International Aspects of Quality-ISO 9000 Quality Standards:
Many of the
tools used in quality management today were developed in Japan after World
War II. In statistical process control, Japanese companies borrowed heavily
from the work of Edwards Deming, However, Japanese companies are largely
responsible for quality circles, JIT, the idea the the quality is everyone's
responsibility, and the emphasis on prevention rather than on inspection.
In 1980s,
quality reemerged as a pivotal factor in the market. Many companies find
that it is impossible to effectively compete without a very strong quality
program in place. This is particularly true of companies that wish to
compete in the European market.
The ISO 9000 Standards:
The
International standards Organization (ISO), based in Geneva, Switzerland,
has established quality control guidelines known as the ISO 9000
standards. Many companies and organizations in Europe will buy only from
ISO 9000 standard certified suppliers. This means that the suppliers must
demonstrate to a certifying agency that:
-
A quality system
is in use, and the system clearly defines an expected level of quality
-
The system is
fully operational and is backed up with detailed documentation of quality
control procedures.
-
The intended
level of quality is being achieved on a sustained, consistent basis.
The key to
receiving certification under the ISO 9000 standard is documentation. It's
one thing for a company to say that is has a quality control system in
operation, but it's quite a different thing to be able to document the steps
in that system. Under ISO 9000, this documentation must be so detailed and
precise that if all the employees in a company were suddenly replaced, the
new employees could use the documentation to make the product exactly as it
was made by the old employees. Even companies with good quality control
system find that it takes up to two years of painstaking work to develop
this detailed documentation. But companies often find that compiling this
documentation results in improvements in their quality system.
The ISO 9000 has
become an international measure of quality, Although the standards were
developed to control the quality of goods sold in European countries, they
have become widely accepted elsewhere as well. Companies in the United
States that export to Europe often expect their own suppliers to comply with
the ISO 9000 standards, since these exporters must document the quality of
the materials going into their products as a part of their own ISO 9000
certification.
The ISO program
for certification of quality management programs is not limited to
manufacturing companies. The American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants was the first professional membership organization in the United
States to win recognition under an ISO certification program.
Real
Business Example:
How ISO 9000 can Improve Quality:
Over the years, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company has been a leader in quality control systems. Despite this
emphasis on quality, for many years the engineers at one of Du Pont's
plants were unable to control a high defect rate in the output from a
press that makes plastic connectors for computers. As part of the
documentation needed for certification under the ISO 9000 standards,
workers on the press were required to detail in writing how they do
their jobs. When engineers compared the workers' notes, they fond that
the workers were in consistent in the way they calibrated probes that
measure press temperature. As a result, the press temperature were often
set incorrectly. When this problem was corrected, the defect rate for
the press fell from 30% to 8% of output. |
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