Total Quality Management Essays (1420 words) - Quality Management

Total Quality Management The emergence of the global marketplace demands that a company act on a global scale to be competitive. Competing on this level requires that a company provide a superior product and superior service. Companies desiring to achieve international quality status now have a manufacturing, quality control, and documentation standard in which to strive. ISO 9000 is the implemented international process management baseline for which all participating organizations will adhere. Standardization appears to be the key to survival in today's domestic and international marketplace. Consumers and businesses alike demand the assurances that the products they purchase from one company are equal in quality to the product they purchase from another. Consumers also demand that every product they purchase from a particular company meet the same specifications as the next. The key to developing this uniformity of standards and quality among and within companies is to establish a set of closely monitored procedures to be followed by all. The focus on the ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 standard is not on manufactured products, but the process implemented to achieve that product. By certifying a manufacturing and documentation process with the Geneva based International Organization for Standardization, registered companies have realized a dramatic decline in customer complaints and significant reductions in operating costs. This is due to the required certification process. By successfully completing the ISO 9000-registration process, companies can identify and correct processes that are costly and unproductive. This is simply good for business. Additionally, ISO 9000 registered companies, critical of their ISO registered product, demand that their suppliers be ISO 9000 registered. The ISO 9000 series consist of five standards that fall into two categories. The five standards are ISO 9000-1, ISO 9001, ISO 9002, ISO 9003, and ISO 9000-4. The two categories provide for contractual situations and non-contractual situations. Contractual elements (ISO 9001, ISO 9002, and IO 9003) have been developed for external quality assurance. Meeting these standards indicate to a customer that a company's quality assurance program is capable of providing a quality product or service. Non-contractual elements, ISO 9000-1 and ISO 9004-1, used as guidance standards, have been developed to assure quality management. ISO 9001, the most extensive of the ISO 9000 series, are directed towards quality system requirements of the organization. ISO 9001 encompass all of the elements listed in ISO 9002 and ISO 9003. This standard contains twenty clauses that address issues such as management responsibility, process control, and corrective and preventative actions. These clauses are designed to promote conformity of processes such as design, production, and servicing by striving towards the goal of total quality management. ISO 9000-1 addresses quality management and quality assurance standards. This document defines the primary concept of the series such as principal objectives and responsibilities, the process of an organization, and the roles of documentation. This document also provides a definition of terminology and provides guidance needed for all ISO 9000 series issues. ISO 9004-1 addresses internal procedures such as organizational goals, management responsibilities, training, and servicing. As in the ISO 9001 series, this series also contains twenty clauses. This is also the standard, which provides for the most misunderstandings. It is important that companies completing the certification process understand the relationship of this standard to the other ISO 9000 family standards. Clauses within the ISO 9004-1 standard provide the foundation for completing certain ISO 9001 requirements. The purpose of proper documentation is not to create enormous amounts of paper, but to assist the company in its undertaking of implementing ISO 9000 standards. Implementing any project of magnitude requires a formal project plan. The minimum topics that should be covered in a project plan are project definition, structure, responsibilities, results and analysis, schedules, required resources, and constraints. Once these requirements are defined, the process of implementation can begin. Systematically categorizing and adherence to the project plan are necessary. It is important to remember that this documentation will be scrutinized during the certification process. Documentation procedures are a critical element of the management process. They should be used to provide information such as reference points, definitions of responsibilities and authorities, and the identification of errors and resolutions. Adequate documentation such as this will provide a reference, and if followed correctly will lead to further