1. Need for continuous improvement

Today’s dynamic and turbulent business environment has shifted the focus of the organizations from ‘Quality’ to ‘Competitive quality’. With ever changing customer requirements, quality is no more a competitive weapon but a basic customer requirement.

A. Competitive quality pressures

We are in a age where today’s breakthrough product is tomorrow’s undifferentiated commodity. This exerts a great amount of pressure on the organizations, as there is always a threat of being overtaken by the competitors.

A. Competitive quality pressures

The organizations need to have sustainable competitive edge to maximize their business results in the long run.

In this kind of a scenario, Continuous improvement is the only business strategy that enables the organizations to stay ahead of the fierce global competition.

A. Competitive quality pressures

Fast changing industry conditions, globalization, privatization and customer needs also require the organizations to continuously improve and challenge the status-quo.

B. Fast changing industry conditions

Many organizations around the world are satisfied with their present level of performance. When people become contended, they stop improving. The organizations, therefore, need to develop a constructive level of dissatisfaction with the present performance.

C. Complacency with present performance

Requirement of ISO 9000 : 2000

The past standards of ISO were mainly consistency standards and status quo oriented. The new ISO 9000:2000 standards are not just aimed at eliminating non conformities in the products by corrective and preventive actions.

The new ISO Standards require the organizations to continually improve the effectiveness of the quality system by having concrete operating plans for measurement, analysis and improvement. The quality management principles of the new standard are given on the following slide.

Quality management principlesas per ISO 9000 : 2000

1. Customer focused Organization2. Leadership3. Involvement of people4. Process orientation5. System approach to management6. Continual Improvement *7. Factual approach to decision making8. Mutually beneficial supplier relationships.

Continual improvement of the organization’s overall performance should be the permanent objective of the organization.

This principle is reflected in ISO 9000:2000 clause 4.5.

Continual improvement

Quality Management principle No.6

Steps to continual improvement

According to ISO, the application of this principle involves:-

I. Employing a consistent organization-wide approach to continual improvement of the organization’s performance.

II. Making continual improvement of products, processes and systems an objective for every individual in the organization.

III. Establishing goals to guide, and measures to track, continual improvement.

IV. Providing people with training in the methods and tools of continual improvement.

V. Recognizing and acknowledging improvements.

Note: Each of these 5 steps shall be dealt in separate chapters from chapter 2 to 6.