery
process.
Identifying Employee Involvement
We ensure employee input is considered in the strategic planning process to
enrich the quality of the final plan and gain their commitment, buy-in and support
for the implementation phase.
Conducting Benchmarking
We believe that it is beneficial to conduct benchmarking as part of the planning
process to learn what others are doing (including competitors) and to learn from
them. Such effort is worthwhile as it provides information about best practices
and generates useful ideas for improving internal quality processes.
Developing the Vision and Strategic Direction
We facilitate the creation of your Strategic Quality Vision and Quality Strategies.
This includes: the structure and approach to quality throughout the organization,
what tools and processes to use to establish quality and how quality will be
measured. It will also include the outcomes of quality on your organization's
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8. products, services and what customers will be saying about them.
Developing a Statement of Quality and Quality Standards
We'll work with you to develop:
• A Statement of Quality that is highly relevant to describe what quality will
mean for in the organization. It will clearly describe the overall goals,
mandates and objectives for the quality initiative.
• Quality Standards to guide employees in achieving the Statement of
Quality.
Identifying the Quality Strategies
We facilitate a process to translate the quality vision, quality statement and
quality standards into key strategies. This process includes a risk assessment.
Developing Operational Effectiveness
We facilitate an Operational Effectiveness Plan to identify the requirements for
each Quality Strategy with detailed Action Plans.
Developing Strategy Measurements
We ensure that you have the right measures are in place to monitor and manage
quality on a forward going basis.
Q. 3 (a) What are the characteristics of Quality Function Deployment as a
quality system?
Quality function deployment (QFD) is a “method to transform user demands
into design quality, to deploy the functions forming quality, and to deploy
methods for achieving the design quality into subsystems and component parts,
and ultimately to specific elements of the manufacturing process.”, as described
by Dr. Yoji Akao, who originally developed QFD in Japan in 1966, when the
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9. author combined his work in quality assurance and quality control points with
function deployment used in value engineering. QFD is designed to help
planners focus on characteristics of a new or existing product or service from the
viewpoints of market segments, company, or technology-development needs.
The technique yields charts and matrices. QFD helps transform customer needs
(the voice of the customer [VOC]) into engineering characteristics (and
appropriate test methods) for a product or service, prioritizing each product or
service characteristic while simultaneously setting development targets for
product or service.
Areas of application
QFD House of Quality for Enterprise Product Development Processes QFD is
applied in a wide variety of services, consumer products, military needs (such as
the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter[2]
), and emerging technology products. The
technique is also It is also included in the new ISO 9000:2000 standard which
focuses on customer satisfaction. While many books and articles on "how to do
QFD" are available, there is a relative paucity of example matrices available.
QFD matrices become highly proprietary due to the high density of product or
service information found therein.
Techniques and tools based on QFD
House of Quality
House of Quality appeared in 1972 in the design of an oil tanker by Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries. Akao has reiterated numerous times that a House of Quality is
not QFD, it is just an example of one tool. A Flash tutorial exists showing the
build process of the traditional QFD "House of Quality" (HOQ). (Although this
example may violate QFD principles, the basic sequence of HOQ building are
illustrative.) There are also free QFD templates available that walk users through
the process of creating a House of Quality.[7]
Other tools extend the analysis
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10. beyond quality to cost, technology, reliability, function, parts, technology,
manufacturing, and service deployments.
In addition, the same technique can extend the method into the constituent
product subsystems, configuration items, assemblies, and parts. From these
detail level components, fabrication and assembly process QFD charts can be
developed to support statistical process control techniques.
Pugh concept selection
Pugh Concept Selection can be used in coordination with QFD to select a
promising product or service configuration from among listed alternatives.
Modular Function Deployment
Modular Function Deployment uses QFD to establish customer requirements and
to identify important design requirements with a special emphasis on modularity.
There are three main differences to QFD as applied in Modular Function
Deployment compared to House of Quality:
• The benchmarking data is mostly gone.
• The checkboxes and crosses have been replaced with circles.
• The triangular “roof” is missing.
There are also other minor differences between the application of QFD in
Modular Function Deployment as compared to House of Quality, for example the
term "Customer Attribute" is replaced by "Customer Value", and the term
"Engineering Characteristics" is replaced by "Product Properties". But the terms
have similar meanings in the two applications.
Relationship to other techniques
The QFD-associated Hoshin Kanri process somewhat resembles Management
by objectives (MBO), but adds a significant element in the goal setting process,
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11. called "catchball". Use of these Hoshin techniques by U.S. companies such as
Hewlett Packard have been successful in focusing and aligning company
resources to follow stated strategic goals throughout an organizational hierarchy.
Since the early introduction of QFD, the technique has been developed to
shorten the time span and reduce the required group efforts.
(b) What must an organization do to maintain a customer focus and
explain the benefits of maintaining customer focus?
ANS-Customer focus" is a marketing term that means keeping the customer in
mind when selling products and services. Customers have certain needs and
wants, which companies must meet to increase sales and profits. Some
companies structure their management teams around specific customers.
Customers can include individual consumers and businesses. The best way to
keep track of customers is through marketing research, such as phone or Internet
surveys.
Products
Marketing managers employ customer focus strategies when developing their
products. They obtain input from customers regarding the features, sizes,
dimensions, flavors, fragrances or varieties they want with certain products.
Subsequently, marketing managers inform research and development people of
what customers want, and the company produces products that meet customer
preferences. Customer focus also means adding bonus services for customers
who buy a company's products. For example, retailers may provide customers
with gift bags for products they intend to give to others.
Advertising
Customer focus can also pertain to advertising. Companies develop advertising
messages that appeal to people who buy their products. Advertising managers
determine which magazines and newspapers their customers read, or what
television or radio programs their customers are most likely to regularly enjoy.
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12. Companies should focus on the experience of their customers when developing
their marketing messages, according to the Small Business Administration. For
example, a diet company may let a customer visualize herself fitting into her new
bathing suit when writing a direct mail sales letter.
Pricing
Customers will not likely purchase products that fall too far outside their price
range. Price ranges are largely dictated by consumer demand. In other words,
customers will only buy products up to a certain price point. Any price above that
range will result in a drastic reduction in sales. Therefore, companies focus on
price ranges their customers will pay for their products and services. They obtain
customer pricing information by studying competitors or conducting their own
marketing research. Ultimately, a company's goal is to establish an optimal price
point that satisfies customers and maximizes sales and profit margins.
Distribution and Payment
Companies make it easy for their customers to order. They distribute their
products in locations their customers are most likely to shop. Additionally, retailers
allot more space to items that are in high demand. Internet and mail order
companies also make it easy on customers, providing them with convenient ways
to pay for and obtain products.
Q. 4 Reflect on your own experience as a customer and, if relevant, as a
provider of customer service to others, and describe the important
characteristics of quality customer relationship management which extend
beyond being ‘nice’. Differentiate between things that make the customer
feel good at the time and things that make the customer come back
repeatedly.
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13. ANS-The term quality management has a specific meaning within many
business sectors. This specific definition, which does not aim to assure 'good
quality' by the more general definition, but rather to ensure that an organization
or product is consistent, can be considered to have four main components:
quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement.
Quality management is focused not only on product/service quality, but also the
means to achieve it. Quality management therefore uses quality assurance and
control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent quality.
Quality management evolution
Quality management is a recent phenomenon. Advanced civilizations that
supported the arts and crafts allowed clients to choose goods meeting higher
quality standards than normal goods. In societies where arts and crafts are the
responsibility of a master craftsman or artist, they would lead their studio and
train and supervise others. The importance of craftsmen diminished as mass
production and repetitive work practices were instituted. The aim was to produce
large numbers of the same goods. The first proponent in the US for this approach
was Eli Whitney who proposed (interchangeable) parts manufacture for muskets,
hence producing the identical components and creating a musket assembly line.
The next step forward was promoted by several people including Frederick
Winslow Taylor a mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial
efficiency. He is sometimes called "the father of scientific management." He was
one of the intellectual leaders of the Efficiency Movement and part of his
approach laid a further foundation for quality management, including aspects like
standardization and adopting improved practices. Henry Ford was also important
in bringing process and quality management practices into operation in his
assembly lines. In Germany, Karl Friedrich Benz, often called the inventor of the
motor car, was pursuing similar assembly and production practices, although real
mass production was properly initiated in Volkswagen after World War II. From
this period onwards, North American companies focused predominantly upon
production against lower cost with increased efficiency.
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14. Walter A. Shewhart made a major step in the evolution towards quality
management by creating a method for quality control for production, using
statistical methods, first proposed in 1924. This became the foundation for his
ongoing work on statistical quality control. W. Edwards Deming later applied
statistical process control methods in the United States during World War II,
thereby successfully improving quality in the manufacture of munitions and other
strategically important products. Quality leadership from a national perspective
has changed over the past five to six decades. After the second world war, Japan
decided to make quality improvement a national imperative as part of rebuilding
their economy, and sought the help of Shewhart, Deming and Juran, amongst
others. W. Edwards Deming championed Shewhart's ideas in Japan from 1950
onwards. He is probably best known for his management philosophy establishing
quality, productivity, and competitive position. He has formulated 14 points of
attention for managers, which are a high level abstraction of many of his deep
insights. They should be interpreted by learning and understanding the deeper
insights. These 14 points include key concepts such as:
• Break down barriers between departments
• Management should learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership
• Supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a
better job
• Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service
• Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement
In the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese goods were synonymous with cheapness and
low quality, but over time their quality initiatives began to be successful, with
Japan achieving very high levels of quality in products from the 1970s onward.
For example, Japanese cars regularly top the J.D. Power customer satisfaction
ratings. In the 1980s Deming was asked by Ford Motor Company to start a
quality initiative after they realized that they were falling behind Japanese
manufacturers. A number of highly successful quality initiatives have been
invented by the Japanese (see for example on this page: Genichi Taguchi, QFD,
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15. Toyota Production System. Many of the methods not only provide techniques but
also have associated quality culture (i.e. people factors). These methods are now
adopted by the same western countries that decades earlier derided Japanese
methods. Customers recognize that quality is an important attribute in products
and services. Suppliers recognize that quality can be an important differentiator
between their own offerings and those of competitors (quality differentiation is
also called the quality gap). In the past two decades this quality gap has been
greatly reduced between competitive products and services. This is partly due to
the contracting (also called outsourcing) of manufacture to countries like India
and China, as well internationalization of trade and competition. These countries
amongst many others have raised their own standards of quality in order to meet
International standards and customer demands. The ISO 9000 series of
standards are probably the best known International standards for quality
management.
There are a huge number of books available on quality management. In recent
times some themes have become more significant including quality culture, the
importance of knowledge management, and the role of leadership in promoting
and achieving high quality. Disciplines like systems thinking are bringing more
holistic approaches to quality so that people, process and products are
considered together rather than independent factors in quality management. The
influence of quality thinking has spread to non-traditional applications outside of
walls of manufacturing, extending into service sectors and into areas such as
sales, marketing and customer service.
Principles
The International Standard for Quality management (ISO 9001:2008) adopts a
number of management principles that can be used by top management to guide
their organizations towards improved performance. The principles include:
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16. Customer focus
Since the organizations depend on their customers, therefore they should
understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer
requirements and try to exceed the expectations of customers. An organization
attains customer focus when all people in the organization know both the internal
and external customers and also what customer requirements must be met to
ensure that both the internal and external customers are satisfied.
Leadership
Leaders of an organization establish unity of purpose and direction of it. They
should go for creation and maintenance of such an internal environment, in which
people can become fully involved in achieving the organization's quality
objective.
Involvement of people
People at all levels of an organization are the essence of it. Their complete
involvement enables their abilities to be used for the benefit of the organization.
Process approach
The desired result can be achieved when activities and related resources are
managed in an organization as process.this may also affect the
System approach to management
An organization's effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its quality objectives
are contributed by identifying, understanding and managing all interrelated
processes as a system.
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17. Continual improvement
One of the permanent quality objectives of an organization should be the
continual improvement of its overall performance.
Factual approach to decision making
Effective decisions are always based on the data analysis and information.
Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
Since an organization and its suppliers are interdependent, therefore a mutually
beneficial relationship between them increases the ability of both to add value.
These eight principles form the basis for the quality management system
standard ISO 9001:2008.
Q. 5 Why ISO certification is important for both service and manufacturing
organizations? What possible problems an organization can come
across in Pakistan while getting quality standard certification, discuss
in detail.
While ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification is certainly
not the only thing that should be examined when you are evaluating potential
corporate partnerships, it is an indicator that a company has invested significant
time and effort to implement an objective quality assurance program. To ensure
that an ISO system is being effectively implemented, companies that seek
certification must commit themselves to monitor, control and attempt to improve
quality. Audits must be implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of the effort,
and identify any shortcomings that need corrective action. You should be aware
that certification is not necessarily companywide; different practice areas may
need to have individual certification. So simply because a company states that
they are ISO 9001:2008 certified doesn’t necessarily mean that they are ISO
9001:2008 certified in the area that provides the services you seek.
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18. ISO Certification can provide benefits to both a company and its customers. A
1995 study on "The Benefits of ISO 9000 Certification" (ISO 9000 was the
predecessor of ISO 9001) by J.E. Alcorn was published in Ceramic Engineering
and Science Proceedings. Alcorn wrote that benefits were found in diverse
areas including customer satisfaction, interdepartmental communications, and
customer/supplier partnerships. As Alcorn noted, these benefits were the result
of substantial efforts to comply with quality standards and gain certification. The
hard work pays off, not only by imparting a competitive advantage to the ISO
certified company, but also to the benefit of its customers. After certification,
Alcorn found a significant improvement in quality and, as one would expect, a
reduction in customer complaints. In the end, increased customer satisfaction is
the most meaningful measure of the value of ISO certification, and while ISO
certification of a company does not guarantee that you will be a satisfied
customer, the evidence strongly suggests that the chances are improved.
The abbreviation “ISO” stands for International Organization for Standardization.
ISO is a series of international standards introduced in 1987 that define and
structure a company’s management systems. These standards apply equally to
all industries and require companies seeking certification to define how their
systems meet the standards’ rigorous requirements. Meeting the standards
assures customers that all vendor company activities – design, manufacturing,
production, purchasing, quality control, packaging, handling, storage, shipping,
and customer service – are appropriately managed and controlled.
What is the difference between ISO 9000 and 14000?
ISO 9000 is concerned with "quality management.” This means what the
organization does to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer and
applicable regulatory requirements and continually improving its performance in
this regard.
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19. ISO 14000 is primarily concerned with "environmental management.” This means
what the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment
caused by its activities and continually improving its environmental performance.
Can any vendor be ISO-certified?
Yes. There are approximately 250,000 companies worldwide registered to ISO
standards. Any company willing to make the effort can be certified.
Why should I require vendors to be ISO-certified?
• ISO is direct evidence of a company's financial and ethical commitment to
provide high quality, safe products.
• ISO certified companies maintain comprehensive internal audit programs
that demonstrate to customers the effectiveness of their quality and
environmental efforts.
• ISO certified companies utilize systems that have been accepted for use
by over 80 countries as effective means to achieve product quality and
environmental stewardship.
• ISO certified companies document, review, and approve product designs
that meet applicable safety, regulatory, and customer requirements.
• ISO certified companies prove their systems through audits by
independent registrars. Registrars are governed by strict international
codes that dictate operating practices, audit methods, and staff
qualifications. Failure to maintain quality program requirements will lead to
de-certification by the registrar.
• ISO certified company products reduce the need for the buyers to perform
audits and reviews to determine if quality systems are in place and being
maintained.
• A certificate of analysis from an ISO certified company will be supported
by documented procedures and records that demonstrate its validity. This
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20. is particularly important should a customer ever have a reason to question
product quality.
Quality is something every company strives for and is often times very difficult to
achieve. Complications concerning efficiency and quality present themselves
everyday in business, whether an important document cannot be found or a
consumer finds a product not up to their expectations. How can a company
increase the quality of its products and services? The answer is ISO 9000. As
standards go, ISO 9000 is one of the most widely recognized in the world. ISO
9000 is a quality management standard that presents guidelines intended to
increase business efficiency and customer satisfaction. The goal of ISO 9000 is
to embed a quality management system within an organization, increasing
productivity, reducing unnecessary costs, and ensuring quality of processes and
products. ISO 9001:2008 is applicable to businesses and organizations from
every sector. The process oriented approach makes the standard applicable to
service organizations as well. Its general guidelines allow for the flexibility
needed for today’s diverse business world.
How does ISO 9000 work?
ISO 9000 is set up as a collection of guidelines that help a company establish,
maintain, and improve a quality management system. It is important to stress that
ISO 9000 is not a rigid set of requirements, and that organizations have flexibility
in how they implement their quality management system. This freedom allows
the ISO 9000 standard to be used in a wide range of organizations, and in
businesses large and small. One important aspect of ISO 9000 is its process-
oriented approach. Instead of looking at a company’s departments and individual
processes, ISO 9000 requires that a company look at “the big picture.” How do
processes interact? Can they be integrated with one another? What are the
important aspects of products and services? Once this process-oriented
approach is implemented, various audits can be done as a check of the
effectiveness of your quality management system. There are three main types of
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21. audits – 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party audits. An internal audit is a 1st party audit. ISO
9000 encourages (and requires) this type of audit so that an organization can get
feedback quickly from those who know the company best. However, this audit
process cannot be viewed as impartial. Therefore, 2nd party audits allow for a
consumer to evaluate the performance on an organization. As an alternative to a
2nd party audit, many companies choose to become certified with ISO 9000
through a 3rd party audit. In this case, an independent certification body comes
into an organization and evaluates it in terms of the ISO 9000 guidelines. If an
organization meets the requirements of the standard, it becomes certified in ISO
9000 and carries a seal of quality recognized throughout the world.
Why is ISO 9000 important?
The importance of ISO 9000 is the importance of quality. Many companies offer
products and services, but it is those companies who put out the best products
and services efficiently that succeed. With ISO 9000, an organization can identify
the root of the problem, and therefore find a solution. By improving efficiency,
profit can be maximized. As a broad range of companies implement the ISO
9000 standards, a supply chain with integrity is created. Each company that
participates in the process of developing, manufacturing, and marketing a
product knows that it is part of an internationally known, reliable system.
Not only do businesses recognize the importance of the ISO 9000, but also the
customer realizes the importance of quality. And because the consumer is most
important to a company, ISO 9000 makes the customer its focus.
What are the ISO 9000 Principles?
1. A Customer Focus
As stated before, the customer is the primary focus of a business. By
understanding and responding to the needs of customers, an organization can
correctly targeting key demographics and therefore increase revenue by
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22. delivering the products and services that the customer is looking for. With
knowledge of customer needs, resources can be allocated appropriately and
efficiently. Most importantly, a business’s dedication will be recognized by the
customer, creating customer loyalty. And customer loyalty is return business.
2. Good Leadership
A team of good leaders will establish unity and direction quickly in a business
environment. Their goal is to motivate everyone working on the project, and
successful leaders will minimize miscommunication within and between
departments. Their role is intimately intertwined with the next ISO 9000 principle.
3. Involvement of people
The inclusion of everyone on a business team is critical to its success.
Involvement of substance will lead to a personal investment in a project and in
turn create motivated, committed workers. These people will tend towards
innovation and creativity, and utilize their full abilities to complete a project. If
people have a vested interest in performance, they will be eager to participate in
the continual improvement that ISO 900 facilitates.
4. Process approach to quality management
The best results are achieved when activities and resources are managed
together. This process approach to quality management can lower costs through
the effective use of resources, personnel, and time. If a process is controlled as a
whole, management can focus on goals that are important to the big picture, and
prioritize objectives to maximize effectiveness.
5. Management system approach
Combining management groups may seem like a dangerous clash of titans, but if
done correctly can result in an efficient and effective management system. If
leaders are dedicated to the goals of an organization, they will aid each other to
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23. achieve improved productivity. Some results include integration and alignment of
key processes. Additionally, interested parties will recognize the consistency,
effectiveness, and efficiency that come with a management system. Both
suppliers and customers will gain confidence in a business’s abilities.
6. Continual Improvement
The importance of this principle is paramount, and should a permanent objective
of every organization. Through increased performance, a company can increase
profits and gain an advantage over competitors. If a whole business is dedicated
to continual improvement, improvement activities will be aligned, leading to faster
and more efficient development.
Ready for improvement and change, businesses will have the flexibility to react
quickly to new opportunities.
7. Factual approach to decision making
Effective decisions are based on the analysis and interpretation of information
and data. By making informed decisions, an organization will be more likely to
make the right decision. As companies make this a habit, they will be able to
demonstrate the effectiveness of past decisions. This will put confidence in
current and future decisions.
8. Supplier relationships
It is important to establish a mutually beneficial supplier relationship; such a
relationship creates value for both parties. A supplier that recognizes a mutually
beneficial relationship will be quick to react when a business needs to respond to
customer needs or market changes. Through close contact and interaction with a
supplier, both organizations will be able to optimize resources and costs.
Why is root cause analysis and systemic corrective action so important in
management system standards, such as ISO 9001?
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24. When problem solving, it is important to find the cause of problem in order to
develop a solution. Sometimes, the most obvious cause is not the right one. This
is why ISO 9000 stresses the importance of finding the root cause(s) of a
problem. There may be multiple, subtle reasons why a process isn’t working
correctly, and finding the actual causes will lead a company one step closer to a
solution and implementation of corrective actions.
The goal of finding root causes is to improve the way problems are managed.
Becoming adept in recognizing the root causes of a problem will lead to a
reduced impact, a containment of error, and the prevention of recurrence.
Identifying and correcting root causes will also lead to the reduction of
unnecessary efforts which in turn will lower the cost of maintaining quality. As
more and more corrective actions are taken, processes will become more stable,
and continual improvement will face less interruptions.
How does ISO 9000 interact with other standards?
ISO 9000 is the standard for a quality management system that closely
resembles many other management systems. These other systems, based on
health, safety, the environment, and business continuity, can be integrated into
an overarching business management system. Benefits of this system include
aligned interests, reduced costs, and improved efficiency. With one of these
systems in place, it is easier to implement any of the others; many documents
required for a different standard are already prepared, and personnel are already
accustomed to the audit process. Using multiple standards will not only increase
the efficiency of an organization, but increase the integrity of its operations.
What does ISO 9000 mean to me and my company?
ISO 9000 is a standard created to make the attainment of quality, consistent
products easier by providing specific steps for development of an organization’s
quality management system. This quality management system is meant to
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25. monitor the progress of a product or service as it goes through each stage of
production, from development to testing to assembly to customer feedback.
One cornerstone of ISO 9000 is continual improvement. No company should
ever be satisfied with the conditions of a process at the given moment; they
should always be looking for ways to make these processes more efficient and
effective. ISO 9000 was written with the business world’s insatiable desire for
excellence in mind. This is why continual improvement is a requirement of the
standard – to inspire progress and the pursuit of perfection.
ISO 9000 is an internationally recognized standard, and that may seem daunting
for some smaller businesses. How are they going to implement the same
standard adopted by multi-national corporations? Quite easily, actually. ISO 9000
is a flexible standard that lays down requirements for an organization to follow,
but allows the organization to fulfill these requirements any way they choose.
This increases ISO 9000′s scope of effectiveness, allowing a wide range of
companies to create quality management systems that match their needs.
ISO 9000 is seen in every sector of the business world, and its success is a
testament to its worth. With a focus on customer satisfaction, products and
services improve and flourish under ISO 9000′s quality management system.
With a combination of continual improvement and corrective actions – tenets of
ISO 9000 – a business will create processes that run smoothly and efficiently.
Q-1-Reference- Authors: Integration of Customer and Process M. Millmore, P.
Lewis, M. Saunders,
Q-2-Reference-Levine-How TQM worked for one firm
Q-3-Reference-Abridged with permission form Academy of Management
Executive Vol-6
Q-4-Reference- A. Thornhill, & T. Morrow
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26. Q-5-Reference- Strategic Management: Contemporary Issues
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