Implementing a quality management system

Implementing a quality management system
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• qualitymanagement123.com/86-quality-management-interview-questions-and-answers
I. Contents of implementing a quality management system
==================
Successful organizations have figured out that customer satisfaction has a direct impact on the
bottom line. Creating an environment which supports a quality culture requires a structured,
systematic process. Following are steps to implementing a quality management system that will
help to bring the process full circle.
Let’s begin by defining the wordquality.
Quality Defined:
“A subjective term for which each person has his or her own definition. In technical usage,
quality can have two meanings: (1) the characteristics of a product or service that bear on its
ability to satisfy stated or implied needs and (2) a product or service free of deficiencies.”
American Society for Quality (ASQ)
A Quality Management System is “The organizational structure, processes, procedures and
resources needed to implement, maintain and continually improve the management of quality.”
American Society for Quality (ASQ)
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach to long-term success through
customer satisfaction. TQM focuses on the development of products and services that meet the

needs and exceed the expectations of key customer groups. This is accomplished by creating an
integrated “system” that is process centered, has total employee involvement and is completely
customer focused. Creating a culture that is customer focused and collecting and studying data
that supports efforts for the customer are critical components to the system.
Steps to Creating a Total Quality Management System
1. Clarify Vision, Mission and Values
Employees need to know how what they do is tied toorganizational strategy and objectives which
makes it important that all employees understand where the organization is headed (its vision),
what it hopes to accomplish (mission) and the operational principles (values) that will steer its
priorities and decision making. Having a process to educate employees during new employee
orientation and a communication process to help ensure that themission, vision and values is
always in front of the people is a major first step.
2. Identify Critical Success Factors (CSF)
Critical success factors help an organization focus on those things that help it meet objectives
and move a little closer to achieving its mission. These performance based measures provide a
gauge for determining how well the organization is meeting objectives.
Some example CSF:
Financial Performance
Customer Satisfaction
Process Improvement
Market Share
Employee Satisfaction
Product Quality
3. Develop Measures and Metrics to Track CSF Data
Once critical success factors are identified, there needs to be measurements put in place to
monitor and track progress. This can be done through a reporting process that is used to collect
specified data and share information with senior leaders. For example, if a goal is to increase
customer satisfaction survey scores, there should be a goal and a measure to demonstrate
achievement of the goal.
4. Identify Key Customer Group
Every organization has customers and understanding who the key customer groups are is
important so that products and services can be developed based on customer requirements. The
mistake a lot of organizations make is not acknowledging employees as a key customer group.
Example Key Customer Groups:
Employees

Customers
Suppliers
Vendors
Volunteers
5. Solicit Customer Feedback
The only way for an organization to know how well they are meeting customer requirements is
by simply asking the question. There should be a structured process to solicit feedback from each
customer group in an effort to identify what is important to them. Organizations often make the
mistake of thinking they know what is important to customers and ask the wrong survey
questions. This this type of feedback is obtained through customer focus groups.
6. Develop Survey Tool
Next develop a customer satisfaction survey tool that is based on finding out what is important to
customers. For example, customers might care more about quality than cost but if you are
developing a product and trying to keep the cost down and skimping on the quality, you are
creating a product that might not meet the needs of the customer.
7. Survey Each Customer Group
Each customer group should have a survey customized to their particular requirements and they
should be surveyed to establish baseline data on the customers’ perception of current practice.
This provides a starting point for improvements and demonstrates progress as improvement plans
are implemented.
8. Develop Improvement Plan
Once the baseline is established you should develop an improvement plan based on customer
feedback from each group. Improvement plans should be written in SMART goals format with
assignments to specific staff for follow through.
Goals May Include Some of the Following:
Process improvement initiatives, such as: customer call hold times
Leadership Development: Walk-the-Talk
Management Training/Development: How to manage employees in a quality environment
Staff Training/Development: Customer Service
Performance Management: Setting expectations, creating job descriptionsthat support the vision
and holding staff accountable.
9. Resurvey
After a period of time (12-18 months), resurvey key customers to see if scores have improved.
Customer needs and expectations change over time so being in-tune to changing needs and

expectations is critical to long-term success.
10. Monitor CSF
It is important to monitor CSF monthly to ensure there is consistent progress toward goals. This
also allows for course correction should priorities and objectives change during the review
period.
11. Incorporate Satisfaction Data into Marketing Plans
Once you’ve achieved some positive results with your satisfaction data, use it as a marketing
tool! A lot of successful organizations miss the boat by not letting others know what they do
well. Customers want to know how an organizations internal processes work especially if those
process help to deliver an outstanding product or service!
12. Technology
Make sure technology is user-friendly and supports targeted improvements. For example, a
website should be easy to navigate as well as easy to find (SEO) and the content should be easy
to understand.
Final Thoughts
Make sure employees understand the vision as well as their role in supporting it. Look for ways
to ensure that all internal processes are standardized and that employees receive the training to
understand the standardization.
Successful quality initiatives require ongoing Senior Leadership sponsorship and support through
structure, process and staff transitions. Designated resources are also critical in supporting these
endeavors.
If you are interested in learning more about quality management, I highly recommend a book
called: The Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Handbook, Fourth Edition.
==================
III. Quality management tools
1. Check sheet

The check sheet is a form (document) used to collect data
in real time at the location where the data is generated.
The data it captures can be quantitative or qualitative.
When the information is quantitative, the check sheet is
sometimes called a tally sheet.
The defining characteristic of a check sheet is that data
are recorded by making marks ("checks") on it. A typical
check sheet is divided into regions, and marks made in
different regions have different significance. Data are
read by observing the location and number of marks on
the sheet.
Check sheets typically employ a heading that answers the
Five Ws:
 Who filled out the check sheet
 What was collected (what each check represents,
an identifying batch or lot number)
 Where the collection took place (facility, room,
apparatus)
 When the collection took place (hour, shift, day
of the week)
 Why the data were collected
2. Control chart
Control charts, also known as Shewhart charts
(after Walter A. Shewhart) or process-behavior
charts, in statistical process control are tools used
to determine if a manufacturing or business
process is in a state of statistical control.
If analysis of the control chart indicates that the
process is currently under control (i.e., is stable,
with variation only coming from sources common
to the process), then no corrections or changes to
process control parameters are needed or desired.
In addition, data from the process can be used to
predict the future performance of the process. If
the chart indicates that the monitored process is
not in control, analysis of the chart can help
determine the sources of variation, as this will

result in degraded process performance.[1] A
process that is stable but operating outside of
desired (specification) limits (e.g., scrap rates
may be in statistical control but above desired
limits) needs to be improved through a deliberate
effort to understand the causes of current
performance and fundamentally improve the
process.
The control chart is one of the seven basic tools of
quality control.[3] Typically control charts are
used for time-series data, though they can be used
for data that have logical comparability (i.e. you
want to compare samples that were taken all at
the same time, or the performance of different
individuals), however the type of chart used to do
this requires consideration.
3. Pareto chart
A Pareto chart, named after Vilfredo Pareto, is a type
of chart that contains both bars and a line graph, where
individual values are represented in descending order
by bars, and the cumulative total is represented by the
line.
The left vertical axis is the frequency of occurrence,
but it can alternatively represent cost or another
important unit of measure. The right vertical axis is
the cumulative percentage of the total number of
occurrences, total cost, or total of the particular unit of
measure. Because the reasons are in decreasing order,
the cumulative function is a concave function. To take
the example above, in order to lower the amount of
late arrivals by 78%, it is sufficient to solve the first
three issues.
The purpose of the Pareto chart is to highlight the
most important among a (typically large) set of
factors. In quality control, it often represents the most
common sources of defects, the highest occurring type
of defect, or the most frequent reasons for customer
complaints, and so on. Wilkinson (2006) devised an

algorithm for producing statistically based acceptance
limits (similar to confidence intervals) for each bar in
the Pareto chart.
4. Scatter plot Method
A scatter plot, scatterplot, or scattergraph is a type of
mathematical diagram using Cartesian coordinates to
display values for two variables for a set of data.
The data is displayed as a collection of points, each
having the value of one variable determining the position
on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable
determining the position on the vertical axis.[2] This kind
of plot is also called a scatter chart, scattergram, scatter
diagram,[3] or scatter graph.
A scatter plot is used when a variable exists that is under
the control of the experimenter. If a parameter exists that
is systematically incremented and/or decremented by the
other, it is called the control parameter or independent
variable and is customarily plotted along the horizontal
axis. The measured or dependent variable is customarily
plotted along the vertical axis. If no dependent variable
exists, either type of variable can be plotted on either axis
and a scatter plot will illustrate only the degree of
correlation (not causation) between two variables.
A scatter plot can suggest various kinds of correlations
between variables with a certain confidence interval. For
example, weight and height, weight would be on x axis
and height would be on the y axis. Correlations may be
positive (rising), negative (falling), or null (uncorrelated).
If the pattern of dots slopes from lower left to upper right,
it suggests a positive correlation between the variables
being studied. If the pattern of dots slopes from upper left
to lower right, it suggests a negative correlation. A line of
best fit (alternatively called 'trendline') can be drawn in
order to study the correlation between the variables. An
equation for the correlation between the variables can be
determined by established best-fit procedures. For a linear
correlation, the best-fit procedure is known as linear

regression and is guaranteed to generate a correct solution
in a finite time. No universal best-fit procedure is
guaranteed to generate a correct solution for arbitrary
relationships. A scatter plot is also very useful when we
wish to see how two comparable data sets agree with each
other. In this case, an identity line, i.e., a y=x line, or an
1:1 line, is often drawn as a reference. The more the two
data sets agree, the more the scatters tend to concentrate in
the vicinity of the identity line; if the two data sets are
numerically identical, the scatters fall on the identity line
exactly.
5.Ishikawa diagram
Ishikawa diagrams (also called fishbone diagrams,
herringbone diagrams, cause-and-effect diagrams, or
Fishikawa) are causal diagrams created by Kaoru
Ishikawa (1968) that show the causes of a specific
event.[1][2] Common uses of the Ishikawa diagram are
product design and quality defect prevention, to identify
potential factors causing an overall effect. Each cause or
reason for imperfection is a source of variation. Causes
are usually grouped into major categories to identify these
sources of variation. The categories typically include
 People: Anyone involved with the process
 Methods: How the process is performed and the
specific requirements for doing it, such as policies,
procedures, rules, regulations and laws
 Machines: Any equipment, computers, tools, etc.
required to accomplish the job
 Materials: Raw materials, parts, pens, paper, etc.
used to produce the final product
 Measurements: Data generated from the process
that are used to evaluate its quality
 Environment: The conditions, such as location,
time, temperature, and culture in which the process
operates
6. Histogram method

A histogram is a graphical representation of the
distribution of data. It is an estimate of the probability
distribution of a continuous variable (quantitative
variable) and was first introduced by Karl Pearson.[1] To
construct a histogram, the first step is to "bin" the range of
values -- that is, divide the entire range of values into a
series of small intervals -- and then count how many
values fall into each interval. A rectangle is drawn with
height proportional to the count and width equal to the bin
size, so that rectangles abut each other. A histogram may
also be normalized displaying relative frequencies. It then
shows the proportion of cases that fall into each of several
categories, with the sum of the heights equaling 1. The
bins are usually specified as consecutive, non-overlapping
intervals of a variable. The bins (intervals) must be
adjacent, and usually equal size.[2] The rectangles of a
histogram are drawn so that they touch each other to
indicate that the original variable is continuous.[3]
III. Other topics related to Implementing a quality management system (pdf
download)
quality management systems
quality management courses
quality management tools
iso 9001 quality management system
quality management process
quality management system example
quality system management
quality management techniques
quality management standards
quality management policy
quality management strategy
quality management books

Implementing a quality management system

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