Quality Management System (QMS) is primarily used to control the quality of finished products that go to the customers. It’s not only the quality of finished products is important, however the quality of processes, quality of systems, quality of people etc. also matter equally.
Quality is perceived by customers. Generally, quality is verified internally in the organization. A few customers also verify the quality scientifically and technically to evaluate the quality of products, which they buy. Inspection and testing are also done by some of the customers, either at their end or at manufacturer’s place. Very few customers can afford to do this verification and validation, as it involves significant cost. Many customers rely on what has been delivered by the manufacturers.
Customers come to know about the actual quality and reliability when they use the products. Satisfied customers tell others about the satisfaction, so the product gets automatically advertised. Same is true for the bad quality of products. Dissatisfied customers also share bad experiences with others, and hence, many of them run away from the suppliers.
Customer satisfaction is very important to run the business and grow. The new market share, as well as the repeat orders largely depend on customer satisfaction. Three factors are very important from customer point of view, quality, price and delivery time. Price and delivery may be temporary, however the image of quality products, having good reliability will last long in customer’s mind. Customer might forget the price and delivery time after some time, however if the poor quality of the products is troubling the customer, customer will rethink, while buying the same products from the same company, next time.
Other than quality of the product, the quality of processes, quality of people, quality of infrastructure, quality of culture, quality of services etc. are equally important. And equal attention is required to be given for all these qualities.
In Quality Management System (QMS) standard the quality related requirements are clearly mentioned. The effective implementation of the quality related requirements will certainly improve qualities explained above and will enhance the customer satisfaction, as well as satisfy other interested parties.
Quality is defined by many Quality Gurus, differently, across the world. Dr. Juran has given the simplest definition of the quality – Fitness for use. Any product, material or for that matter, any resource which is not fit for the use, is because of its poor quality. In that sense, the quality can be termed as functionality. Design people perceive quality as meeting the specifications. Interested parties will say quality is meeting their expectations.
Opposite of quality is defect / defective. Anything that dissatisfies the customers or interested parties could be called as defect / defective.
Improving the quality has no limits. Because once the quality of the products is achieved and improved further, the customer expectations go up. Subsequently customers demand even better quality. That is the reason, one of the requirements of the Quality Management System (QMS) is continual improvement, even in the quality.
Quest for quality is thirst for quality. It is like searching for quality, exploring the quality or inventing the quality. Why quality needs invention? Quality personnel require an eye to see the good or bad quality. People having this ability, mostly work in Quality Assurance or Quality Control processes of organizations.
Total Quality Management (TQM) focuses on using 7 QC tools, 4Ps and 3 Cs. 4Ps include People, Processes, Planning and Performance. 3 Cs include Culture, Communication and Commitment. Toyota implemented TQM system effectively. The world’s biggest award in TQM “Deming prize”, is named after Dr. Deming, the father of TQM.
Some people overlook quality and really do not bother about it. Quality is demanded by customers. If company’s customers are not happy with the quality, they may stop buying the products of the company.
The organizations should make customers aware of what is good in their products, in terms of quality. If customer is not aware of quality or functionality of the products, probably, they might not raise the issues related to quality and the poor quality may remain hidden. If organizations want frank feedback on quality, organizations must educate customers about the quality. Customer communication is important from this point of view as well.
Organizations must use customer feedback for improving the quality, organizations should also make customers aware of the characteristics of the products and applicability.
In fact, when the ISO Management System Standards are requiring understanding the needs and expectations of the interested parties, including customers, and also capturing the customer requirements, through proper channel of communication, it helps organization to get an input for improving the quality and Quality Management System continually.
We require a specific tool for specific application. May it be a tool like proper size of the screw driver or a suitable software application. With improper tools the job might get done, however either the effectiveness of the job or the efficiency might get affected adversely.
In our personal life as well, we come across many problems, difficulties or challenges. We use various tools or weapons for combating with these problems. Each problem is different than other problem and hence we use different tools. These tools could be soft tools or the subtle tools like improved thinking, spirituality, yoga, meditation, physical exercises or proper diet control.
In organizations, we face technical problems including the problems related to quality, safety, environment, productivity, customer dissatisfaction etc. Although subtle tools could be helping in solving these problems faster and effectively, they require technical tools including statistical tools.
These problems in ISO Management systems are referred as issues. The quality related issues may include high rejection or rework, for example. Such issues can lead to risks for the organizations which need to be mitigated by taking actions. When the actions are supported by proper use of tools, help solve the problems effectively & faster.
7 QC tools such as Check sheet, Stratification, Histogram, Pareto chart, Cause & effect diagram, Scatter diagram and Control chart are popularly used in the organizations. These tools are analytical tools mainly used for analysis of the data. Data analysis is also one of the requirements of ISO Standards.
Use of 7 QC tools is basic or a common methodology of problem solving. There could be other problem-solving methodologies used by the organizations such as Six Sigma, Value Engineering or Theory of constraints etc. commonly known as improvement initiatives or Business Excellence Initiatives. However, for the organizations like MSMEs (Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises) if not able to afford costlier tools, or wherein there could be less severe challenges, can go for basic 7 QC tools and yet can solve the problems effectively.