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© Transition Support Last edit  24/11/2023 


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Quality Management ~ an overview


What is quality?

Quality is simply the extent to which requirements are fulfilled by an output e.g. a decision, event, product, process, document, organization or a service. Therefore, if all the requirement are fulfilled the output is of good quality and if not it is of poor quality....more

What is quality management?

ISO 9000 defines quality management as coordinated activities to direct and control an organization with regard to quality but this tells us little about the purpose of quality management and for this we can seek out Russell Ackoff, who when asked by Deming in 1992 to explain what he meant by quality management replied: “I mean how do you manage in such a way as to increase the quality of the output of an organization” ….more

How is the achievement of quality managed?

Several methods have evolved to achieve, sustain and improve quality, they are quality control, quality improvement and quality assurance which collectively are known as quality management. Techniques such as quality planning, quality costs, just in time, statistical process control etc. are all elements of these three methods. ISO 9000:2015 separates quality planning from quality control, quality improvement and quality assurance but by including planning within the domain of each concept, one can focus on the purpose of planning more easily...more.    

How do we control quality?

Controlling quality is about controlling all the factors that affect your ability to fulfil requirements that you need to fulfil to accomplish your mission. This means controlling the specifications that define the required outputs and the processes that deliver these outputs. If you establish that variation in the characteristics or capability of a product, service, process or person will materially affect the output you are trying to produce, you need to control those characteristics or capability...more

What is quality assurance?

Quality assurance is about providing confidence that quality is under control and the outputs are meeting requirements. Certain standards are referred to as quality assurance standards (such as ISO 9000) because they are used by customers to obtain an assurance of quality. One of the ways quality is assured is by audits, independent examinations of an organization's operations to verify that it is conforming with prescribed requirements. If you are looking for auditor training    ....more

How do we go about improving quality?

Before undertaking improvement you need to measure current performance. You will then be able to determine if the improvement action you have taken has had the desired effect. There are two types of quality improvements one concerned with better control and the other concerned with raising standards...more

What is a quality management system?

A quality management system is what delivers the organizations products and services. It is often described in a Quality Manual and sets of procedures but these are descriptions. They are not the system. ...more

What has ISO 9001 got to do with quality and its management?

If applied incorrectly, ISO 9001 will have nothing to do with quality and its management.  Unfortunately there are too many cases where ISO 9001 has been applied incorrectly resulting in systems of documentation rather than systems that enable the organization to fulfil its objectives. If used simply as a set of criteria against which you can judge the quality of your management system, it can help you identify omissions that if corrected will improve quality….more

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