Quality Management- ISO 9000 series - Term Paper Example

REPORT ON QUALITY MANAGEMENT ISO 9000 series ISO 9000, originally created by the British Standard Institute as BS 5750, is now maintained by ISO (the International Organization for Standardization), a network of standards organizations in 146 countries, and administered by accreditation and certification bodies. The ISO 9000 family of international quality management standards and guidelines specifies requirements for establishing Quality Management Systems. ISO 9000, adopted by over a 100 countries worldwide, requires organizations that implement it to improve their quality management performance continually. ISO 9000 is not a product standard, it concerns processes. The efficient and effective management of processes affects whether or not everything has been done to ensure that the product satisfies the customers quality requirements. The term ISO 9000 refers to a set of quality management standards. The ISO 9000 standards, first published in 1987 revised in 1994 and republished in 2000, have been adopted by many organizations all over the world and apply to all types of organizations, large and small, and in many industries. The 2000 version, ISO 9000:2000, placed the concept of process management directly in the Standard, although the essential goal of the standard, of achieving management system effectiveness via process performance metrics, remained the same. It reduced the emphasis on having documented procedures if clear evidence could be presented to show that the process was working well. Functions of ISO 9000 standards ISO 9000:2000 facilitates international trade by increasing the customer’s confidence in the quality system used by his suppliers. Thus, the basic functions are: To establish uniform contractual language and terminology To provide quality assurances that are accepted worldwide To eliminate costly supplier assessments on-site; ISO 9000 currently includes three quality standards: ISO 9000:2000, ISO 9001:2000, and ISO 9004:2000.  ISO 9001:2000 presents requirements, while ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 9004:2000 present guidelines. The three standards ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 have been integrated into the new ISO 9001:2000. The entire family of standards should be used in an integrated manner. It is suggested that, beginning with ISO 9000:2000, you adopt ISO 9001:2000 to achieve a first level of performance. The practices described in ISO 9004:2000 may then be implemented to make your quality management system increasingly effective in achieving your own business goals. (ISO, 2005) Hence when an organization claims to be "ISO 9000 compliant", it means they conform to ISO 9001:2000. ISO 9001:2000 is now the only standard in the ISO 9000 family against whose requirements a company’s quality system can be certified by an external agency. The standard classifies product into generic product categories: processed material, hardware, software and services required by the customer. The activities that need to be considered while implementing a system of quality management are specified in five sections of ISO 9001:2000. They are quality management system, management responsibility, resource management & measurement, product realisation and analysis and improvement. These five sections together specify the steps to be taken to deliver products and services that meet both customer as well as regulatory requirements. Quality Management Principles The quality management system standards of the revised ISO 9000:2000 series are based on eight principles. A successful implementation of ISO 9001:2000 in any type of organization is the result of a fully compliant and strategically driven Quality management standard that should use the following eight principles: Customer focus Provide leadership Involvement of people Process approach System approach to management Encouraging Continual improvement Factual approach to decision making Maintaining good supplier relationships Certification and Registration “Certification", "registration" and "accreditation" are three words which in this context do not mean the same, although practically they are used interchangeably. In the case of ISO 9001:2000, "certification" refers to the issuing of written assurance (the certificate) by an independent, external body that has audited an organizations management system and verified that it conforms to the requirements specified in the standard. "Registration" means that the auditing body then records the certification in its client register. Accreditation refers to the formal recognition by a specialized body - an accreditation body - that a certification body is competent to carry out ISO 9001:2000 certifications in specified business sectors (ISO, 2005). The term ‘registration’ is commonly used in the United States while Certification is commonly used in the European Community. Obtaining ISO certification ISO itself does not carry out the certification process even though it develops and maintains the ISO 9000 series of quality system standards. Quality management systems are evaluated for its compliance to ISO standards by certification bodies which are not under the control of the ISO. Information about certification and accreditation bodies worldwide is provided by the ISO Central Secretariat which enables organizations going for certification. The process for obtaining ISO certification can be described broadly in three steps: Assessment The assessment phase compares the company’s existing QMS with the ISO 9000:2000 standard. If the company doesn’t have a QMS, it should develop a quality management system that meets the requirements specified ISO 9001:2000 by following the ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 9004:2000 guidelines. The quality management system must meet ISOs requirements and not its guidelines. Developing a QMS can be done by using a Gap Analysis or by following a detailed System Development Plan. In the case of an existing QMS, a gap analysis can be used to upgrade it to the new ISO 9001:2000 standard. This assessment is often done by a third party –an accredited certification body and requires an on-site audit by a team from the certification body. The planned internal audit consists of the examination of the documentation system of the unit as well as the method of operation existing in the organization. The analysis is done using internal or external resources or a combination of both. There is usually a ‘pre-assessment’ of the QMS, which is an initial review to identify any significant deviation from the requirements of the standards. This saves time and thus enables the auditors to assess any issues and resolve them before the actual assessment audit. The length of this step will depend on the scope of the audit and the size the unit. Implementation From the internal audit all areas of non-conformity to the required standards are identified and the company revises, improves and documents those operations that must be brought up to the ISO standard. If it is found out that some important processes have never been documented, the company needs to take steps to document them and if no formal employee training programs exist, they must be developed and implemented. And interpretation of what is required to conform to the standards varies from one certification body to another. Registration When the non-conformities are corrected by the company, the auditors return and perform a second audit. This auditing process concludes when all non-conformities have been addressed. Then the auditors declare that the company conforms to the ISO standards whereby the company can choose to register as ISO 9001 conformant. If so, the certification body then records the certification in its client register to complete the registration. This certificate is usually valid for a period of three years. Regular performance surveillances of the organization are performed by the certification body to ensure that the requirements are being maintained and to maintain the validity of the certificate. ISO certification is often expensive and the time taken varies from one organization to another depending on its size. Is Certification necessary? It is possible to implement the ISO 9001:2000 standard without having it certified. Certification of an organization’s quality management system is not an ISO 9001:2000 requirement. Since this standard is voluntary, it is possible to implement the requirements of this standard in an organization in order to enhance the performance, efficiency and thereby, the profitability of various sectors without incurring the cost of certification. Deciding whether or not to get the certification done should be done by considering whether: the customer insists on it the company does business in regulated industries it will cause the procurement of new business or growth of the organization it will increase the motivation level of employees by setting a clear goal for the development of the management system being certified will increase the company’s credibility which will in turn enhance its sales efforts Total Quality Management (TQM) and ISO 9001:2000 According to The Deming Prize Committee, “TQM is a set of systematic activities carried out by the entire organization to effectively and efficiently achieve company objectives so as to provide products and services with a level of quality that satisfies customers, at the appropriate time and price” (Union of Japanese Scientists & Engineers, 1998). The main feature of TQM is its philosophy of continuous improvement of the business and products of a unit. Although ISO 9001 is a standard and TQM is philosophy for perpetual improvement, many of the practices and policies of TQM are comparable to the ISO 9001 model. The ISO 9001 certification can provide a solid foundation for developing a TQM system. And if undertaken together, relatively little extra effort or expense is needed to achieve both. The ISO Quality Standard sets in place a system to deploy policy and verifiable objectives. The requirements for TQM can be considered ISO plus (Hansen, 2005). The ISO standards can be considered as a stepping stone for the implementation of TQM, as it is a set of standards or rules for a company to follow to better organize their business. Hence, ISO is most effective when it is used before implementing TQM. ISO 9001 and EFQM Business Excellence Model The EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) model, also known as The Business Excellence Model, is a non-prescriptive TQM framework based on nine criteria. Five of these are ‘enablers’ and four are ‘results’. The ‘enabler’ criteria cover what an organization does. The ‘results’ criteria cover what an organization achieves. ‘Results are caused by enablers and feedback from results help to improve enablers. The EFQM model, which recognizes there are many approaches to achieving sustainable excellence in all aspects of performance, is based on the premise that excellent results with respect to performance, customers, People and Society are achieved through Leadership driving Policy and Strategy, that is delivered through people partnerships and Resources, and Processes (EFQM, n.d.). The Excellence Model helps organisations establish a quality management system by measuring where they are on the path to Excellence, helping them understand the gaps and then stimulating solutions (Warwickers, 2002). The similarities and overlaps between the EFQM model and ISO 9001 are many. The eight principles of ISO 9001 are similar to the EFQM fundamental concepts, but with a much broader interpretation by EFQM in each case. The EFQM concepts are compared with the corresponding ISO principle shown in brackets (Bicheno, 2002). EQFM ISO Results orientation  (                            ) Customer focus  (Customer focus) Leadership and constancy of purpose (Leadership) Management by process and facts (Process Approach)  (Factual approach) People development and involvement (Involvement of people) Continuous learning, innovation, improvement  (Continual improvement) Partnership development (Mutually beneficial supplier development) Public responsibility (System approach to management) The major differences between the EFQM Excellence Model and ISO 9001 standard are as follows: EFQM takes into consideration needs of stakeholders, employee performance recognition and customer relationship management while all these are not included in ISO 9001. The EFQM model interprets quality in a far wider sense and is a larger overall system than ISO. Documentation is key in ISO but not given much importance in EFQM. EFQM is used as a tool for self assessment and as a way to benchmark with other organizations while this is absent in ISO 9001. ISO 9001 is a starting point before implementing Total Quality Management, while the EFQM criteria are more detailed. ISO 9001 is a standard, which a company has an option to get certified to, while EFQM is just a Business Excellence Model which is used by an organization mainly as a self-evaluation tool. Summary ISO certification, although costly and time-consuming, is a pre-requisite for conducting business with many organizations. ISO certification would help establish the company as a quality-conscious organization and maintain competitiveness in the global economy. Since the company is already using the EFQM business excellence model, it should be relatively easy to achieve ISO certification as EFQM is more detailed than ISO. ISO would require well documented processes, which is not a requirement of EFQM. References Bicheno, (2002), The Quality 75. Picsie Press, England. European Foundation for Quality Management, (n.d.), The EFQM Excellence Model. Retrieved November 19, 2005, from http://www.efqm.org/Default.aspx?tabid=35. Hansen, A. (2005, March 13), Total Quality Management. Retrieved November 21, 2005, from http://home.att.net/~iso9k1/tqm/tqm.html#Introduction. International Organization for Standardization, (2005), Selection and Use of the ISO 9000:2000 family of standards. Retrieved November 20, 2005, from http://www.iso.org/iso/en/iso9000- 14000/understand/selection_use/selection_use.html. ISO, (2005), Certification, registration and accreditation. Retrieved November 20, 2005, from http://www.iso.org/iso/en/iso9000-14000/understand/basics/general/basics_5.html. Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers, (1998), Definition of TQM. Retrieved November 20, 2005, from http://www.juse.or.jp/e/deming/03.html. Warwickers, (2002), EFQM Model. Retrieved November 21, 2005, from http://www.business-excellence.org.uk/efqm_model.htm. Read More