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The ISO 9000 Quality Assurance System
Contributing to `Quality' and `Customer' focus
Not so long ago, `Quality' used to be discussed in terms like "intrinsic goodness", "inherent worthwhileness", "excellence" etc. No longer now - thanks largely to ISO 9000. Today, the language of quality is the language of productivity and profitability, market share and survival.
It brings "Customer Focus" to the center stage.
With this new enlightenment about quality has come a deeper understanding that quality is, at root, a process issue. For the most part, the degree of quality that can be produced is a function of the process by which the work is carried out within an organization. The stress is on people and process focussed to
Customer Satisfaction". This, indeed, requires a deeper understanding of those processes, establishing standards, setting targets, making measurements, adopting controls, etc. - the essential steps towards ensuring consistency in the product quality as also towards efficiency and productivity. Without such an approach, the efficient management of the people and processes at the work place is not possible.
But along with the process-based approach, the sight has to be firmly fixed in the market, or the `Customer'. The quality is relevant in a broader context only, so far as it enables a more effective management of the processes within the organization to contribute to a greater customer satisfaction- an aspect fundamental to any organization.
As Peter Drucker said, "[Business] institutions of the new pluralism have
no purpose except outside of themselves. They exist in contemplation of a 'customer' or a 'market.' Achievement in the hospital is not a satisfied nurse but a cured former patient. Achievement in business is not a happy work force, however desirable it may be; it is a satisfied customer who reorders the product."
Mahatma Gandhi may not be relevant in politics today but his wisdom about customer would no less be a match for the most modern management concepts. In his words,
· A CUSTOMER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT VISITOR ON OUR PREMISES.
· HE IS NOT DEPENDENT ON US, WE ARE DEPENDENT ON HIM.
· HE IS NOT AN INTERRUPTION ON OUR WORK, HE IS THE PURPOSE OF IT.
· HE IS NOT AN OUTSIDER ON OUR BUSINESS, HE IS A PART OF IT.
· WE ARE NOT DOING HIM A FAVOUR BY SERVING HIM, HE IS DOING US A FAVOUR BY GIVING US AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO.
ISO 9000 only provides for building a quality system for controlling the essential processes within the organization, which have bearing on the product quality - leading to the quality assurance for the customer. But, it is only a beginning, a basic requirement or a framework to bring about improvement, which it does not do by itself. It is not a magic wand. From now on the Quest for Quality has to be persued in all areas of operation for achieving organizational excellence. Thus, a good quality system is like an insurance policy, and what you invest in it is like paying the premium.
The ISO 9000 standard may be used as a checklist to help improve performance. An organization may initially perceive the need to go for certification, but properly approached, the route to certification is an ideal opportunity to review the firm's management system. To be able to write a system down, as the standard requires, means one must understand what one does, and therefore have the opportunity to improve it. So the standard is useful as a survey of management practices. It provides a checklist to follow. It suggests the areas in a company, which, if neglected, could cause problems. It should identify the potential problems, which if left unattended, could ultimately affect the customer.
Quality - mastery of our work processes - is the most direct and efficient path to reach that goal. But there is a distinction to be made between a path and a destination, and it's essential to keep that distinction in mind. |
