TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT TOYATA & TVS

Discover ISO
Why standards matter
Standards make an enormous and positive contribution to most aspects of our lives.
Standards ensure desirable characteristics of products and services such as quality,
environmental friendliness, safety, reliability, efficiency and interchangeability - and at
an economical cost.
When products and services meet our expectations, we tend to take this for granted and
be unaware of the role of standards. However, when standards are absent, we soon notice.
We soon care when products turn out to be of poor quality, do not fit, are incompatible
with equipment that we already have, are unreliable or dangerous.
When products, systems, machinery and devices work well and safely, it is often because
they meet standards. And the organization responsible for many thousands of the
standards which benefit the world is ISO.
What standards do
ISO standards:
- make the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more
efficient, safer and cleaner
- facilitate trade between countries and make it fairer
- provide governments with a technical base for health, safety and environmental
legislation, and conformity assessment
- share technological advances and good management practice
- disseminate innovation
- safeguard consumers, and users in general, of products and services
- make life simpler by providing solutions to common problems
Who standards benefit
ISO standards provide technological, economic and societal benefits.
For businesses, the widespread adoption of International Standards means that suppliers
can develop and offer products and services meeting specifications that have wide
international acceptance in their sectors. Therefore, businesses using International
Standards can compete on many more markets around the world.
For innovators of new technologies, International Standards on aspects like terminology,
compatibility and safety speed up the dissemination of innovations and their development
into manufacturable and marketable products.
For customers, the worldwide compatibility of technology which is achieved when
products and services are based on International Standards gives them a broad choice of
offers. They also benefit from the effects of competition among suppliers.
For governments, International Standards provide the technological and scientific bases
underpinning health, safety and environmental legislation.
For trade officials, International Standards create "a level playing field" for all
competitors on those markets. The existence of divergent national or regional standards
can create technical barriers to trade. International Standards are the technical means by
which political trade agreements can be put into practice.
For developing countries, International Standards that represent an international
consensus on the state of the art are an important source of technological know-how. By
defining the characteristics that products and services will be expected to meet on export
markets, International Standards give developing countries a basis for making the right
decisions when investing their scarce resources and thus avoid squandering them.
For consumers, conformity of products and services to International Standards provides
assurance about their quality, safety and reliability.
For everyone, International Standards contribute to the quality of life in general by
ensuring that the transport, machinery and tools we use are safe.
For the planet we inhabit, International Standards on air, water and soil quality, on
emissions of gases and radiation and environmental aspects of products can contribute to
efforts to preserve the environment.

Moser Bear ISO 9001
About ISO
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer and
publisher of International Standards.
ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries, one member per
country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.
ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and
private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the
governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. On the
other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set
up by national partnerships of industry associations.
Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the
requirements of business and the broader needs of society.
Because "International Organization for Standardization" would have different acronyms
in different languages ("IOS" in English, "OIN" in French for Organisation
internationale de normalisation), its founders decided to give it also a short, all-purpose
name. They chose "ISO", derived from the Greek isos, meaning "equal". Whatever the
country, whatever the language, the short form of the organization's name is always ISO.


ISO 9000
The ISO 9000 family of standards relate to quality management systems and are
designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other
stakeholders (Poksinska et al, 2002 ). The standards are published by ISO, the
International Organization for Standardization and available through National standards
bodies. ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of quality management systems (Tsim et
al, 2002 ), including the eight management principles (Beattie and Sohal, 1999; Tsim et
al, 2002) on which the family of standards is based. ISO 9001 deals with the
requirements that organizations wishing to meet the standard have to fulfill.
Third party certification bodies provide independent confirmation that organizations meet
the requirements of ISO 9001. Over a million organizations worldwide are
independently certified, making ISO 9001 one of the most widely used management tools
in the world today.
Reasons for use
The global adoption of ISO 9001 may be attributable to a number of factors. A number of
major purchasers require their suppliers to hold ISO 9001 certification. In addition to
several stakeholders benefits, a number of studies have identified significant financial
benefits for organizations certified to ISO 9001, with a 2011 survey from the British
Assessment Bureau showing 44% of their certified clients had won new business. Corbett
et al (2005) showed that certified organizations achieved superior return on assets
compared to otherwise similar organizations without certification. Heras et al (2002)
found similarly superior performance and demonstrated that this was statistically
significant and not a function of organization size. Naveh and Marcus (2007) showed that
implementing ISO 9001 led to superior operational performance Sharma (2005)
identified similar improvements in operating performance and linked this to superior
financial performance. Chow-Chua et al (2002) showed better overall financial
performance was achieved for companies in Denmark. Rajan and Tamimi (2003) showed
that ISO 9001 certification resulted in superior stock market performance and suggested
that shareholders were richly rewarded for the investment in an ISO 9001 system.
While the connection between superior financial performance and ISO 9001 may be seen
from the above, there remains no proof of direct causation, though longitudinal studies,
such as those of Corbett et al (2005) may suggest it. Other writers such as Heras et al
(2002) have suggested that while there is some evidence of this, the improvement is
partly driven by the fact that there is a tendency for better performing companies to seek
ISO 9001 certification.
The mechanism for improving results has also been the subject of much research. Lo et al
(2007) identified operational improvements (cycle time reduction, inventory reductions,
etc.) as following from certification. Buttle (1997) and Santos (2002) both indicated
internal process improvements in organizations leading to externally observable
improvements. Hendricks and Singhal (2001) results indicate that firms outperform their
control group during the post implementation period and effective implementation of
total quality management principles and philosophies leads to significant wealth creation.
The benefit of increased international trade and domestic market share, in addition to the
internal benefits such as customer satisfaction, interdepartmental communications, work
processes, and customer/supplier partnerships derived, far exceeds any and all initial
investment according to Alcorn.
Background


With permission of BSI Group
ISO 9000 was first published in 1987. It was based on the BS 5750 series of standards
from BSI that were proposed to ISO in 1979. Its history can however be traced back
some twenty years before that when the Department of Defense published its MIL-Q-
9858 standard in 1959. MIL-Q-9858 was revised into the NATO AQAP series of
standards in 1969, which in turn were revised into the BS 5179 series of guidance
standards published in 1974, and finally revised into being the BS 5750 series of
requirements standards in 1979, before being submitted to ISO.
BSI has been certifying organizations for their quality management systems since 1978.
Its first certification (FM 00001) is still extant and held by the Tarmac company, a
successor to the original company which held this certificate. Today BSI claims to certify
organizations at nearly 70,000 sites globally. The development of the ISO 9000 series is
shown in the diagram to the right.
Global adoption
The growth in ISO 9001 certification is shown in the table below. The worldwide total of
ISO 9001 certificates can be found in the ISO Survey of 9001 in 2003, 2007, 2008 and
2009.
Worldwide total of ISO 9001:2000/2008 certificates
Dec
2000
Dec
2001
Dec
2002
Dec
2003
Dec
2004
Dec
2005
Dec
2006
Dec
2007
Dec
2008
Dec
2009
457834 510349 561767 497919 660132 773867 896929 951486 982832 1064785
Source: ISO Survey 2009
In recent years there has been a rapid growth in China which now accounts for
approximately a quarter of the global certifications.
Top 10 countries for ISO 9001 certificates - 2009
Rank Country No. of certificates
1 China 257076
2 Italy 130066
3 Japan 68484
4 Spain 59576
5 Russian Federation 53152
6 Germany 47156
7 United Kingdom 41193
8 India 37493
9 USA 28935
10 Korea, Republic of 23400
In addition to these, ISO 9000:2008 requires a quality policy and Quality Manual (which
may or may not include the above documents).
Summary of ISO 9000:2008 in informal language
- The quality policy is a formal statement from management, closely linked to the
business and marketing plan and to customer needs.
- The quality policy is understood and followed at all levels and by all employees.
Each employee works towards measurable objectives.
- The business makes decisions about the quality system based on recorded data.
- The quality system is regularly audited and evaluated for conformance and
effectiveness.
- Records show how and where raw materials and products were processed, to
allow products and problems to be traced to the source.
- The business determines customer requirements.
- The business has created systems for communicating with customers about
product information, inquiries, contracts, orders, feedback and complaints.
- When developing new products, the business plans the stages of development,
with appropriate testing at each stage. It tests and documents whether the product
meets design requirements, regulatory requirements and user needs.
- The business regularly reviews performance through internal audits and meetings.
The business determines whether the quality system is working and what
improvements can be made. It has a documented procedure for internal audits.
- The business deals with past problems and potential problems. It keeps records of
these activities and the resulting decisions, and monitors their effectiveness.
- The business has documented procedures for dealing with actual and potential
nonconformances (problems involving suppliers or customers, or internal
problems).
- The business (1) makes sure no one uses bad product, (2) determines what to do
with bad product, (3) deals with the root cause of problems, and (4) keep records
to use as a tool to improve the system.
1987 version
ISO 9000:1987 had the same structure as the UK Standard BS 5750, with three 'models'
for quality management systems, the selection of which was based on the scope of
activities of the organization:
- ISO 9001:1987 Model for quality assurance in design, development, production,
installation, and servicing was for companies and organizations whose activities
included the creation of new products.
- ISO 9002:1987 Model for quality assurance in production, installation, and
servicing had basically the same material as ISO 9001 but without covering the
creation of new products.
- ISO 9003:1987 Model for quality assurance in final inspection and test covered
only the final inspection of finished product, with no concern for how the product
was produced.
ISO 9000:1987 was also influenced by existing U.S. and other Defense Standards ("MIL
SPECS"), and so was well-suited to manufacturing. The emphasis tended to be placed on
conformance with procedures rather than the overall process of managementwhich was
likely the actual intent.
[citation needed]

1994 version
ISO 9000:1994 emphasized quality assurance via preventive actions, instead of just
checking final product, and continued to require evidence of compliance with
documented procedures. As with the first edition, the down-side was that companies
tended to implement its requirements by creating shelf-loads of procedure manuals, and
becoming burdened with an ISO bureaucracy. In some companies, adapting and
improving processes could actually be impeded by the quality system.
[citation needed]

2000 version
ISO 9001:2000 combines the three standards 9001, 9002, and 9003 into one, called 9001.
Design and development procedures are required only if a company does in fact engage
in the creation of new products. The 2000 version sought to make a radical change in
thinking by actually placing the concept of process management front and center
("Process management" was the monitoring and optimizing of a company's tasks and
activities, instead of just inspecting the final product). The 2000 version also demands
involvement by upper executives, in order to integrate quality into the business system
and avoid delegation of quality functions to junior administrators. Another goal is to
improve effectiveness via process performance metrics numerical measurement of the
effectiveness of tasks and activities. Expectations of continual process improvement and
tracking customer satisfaction were made explicit.
The ISO 9000 standard is continually being revised by standing technical committees and
advisory groups, who receive feedback from those professionals who are implementing
the standard.[1]
ISO 9001:2008 only introduces clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO
9001:2000 and some changes intended to improve consistency with ISO 14001:2004.
There are no new requirements. Explanation of changes in ISO 9001:2008. A quality
management system being upgraded just needs to be checked to see if it is following the
clarifications introduced in the amended version.
Certification
ISO does not itself certify organizations. Many countries have formed accreditation
bodies to authorize certification bodies, which audit organizations applying for ISO 9001
compliance certification. Although commonly referred to as ISO 9000:2000 certification,
the actual standard to which an organization's quality management can be certified is ISO
9001:2008. Both the accreditation bodies and the certification bodies charge fees for their
services. The various accreditation bodies have mutual agreements with each other to
ensure that certificates issued by one of the Accredited Certification Bodies (CB) are
accepted worldwide.
The applying organization is assessed based on an extensive sample of its sites, functions,
products, services and processes; a list of problems ("action requests" or "non-
compliance") is made known to the management. If there are no major problems on this
list, or after it receives a satisfactory improvement plan from the management showing
how any problems will be resolved, the certification body will issue an ISO 9001
certificate. The certificate is limited by a certain scope (e.g. production of golf balls) and
names the locations covered.
An ISO certificate is not a once-and-for-all award, but must be renewed at regular
intervals recommended by the certification body, usually around three years. There are no
grades of competence within ISO 9001: either a company is certified (meaning that it is
committed to the method and model of quality management described in the standard), or
it is not. In this respect, it contrasts with measurement-based quality systems such as the
Capability Maturity Model.
Auditing
Two types of auditing are required to become registered to the standard: auditing by an
external certification body (external audit) and audits by internal staff trained for this
process (internal audits). The aim is a continual process of review and assessment, to
verify that the system is working as it's supposed to, find out where it can improve and to
correct or prevent problems identified. It is considered healthier for internal auditors to
audit outside their usual management line, so as to bring a degree of independence to
their judgments.
Under the 1994 standard, the auditing process could be adequately addressed by
performing "compliance auditing":
- Tell me what you do (describe the business process)
- Show me where it says that (reference the procedure manuals)
- Prove that this is what happened (exhibit evidence in documented records)
The 2000 standard uses a different approach. Auditors are expected to go beyond mere
auditing for rote "compliance" by focusing on risk, status and importance. This means
they are expected to make more judgments on what is effective, rather than merely
adhering to what is formally prescribed. The difference from the previous standard can be
explained thus:
Under the 1994 version, the question was broadly "Are you doing what the
manual says you should be doing?", whereas under the 2000 version, the question
is more specific "Will this process help you achieve your stated objectives? Is it a
good process or is there a way to do it better?"
Industry-specific interpretations
The ISO 9001 standard is generalized and abstract. Its parts must be carefully interpreted,
to make sense within a particular organization. Developing software is not like making
cheese or offering counseling services; yet the ISO 9001 guidelines, because they are
business, management guidelines can be applied to each of these. Diverse
organizationspolice departments (US), professional soccer teams (Mexico) and city
councils (UK)have successfully implemented ISO 9001:2000 systems.
Over time, various industry sectors have wanted to standardize their interpretations of the
guidelines within their own marketplace. This is partly to ensure that their versions of
ISO 9000 have their specific requirements, but also to try and ensure that more
appropriately trained and experienced auditors are sent to assess them.
- The TickIT guidelines are an interpretation of ISO 9000 produced by the UK
Board of Trade to suit the processes of the information technology industry,
especially software development.
- AS9000 is the Aerospace Basic Quality System Standard, an interpretation
developed by major aerospace manufacturers. Those major manufacturers include
AlliedSignal, Allison Engine, Boeing, General Electric Aircraft Engines,
Lockheed-Martin, McDonnell Douglas, Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney,
Rockwell-Collins, Sikorsky Aircraft, and Sundstrand. The current version is
AS9100.
- PS 9000 * QS 9000 is an interpretation agreed upon by major automotive
manufacturers (GM, Ford, Chrysler). It includes techniques such as FMEA and
APQP. QS 9000 is now replaced by ISO/TS 16949.
- ISO/TS 16949:2009 is an interpretation agreed upon by major automotive
manufacturers (American and European manufacturers); the latest version is
based on ISO 9001:2008. The emphasis on a process approach is stronger than in
ISO 9001:2008. ISO/TS 16949:2009 contains the full text of ISO 9001:2008 and
automotive industry-specific requirements.
- TL 9000 is the Telecom Quality Management and Measurement System
Standard, an interpretation developed by the telecom consortium, QuEST Forum.
The current version is 5.0 and unlike ISO 9001 or the above sector standards, TL
9000 includes standardized product measurements that can be benchmarked. In
1998 QuEST Forum developed the TL 9000 Quality Management System to meet
the supply chain quality requirements of the worldwide telecommunications
industry.
- ISO 13485:2003 is the medical industry's equivalent of ISO 9001:2000. Whereas
the standards it replaces were interpretations of how to apply ISO 9001 and ISO
9002 to medical devices, ISO 13485:2003 is a stand-alone standard. Compliance
with ISO 13485 does not necessarily mean compliance with ISO 9001:2000.
- ISO/IEC 90003:2004 provides guidelines for the application of ISO 9001:2000 to
computer software.
- ISO/TS 29001 is quality management system requirements for the design,
development, production, installation and service of products for the petroleum,
petrochemical and natural gas industries. It is equivalent to API Spec Q1 without
the Monogram annex.

Effectiveness
The debate on the effectiveness of ISO 9000 commonly centers on the following
questions:
1. Are the quality principles in ISO 9001:2000 of value? (Note that the version date
is important: in the 2000 version ISO attempted to address many concerns and
criticisms of ISO 9000:1994).
2. Does it help to implement an ISO 9001:2000 compliant quality management
system?
3. Does it help to obtain ISO 9001:2000 certification?
Effectiveness of the ISO system being implemented depends on a number of factors, the
most significant of which are:
1. Commitment of Senior Management to monitor, control, and improve quality.
Organizations that implement an ISO system without this desire and commitment,
often take the cheapest road to get a certificate on the wall and ignore problem
areas uncovered in the audits.
2. How well the ISO system integrates into their business practices. Many
organizations that implement ISO try to make their system fit into a cookie-cutter
quality manual rather than create a manual that documents existing practices and
only adds new processes to meet the ISO standard when necessary.
3. How well the ISO system focuses on improving the customer experience. The
broadest definition of quality is "Whatever the customer perceives good quality to
be". This means that you don't necessarily have to make a product that never fails,
some customers will have a higher tolerance for product failures if they always
receive shipments on-time, or some other dimension of customer service. Your
ISO system should take into account all areas of the customer experience, the
industry expectations, and seek to improve them on a continual basis. This means
taking into account all processes that deal with the three stakeholders (your
customers, your suppliers, and your organization), only then will you be able to
sustain improvements in your customer experience.
4. How well the auditor finds and communicates areas of improvement. While ISO
auditors may not provide consulting to the clients they audit, there is the potential
for auditors to point out areas of improvement. Many auditors simply rely on
submitting reports that indicate compliance or non-compliance with the
appropriate section of the standard, however, to most executives, this is like
speaking a foreign language. Auditors that can clearly identify and communicate
areas of improvement in language and terms executive management understands
allows the companies they audit to act on improvement initiatives. When
management doesn't understand why they were non-compliant and the business
implications, they simply ignore the reports and focus on what they do
understand.
Advantages
It is widely acknowledged that proper quality management improves business, often
having a positive effect on investment, market share, sales growth, sales margins,
competitive advantage, and avoidance of litigation.The quality principles in ISO
9000:2000 are also sound, according to Wade and also to Barnes, who says that "ISO
9000 guidelines provide a comprehensive model for quality management systems that
can make any company competitive implementing ISO often gives the following
advantages:
1. Create a more efficient, effective operation
2. Increase customer satisfaction and retention
3. Reduce audits
4. Enhance marketing
5. Improve employee motivation, awareness, and morale
6. Promote international trade
7. Increase profit
8. Reduce waste and increase productivity.

Problems
A common criticism of ISO 9001 is the amount of money, time and paperwork required
for registration.
[26]
According to Barnes, "Opponents claim that it is only for
documentation. Proponents believe that if a company has documented its quality systems,
then most of the paperwork has already been completed."
[27]

ISO 9001 is not in any way an indication that products produced using its certified
systems are any good. A company can intend to produce a poor quality product and
providing it does so consistently and with the proper documentation can put an ISO 9001
stamp on it. According to Seddon, ISO 9001 promotes specification, control, and
procedures rather than understanding and improvement.
[28][29]
Wade argues that ISO 9000
is effective as a guideline, but that promoting it as a standard "helps to mislead
companies into thinking that certification means better quality, ... [undermining] the need
for an organization to set its own quality standards."
[30]
Paraphrased, Wade's argument is
that reliance on the specifications of ISO 9001 does not guarantee a successful quality
system.
While internationally recognized, most US consumers are not aware of ISO 9000 and it
holds no relevance to them. The added cost to certify and then maintain certification may
not be justified if product end users do not require ISO 9000. The cost can actually put a
company at a competitive disadvantage when competing against a non ISO 9000 certified
company.
The standard is seen as especially prone to failure when a company is interested in
certification before quality. Certifications are in fact often based on customer contractual
requirements rather than a desire to actually improve quality. "If you just want the
certificate on the wall, chances are, you will create a paper system that doesn't have much
to do with the way you actually run your business," said ISO's Roger Frost. Certification
by an independent auditor is often seen as the problem area, and according to Barnes,
"has become a vehicle to increase consulting services." In fact, ISO itself advises that
ISO 9001 can be implemented without certification, simply for the quality benefits that
can be achieved.
Another problem reported is the competition among the numerous certifying bodies,
leading to a softer approach to the defects noticed in the operation of the Quality System
of a firm.
Abrahamson argued that fashionable management discourse such as Quality Circles
tends to follow a lifecycle in the form of a bell curve, possibly indicating a management
fad.

ISO 9000 essentials
This section concisely describes the essential features of the ISO 9000
family.
The ISO 9000 family of standards represents an international consensus on good
quality management practices. It consists of standards and guidelines relating to quality
management systems and related supporting standards.
ISO 9001:2008 is the standard that provides a set of standardized requirements for a
quality management system, regardless of what the user organization does, its size, or
whether it is in the private, or public sector. It is the only standard in the family against
which organizations can be certified although certification is not a compulsory
requirement of the standard.
The other standards in the family cover specific aspects such as fundamentals and
vocabulary, performance improvements, documentation, training, and financial and
economic aspects.
Why an organization should implement ISO 9001:2008
Without satisfied customers, an organization is in peril! To keep customers satisfied, the
organization needs to meet their requirements. The ISO 9001:2008 standard provides a
tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing the
organization's processes so that they consistently turn out product that satisfies customers'
expectations.
How the ISO 9001:2008 model works
The requirements for a quality system have been standardized - but many organizations
like to think of themselves as unique. So how does ISO 9001:2008 allow for the diversity
of say, on the one hand, a "Mr. and Mrs." enterprise, and on the other, to a multinational
manufacturing company with service components, or a public utility, or a government
administration?
The answer is that ISO 9001:2008 lays down what requirements your quality system
must meet, but does not dictate how they should be met in any particular organization.
This leaves great scope and flexibility for implementation in different business sectors
and business cultures, as well as in different national cultures.
Checking that it works
1. The standard requires the organization itself to audit its ISO 9001:2008-based
quality system to verify that it is managing its processes effectively - or, to put it
another way, to check that it is fully in control of its activities.
2. In addition, the organization may invite its clients to audit the quality system in
order to give them confidence that the organization is capable of delivering
products or services that will meet their requirements.
3. Lastly, the organization may engage the services of an independent quality
system certification body to obtain an ISO 9001:2008 certificate of conformity.
This last option has proved extremely popular in the market-place because of the
perceived credibility of an independent assessment.
The organization may thus avoid multiple audits by its clients, or reduce the frequency
or duration of client audits. The certificate can also serve as a business reference
between the organization and potential clients, especially when supplier and client are
new to each other, or far removed geographically, as in an export context.

The ISO brand
- Democratic
Every full member of ISO has the right to take part in the development of any standard
which it judges to be important to its country's economy. No matter what the size or
strength of that economy, each participating member in ISO has one vote. Each country is
on an equal footing to influence the direction of ISO's work at the strategic level, as well
as the technical content of its individual standards.
- Voluntary
ISO standards are voluntary. As a non-governmental organization, ISO has no legal
authority to enforce the implementation of its standards. ISO does not regulate or
legislate. However, countries may decide to adopt ISO standards - mainly those
concerned with health, safety or the environment - as regulations or refer to them in
legislation, for which they provide the technical basis. In addition, although ISO
standards are voluntary, they may become a market requirement, as has happened in
the case of ISO 9001 quality management systems, or of dimensions of freight containers
and bank cards.
ISO itself does not regulate or legislate.
- Market-driven
ISO only develops standards for which there is a market requirement. The work is
mainly carried out by experts from the industrial, technical and business sectors which
have asked for the standards, and which subsequently put them to use.
- Consensus
ISO standards are based on international consensus among the experts in the field.
Consensus, like technology, evolves and ISO takes account both of evolving technology
and of evolving interests by requiring a periodic review of its standards at least every
five years to decide whether they should be maintained, updated or withdrawn. In this
way, ISO standards retain their position as the state of the art.
- Globally relevant
ISO standards are technical agreements which provide the framework for compatible
technology worldwide. They are designed to be globally relevant - useful everywhere in
the world.
ISO standards are useful everywhere in the world.
How to recognize an ISO standard
In paper form, an ISO standard is published in A4 format - which is itself one of the ISO
standard paper sizes. It may be anywhere between a four-page document and one several
hundred pages' long. ISO standards are also available as electronic downloads and many
are available as part of a collection on CD or in handbook. An ISO standard carries the
ISO logo and the designation, "International Standard".
The scope of ISO's work
ISO has more than 18 500 International Standards and other types of normative
documents in its current portfolio. ISO's work programme ranges from standards for
traditional activities, such as agriculture and construction, through mechanical
engineering, manufacturing and distribution, to transport, medical devices, information
and communication technologies, and to standards for good management practice and for
services.


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pages' long. It is usually also available in electronic form. It carries the ISO logo and the
designation International Standard. In most cases, the paper version is published in A4
format - which is itself one of the ISO standard paper sizes. The standardization of paper
sizes is a typical example of ISO's work: agreement on a sufficient number of variations
of a product to meet most current applications allows economies of scale with cost
benefits to both producers and consumers.
What can I expect to find in an ISO standard?
An ISO standard is a documented agreement containing technical specifications or other
precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of
characteristics to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their
purpose. It is a living agreement that can have a profound influence on things that deserve
to be taken seriously - such as the safety, reliability and efficiency of machinery and
tools, means of transport, toys, medical devices, and so on.
Could you give me a few practical examples of ISO standards?
Take a look at the graphical symbols on the dashboard of your car or at the pictorial
symbol on a package marked with handling instructions such as "This way up". Various
ISO technical committees have developed or adopted hundreds of carefully researched
signs and symbols that convey clear-cut messages which cross language boundaries.
On the inside cover of nearly every book, there is something called an ISBN number.
ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. Publishers and booksellers are
very familiar with ISBN numbers, since they are the keyway that books are ordered and
bought. Try buying a book on the Internet, and you will soon learn the value of the ISBN
number - there is a unique number for the book you want! And, it is based on an ISO
standard.
Almost everything you need and use for work and home comes from somewhere else.
Whether departure and destination points are as close as A to B, or as far apart as
Antwerp and Bangkok, freight containers ensure a smooth passage for your goods and
materials. From truck to train, from boat to plane, there are more than five million freight
containers transiting across the globe. This has become possible principally through
international standardization.
Yet another example: the chair that you're probably sitting on, or the desk your computer
is perched on, are held together by bolts and screws. Humble bolts and screws also hold
together our children's bicycles - and also the aircraft we trust our lives to during business
trips or holiday travel. The diversity of screw threads used to represent big problems for
industry, particularly in maintenance, as lost or damaged nuts and bolts could not easily
be replaced. A global solution is supplied in the ISO standards for metric screw threads.
Also, the credit card you may have used to buy your computer can be used worldwide
because all its basic features are based on ISO standards. We are so familiar with many
objects, like credit or telephone cards, that we tend to assume they just "fell out of the
sky". In fact, the ease with which we can use them can be traced back to an ISO standard.
Further examples are given in the ISO Caf and Widely used standards sections.

INTRODUCTION

The primary objective of any organization is survival. Survival in the industrial
context means delivering products that satisfy the required Quality, Quantity and
Schedule. Organizations have been widely implementing the TQM (Total Quality
Management) methodology to ensure that their products meet the set quality standards.
The TQM method of management begins and ends with the customer. It is purely a
customer- oriented method of management. TQM mainly focuses on ensuring employee
participation in solving problems to help a steady improvement of the organization.
Employee participation is however cross- functional and extends beyond the hierarchical
limits. TQM deals with concepts like product quality, process control, quality assurance
and quality improvement. In other words it controls all transformation processes of an
organization, which are aimed at satisfying customers needs to the best in a cost
effective way. TQM owes its success to internal or self control policy in each of the units
of the work system. Internal control helps push the problem solving and decision making
functions down the hierarchical levels in an organization. As such, people who work on
the product being processed can adopt corrective measures immediately if needed. This
helps the organization to respond to its customers needs quickly and efficiently.
However, experts have different versions of applying TQM effectively to their
organizations. For some, quality management is driven by the need to ensure customer
satisfaction. For others its the internal productivity or cost improvement programme.
TQM is also viewed as methods that introduce participative management.
Japanese organizations focus on customer satisfaction to effectively apply TQM
programmes. Americans, on the other hand focus on cost related issues like cost of non-
conference and on the need for employees to meet pre-established requirements for each
process. These efforts are based on the wrong assumption that processes that help realize
the quality standards are fully understood. However, exercising control over production
process does not help organizations to expand their market share unless the products meet
customer requirements.

In order to comprehend the need for improvement in the automobile industry and
to better manage their projects and automobile companies, they need to look for a method
to do so. Automobile Engineers need to improve their performance. Automobile
manufacturing costs are becoming far too high. Automobile manufacturing project
management is more difficult than it should be. When turnaround at the end of a project
becomes a gut-wrenching experience with unnecessary disputes (which must be settled)
that arise due to insufficient quality or indifference to quality, settlement by negotiation,
arbitration, or even litigation imposes a serious drain on the financial resources of a
company and limits profit potential.


To be competitive in todays market, it is essential for the automobile companies to
provide more consistent quality and value to their owners/customers. Now is the time to
place behind us the old adversarial approach to managing car manufacturing work. It is
time to develop better and more direct relationships with the owners/customers, to initiate
more teamwork at the jobsite, and to produce better quality work.

Such goals demand that a Continuous Improvement (CI) process be established
within the company in order to provide quality management. Ancient Greeks referred to
the concept of continuous improvement as well as the Chinese. Recently CI has been
referred to as Total Quality Management (TQM). Whichever name is preferred; the
concept must be understood and applied to a firms operations. Meeting owner/customer
requirements (providing customer satisfaction) is a primary objective of quality
management, and technical engineers who are the suppliers of automobile services must
address owner/customer requirements if they are to succeed. The automobile industry
exists to provide a service to its owners/customers who are becoming more demanding
and are seeking higher quality, better value, and lower costs. These owner/customer
requirements mirror the economic pressures they face in their own businesses.
Implementing total quality management / continuous improvement in managing everyday
automobile manufacturing activities is relevant to all those who participate in and
contribute to the manufacturing process.
Defining TQM
TQM is a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions
(marketing, finance, design, engineering, and production, customer service, etc.) to focus
on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives.TQM views an organization as
a collection of processes. It maintains that organizations must strive to continuously
improve these processes by incorporating the knowledge and experiences of workers. The
simple objective of TQM is "Do the right things, right the first time, every time". TQM is
infinitely variable and adaptable. Although originally applied to manufacturing
operations, and for a number of years only used in that area, TQM is now becoming
recognized as a generic management tool, just as applicable in service and public sector
organizations. There are a number of evolutionary strands, with different sectors creating
their own versions from the common ancestor. TQM is the foundation for activities,
which include:
- Commitment by senior management and all employees
- Meeting customer requirements
- Reducing development cycle times
- Just In Time/Demand Flow Manufacturing
- Improvement teams
- Reducing product and service costs
- Systems to facilitate improvement
- Line Management ownership
- Employee involvement and empowerment
- Recognition and celebration
- Challenging quantified goals and benchmarking
- Focus on processes / improvement plans
- Specific incorporation in strategic planning
This shows that TQM must be practiced in all activities, by all personnel, in
Manufacturing, Marketing, Engineering, R&D, Sales, Purchasing, HR, etc

QUALITY POLICY
This statement makes mention of company commitment towards quality, customer
satisfaction and stakeholders.

MISSION
Mission describes the activities for achieving the Vision. The mission is the cause and the
vision the effect. The mission statement may also contain verb (design, train, maintain,
etc.) + object (system, strategy, etc.) + time limit (should be same time frame as vision).
The mission of the organization should state:
It says how to achieve the vision within a certain time frame.
Indicates the activities to achieve the vision.
It shows commitment and submitted by stakeholders.
I t is understood from top management to line workers, including the public, customers,
and suppliers.

VISION
Vision and mission have a cause and effect relationship. Vision should reflect what the
organization sees for itself 5-10 years down the road. The short time frame helps assure
that the organization revitalizes itself every decade or so. The vision statement should
contain direction (improve, decrease, etc.) + indicator (quality, customer satisfaction,
etc.) + target value (how much, #, %, etc.) + time limit (by when).
The vision of the organization should state:
It states future products or services, a future market area, such as global/international.
Stakeholders submit it.
It should be a simple statement. One page visions inappropriate.
It has to be understood from top management to line workers, including the public,
customers, and suppliers.


Principles of TQM
TQM calls for a cultural transformation that requires employee involvement at all levels
and a spirit of teamwork among customers, suppliers, employees, and managers.
Employee involvement, participation and empowerment form the cornerstones of TQM.
There are certain essential principles, which can be implemented to secure greater market
share, increase profits and reduce cost. The five principles to guarantee success are as
follows:
- Management Commitment
1. Plan (drive, direct)
2. Do (deploy, support, participate)
3. Check (review)
4. Act (recognize, communicate, revise)
- Employee Empowerment
1. Training
2. Suggestion scheme
3. Measurement and recognition
4. Excellence teams
- Fact Based Decision Making
1. SPC (statistical process control)
2. The 7 statistical tools
3. TOPS (FORD 8D - Team Oriented Problem Solving)
- Continuous Improvement
1. Systematic measurement and focus on CONQ
2. Excellence teams
3. Cross-functional process management
4. Attain, maintain, improve standards
- Customer Focus
1. Service relationship with internal customers
2. Never compromise quality
3. Customer driven standards


History of TQM
The roots of Total Quality Management (TQM) can be traced back to early 1920s when
statistical theory was first applied to product quality control. This concept was further
developed in Japan in the 40s led by Americans, such as Deming, Juran and Feigenbaum.
The focus widened from quality of products to quality of all issues within an
organization. The following information helps us to know about the historical evolution
of TQM.

The historical evolution of TQM has taken place in 4 stages, namely;
I. Quality Inspection,
II. Quality Control,
III. Quality Assurance
IV. Total Quality Management (TQM).

Quality control, as we know it probably had its beginnings in the factory system
that developed following the Industrial Revolution. Products were made from non-
standardized materials using non-standardized method. The result was products of
varying quality. The only real standards used were measures of dimensions, weight, and
quality . The most common form of quality control was inspection made by the purchaser
where poor quality product found would be separated from acceptable quality product
and then would be scrapped, reworked or sold as lower quality. Inspection took place
mainly to ensure that the sorting of conformance and non-conformance product can be
done and mostly involved visual inspection or testing of the product following
manufacture.

With further industrial advancement, came the second stage of TQM development
and quality was controlled through supervised skills, written specification, measurement
and standardization. Frederick W. Taylor developed his system of scientific management,
which emphasized productivity at the expense of quality such as work-study. Methods of
statistical quality control and the development of Shewharts control chart, acceptance-
sampling methods by Dodge Roming during the period 1924-1931 helped this era to
prosper further from the inspection era.

The third stage of quality evolution is an emphasis of the change from detection
activities towards prevention of poor quality or defects. In this stage, called Quality
Assurance, it aims to provide sufficient confidence that a product or service will satisfy
customers needs by performing systems audit, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis, design
of experiment and similar initiatives. Most of these traditional quality control measures
were designed as a defense mechanism to prevent failure or eliminate defects. Other
activities such as comprehensive quality manual, use of quality cost, development of
process control and auditing of quality system are also developed in order to progress
from quality control to quality assurance.

The last stage of this development, i.e. TQM, involves the understanding and
implementation of quality management principles and concepts in every aspect of
business activities. Utilization of these activities provides the customer with the best
product or service at the lowest cost. The aim should be continued quality improvement,
which has become a critical distinction in todays competitive arena where the winning
strategy is to gain customer loyalty. This is because anyone is able to produce or sell a
product at a lower cost but not everyone can offer value with that product. Following
World War II, the quality of products produced in the United States declined as
manufacturers tried to keep up with the demand for non- military goods that had not been
produced during the war. It was during this period that the development of TQM took
place with the contributions of various American experts who developed theories and
practical techniques for improving quality. The pioneers were W. Edwards Deming,
Joseph M. Juran, Armand V. Feigenbaum, and Philip Crosby.




















Characteristics of the different stages in TQM




I. Quality Inspection Salvage
Sorting
Corrective action
Identify sources of non-conformance

II. Quality Control Quality manual
Performance data
Self-inspection
Product testing
Quality planning
Use of statistics
Paperwork control

III. Quality Assurance Third-party approvals
System audits
Quality planning
Quality manuals
Quality costs
Process control
Failure mode and effect analysis
Non-production operations

IV. Total Quality Management Focused vision
Continuous improvements
Internal customers
Performance measure
Prevention
Company-wide application
Interdepartmental barriers
Management leadership


STAGE CHARACTERISTICS
Demings View

Deming is best known for developing a system of statistical quality control, although his
contribution goes substantially beyond those techniques. His philosophy begins with top
management but maintains that a company must adopt the fourteen points of this system
at all levels. He believes that quality must be built into the product at all stages in order to
achieve a high level of excellence. He introduces statistics as a management tool and
relies on statistical process control as a means of managing variations in a process. He
developed what is known as the Deming Chain reaction; as quality improves, costs will
decrease and productivity will increase, resulting in more jobs, greater market share and
long term survival. Juran, like Deming was invited to Japan in 1954 by the Union of
Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). His lecture introduced the managerial
dimensions of planning, organizing, and controlling and focused on the responsibility of
management to achieve quality and the need for setting goal. Juran defines quality as
fitness for use in terms of design, conformance, availability, safety, and field use. Thus,
his concept more closely incorporates the point of view of the customer. He advocated
ten steps to quality improvement that has a broader concept than Deming which emphasis
more on the responsibility of management to achieve total quality. Crosby (1979) stresses
motivation and planning and does not dwell much on statistical process control and the
problem-solving techniques of Deming and Juran. Like Deming, Crosby has his own
fourteen points that he believes to be good quality practices for a company to adopt. He
believes that quality is free because the small cost of prevention will always be lower
than the cost of detection, correction and failure. Armand Feigenbaum also achieves
visibility through his work with the Japanese. Unlike Deming and Juran, he used a total
quality control (TQC) approach that may very well be the forerunner of todays TQM. He
defined TQC as an effective system for integrating the quality development, quality
maintenance, and quality-improvement efforts of the various groups in an organization so
as to enable production and service at the most economical levels which allow for full
customer satisfaction. Consequently, Japanese companies have also developed their own
approach to TQC by Ishikawa based on the teachings of Deming and Juran and shaping it
to suit their own culture and operating environment along with the development of a new
set of tools and techniques and operating systems. The Japanese style of TQC, Company
Wide Quality Control (CWQC) means that Quality control consists of developing,
designing, producing, marketing and servicing products and services with optimum cost-
effectiveness and usefulness, which customers will purchase with satisfaction. To achieve
these aims, all the separate parts of a company must work together. Looking at
Feigenbaums and Ishikawas definitions, one can see that there are no major differences.
However, Ishikawa (1985) is of the view that the difference between CWQC and
Feigenbaums approach is that TQC be conducted by QC specialists while CWQC has
never been an exclusive domain of such specialists. It can be seen that the focus in the
participation of employees is weak and the task of improving quality is given to
managers. At the end of 1970s and the beginning of 1980s, as a result of Japanese
pressure and the success of some American writers, it created a general concern about the
focus on quality management in the United States and from this country to the rest of the
world. Finally, the publication of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and
other similar awards in other countries was the official recognition of the importance of
TQM.



Demings Fourteen Points:

Presented below are Demings fourteen points for total quality management.

1) Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service. (Plan to stay in
business.)
2) Adopt the new philosophy. (Stop tolerating poor quality.)
3) Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. (Improve the process.)
4) End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone. (Seek longer
term supplier relationships; reduce the number of suppliers.)
5) Improve constantly and forever every process in the system of planning, production,
and service.
6) Institute modern training (for everybody!).
7) Institute modern methods of supervision. (The responsibility of foremen must be
changed from sheer numbers to QUALITY.)
8) Drive out fear. (Encourage employees to speak up.)
9) Break down barriers between departments.
10) Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force.
11) Eliminate work standards that prescribe numerical quotas.
12) Remove barriers to pride in workmanship. (Poor supervisors, poor materials,
inadequate equipment, lack of training, etc.)
13) Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone.
14) Place everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation and create
a structure in top management that will push every day on the above points.
TQM Philosophy

The TQM philosophy provides the overall concept that fosters continuous improvement
in an organization. This philosophy stresses a systematic, integrated, consistent,
organization-wide perspective involving everyone and everything. It focuses primarily on
total satisfaction for both internal and external customers within a management
environment that seeks continuous improvement of all systems and processes.
Continuous improvements can be achieved through internal and external quality
improvements. The below figure shows how to achieve higher profit by stressing on
internal and external quality improvements. Internal improvements refer to the utilization
of resources and preventing defects and problems in the process. Gradually, this result in
the effectiveness of controlling and minimizing production cost which in turn yield to
higher profits. Similarly, external quality improvements put more emphasis on designing
quality into the product, which aims to earn higher profits by remaining competitive with
a bigger market share. This can be done through the ability of companies to respond
quickly to the demands of their customer and offering them with a better value added
services.


































Continuous Improvement
Internal improvements:
Better use of recourses,
more efficient process, etc.
External improvements:
Better product quality, better
service quality, etc.
Fewer mistakes/ errors More satisfied customer
Lower costs Bigger market
value
Higher Profits
Continuous improvements and their consequences
Key Concepts of Total Quality Management include
- Structured system for exceeding customer expectations
- System that empowers employees
- Drives higher profits
- Drives lower costs
- Continuous improvement.
- Management centered approach on improving quality.

Benefits of TQM include
- Improves competitive position
- Increase adaptability to global markets
- Elevated productivity
- Superior global image
- Eliminates defects
- Significantly reduces waste.
- Reduces quality costs
- Improves management communication
- Raises profits
- Drives customer focus
- Customer loyalty
- Reduces design time.







Structure of TQM

Introduction

Total quality management (TQM) process and structure can be divided in three parts as
follows:
1. Total employee involvement (TEI)
2. Just in time/ waste elimination (JIT)
3. Total quality control (TQC)
Quality policy, vision and mission are the philosophical back up pillars of TQM. For any
company these are essential points. These are to be decided by all the employees of the
company by the method of consensus.

(1) Total Employee involvement (TEI)
The basic thinking is that human should not be considered as Robert or machine.
They should be treated with respect and consideration. An organization has no of
people working for a purpose. Every person has important role to play. Organization
will be most effective if all employees work together and harmoniously, to achieve
common role.

TEI is achieved through following methods:
a. Kaizen and housekeeping: at level of individual employee
b. SGA, quality circle: small group activity-to tackle pain area in the inter-
department issues
c. KBP/ BPR: Key business process-to tackle pain area in the management or at the
corporate functional area




KBP or BPR:
Key business process or business process reengineering is the activity conducted at
senior management level to tackle pain areas at the total company level. There are
issues, which cannot be resolved, which are interdepartmental cases. These need to be
addressed at senior level. This gives competitive edge organization to excel. It is
process towards delighting customers and stakeholders and deriving vision and
mission, which is common goal for all the employees. There can be more than one
process. Often the process cuts across the functions. There can be series of activities
and need functional expertise. Some examples of BPR are as follows:
(a) Development of new products, new processes, new markets.
(b) Eliminating interdepartmental problems, excess documentation, material
movement.
(c) Faster development/introduction of new products.
(d) Direct approach to customer, new business developments, capital investment.
Working of BPR team is to be done like quality circles team.



(2) Just in time-(JIT)
A structural approach in the manufacturing organization is focused on improving
timeliness, quality and flexibility utilizing various methods of work simplification
and waste reduction.
At all the stages where the material waits is the pipeline in the factory. This waiting
has to be avoided. This pipeline starts from a material receiving in the factory to
material goes out of factory. That has to be eliminated.
Example: In a manufacturing plant of well known automobile company parts for
assembly arrive by number of trains every morning and the parts go directly to
assembly shop and not to warehouse. T here is no warehouse to keep so many parts.
There are number of plants like that all over the world.


(3) Total quality control
Total quality control is applicable to all the functions.
Quality at work, service, information, process, divisional units, people, system and
company has to be maintained at minimum cost.
7QC Tools:
(1) Stratify data.
(2) Pareto diagram.
(3) Cause and effect diagram.
(4) Histogram.
(5) Scattered diagram.
(6) Check sheets.
(7) Control charts.
PDCA:
This is the concept used to take up and implement any project.
In the plan phase we have to set goals, decide objectives. Clarify different issues. Find
solutions through method of discussions, brainstorming etc. Team to take decisions.
Decide tools to be used. We have set target dates.
In do phase we have to work out the plans as per the decisions taken in plan phase.
In the check phase we have to measure the progress of work done. We have to use tools
from 7 QC tools, such as Pareto, run chart, control chart, histogram, etc.















ACT
Check
Plan
Do
Take
appropriate
action
Determine
goals and
targets
Implement
work
Check the
effects of
implementa
tion
In the phase of Act we have to see whether the set goals are achieved or not. Whether we
got solution? If answer is negative we have to repeat the cycle until we get a proper
solution. If yes, start new cycle.
It is seen that in Japan the planning phase is longer and with lot of thinking. It reduces
period of next phases Do, Check and Act. Also we get better results with less
expenditure. More time spent on planning reduces time considerably for further phases.
The systematic way to ensure the development the product failure, characteristics,
specifications, as well as the selection and development of process equipment, methods,
and control are driven by the demands of the customer or market place.
Customer has become more cost and value conscious. Price incentive will only appease
customer temporarily. Customers are demanding, ever improving levels of quality. They
will go somewhere else if you do not give what they want.
Time to market is increasing critical to capture market share. It is easy to capture market
share by being the first.
For this we have to reduce product development cycle.



Comparison To Six Sigma
In comparison, Six Sigma is more than just a process improvement program as it is based
on concepts that focus on continuous quality improvements for achieving near perfection
by restricting the number of possible defects to less than 3.4 defects per million. It is
complementary to Statistical Process Control (SPC), which uses statistical methods for
monitoring and controlling business processes. Although both SPC and TQM help in
improving quality, they often reach a stage after which no further quality improvements
can be made. Six Sigma, on the other hand, is different as it focuses on taking quality
improvement processes to the next level.
The basic difference between Six Sigma and TQM is the approach. While TQM views
quality as conformance to internal requirements, Six Sigma focuses on improving quality
by reducing the number of defects. The end result may be the same in both the concepts
(i.e. producing better quality products). Six Sigma helps organizations in reducing
operational costs by focusing on defect reduction, cycle time reduction, and cost savings.
It is different from conventional cost cutting measures that may reduce value and quality.
It focuses on identifying and eliminating costs that provide no value to customers such as
costs incurred due to waste.
TQM initiatives focus on improving individual operations within unrelated business
processes whereas Six Sigma programs focus on improving all the operations within a
single business process. Six Sigma projects require the skills of professionals that are
certified as black belts whereas TQM initiatives are usually a part-time activity that can
be managed by non-dedicated managers.



TQM Difficulties
Total Quality Management can be difficult to achieve. Before implementing a TQM
program a company must understand that
- This is not a phase. It is permanent
- If you fail, it can have long lasting damage to the employees morale
- It may take up to 5 years to fully become a TQM company.
- It requires full cooperation and commitment from all managers. This includes
from the owner to all line managers
- It is a culture change. The old ways of management disappear.
What are the barriers to implementing TQM?
- Lack of management commitment
- Company culture cannot change
- Plans are not well thought out.
- Poor measurement techniques
- Lack of teamwork.
- Focus on short term profits
- High employee turnover
- Lack of training. No one to lead the company through the process
- Management does not reward success
- Employees are fearful of losing their jobs.



Introduction of Automobile

According to the History of Automobile Industry US, dominated the automobile
markets around the globe with no notable competitors. However, after the end of the
Second World War in 1945, the Automobile Industry of other technologically advanced
nations such as Japan and certain European nations gained momentum and within a very
short period, beginning in the early 1980s, the U.S Automobile Industry was flooded with
foreign automobile companies, especially those of Japan and Germany.

The current trends of the Global Automobile Industry reveal that in the developed
countries the Automobile Industries are stagnating as a result of the drooping car markets,
whereas the Automobile Industry in the developing nations, such as, India and Brazil,
have been consistently registering higher growth rates every passing year for their
flourishing domestic automobile markets.



AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY

HISTORY

In the year 1769, a French engineer by the name of Nicolas J. Cugnot invented
the first automobile to run on roads. This automobile, in fact, was a self-powered, three-
wheeled, military tractor that made the use of a steam engine. The range of the
automobile, however, was very brief and at the most, it could only run at a stretch for
fifteen minutes. In addition, these automobiles were not fit for the roads as the steam
engines made them very heavy and large, and required ample starting time. Oliver Evans
was the first to design a steam engine driven automobile in the U.S.

A Scotsman, Robert Anderson, was the first to invent an electric carriage between 1832
and 1839. However, Thomas Davenport of the U.S.A. and Scotsman Robert Davidson
were amongst the first to invent more applicable automobiles, making use of non-
rechargeable electric batteries in 1842. Development of roads made travelling
comfortable and as a result, the short ranged, electric battery driven automobiles were no
more the best option for travelling over longer distances.

The Automobile Industry finally came of age with Henry Ford in 1914 for the bulk
production of cars. This lead to the development of the industry and it first begun in the
assembly lines of his car factory. The several methods adopted by Ford, made the new
invention (that is, the car) popular amongst the rich as well as the masses.

According the History of Automobile Industry US, dominated the automobile markets
around the globe with no notable competitors. However, after the end of the Second
World War in 1945, the Automobile Industry of other technologically advanced nations
such as Japan and certain European nations gained momentum and within a very short
period, beginning in the early 1980s, the U.S Automobile Industry was flooded with
foreign automobile companies, especially those of Japan and Germany.

The current trends of the Global Automobile Industry reveal that in the developed
countries the Automobile Industries are stagnating as a result of the drooping car markets,
whereas the Automobile Industry in the developing nations, such as, India and Brazil,
have been consistently registering higher growth rates every passing year for their
flourishing domestic automobile markets.

HISTORY OF AUTOMOBILE IN INDIA

An embryonic automotive industry emerged in India in the 1940s. Following the
independence, in 1953, the Government of India and the private sector launched efforts to
create an automotive component manufacturing industry to supply to the automobile
industry. However, the growth was relatively slow in the 1950s and 1960s due to
nationalization and the license raj which hampered the Indian private sector. After 1970,
the automotive industry started to grow, but the growth was mainly driven by tractors,
commercial vehicles and scooters. Cars were still a major luxury. Japanese manufacturers
entered the Indian market ultimately leading to the establishment of Maruti Udyog. A
number of foreign firms initiated joint ventures with Indian companies. In the 1980s, a
number of Japanese manufacturers launched joint-ventures for building motorcycles and
light commercial-vehicles. It was at this time that the Indian government chose Suzuki
for its joint-venture to manufacture small cars. Following the economic liberalizations in
1991 and the gradual weakening of the license raj, a number of Indian and multi-national
car companies launched operations. Since then, automotive component and automobile
manufacturing growth has accelerated to meet domestic and export demands.


The future of car manufacturing in India is bright. Sensing this, foreign car manufacturers
like Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Suzuki, Honda and Skoda are spreading their base in the
country. Domestic car manufacturers have also contributed to the growth of the
automobile industry in India. The popular car manufacturers in India are:

Fiat India Private Ltd: The Fiat India that belongs to the Fiat Auto Spa group of Italy
gives world-class cars to the country. This group has entered the motor vehicle sector
more than one hundred years ago and has earned fame not only in India, but also abroad.
Besides 'Uno', which is Europe's favorite car for the last two decades, the brands like
Palio, linea, punto and Adventure have also become famous.

Ford India Private Ltd: It was originally an American company. It entered the Indian
market in the year 1988 and launched Ford Escort. The Ford Ikon launched in 2001 was a
successful car in India. Other brands of Ford like Ford Fusion, Ford Fiesta, Ford Mondeo
and Ford Endeavour also gained popularity in India.

General Motors India: This global leader entered the Indian market as a joint venture
with the C.K. now it is a fully owned subsidiary of the Birla Group. This group has also
introduced cars like Chevrolet Optra and Chevrolet Tavera (MUV) in India.

Hindustan Motors: This flagship company of the C.K. Birla Group was established by
Mr. B.M. Birla. Some of the most popular brands of this car manufacturer are
Ambassador, Contessa and Mitsubishi Lancer. Other remarkable brands of this company
are Trekker, Porter and Pushpak.

Hyundai Motors: Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is not only the second largest
car manufacturer in India, but is also the fastest growing among the car manufacturers in
India. The popularity of Santro, Getz, Accent, Elantra, Sonata Embera and Tuscon is
proof of its success. The company is an ISO 14001.

Maruti Udyog: This is the first automobile company in the world to have an ISO
9000:2000 certificate. It has a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation. The popular
models of this group are Alto, Baleno, Swift, Wagon-R and Zen.


Tata Motors Limited: It is India's largest automobile company, the largest commercial
vehicle manufacturer, the second largest passenger car manufacturer in India and the fifth
largest medium and heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world. The popular
brands of the company are Tata Indica, Tata Indigo, Tata Sumo and Tata Safari.

Tata Nano: Recently Tata Motor launch india cheapst car Tata nano in One lakh rupees

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd: With a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corporation of
Japan, the Kirloskar Group of India holds 89% equity of the company. The most popular
brands of this group in India are Camry, Corolla, Prado and Innova.


Emerging India Auto market

India auto market is a promising industrial sector that is growing immensely every
passing year. Passenger cars are referred to, through use of word "automobile."
Whooping growth experienced by Indian auto market in last financial year itself, that is
financial year end in February, 2007, was very close to a 18 percent over previous fiscal.
This statistical fact is a glittering example of potential of growing auto industry in India.

As per survey conducted by Society of Indian Auto Manufacturers, total number of
automobiles manufactured by auto industry in India, throughout financial year 2006-07,
was very close to 15.5 lakh (1.5 million) margin. Huge of number of automobiles
manufactured by auto industry in India was an enormous growth upon number of autos
manufactured during previous fiscal, that ended in 2006.

Total number of cars that were exported from India were very close to 2.0 lakh (2.0
hundred thousand) margin, an encouraging sign for auto industry in India. Export of cars
manufactured in India comprised nearly 13 percent of total number of cars manufactured
domestically by auto industry in India.


India auto market looks set to prosper, largely due to growing market for automobiles
that is developing in India. In financial year that ended in February, 2004, Indian auto
markets were fastest growing in world, with registered growth rate touching nearly 20
percent.
Auto industry in India mainly comprises of small car section, which enjoys nearly a 2/3rd
market share of entire market for autos in India. In this respect, Indian markets are largest
in world for small cars, behind Japan. Indian passenger car market which ranks amongst
largest in world, is poised to become even more larger and enter top five passenger car
markets in world in next decade





























TQM implementation in the Indian automobile sector

Total Quality Management (TQM) approach has played an important role in the survival
and growth of many industries. Indian automobile sector has also adopted TQM path but
it is still a player of little consequence in the global auto market. One of the major reasons
for dismal performance of the Indian automobile sector can be attributed to the fact that it
has not been able to prioritize and focus on the key variables, which are instrumental in
enhancing TQM index. For the success of the Indian automobile sector, it is equally
important to understand the implications of key variables in two different market
scenarios and take policy decisions accordingly. TQM initiatives also fail due to lack of
understanding of the complex interactions among different TQM variables. To overcome
these limitations causal loop diagram has been developed to provide better insight
regarding interactions and policy experimentations using system dynamics methodology
has been used to prioritize the key variables in two different market scenarios. These
experimentations reveal that the main contributing variables to enhance TQM index are
leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, and human resource focus in
both the market scenarios. However, the contribution of each variable and the priority of
variables change in two different market scenarios.





Company Profile

As a joint venture between Kirloskar Group and Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Kirloskar Motor
Private Limited (TKM) aims to play a major role in the development of the automotive industry and
the creation of employment opportunities, not only through its dealer network, but also through
ancillary industries.

TKM's growth since inception can be attributed to one simple, yet important aspect of its business
philosophy - "Putting Customer First". While managing growth, TKM has maintained its
commitment to provide quality products at a reasonable price and has made every effort to meet
changes in customer needs.

TKM firmly believes that the success of this venture depends on providing high quality products and
services to all valued customers through the efforts of its team members.

TKM, along with its dedicated dealers and suppliers, has adopted the "Growing Together"
philosophy of its parent company TMC to create long-term business growth. In this way, TKM aims
to further contribute to progress in the Indian automotive industry, realize greater employment
opportunities for local citizens, improve the quality of life of the team members and promote robust
economic activity in India.

All Toyota employees are expected to embody these values in their daily work, including
environmental protection activities. To "respect" the environment, we go to the source to identify
and analyze problems, move forward to "challenge" conventional ideas and old habits, to improve
further ("kaizen") through "teamwork."
The framework provided by The Toyota Way enables our company to respond to, among other
things, the environmental challenges at various stages of the life-cycle of a vehicle. These include
greenhouse gas emissions, waste reduction, increased recycling and the banning of hazardous
substance use in parts and components. These challenges will have inevitable consequences for
Toyota's organization and employees, and we must balance them with our desire for future growth.
In 1992, the Toyota Guiding Principles were established in direct response to the international
initiatives agreed to at the Rio 'Earth Summit.' This summit focused on the potential for a clash
between trade and environmental rules, and resulted in a statement of principles about forest
management, conservation and sustainable development.
The Toyota Guiding Principles are a cornerstone of our corporate management philosophy. These
principles were updated in 1997, to ensure they continue to provide Toyota with a clear path towards
achieving sustainable development.



These principles have been explored and developed in Toyota's Global Vision 2010, adopted in
April 2002, which proposes a series of long-term policies on the theme of "Innovation into the
Future." Toyota's Global Vision 2010 guides management in its response to long-term social
changes, combining consideration for the environment, the benefit to our customers of value-added
products and the encouragement of our employees through shared prosperity and social involvement.
Based on the Guiding Principles, which codify Toyota's business spirit, the Toyota Earth Charter
(adopted in 1992 and revised in 1997) embodies a comprehensive approach to global environmental
issues. It outlines Toyota's basic policy and action guidelines towards effective environmental
management and improvements. The Toyota Earth Charter underlines a commitment to
environmental excellence, not only through broad principles, but in concrete examples of what can
be done through action guidelines. In connection with the Toyota Guiding Principles and the Toyota
Earth Charter, a European Environmental Policy was developed as a means of linking principles,
goals, targets and action.




TKM firmly believes that employees are the main source of strength for the organization. The
human resources management in Toyota seeks to create a corporate culture where values such as
"Continuous Improvement" and "Respect for People" are fully reflected in all actual corporate and
individual activities. The company takes maximum care to ensure stability of employment and
strives to improve working conditions.

To develop human resources and improve the technical skills of its employees, TKM's young team
members are regularly sent to Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan for training programs. More than 425
team members have benefited from such programs at various Toyota plants worldwide. TKM also
believes in continuously improving its products and practices. Every team member is encouraged to
give suggestions to improve the product, efficiency of processes or working conditions. They are
also appropriately rewarded for the same. Thus TKM seeks to progress by empowering its
employees.

Recognition

At TKM, we look to continuously improve not only our products but also our processes and service.
Our obsession with perfection has been recognized by various institutions such as JD Power and
TNS Automotive, as well as automotive publications like Overdrive, as the reason for the success of
Toyota products in India and across the globe.

Local Community Development

At TKM, every effort is made to contribute to society. A residential school at Bidadi, reconstructed
by Toyota, now houses 75 students, mainly belonging to backward communities. In the aftermath of
the tragic earthquake in Gujarat, TKM and its dealers played a major role in distributing food,
clothing and relief in remote affected area. TKM also takes a lead role in contributing to the
community, distributing books and bags in local school etc.


















Our Vision
The vision of Toyota Kirloskar Motor is to:
1. Delight our customers through innovative products, by utilising advanced
technologies and services.
2. Ensure growth to become a major player in the Indian auto industry and contribute
to the Indian economy by involving all stakeholders.
3. Become the most admired and respected company in India by following the
Toyota Way.
4. Be a core company in global Toyota operations.


Our Mission
1. Practice ethics and transparency in all our business operations.
2. Touch the heart of our customers by providing products and services of
superior quality at a competitive price.
3. Cultivate a lean and flexible business model throughout the value chain by
continuous improvement.
4. Lead the Toyota global operations for the emerging mass market.
5. Create a challenging workplace which promotes sense of pride, ownership,
mutual trust and teamwork.
6. Create an eco-friendly company in harmony with nature and society.







Toyota Legacy






Toyota Production System

Toyota realized that they could not follow the same manufacturing technique as American
manufacturing because of their relatively low space, resources, and demand. At the time the
American auto manufacturers used the traditional way such as to make a batch of certain
products. To do this they ordered enough parts to complete the batch, so they have to stock or
store the materials. So Ohno came up with a system that would better fit Japan's capabilities.
The whole system is based on the elimination of waste principle. Time, resources, and
materials were all areas where waste could be found according to Ohno. The following are
more specific areas that could be corrected to improve efficiency:
"overproduction - waste from producing more than is needed
time spent waiting - waste such as that associated with a worker being idle whilst
waiting for another worker to pass him an item he needs (e.g. such as may occur in a sequential
line production process)
transportation/movement - waste such as that associated with transporting/moving items
around a factory
processing time - waste such as that associated with spending more time than is
necessary processing an item on a machine
inventory - waste associated with keeping stocks
defects - waste associated with defective items" Ohno discovered two ways to reduce
waste, just-in-time and autonomation. The theory of just-in-time is the basic principle for the
majority of his manufacturing system. Stock is seen as unnecessary and a waste using this
method. Materials and resources are provided only when they are ready to be used in the
production system. Autonomation is technique that regulates the amount of human interaction
concerning inspections of parts or products. The goal is to limit the human involvement and
make the system as automated as possible. A device will be implemented into the system to
detect defects, and only when that device detects a defect is there a human inspection.
However, when a defect is detected the system stops and will not start again until the problem is
recognized and fixed.
Toyota used the kanban to control the flow of inputs and output in the production system.
Kanban is a Japanese word that basically means sign. This was a "rectangular piece of paper
within a transparent vinyl envelope," that gave instructions on what needed to be done. It gave
instructions such as things that needed to be withdrawn from the system, items that needed to be
produced, and amounts of materials need and when. There are two main types of kanban, the
production kanban and the conveyance kanban. The production kanban lets the workers know
that more of a certain part needs to be produced. The conveyance kanban lets them know that
parts need to be transported to another center. This type can also be called a move or
withdrawal kanban. The kanban is classified as a pull system in production, which means that
when parts are need they are pulled and sent to the location in need. The starting point for a pull
system is the customers and then it works it way backwards all the way to the original
resources. This differs from a push system in that a push system has a set schedule and all the
parts are moved when the schedule is complete. However the kanban did not allow or take into
account defects. So it an item was found to have a defect the end production quantity would not
be achieved. There are three key rules when using the kanban. First, no part can be
manufactured with authorization from the kanban. Second, each container has a production and
conveyance kanban. Third, all containers used are standard. The number and type of containers
used is determined by the management. In America this is generally referred to as kitting and
has basically the same concepts, limitations, and rule. Limiting setup time is also a key factor in
the Toyota Production System. Since setup time is also down time which means the production
line has stopped and employees are getting paid for waiting. To decrease setup time the
machines were reengineered so that optimal setup time could be achieved thus saving money.
American Automotive Industries


















A design Project









Toyota Awards


Business Standard Motoring : Import Car
Of The Year Award - Camry 2007

BBC-Top Gear: Car Design Of The Year -
Camry 2007

CNBC-TV18 Autocar: Best Design and
Styling- Camry 2007

BBC-Top Gear : Best Design Of The Year
- Camry 2006

Business Standard Motoring: MPV Of The
Year - Innova 2006

NDTV - Car Awards: Best MPV Of The
Year Toyota Innova 2006

Overdrive: UV Of The Year For Innova
2006

Auto Monitor -CSR Initiative Of The Year
2006

CNBC Autocar Awards: Technologically
Advanced Car - Land Cruiser Prado 2005

Business Standard Motoring : Best
Executive Car 2004 & 2005 (Corolla) Best
MUV 2005 (Innova)

TNS Award Total Customer Satisfaction
Study: Best Executive Car 2004 & 2005
(Corolla) Best MUV 2005 (Innova)

Business Standard Motoring: Best
Executive Car 2004 & 2005 (Corolla) Best
MUV 2005 (Innova)

TNS Award Total Customer Satisfaction
Study : Qualis, Corolla & Camry 2004

Business Standard Motoring: Best Import
Car Of The Year Land Cruiser Prado
2004

JD Power Asia Pacific: IQS Study
Corolla 2004

JD Power APEAL: Corolla 2004

JD Power Initial Quality Survey: Qualis
2003

Business Standard Motoring : Best Import
Car Of The Year Camry 2003

NFO Automotive: Highest Resale Value
Car Qualis 2003













Sales report of Toyota Kriloskar India ltd


Q1) When was Total quality management implemented in your company?
As you know that we were the first one to implement this system in our company
in Japan, so we brought this method to India while launching ourselves in India. As you
have studied that TQM is a continuous process of improving the quality and customer
satisfaction. Looking at the Indian scenario TQM helps an organization to create a
continuous improvement in quality ant its performance.

Q2) What are the certificates that are there to judge the quality? Which of them
have the organization received?
Technical Specification (TS) 16949 outlines the specific requirements for the
application of ISO 9001:2000 to automotive production and relevant service part
organizations. It contains recommended automotive industry practices and examples. ISO
9001:2000 specifies requirements for a quality management system that can be used for
internal application by organizations, or for certification, or for contractual purposes.
Both standards use the "process" approach, referring to the application of a system of
processes (numerous linked activities) that allows the transformation of inputs into
outputs, such as in the manufacture of cars and related parts.
We have achieved ISO 9001:2000 as well as QS 9000 that is the quality assurance
certificate.

Q3) How do you compete with your competitors?
As being a reputed company in the market, so we dont face any competition with
respect to our quality and customer service. As in itself the brand name reveals about the
quality and standard of the product that the company is selling to the customer.


Questionnaire

Q4) What according to you the changes you want in the organization structure?
A closer look at the mean of quality management practices that have scored
throughout the principles will help to reveal the current level of involvement in TQM. By
analyzing the results, it is expected to give a rough idea on the area lacking in
implementation and the potential weaknesses among the needed to be acted upon success
factors is presented. In doing so, it will be able to identify common setback that the
company faces in adopting TQM.


Q5) What measures do you take for continuous improvement and can you explain?
For continuous improvement of the quality we use kaizen and kanban in our
organization as well as JIT in our manufacturing unit.

Kaizen means gradual and orderly continuous improvement. The Kaizen Business
strategy involves everyone in an organization working together to make improvements
without large capital investments.

JIT is a concept based on the fact that the activity should not take place until is a need for it.
Hence the inventory item should not be brought into the system until it is required for making
the final product. It is characterized by maintaining zero inventories of raw materials and
assemblies to the assembly plant. For this, the JIT system involves close coordination between
the buyers and the suppliers.









06) How the quality assurance system consistent from development through
production?

At our company, we aim to "provide appealing products and become a global
system supplier that will truly impress our customers." With regard to quality assurance,
we operate under the consistent quality assurance system from development to
production under our quality policy. Specifically, all our plants have obtained ISO9001
and ISO/TS16949 certification which is the international standard of quality management
system. Also each plant has its own quality control goals to produce appealing products
through TQM*2 activities.

Q7) Expanding all manufacturing operation to office how does employees aims in
production process quality control

All employees at our company act based on the principle of "Customer Comes
First" and we aim to perfect quality assured production processes for all our operations.
Production process quality control means that "quality is built in during the production
process", and is the idea on which all our work is based. Working from the idea of "No
defects shall be tolerated in any production process to ensure that there will be no defects
in post-production (i.e., in the product given to customers)" in manufacturing, we have as
our goal a robust design to prevent against environmental changes and manufacturing
scattering, are promoting the expansion of quality engineering throughout our entire
company, and are of course aiming for a zero defect production process for our mass
produced goods as well as a defect-free production process from the very first day of
production for a new product. Furthermore, we are expanding production process quality
control ideas and know-how that have taken root at the assembly line (Manufacturing
Division) expanding to the work of the back offices (Administrative and Technical
Divisions) and are tackling operations reform throughout the entire company so that they
all can make judgments on site about work quality.






Q8) How sales activities responsive to customer needs

The role of the Sales Division stands at the front lines of our company. They
listen to needs and development information from key members in technology and
improvement, and connects those needs with sales promotion. While cultivating an
amicable relationship with customers, we have collected and analyzed diverse
information such as necessary matters and problems essential to customers. While
sharing that content with relevant internal departments, we respond to the diverse needs
from customers and make unique proposals to build a relationship of trust with those
customers.




























A quality vehicle inspection form





Research Design

Companies actually compete on three major issues; Quality, Price and Delivery. If
the choice is to compete in the market place on the basis of product or service price, then
the level of competition is clearly defined; the low-cost provider wins. However,
companies choosing the low cost approach may find themselves losing premium business
to competitors while retaining the low-margin business in the long term. In fact, they are
also vulnerable to any competitor who can offer value at a lower price.This is why many
companies have become aware of the need to make quality is the competitive marketing
strategy in a global market. Large companies for instance, have started to implement total
quality initiative in their products and services. The increasing acceptance of Total
Quality Management (TQM) as a philosophy of management and a way of company life
has taken place for almost three decades.
Many companies understand that TQM is necessary for them to remain
competitive, retaining their market share and to be able to respond to changing
competitive demand in today business world. Based on some studies , not all companies
are able to implement TQM successfully. This is because it requires a different
implementation approach to cater for the varying needs of the industries in order for
effective implementation. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), for example,
have been slow in adopting TQM when compared to large companies. Their involvement
has focused primarily on ISO 9000 certification, and very few had advanced beyond that.

















Axles India Limited
Axles India is promoted by Wheels India and Sundaram Finance, with technical support
and equity participation from Dana Corporation, USA. Incorporated in 1982, the
company provides axles for the entire range of medium and heavy commercial vehicles,
including Pressed Axle Housings, Drive Axle Housings, Trailer Axle Beams, Hub
Reduction Axle Housings and Drive Heads. The company has a manufacturing capacity
of 180,000 Pressed Axle Housings annually.
www.axlesindia.com
Brakes
India Limited
Brakes India was founded in 1962 as a joint venture between TV Sundram Iyengar &
Sons and Lucas Industries, UK. The company manufactures braking equipment for
automotive and non-automotive applications. Besides exporting products to 35 countries
worldwide, Brakes India caters to over 60% of the domestic OEM market. Some of its
manufacturing sites have been assessed at ISO 14001, ISO 9002, TS 16949 and QS 9000.
The foundry division has received the prestigious Deming prize and award for TPM
excellence. Sales turnover for the year 2004-05 was Rs 9,720 million (US$ 221 million).
www.brakesindia.com Delphi-TVS Diesel Systems
Limited
Delphi-TVS is a joint venture between Delphi Corporation, USA and T.V. Sundaram
Iyengar & Sons, India. The company manufactures Diesel Fuel Injection Equipment for
Cars, Sports Utility and Multi Utility Vehicles, Light Commercial Vehicles, Tractors,
Single & Two Cylinder engines. Delphi-TVS believe that its success is based on the solid
foundation of customer satisfaction, continuous innovation and total employee
involvement. The company has a track record of sustained growth since it was set up.
Delphi-TVS have obtained ISO/TS 16949 and ISO 14000 certifications. The company
has now won the JIPM TPM Excellence Award (first category). To meet increasingly
stringent emission norms, Delphi-TVS has upgraded its technology and introduced new
products. Mechanical Rotary Technology has been upgraded to Electronic Rotary
Technology and Delphi-TVS and has now introduced the
state-of-the art-Common Rail Technology with full authority electronic controls.
www.delphitvs.com Harita TVS Technologies
Limited
Formed in 2001, Harita TVS provides Engineering Design Services to customers across
US, Europe and India. With core competencies in Automotive, Industrial Machinery and
Energy & Networking, it has become a preferred partner to many OEM and Tier-1
customers. The company offers end-to-end solutions for next generation products with its
Mechanical Design Services (MDS) & Electronic Design Services (EDS). With a service
portfolio covering the entire spectrum of a typical NPI (New Product Development)
process, backed by strong engineering background of the TVS Group, Harita TVS has
helped its customers reach their strategic business goals by reducing time-to-market and
cutting costs. It provides project based solutions or full-product solutions based on
customer requirements. It has developed domain competency in Plastic, Sheet-metal and
Casting technologies and has been able to apply its product design knowledge to provide
value added services to customers across different verticals.

Harita TVS is ISO 9001:2000 certified and has implemented ISO 27001. An excellent
Customer Engagement Model & Delivery System driven by Six-Sigma processes has
helped Harita TVS maintain an impeccable track record of excellent and on-time
delivery. A highly competent & creative talent, managed by PCMM, helps keep pace
with the growing needs of customers across different geographies in varied markets.

Apart from the state-of-the-art Engineering Center at Bangalore (India), Harita TVS also
has presence in Michigan (USA), Frankfurt (Germany), Chennai (India).
www.haritatvs.com
India
Japan Lighting Private Limited
India Japan Lighting Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated in December 1996. It is a 50:50 joint
venture between Lucas-TVS Limited, Chennai, and Koito Manufacturing Company
Limited, Japan. The company manufactures headlamps, rear combination lamps and
various other signal lamps for automotive applications. The headlamps and rear
combination lamps are aerodynamically styled and represent the state-of-the-art
technology. The Company has introduced state-of-the-art clear plastic lens, multi-focal
reflector headlamps with auto leveling mechanism and clear lens rear combination lamps.
All products of IJL are designed to meet international levels of quality. IJL has all the
infrastructure & facilities required for in-house lamp design & manufacturing. The
company has a capacity of manufacturing over 2.0 million
lamps per annum. IJL is a ISO/TS 16949 & ISO - 14001 company. IJL sales turnover
for the year 200506 was Rs. 1000 Million. (USD 23 Million).
India
Motor Parts and Accessories Limited
India Motor Parts and Accessories Limited (IMPAL) was incorporated in 1954 to
distribute automobile spare parts, accessories and garage equipment manufactured by
General Motors, USA. Today, the company has a multi-business portfolio that includes
the distribution of indigenously manufactured components. It markets automobile
components manufactured by the TVS Group, as well as other leading automobile
ancillary manufacturers. IMPALs turnover in 2004-05 was Rs 2,130 million (US$ 48
million). India Nippon Electricals Limited
India Nippon Electricals limited was established in 1985 as a JV between Lucas Indian
Service and Kokusan Denki Co. Limited, Japan. The company manufactures Electronic
Ignition systems for two wheelers, three Wheelers and portable Gensets. Products for the
future are designed and developed at its well equipped R&D Centre. The company has
been accredited with ISO 14001 and is in the process of being assessed for TS16949 .
Sales turnover for the year 2004-05 was Rs 1507 million.
www.indianippon.com Top Irizar TVS Limited
Irizar TVS Limited is a joint venture between three equal partners, T V Sundram Iyengar
& Sons Limited, Ashok Leyland Limited and Irizar S.Coop. of Spain. Incorporated in
2001, this company builds bus bodies for domestic and overseas customers and fabricates
bus body kits. With technology from Irizar S.Coop., Spain, Irizar TVS has launched the
Intercentury bus in the super luxury segment. The body design, features and quality all
meet exacting European standards. Sales turnover for 2004-05 was Rs.210 million (US$
4.8 million). Lucas Indian Service Limited
Lucas Indian Service Limited (LIS) was established in 1930 and is a sales and service
company for auto electrical and fuel injection equipment. LIS is a fully owned subsidiary
of Lucas-TVS Limited and markets auto components for the replacement market. Its
preventive service product, Lucas Care, is designed to deliver a problem-free driving
experience. LIS has a country-wide network of 2000 authorised sales and service dealers.
Its manufacturing facility at Chennai makes ignition coils and switches. Turnover for
2004-05 was Rs 1,350 million (US$ 31 million). Lucas-
TVS Limited
Lucas-TVS was established in 1961 as a joint venture between Lucas, UK and
T V Sundram Iyengar & Sons, to manufacture automotive electrical systems. Today, the
company is a leader in the auto electrical field 3 out of 4 vehicles in India are fitted
with Lucas-TVS products. The company addresses segments across the auto industry,
like passenger cars, jeeps, utility vehicles, light commercial vehicles, medium and heavy
commercial vehicles, off-highway vehicles, industrial engines, earth movers, tractors and
two / three wheelers. It also provides solutions for stationary and marine applications.
Lucas-TVS is a TS 16949 and ISO 14001 certified company and has bagged the Deming
application prize (2004) from the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).
Turnover in 2004-05 was Rs 6,300 million (US$145 million).
www.lucas-tvs.com Southern Roadways Limited
Southern Roadways was founded in 1946 as a road transport and parcel service company.
Today, it runs a parcel service with a fleet of more than 300 trucks and covers 60,000
kms a day through Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry.

Sundaram Brake Linings Limited
Established in 1974, Sundaram Brake Linings (SBL) is a pioneer in the manufacture of
asbestos-free friction material in India. Distinguished by its focus on cutting-edge
technology, the company has a strong presence in the Indian OEM and aftermarket and
exports to over 60 countries. SBL is a ISO / TS 16949 and ISO 14001 certified company.
It is the first friction material manufacturer in the world to win the coveted Deming
Application Prize for Total Quality Management. SBL is successfully positioned to meet
the growing need for friction materials for the automotive industry. Sales turnover for
2004-05 was Rs 1,408 million (US$ 32 million).
www.tvsbrakelinings.com Top Sundaram-Clayton
Limited
Sundaram-Clayton Limited (SCL) is a pioneering manufacturer of air brake systems. The
market leader in this space, the company exports quality spare parts to over 15 countries.
The SCL-Brakes division is the first Indian company to manufacture the next generation
Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) and Anti-Spin Regulation (ASR), both of which have
been developed with in-house design technology. It is also the first company in India and
the fourth company outside Japan, to win the prestigious Deming Award. The companys
Die-casting division has evolved from being a captive supplier to a full-service supplier
of aluminium components to Indian and multinational companies. Both divisions
Brakes and Die-casting have QS 9000 and ISO 14001 certifications. SCLs turnover for
2004-05 was Rs.5,360 million (US$ 122 million).
www.sundaram-clayton.com Sundram Fasteners
Limited
Incorporated in1966, Sundram Fasteners Limited (SFL) is the largest manufacturer and
exporter of high tensile fasteners in India. SFLs product range includes high tensile
fasteners, powder metal parts, cold extruded parts, iron powder, radiator caps, gear
shifters and automotive pumps / assemblies. Principal supplier of radiator caps to General
Motors, USA, SFL has won the prestigious Supplier of the Year award from GM for
five consecutive years. The automotive pumps and assemblies division is the principal
supplier of rocker-level assemblies to
Cummins, USA for ISX and ISM platforms. With facilities in Chennai, Madurai,
Pondicherry, Hosur, Hyderabad and China, SFL was the first Indian company to get ISO
9000 certification. Today, all its divisions are ISO / TS 16949 and ISO 14001 certified.
Turnover for 2004-05 was Rs 10,370 million (US$ 235 million).
www.sundram.com Incorporated in 1943, Sundaram Industries Limited (SIL)
is a leading manufacturer of rubber products for automotive and industrial applications. It
has also consolidated its edge in the field of tyre retreading.
Rubber
division
TVS Rubber, the rubber division of SIL, manufactures moulded rubber products for
vehicle manufacturers, system manufacturers and other industries, including defence,
electrical, electronic, mining, thermal and white goods. TVS Rubber also serves the OEM
and aftermarket in USA, Europe and other countries, on a JIT basis. It has a technical tie
up with Bridgestone, Japan for the manufacture of Anti Vibration Mountings. It has
achieved ISO / TS 16949: 2002 certification and received the TPM Excellence Award
from JIPM, Japan in 2004.
www.tvsrubber.com Tyre solution division
Since its foray into retreading in 1943, SIL has been the market leader with a complete
spectrum of tyre care solutions. It has acquired unique technology to recycle rubber waste
from Levgum, Israel. The company has won awards for the best retreads from the
International Tire And Rubber Association, USA. Top
Sundaram Textiles Limited
Sundaram Textiles was formed in 1960 to manufacture 100% cotton and synthetic yarn.
It has two units: one in Tirunelveli District and another in Madurai. These units have
47000 spindles and 720 rotors. Currently, the company exports more than 50% of its
production to countries in Europe, Middle East, Far East and South Asia.
www.sundaramtextiles.com Turbo Energy Limited
Incorporated in 1982, Turbo Energy Limited (TEL) is a technical and financial joint
venture between KKK Germany, (presently BorgWarner Turbo SystemsBWTS), Brakes
India Limited and Sundaram Finance Limited. TEL manufactures turbochargers for
internal combustion engines. Its state-of-the art manufacturing facility has the capacity to
manufacture, test and assemble 350,000 turbochargers per annum. TEL is a QS 9000
certified company and is under certification for TS 16949 : 2002. The companys
exclusive R&D centre at Chennai has been recognised by the Department of Science and
Technology, Govt. of India since 1985.
www.turboenergy.co.in TVS Automotive Europe
Limited
TVS Automotive Europe Limited is a joint venture between TV Sundram Iyengar & Sons
Limited and John Bruce UK Limited. The company is a single source for high quality
automobile / engineering products for its OE / Tier 1 and 2 customers in UK and Europe.
Products are sourced from QS / ISO certified suppliers located in India, China, Taiwan
and Thailand. TVS Automotive Europe caters to the complete Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO) needs of its customers by providing services like supplier
identification, supplier audit, quality documentation and tailor-made logistics solutions. A
true end-to-end solutions provider, it has a marketing office in UK and ISO 9001:2000
certified sourcing and back offices in India. Apart from offering components across
categories, the company also provides value added services, logistics support and
warehouse facilities to its customers.
TVS Auto
Parts Private Limited
TVS Auto Parts is a 65:35 joint venture between TVS Lanka and Worldwide Trade
Agencies of Sri Lanka. The company distributes spare parts across the island nation and
is also an indentor of parts for Indian made vehicles operating in Sri Lanka.
ZF Electronics TVS (India) Private Limited
ZF Electronics TVS (India) Private Limited (Formerly TVS Cherry Private Limited) is a
joint venture between TVS Group, India and ZF Electronics Corporation, USA (a group
company of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Germany) to manufacture precision snap action
switches, sensors and electromechanical assemblies in India. ZF Electronics TVS
manufacturing facility located at Madurai is ISO 9001:2000 / ISO/TS 16949:2002
certified and is a UL approved site. ZF Electronics TVS manufactures Precision Snap
Action / Rocker Switches, Sensors and Reed Relays to cater to automotive, consumer and
Industrial markets. ZF Electronics TVS also markets advance performance keyboards and
key modules manufactured by ZF Electronics GmbH, Germany. ZF Electronics TVS
offers its customers quality products and renders application design support. Switches
manufactured by ZF Electronics TVS are used in various applications of following
segments Consumer durables Automotive Computer products Industrial equipments
Telecom equipments
www.zftvs.com Top
TVS CJ
Components Limited
TVS CJ Components sources high quality automobile / engineering products from TS /
QS / ISO certified suppliers located in India, Turkey and Italy for OE / Tier 1 and 2
customers in UK. It has a marketing office in UK and ISO 9001:2000 certified sourcing
and back office operations in India. Customers include leading companies like CNH,
Cummins, Perkins and Delphi. TVS Electronics
Limited
TVS Electronics Limited (TVS-E) is a leading player in the information and
communication technology market. Its mission is Taking IT to the Heart of India. TVS-
E is organized into two business groups:

Transaction automation products and solutions
TVS-E leads the Indian dot matrix printer and mechanical keyboard markets, (40% and
52% share respectively). This group also provides multi-platform solutions for front-end
transaction processing to industries like retail, telecom, e- Governance and financial
services.

Electronic manufacturing services
This group offers a wide spectrum of services to global customers, including product
engineering and development, sourcing, contract manufacturing and customer support.
With over 15 years of experience and a 350 strong supplier network, this division is
focused on best practices in Total Quality Management, Business Planning and Human
Resources Management. Turnover for 2004-05 was Rs 3,141 million (US$ 71.4 million).
www.tvs-e.in TVS Interconnect Systems Limited
TVS Interconnect Systems Limited commenced operations in 2000 and offers optimised
solutions to the telecommunications and enterprise networking industries. Supported by a
manufacturing base at Madurai, the company has four broad divisions: wireless solutions,
carrier solutions, enterprise solutions and project management services. TVS Interconnect
combines best-in-class solutions and products from a wide variety of globally acclaimed
partners. It is widely recognized as a reliable partner for the delivery and implementation
of future-proof solutions in the digital infrastructure space.
www.tvsics.com Top
TVS
Lanka Private Limited
TVS Lanka Private Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between TVS & Sons and United
Motors Lanka Limited. Based in Colombo, TVS Lanka is the authorised distributor and
dealer for the TVS range of two wheelers and has grown to become the second highest
seller of two wheelers in Sri Lanka. It is supported by a network of approximately 500
dealers for sales, service and parts. TVS Logistics
Iberia S.L.
TVS Logistics Iberia (TVS LI) is a 51:49 joint venture between TVS Automotive Europe
and Transcoma Group of Spain. The company sources high quality automobile /
engineering products from TS / QS / ISO certified suppliers in India, China, Taiwan and
Thailand for OE / Tier 1 and 2 customers in Spain. With a marketing office in Barcelona,
it provides complete BPO solutions through services like supplier
identification, audit, sample and PPAP inspection, quality documentation, tailor-made
logistics solutions, engineering support and vendor management.
www.tvsiberia.com TVS Logistics Services Limited
TVS Logistics Services Limited provides comprehensive logistics solutions to the
automotive industry. These include inbound logistics, outbound logistics, warehousing
and value added services like line feeding, high sub-assemblies and SCM consultation.
The companys expanding customer base includes OEMs and Tier 1 and 2 companies
like Ashok Leyland, Atlas Capco, Bharat Forge, Brakes India, Delphi, Ford, General
Motors, JCB, John Deere, L&T, Lucas-TVS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Pricol, Roots, Royal
Enfield, Sundaram Clayton, Sundram Fasteners, Sundaram Industries, Tata Motors, TVS
Motor, Visteon and Wheels India.
www.tvslogisticsservices.com
TVS
Logistics SIAM Limited
TVS Logistics Siam Limited is a joint venture between Thai Martin Trading Company
Limited, Thailand, Tyvin International Company Limited, Thailand and TVS. TVS
brings to the table its rich domain expertise in supply chain management and will extend
and apply this to the Thai auto industry. The companys customer base includes Aapico
Amata, Aapico Hitech, Chardchai Industrial and Anglo Asia.
TVS Motor Company Limited
TVS Motor Company Limited is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in India
and amongst the top ten in the world. From being the first to introduce a two-seater
moped in India (TVS 50 in 1980), to being the first two-wheeler company in the world to
receive the coveted Deming Prize for Total Quality Management, TVS Motor has
consistently set benchmarks for the industry.

The companys leadership edge is continually consolidated through pioneering R&D and
innovative engineering practices. The company is ISO 9000, QS 9000 and TS 16949
certified and has also received the TPM Excellence award. TVS Motor serves its 10
million strong and growing customer base through a vast network of over 500 dealers and
2500 customer touch points. It has sold over a million two wheelers. The company has,
for the last 4 years, continuously bagged the Export Excellence Award.
Turnover in 2004-05 was Rs 29,550 million (US$ 672 million).
www.tvsmotor.co.in Top TVS Sewing Needles Limited
TVS Sewing Needles Limited was established in 1962 as a joint venture with The Singer
Company, USA. The companys initial product range comprised just two types of needles
manufactured with milled groove technology. Today, it has a licensed production
capacity of 100 million needles of 45 different types (household and industrial grade),
which are manufactured with die-press eye rounding technology.
It is also a major exporter to UK and Japan.
www.tvsneedle.co.in TVS Srichakra Limited
TVS Srichakra Limited is the largest auto ancillary group in India. The company is a
leading manufacturer of automotive tyres and Indias premier two-wheeler tyre
manufacturer (7million tyres annually). It serves its loyal customer base through a 2050
strong dealer base and 20 warehouses in India. The company also exports to USA,
Europe, Africa, South America and South East Asia. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified,
TVS Srichakra has a robust R&D, testing and manufacturing infrastructure. Its portfolio
includes industrial pneumatic tyres, farm and implement tyres, skid steer tyres,
multipurpose tyres and vintage tyres. The company has won the TPM Excellence award
and has adopted Six-Sigma and Lean Manufacturing techniques. Turnover in 2004-05
was Rs 2,027 million (US$ 46 million).
www.tvstyres.com TV Sundram Iyengar & Sons
Limited
T V Sundram Iyengar & Sons Limited, established in 1911, is the parent company of the
TVS Group and a leading Indian automobile distribution company. It operates through
three divisions TVS, Sundaram Motors and Madras Auto Service.

The company distributes commercial vehicles, utility / sports utility vehicles and
passenger cars. It represents leading automotive companies like Ashok Leyland, Daimler
Chrysler, General Motors, Honda and Mahindra & Mahindra. The company has more
than 100 outlets that sell over 30,000 vehicles and service more than 300,000 vehicles
annually. TVS & Sons is also the largest distributor of automobile
spare parts in the country, handling more than 80 suppliers and 35,000 part numbers.

TVS & Sons handles sales and service of garage equipment and markets products for
special applications like construction and material handling equipment, man-lifts and air-
compressors. Its unique own & operate scheme provides forklift trucks with trained
operators for material handling.

Under the brand name MyTVS, the company provides customer-centric car services
across the carownership lifecycle. MyTVS handles buying and selling of pre-owned cars
and offers services that include regular maintenance, 24x7 emergency services and
collision repair services.
www.tvsiyengar.com Wheels India Limited
Wheels India Limited was established in the early 60s, as a joint venture between TVS
and Dunlop UK. It is a leading manufacturer of automotive wheels and supplies to all
major vehicle manufacturers in the country. The company has a collaboration with Titan,
the world leader in off-highway vehicle wheels. It produces wheels for all vehicle
categories including passenger cars, utility vehicles, trucks, buses, agricultural tractors
and construction equipment. More than 15% of its production is exported to North
America, Europe, Asia Pacific and South Africa. Cutting-edge product development and
process design allows the company to address high-volume markets, niche segments and
customer-specific requirements. The company has manufacturing facilities at Padi, Pune
and Rampur with a combined annual capacity of seven million wheels. With a workforce
of 1585 people, turnover for 2004-05 was
Rs 7,790 million (US$ 177 million).
www.wheelsindia.com



unwavering commitment to quality.

Most group companies have adopted Total Quality Management as a
way of life. Robust processes and stringent controls underlie every activity,
delivering tangible benefits to all stakeholders from customer to employee.
While each company in the group has achieved significant milestones on
its quality path, five companies have won the coveted Deming Award
instituted by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers.

Regardless of the field they work in, TVS
companies are known for their
unwavering commitment to quality.

Most group companies have adopted Total Quality Management as a
way of life. Robust processes and stringent controls underlie every activity,
delivering tangible benefits to all stakeholders from customer to employee.
While each company in the group has achieved significant milestones on
its quality path, five companies have won the coveted Deming Award
instituted by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers.


The Toyotas Groups reputation for honest and reliable business conduct is one
of its greatest assets. Built by many people over many years, the group has
a strong legacy of accountability, integrity and transparency. Its commitment
to competitive excellence is combined with total, uncompromising integrity.

Responsibility towards society and the environment has always been a strong
force at the TVS Group. This is manifested in the form of diverse community
partnerships. From schools and hospitals to initiatives for drinking water and
electrification, companies contribute actively to the development of the
society in which their people live and work.

The people that make up the TVS Group work in an
environment of
shared ideas, efforts and responsibilities. The groups history, marked by
long-standing relationships, is testimony to the fact that people have
found careers with it and not just jobs. Recognized for its excellent human
resource practices, the group addresses each individuals need to grow
professionally and personally. Strong emphasis on employee welfare and
systems for continuous training have allowed different businesses to attract,
retain and develop outstanding talent.


Conclusion

In todays globalize economy, competition is becoming ever more intense. Many
companies are trying very hard not only to satisfy their customers needs but where
possible exceed them. This can only be achieved through cost reduction, improvement in
product performance, increased customer satisfaction and a constant effort towards world
class organizations. In order for companies to survive and grow in the future, it is
essential that they deliver high quality goods and services. Those that can deliver quality
are the ones that will prosper in the next century

Annexture
Technology moves on - what about ISO standards?
ISO standards represent, by an international consensus among experts in the technology
concerned, the state of the art. To ensure that ISO standards retain this lead, they are
reviewed at least every five years after their publication. The technical experts then
decide whether the standard is still valid, or whether it should be withdrawn or updated.
In some fields, the pace of development is such that when an ISO standard is published,
the experts who developed it are already thinking about the next version!
Does ISO have standards for everything?
Not quite! Scroll through the list of our technical committees on this site to get an idea of
the huge range of technologies, industries and business sectors for which ISO develops
standards.
ISO's work programme ranges from standards for traditional activities, such as
agriculture and construction, through mechanical engineering to the newest information
and communications technology (ICT) developments, such as the digital coding of audio-
visual signals for multimedia applications. We collaborate on ICT with our partners, IEC
(International Electrotechnical Commission) and ITU (International Telecommunication
Union), which are specialized in the domains indicated by their names.
What are ISO's `new deliverables'?
ISO standards are developed according to strict rules to ensure that they are transparent
and fair. The reverse side of the coin is that it can take time to develop consensus among
the interested parties, and for the resulting agreement to go through the public review
process in the ISO member countries. For some users of standards, particularly those
working in fast-changing technology sectors, it may be more important to agree and
publish a technical specification quickly, before going through the various checks and
balances needed to win the status of a full International Standard. Therefore, to meet such
needs, ISO has developed a new range of "deliverables", or different categories of
specifications, allowing publication at an intermediate stage of development before full
consensus.
What other products does ISO offer?
In addition to International Standards and the "new deliverables" (see previous question),
ISO develops guideline documents, manuals for developing countries, standards
compendia and handbooks and a whole range of standards-related publications. Listings
of these can be found in the ISO Catalogue. We also publish two magazines: the monthly
ISO Focus+ which presents an overview of ISO's activities, and the bimonthly ISO
Management Systems.
How does ISO decide what standards to develop?
Working through the ISO community, it is the people who need the standards that decide.
What happens is that the need for a standard is felt by an industry or business sector,
which communicates the requirement to one of ISO's national members. The latter then
proposes the new work item to ISO as a whole. If accepted, the work item is assigned to
an existing technical committee. Proposals may also be made to set up technical
committees to cover new scopes of technological activity. In order to use resources most
efficiently, ISO only launches the development of new standards for which there is
clearly a market requirement.
Who actually develops ISO standards?
ISO standards are developed by technical committees comprising experts on loan from
the industrial, technical and business sectors which have asked for the standards, and
which subsequently put them to use. These experts may be joined by others with relevant
knowledge, such as representatives of government agencies, testing laboratories,
consumer associations, environmentalists, and so on. It is estimated that, every year,
some 30 000 such experts participate in the development of ISO standards. The experts
participate as national delegations, chosen by the ISO member for the country concerned
to represent not just the views of the organizations in which the experts work, but a full
national consensus on the issues involved.
How are ISO standards developed?
The national delegations of experts of a technical committee meet to discuss, debate and
argue until they reach consensus on a draft agreement. This is then circulated to ISO's
membership as a whole for comment and balloting. Many members have public review
procedures for making draft standards known and available to interested parties and to
the general public. The ISO members then take account of any feedback they receive in
formulating their position on the draft standard. Finally, if the voting is in favour, the
document is published as an International Standard. Every working day of the year, some
15 ISO meetings are taking place somewhere in the world. In between meetings, the
experts continue the standards' development work by correspondence. Increasingly, their
contacts are made by electronic means and some ISO technical bodies have already gone
over entirely to electronic working, which speeds up the development of standards and
reduces travel costs.
What should I do if I want to take part in the development of a
standard?
The business sectors most interested in implementing the eventual standards are the ones
who provide experts to develop the standards. Your own interest may be such that you
would like to provide input, or even participate in the work. In fact, there are channels
and opportunities for you to have a say in the development of future ISO standards
through the ISO members for your country.
Who chooses the experts that participate in the standards'
developing committees?
The national delegations that make up ISO technical committees are chosen by the
national standards institute of that country, which is an ISO members. According to ISO
rules, the standards institute is expected to take account of the views of the range of
parties interested in the standard under development and to present a consolidated,
national consensus position to the technical committee's work.
Why aren't ISO standards free?
ISO standards cost money to develop, publish and distribute. Someone has to pay. The
current system whereby users are requested to pay for the standards they use, not only
sustains the development process but also, very importantly, ensures that the balance of
independent vs. government, private vs. public interests can be maintained.
Are ISO standards mandatory?
ISO standards are voluntary. ISO is a non-governmental organization and it has no power
to enforce the implementation of the standards it develops. A number of ISO standards -
mainly those concerned with health, safety or the environment - have been adopted in
some countries as part of their regulatory framework, or are referred to in legislation for
which they serve as the technical basis. However, such adoptions are sovereign decisions
by the regulatory authorities or governments of the countries concerned. ISO itself does
not regulate or legislate. Although voluntary, ISO standards may become a market
requirement, as has happened in the case of ISO 9000 quality management systems, or
ISO freight container dimensions.
What is ISO 9000?
ISO 9000 is a generic name given to a family of standards developed to provide a
framework around which a quality management system can effectively be implemented.
ISO 9001:2000, the requirement standard, includes the following main sections:
1. Quality Management System
2. Management Responsibility
3. Resource Management
4. Product Realization
5. Measurement Analysis and Improvement
What does it mean to me?
To gain the maximum benefit from ISO 9000:2000 there are a number of steps to take:
1. Define why your organization is in business.
2. Determine the key processes that state 'what' you do.
3. Establish how these processes work within your business.
4. Determine who owns these processes.
5. Agree these processes throughout the organization.