An “effective audit” cannot be taken for granted, even though it is performed by trained professionals using proven techniques and in accordance with internationally accepted standards. Recent highly publicized cases in both financial and quality auditing point to the need to further examine...

Considers the “management review” which has to be put in place by companies implementing ISO 9000, explains what it is and what it can achieve in an organization. Details a management review procedure, its objectives, essential elements, frequency and responsibility. Describes the...

Where material and component suppliers are regarded as partners in the activity of satisfying customers, the adversarial approach to supplier auditing is not appropriate. Describes a method of supplier auditing, based on the ISO 9000 standard but aiming to resolve problems jointly. In this...

Discusses the evolution of auditing in the context of Total Quality Management and describes how an organization can develop a culture of continuous improvement, innovation and advancement based on developing the culture of auditing. The concept of auditing tends to be misunderstood and its...

Reports on the Thai Foundation Quality System Standard (TFQSS) project which aimed to develop a basic quality management system standard for small Thai manufacturing businesses to assist them in increasing awareness of quality and develop towards the ISO 9000 series standards, without...

In order to provide readers with a better understanding of China’s approach to quality management, this paper presents China’s quality management history, the main quality management efforts adopted by the Chinese government, the product quality situation, and the reasons for product quality...

Total quality management (TQM) for new product development (NPD) implies first, external quality (EQ): a focus on market demands and organizational embedding; second, internal quality (IQ): the efficiency of the primary NPD processes, and third, process quality (PQ): an orientation on...

Since 1987, when the International Organization for Standardization accepted a series of quality norms – the ISO 9000 standards – large companies and small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) have been obliged to open their doors to something new: the culture of quality, a message which is...

Recent studies of quality management systems suggest that all the quality dimensions that are expected within an integrated system are strongly associated with the basic framework set by the formal ISO 9001‐based quality accreditation. However, the paradox of reducing variability through...