Why is a quality system considered necessary?

[marco-marco]

A question in general terms.
As a forward thinking company, why would a quality system be considered necessary and the contribution an effective system would make to any organisation?
There are some cases where an organisation may consider a quality system unnecessary. if this was the case, are there viable alternatives?

 

[energy]

No joke here

A question in general terms.
As a forward thinking company, why would a quality system be considered necessary and the contribution an effective system would make to any organisation?
There are some cases where an organisation may consider a quality system unnecessary. if this was the case, are there viable alternatives?

An answer in general terms? If those that consider a A Quality System unecessary are simply thinking "Inspection" as most of us know it, they may be right. My gut instinct is to say, "Keep doing what you're doing". The rub here is "What are you doing?". Are you following a Business Model now? There will be those who will say that you can always do better if you do this.....or that. You may want to do a self pre-assessment using some of the checklists available and see how you fare. You may see that you are already doing what is required to boast having a Quality Management System which may increase your marketing efforts.

 

[Randy Stewart]

marco-marco,

I agree with energy here. If you are talking in terms of quality inspectors, quality departments, etc. then you are correct in that it is not necessary.
As for alternatives, document what you are currently doing. Look at the standards and replace the "q" word with Business Operating or Standard Operating System.
It doesn't matter what you name it. You are much better off in building a quality system into your operations with your operators than trying to have a separate, stand alone system.
Process evaluations, Process Mapping, Value Stream Mapping, etc. are all ways to identify means for improvement and to keep the processes and products robust. See what works.

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Hello Marco, and welcome to the Cove

You know.... Let's think about what a quality system really is. More or less a bunch of routines you follow because you know that they lead to a desired result, right?

What if I say that you've always had one? Even before ISO9000? It may not have been a certified system, or even a documented one, but you've always had something.

/Claes

 

[Kevin Mader]

Here’s something more for the mix…

What is the aim of the Business System?

What is the aim of the Quality System?

Are the aims mutually exclusive or inclusive?

I think that as these aims are become similar, the need to make a distinction between Quality and Business Systems becomes less important. However, to the points already made, I’d be willing to bet that the successful business that has sustained itself for more than 40 years already operated with what is normally labeled a Quality System, whether they recognized it or anyone else for that matter (i.e. ISO).

Thoughts??

Back to the group…

Kevin

 

[Kevin Mader]

As a side note to this thread, I find it terrific when a question like this is asked. Sometimes it really gets the mind working!!

 

[Sidney Vianna]

Absolutely correct, imo

Kevin, you are "right on".

No sustainable and profitable organization can operate without a quality system, EVEN, like you say, if they don't realize they have one.

A good quality system is one that, while customer centric, also ensures that the business system is efficient in terms of resource utilization and designed for manageable change, since the market dynamic requires perpetual improvement.

We need a quality system because if our customers don't get what they want, when they want, willing to pay a price they had agreed upon, then, we don't have a business. In my view, a quality system is one that maximizes customer satisfaction, while minizes cost of non-quality, thus increasing sustainable profits.

If the original question had been if we need a quality department to operate, then the answer would be an easier NO.

 

[energy]

40 yrs for sure.....

However, to the points already made, I’d be willing to bet that the successful business that has sustained itself for more than 40 years already operated with what is normally labeled a Quality System, whether they recognized it or anyone else for that matter (i.e. ISO).
Thoughts??
Back to the group…
Kevin

You threw me on this one, Kev. I checked the profile on the Thread Starter and see that this is the first post and that marco-marco is self employed. I agree that any successful company probably has all the ingredients needed to meet any criteria. Just depends what they aspire to claim they are. I think we are responding to the curiousity factor. Great discussion, though.

 

[marco-marco]

yes, this is only curiosity. I know some organisations adopting quality system. just getting peoples views on it.

 

[David Hartman]

However, to the points already made, I’d be willing to bet that the successful business that has sustained itself for more than 40 years already operated with what is normally labeled a Quality System, whether they recognized it or anyone else for that matter (i.e. ISO).

This is almost exactly my opening comments when persuading design engineering organizations that this ISO thing is not going to be a hinderance to them, and will not stymie their creative juices. I continue by explaining that it is my responsibility to simply help them interpret what they are currently doing against the ISO requirements, not to recreate the wheel.

I continue to find this approach to be the best for me in getting my foot into that arena. They see it as levying the responsibility back in my lap, and that the effort should not impact what they're currently doing (which in most cases it doesn't).