Quality Systems (a Reference to IS0 9000)

Making of the Quality Systems

Many countries have framed guidelines and standards. The earliest standard was issued in 1959 by the US Department of Defense for large contracts (MIL-Q 9858. ‘Quality program requirements’). The long interval between Taylor‘s description of Quality Management in 1911 until 1959. When the US Defense Department laid down its quality requirements for the first time, was perhaps due to an increase in global interest that developed only in the late 1950s. Since then, there has been a continuous application of these standards to contractors and manufacturers worldwide. For civilian use in the United States. ANWASQC. Standard C and ZI, I5 were published in 1968. Since then, many countries and large organizations have been publishing their own quality control systems. For civilian reference, ‘A Guide to Quality Assurance’ was first published in 1972 (BS 4891). This was soon replaced by BS 5 179, ‘Guide to Operation and Evaluation of Quality Assurance Systems’. This was upgraded by BS 5750 in six parts. To ensure consistency in all standards and to make them universal a technical committee, TC/I 76, of the International Standards Organization (ISO), Switzerland, was entrusted with the task of drawing up such a set of standards. They have by now introduced the following standards:

IS0 8402

Quality Vocabulary.

IS0 9000

Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standard. Guidelines for selection of Standards in the series and use of the same for the management of quality systems.

IS0 9001

Model for Quality Assurance in Design or Development, Production. Installation and Servicing.

Applicable to those who design, produces, install and service their products or carry out such activities.

IS0 9002

Model for Quality Assurance in production, installation and servicing.

Applicable to those who make their products on the basis of some proven designs, or work as ancillaries for standard products.

IS0 9003

Model for Quality Assurance in Final Inspection and Test.

Applicable to those who are engaged in third-party inspection and testing.

IS0 9004

Quality Management and Quality System Elements - Guidelines.

Applicable to quality assurance for services, such as hotels and hospitals etc.

All these standards have since been adopted by the member countries as their national standards, fully or in slightly modified forms, to suit their own requirements and working conditions. These standards define and clarify the quality norms and aim at in-house quality disciplines, to automatically and continually produce a product, provide a service or program to the stipulated specifications, quality norms and customer needs. They guarantee a product or service with a minimum quality. The envisaged quality systems thus aim at a work culture that pervades all those involved in different key activities or processes, to achieve the desired goal through carefully evolved systems.