Review No. 7

The following is taken from Chapter 12 of The Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Handbook, 3rd edition, published in 2006 by the American Society for Quality's Quality Press and edited by Russell T. Wescott.

Chapter 12, E. Quality Models and Theories

Feigenbaum’s (1991) definition of a total quality system is given first as a starting point. The definition characterizes a total quality system as an operating work structure that is agreed upon and that exists throughout each plant and the company as a whole. It consists of procedures for technical workers and managers that are both effective and integrated. These procedures are designed to guide the coordinated actions of the workforce and the machines. The ultimate goals of these procedures should be first assurance to the customer that they have quality satisfaction and second the economical cost of quality (Westcott, 2006, p. 292).

Going on, Westcott (2006) asserts that any organization that intends to implement a system for quality will simplify that process by using a model to guide its design, implementation, and assessment. Three models are suggested as those most widely used: The Baldrige National Quality Program (BNQP) in the United States, the Deming Prize in Japan, and the ISO 9000 Series standards used worldwide. The focus of this study is on the ISO 9000 Series (p. 292).

According to Westcott (2006), the purpose of the ISO 9000 standards is to assist “an organization in developing, implementing, registering, and sustaining an appropriate quality management system that functions independent of the specific product and/or service” (pp. 296-7). Westcott (2006) further stipulates that ISO 9000 standards differ from the traditional idea of a standard in that they are focused toward the quality management system, even more than the process of production and significantly more than the product.  The standard is predicated on the supposition that the QMS, when well-designed and carefully managed, will generate customer confidence in the quality of the product or service and that said product or service will meet customer expectations and requirements. Westcott (2006) further stipulates that “Certification of the quality management system, however, does not certify or guarantee the quality of the product or service produced” (p. 297).

Westcott (2006) lists eight principles of ISO 9000 that are intended to improve organizational performance, as follows (p. 297):

1. The organization has a focus on meeting customers’ requirements and exceeding customers’ expectations.
2. The organization’s leadership develops and sustains a working environment in which people become involved in helping the organization meet its objectives.
3. Throughout the entire organization, the people are enabled to utilize their abilities for the mutual benefit of the organization and themselves.
4. The inputs, resources, and outputs pertaining to the organization’s activities are managed as a process.
5. Within the organization, relationships among the processes are managed as a system, a system that supports organizational effectiveness and efficiency in meeting objectives.
6. The organization fosters continual improvement in everything it does.
7. The organization’s people make fact-based decisions.
8. Supplier relationships are mutually beneficial and value enhancing.

 Westcott (2006) further identifies the nature of the ISO 9001 standard as one that is broad and general, requiring each company to interpret them individually in the company’s own context as the company develops its own QMS to comply. The key requirements include items addressed by the QMS, management responsibilities, resource management requirements, production process requirements, and metric data analysis requirements (p. 298). Next, Westcott (2006) details eight conditions that must be remembered when implementing ISO 9001, including the eight aforementioned requirements; maintaining the primacy of customer requirements; getting customer feedback on satisfaction; maintaining resources to meet the customer’s needs; identifying and documenting all production processes; management review of progress; integration of the results of management review back into the system; and recognition that ISO 9000 “is considered a minimum requirement for an effective quality management system (QMS)” (p. 299).

Finally, Westcott (2006) delineates benefits and criticisms of ISO 9000. Benefits include reduction in waste, rework, and redundancy; reduction in potential for external failures; cost reductions; increased productivity; and improved performance. Criticisms include a tendency to overdo the quantity and complexity level of procedures; making no assurance about a company’s product; confusion as to what should be included in the quality manual, a major project of registration; and confusing objective evidence with records.

References:

Feigenbaum, A. V. (1991). Total quality control, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Westcott, R. T., ed. (2006). The certified manager of quality/organizational excellence handbook, 3rd ed. Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Quality Press.