Quality Management: Principles, Policy, and Improvement
The 8 Principles of Quality
Customer-Oriented Organization: To satisfy customer requirements and strive to exceed their expectations.
Leadership: Create and maintain an internal environment to achieve the objectives of the organization.
Staff Participation: Ensure that staff skills are used to benefit the organization.
Process Approach: Obtain efficient results when activities and resources are managed as a process.
System Approach to Management: Identify, understand, and manage interrelated processes as a system.
Continuous Improvement: Improve continuously.
Factual Approach to Decision Making: Base decisions on analysis of data and information.
Mutually Beneficial Relationship with the Supplier.
Quality Policy
The quality policy reflects the overall intentions and direction of the organization relating to quality as formally expressed by top management.
The requirements of the quality policy are:
- Be consistent with the overall organizational policy and provide a macro reference for establishing quality objectives.
- Be known and understood by all staff of the organization.
- Have measurable goals and principles in time.
- Have a blueprint for action.
- Assign responsibilities for quality.
Example of Quality Policy
In Laundry Sol, we understand that the quality of service is a right for our customers and as such should be part of the style of the people who are part of the organization.
We have adopted a management model, certified under ISO 9001:2008, and a quality policy that is supported by:
- Knowing and meeting the needs and expectations of our customers.
- Communicating to customers as soon as possible any incidents that may occur in service delivery and minimizing the impact it can have.
- Seeking continuous improvement in the efficiency of our production processes and management.
- Involving the staff in achieving continuous improvement.
- Promoting the workplace integration of persons with disabilities.
As a result:
- They carry out annual plans for staff training and improvement and technological innovation of the facilities to provide better service.
Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is the overall performance of the organization to:
- Increase competitive advantage through improved organizational capabilities.
- Align improvement activities at all levels with established organizational strategy.
- Maintain flexibility to react quickly to opportunities.
Applying the principle of continuous improvement leads to:
- Implement an approach consistent throughout the organization for continuous improvement of organizational performance.
- Provide staff training in organizational methods and tools of continuous improvement.
- Make continuous improvement of processes, products, and systems a goal for each person within the organization.
- Establish goals to guide continuous improvement, and measures to monitor the same.
- Recognize and acknowledge the improvements.
Nonconformity
A nonconformity is the breach of a requirement of the quality system. Nonconformance may occur during the process, offered services, and products. The requirements on non-compliant products are of 3 types: