Introduction
There are an enormous number of
different approaches that can be adopted in achieving that elusive objective
‘quality’. It is a never-ending quest with a whole variety of methods and
techniques, some complementary, some conflicting. There can be no
one solution or approach to achieving quality because it can never be completely
achieved. There will always be new advances and improvements. A friend and
colleague once said "You know, this Quality Assurance thing's OK, but I'll
give it a year or three and something else will come along!" That statement
was made some 30 years ago, which makes the statement approximately 28 years
out, with time the statement will become even more inaccurate.
Quality has always appears to be a moving target, changing in terms of direction and standard, but after all this time of "getting it right" it would be nice to think there would at least be some consistency here. Why? Well, it could be considered that quality management ought to be static - "right first time" and yet we have seen huge changes - the latest revision of ISO 9001, Integrated Management Systems and standard such as AS9100, TickIT and ISO TS 16964. This tends to suggest that "quality" is just about Management Systems (ISO 9001) and this would be very misleading. What about the significance of; quality and the law, Six Sigma, Poka-Yoke, Process Analysis and much more. There have also been significant sociological changes, with organisations placing much greater emphasis on employee involvement (Root Cause Analysis), on caring for their customers (Customer Satisfaction) and understanding their customer needs.
Clearly (love it or hate it) the largest, most recent shift in QA thinking was ISO 9001. Many people have been predicting ISO 9001's demise, but no obituaries have yet been written, in fact quite the reverse, it is expanding rapidly into many countries. ISO 9001 has its warts (see Quality Management), but in spite of these problems it has consistently been retained by organisations. Cynics may say this is just because of fear - the effect on customers if ISO 9001 registration is lost. It is difficult to believe that hard nosed business people would retain the standard only for this reason. They retain the standard because it is of benefit (profit). As Abraham Lincoln said "You can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time". So, as ISO 9001 has been around for fifteen years or so and has not been dropped, then the approach must have some merit.
© Geoff Vorley Quality Management & Training Limited 2003
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Links
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Quality Management & Training Limited: http://www.qmt.co.uk/ Everything you wanted to know about Quality Management, Books, Distance Learning, Training courses, Software.... |
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Customer Satisfaction: http://www.customer-satisfaction.co.uk Our new Customer Satisfaction website which may help you consider, what options you have when evaluating, what your customers think of your organisation and its products and services? - How loyal are your customers? ... |
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Poka-Yoke: http://www.poka-yoke.org.uk Everything you wanted to know about Poke-Yoke and Fool or Mistake Proofing... |
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Quality: http://www.quality-uk.com/ Quality always appears to be a moving target, changing in terms of direction and standard, but after all this time of "getting it right" ... |
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Quality Books: http://www.quality-books.org.uk/ Quality Management & Training (publications) Limited offer a large selection of books, distance learning packages, videos, posters and software that cover all aspects of quality, environment, health & safety and security... |
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Quality Training: http://www.quality-training.org.uk A comprehensive range of Quality Assurance & Management Training courses (At QM&T training centre, Online, Distance Learning, In-company... |
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Root Cause Analysis: http://www.root-cause-analysis.co.uk Root cause analysis is a relatively new methodology that is continually evolving. Like most Quality Improvement approaches it is not magic; “there is no silver bullet”... |
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Security Management: http://www.security-management-systems.co.uk/ Security refers to the policies, procedures and technical measures used to prevent unauthorised access, alteration, theft and physical damage to information systems by outside hackers as well as employees... |
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Six Sigma: http://www.6sigma-training.co.uk or http://www.sigma-6.co.uk 6F - Six Sigma is a business strategy as well as a quality improvement technique. It began in the 1980’s at ... |
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Process Mapping: http://www.process-mapping.co.uk Process Mapping and Process Flow Charting are techniques that can be employed to not only provide a visual representation of a procedure but also have the potential to identify significant savings in the way in which the process is organised and performed. This is particularly so when aligned with Process Cost Modelling... |
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Failure Mode Effects Analysis: http://www.fmea-training.co.uk/ Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) or to give it its correct title Failure Mode Effects & Criticality Analysis (FMECA) is a logical technique used to identify and eliminate possible causes of failure. |
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IQA Diploma: http://www.iqa-diploma.co.uk QM&T are an Institute of Quality Assurance (IQA) registered Education Centre. This together with our team having over fifty years experience of working with the IQA, means that you can buy with confidence. Our IQA experience includes not only setting, markings and assessing IQA examination papers but also writing the standard text books for the courses and articles on Quality Assurance and attending various IQA meeting and committees. |
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Health & Safety: http://www.health-safety-online.co.uk QM&T has for over 20 years successfully delivering training support and are please to announce the following products to support your Health & safety initiative. |
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Quality Awareness: http://www.quality-awareness.co.uk Not getting the quality message across? New starts and even existing employees seem unaware of the quality management system or the importance of quality? |