1 What is Quality?

The term ‘quality’ is perceived differently by different people. “Quality is the totality of
features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy
stated or implied needs”

Quality certification is becoming a critical component for both manufacturing and service
organizations competing in world markets. As explained by Rao, Ragu-Nathan and
Solis (1997:335), the reasons why companies are looking for quality certification range
from maintaining their position with other companies in their markets that are already
certified to getting a step ahead of their competitors.

2 ISO 9000

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is a non- governmental

organization founded in 1946 in Geneva, Switzerland. Its mandate is to promote the
development of international quality standards to facilitate the exchange of goods and
services worldwide. ISO comprises of national standards bodies represented in 170
countries around the world.

ISO 9000 is viewed as the basis for quality management since it addresses the issue of
setting and implementing a management system that produces consistent products at a
particular level of quality. ISO 9000, through standardization of procedures and
processes, assures consistency in product and service quality. The ISO 9000 series is
different from other quality standards existing in the world today, in that it develops
comprehensive quality assurance management systems for everything from design of a
product to the servicing of the customer after the product has been delivered.

2.1 The Structure of ISO 9000

In 1987, the ISO Technical Committee 176 developed the first series of International
Standards for the quality system. However, with their adoption by the European
Community and worldwide emphasis on quality and economic competitiveness, ISO
9000 was first initiated in 1994.
After six years, there was a second revision of the ISO 9000 and after that it came up to
be known as the ISO 9001:2000. ISO 9001:2000 is a standard for quality management
systems. QMS based on ISO 9001:2000 provide a sound foundation on which TQM
programmes can be built. It has been widely acclaimed that ISO 9001:2000 is a first big
step in a TQM programme as it proposes greater flexibility and emphasizes on the
continual improvement of the overall performance of the organization. The purpose of
the ISO 9001 standard is to assist companies of various sizes in any sector to
implement and operate an effective QMS by enhancing the firm’s ability to design,
produce, and deliver quality products and services.The standard provides guidelines on
procedures, controls, and documentation for a QMS to help a company identify
mistakes, streamline its operations, and maintain a consistent level of quality.

2.2 Quality Management System

A quality management system (QMS) is defined as “an assembly of components, such

as the management structure, responsibilities, processes and resources for
implementing total quality management” (Oakland, 2003:208). A quality management
system encourages organizations to analyze customer requirements, define the
processes, which contribute to the achievement of a product, satisfying the customers
and to keep the processes under control.

A QMS can provide the framework for continual improvement. It provides confidence to
the organization and its customers that it can fulfill both product and customer
requirements. According to John Oakland (2003:207), the aim of a good QMS is “to
provide the operator of the process with consistency and satisfaction in terms of
materials, equipments and methods.”
 CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

Customers Customers
(and other Management (and other
interested responsibility interested
parties) parties)

Resource Measurement, analysis Satisfaction

management and improvement

Input Product
Requirements Output
Realization Product

Key

Value-adding activities

Information flow

Figure 3.1: The Quality Management System Model

The QMS model integrates the four main clauses of ISO 9001:2008 series,
Management Responsibility, Resource Management, Product Realization and
Measurement, Analysis & Improvement. These clauses interact with each other to form
a vertical loop which will lead to continual improvement. It should be noted that the QMS
model is based on Deming PDCA Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act), which also results in
continual improvement.

The organization must focus on customer needs. In other words, the management is
responsible to identify customer requirements which are being used as inputs to the
product/ service realization. Management is also responsible to identify and create a
framework of interrelated processes which will enable product/service realization. These
processes must be supported by adequate and appropriate resource inputs such as
labour, machinery, equipment, raw materials, vehicles etc. It is only then that the
products or services can be realized. These resources must be managed effectively and
efficiently. Product realization includes the entire range of activities or processes from
processing of customer’s requirement to delivery of products to customers. To ensure
continual improvement, the organization should continuously improve its processes and
resources through measurement, analysis and improvement.

It is important for the organisation to ensure that products are made and services are
delivered according to the needs and expectations of customers, as this will gauge the
level of customer satisfaction.

3.0 QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

ISO 9001:2008 embraces eight quality management principles.

CUSTOMER FOCUS
Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and
future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to exceed
customer expectations. Customer focus means making customers at the forefront of
decision-making processes.

The organization must be in a position to identify customers’ needs and expectations

not only in the present but also in the future, that is, the organization must be able to
anticipate changes in customers’ demands. Through, for example, market research and
market survey.

Some organizations have some mechanisms to collect feedback through a Guest

Satisfaction Questionnaire. The impression can be positive or negative. This
impression will be reviewed by management and corrective actions will be taken.

Benefits:

 Customer satisfaction which leads to customer retention (customer loyalty).

  Increase in market share (can become market leader).
LEADERSHIP

Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should
create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved
in achieving the organization’s objectives. To be ISO certified, there need to be a
degree of leadership, to help in achieving our objectives.

Leadership is important because it brings a sense of direction and a unity of purpose

and helps in the achievement of organizational goals.

It makes people channel in a certain direction thus achieving goals. A good leader
should transform people to achieve excellent performance. The approach is certainly
important.

Benefits:

 Good leadership leads to timely achievement of goals and objectives.

 Improved motivation among employees.
 Improved performance.

INVOLVEMENT OF PEOPLE

People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement
enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit. People might look
committed but if they are not involved in their work, there is no performance.

Improvement of people is necessary for achievement of goals and objectives. Once

people are involved in the organization, there is empowerment.

Involvement might also mean involving the people in the process of quality
improvement. Some aspects of decision-making might be delegated to them.
Benefits:

 Achievement of goals.
 Quick decision-making.
 Improved motivation.
 Flexible organization (fast to react to change, to deal with a customer’s
complaint).
 Improved customer satisfaction.
PROCESS APPROACH

A process is any activity or set of activities that uses resources to transform inputs into
output. According to Charantimath (2003:179), the systematic identification and
management of the various processes employed in an organization and interaction
between such processes may be referred to as the process approach to management.
For an organization to operate effectively, it has to identify the various processes and
manage the numerous interrelated and interactive processes to achieve the desired
results. Top management should establish the responsibilities of each employee in
managing the key activities. Besides, they should measure, analyze and help to detect
any mismanagement or misuse of the resources within the organization. The key benefit
of managing effectively and efficiently the processes is that it helps to detect areas
requiring improvement.

Benefits:

 Improved efficiency.
 Improved productivity.
 Less cost incurred (can sell goods at lower prices).
SYSTEM APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT

Processes need to be structured in such a way that the objectives of the organization
are met in the most effective and efficient manner. Top management should be able to
understand the interdependencies between processes and see how they can integrate
into one system. It is important to define the roles and responsibilities of each employee
to achieve the objectives and thereby reducing the cross- functional barriers. Moreover,
the measurement and evaluation of the activities need to be done on a frequent basis to
detect any deficiency in the system. It is also important to constantly identify if the
processes of the system are functioning as per requirement.

Benefits:

 Good coordination between activities.

 Internal customer satisfaction (the one who makes the request is the internal
customer).
 The system approach leads to a very stable and efficient organization. (Smooth
flow of work, people understands how processes are interconnected.)
CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

Continual improvement should be the permanent objective of an organization. “Very

good is not good enough”. The PDCA cycle (figure 2.2 below) was developed by W.
Edwards Deming.

PLAN

CONTINUAL
ACT DO
IMPROVEMENT

CHECK

Figure 2.2: The PDCA cycle

That is:

 Plan what we are going to do;

 Do it;
 Check that we have done what we planned to do;
  Review what we have done and Act to improve, then go back to planning.

This will bring the system full circle in the performance of the quality management
system, hence resulting in continuous improvement.Benefits:

 Customer satisfaction.
 Improve corporate image (positive image).
 Continual improvement approach will ultimately help the organization to build a
sustainable competitive advantage.
FACTUAL APPROACH TO DECISION MAKING

This principle consists of decision- making based on factual analysis of information

corroborated by experience and intuition (Padma et al., 2006). According to this
approach, it is easier to argue for a well-founded decision by referring to accessible
documents. Hence, this enables all parties to understand the different processes within
the system.

Benefits:

 Effective decision-making.
MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIP
An organization and its suppliers are interdependent and a mutually beneficial
relationship enhances the ability of both to create value. The key benefits of such a
principle are that it leads to increased ability to create value for both parties and it helps
in optimizing costs and resources.

Maintaining a good relationship with the suppliers ensures timely delivery of raw
materials and good quality products by making use of the Just-In-Time approach.

Benefits:

 High quality materials.

 Just-In-Time.
 Customer satisfaction.
4.0 ROAD MAP TO CERTIFICATION
Many reasons may motivate an organization to be ISO Certified. It may be to improve
the overall business performance, promote the organization as a leader in its field,
impress an important customer, and land a contract or any other reasons. The
certification usually takes a minimum of 6 months. In fact the road map to certification
includes the different phases that lead to ISO 9001 Certification:

1.0 Training of personnel in QMS Development, Internal Quality Audit and Quality
Awareness
It is important to provide employees at operational level with an awareness session in
quality management. Line management, middle management & administrative staff will
be required to follow training in QMS development and in Internal Quality Audit.

2.0 Development of QMS, that is, developing the Quality Manual

The quality manual should be developed in line with ISO 9001:2008 Standards. The
most important part of a quality manual is the documentation of all the activities
performed in an organization.

3.0 Implementation of the QMS

The quality procedures together with the policies developed in the quality manual
should be implemented.

4.0 Internal Quality Audit (IQA)

The next stage in the road map is the conduct of the Internal Quality Audit, which is an
assessment of the actual quality management system. The audit is performed by
internal members of the organisation.

5.0 Management Review

Management review is usually chaired by the General Manager or the Quality
Management Representative and must be attended by all the heads of department
meet to review the performance of the organization. For example, assess the number
of defects, the supplier’s performance, the internal quality audit results or the customer
satisfaction.
6.0 Third Party Audit
This audit is conducted by Certifying bodies. They will perform an audit of all activities
identified in the quality management system and will report whether the organization is
in line with the requirements of the ISO standards. If it is the case, they will recommend
the ISO 9001 Certification. If it is not the case, they will need to submit a report to how
to improve the effectiveness of the quality management system.