Any consumer, regardless of his social status, income, age and other factors, needs to receive quality goods or services. A system of rules and techniques has been developed specifically for this purpose, making it possible to always maintain quality at a consistently high level. And the quality management system is responsible for this.

A quality management system is a specialized system developed for an organization, used to formulate the goals and policies of its activities in the field of product/service quality, as well as to achieve its objectives. To explain it in a more accessible form, the main task of the QMS is to ensure high quality of goods or services sold, adapting it to customer expectations. However, the main task is not control, but the development of a special system that helps prevent the emergence of new errors that can negatively affect products or work.

Types of QMS

The quality management system in an organization is divided into two categories:

• Universal. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that any enterprise has the opportunity to use its principles in practice, regardless of how large the company is, what exactly it does, where exactly it does it, and so on;
• Industry. The bottom line is that the QMS is developed for a specific type of organization. For example, there are industry standards for aerospace companies, telecommunications studios, agricultural enterprises, and so on.

Purpose, objectives and tactics of quality management

There are many goals and objectives, depending on what kind of management system is used in practice. Usually they come down to the fact that the manager develops a unified system that will work in the enterprise, preventing errors that could negatively affect the quality of products or the efficiency of order fulfillment. QMS tactics: the system must provide a guarantee of product compliance with the requirements of domestic or international standards currently in force.

A positive result can be achieved provided that the working condition of the management system is maintained on an ongoing basis, and if it is created to regularly improve the efficiency of products, taking into account the needs of each party.

In practice, special principles of the quality management system have developed, giving the enterprise the opportunity to develop effectively. These include the following:

• the organization focuses on customers;
• the manager is the leader of the entire team;
• involve people to achieve the goal, thereby increasing the productivity of the enterprise;
• a process approach is used;
• a systematic approach is applied to the management of the enterprise (see);
• quality is constantly improving;
• decisions are made only on the basis of factual information received;
• There are established business relationships between the company and suppliers on a mutually beneficial basis (see).

By ignoring the principles of quality management, an enterprise will soon face negative consequences - a drop in the level of demand, loss of the target audience, and so on.

Main components of quality management

Any quality management system at an enterprise includes the following elements:

• Organization– a set of specialists and financial and technical means, where relationships, degrees of responsibility and authority are distributed;
• Process– the number of interacting and interconnected elements designed to solve local or global problems;
• Document– significant information that is placed on electronic or paper media;
• Resources– everything that quality management in an enterprise cannot do without.

The ISO 9000 standard reflects the ideology of quality management as a whole, serving as a full-fledged basis for the creation and development of a QMS in any organization, regardless of its size and field of activity. Practice shows that compliance with ISO 9000 requirements makes it possible to present your own products or services in a light favorable to the organization. If the products or work performed by employees are ISO 9000 certified, this is direct evidence that strict quality management is carried out internally. Accordingly, the product has good characteristics.

Popular areas of quality management

The main directions are processes such as:

• integration of the QMS in a number of operational aspects;
• implementation of industry-specific solutions for existing quality systems;
• implementation of time-tested management tactics;
• finalization of the QMS in accordance with the recommendations of specialized standards;
• maximum emphasis on improving the quality of implementation of organizational procedures in accordance with the features of a specific model.

Many people wonder why they need to obtain a certificate and start the verification procedure. If you successfully pass certification, in practice this will mean that the effectiveness of the quality management system used at the enterprise is at a high level. Reminding consumers about successful certification builds trust in them. When inconsistencies are detected, a list of detected problems is generated and ways to solve them are determined.

How is product quality assessed?

In order for the assessment of the quality management system to meet the requirements set by the manager, it is necessary to initiate a procedure for checking the quality of goods/services. To do this, independent experts sample a small batch of goods and conduct laboratory tests. After receiving the results, they are compared with those specified in the standards. A product conformity certificate can only be obtained if all indicators meet the required values.

Basic requirements for quality management

In order for quality management at an enterprise to meet the requirements, it is necessary to first ensure that:

• the technical quality of the product meets the established requirements;
• the company confidently adapts to new changes in terms of product quality dictated by market conditions;
• specialists are fully trained and have specialized experience, which gives them the opportunity to carry out their assigned tasks smoothly and without problems;
• the company is constantly searching for new suppliers to gain access to new markets (see) This, in turn, can have a positive effect on the rate of expansion of the target audience and profit generation.

Quality management system

Quality management system(QMS) - a set of organizational structure, methods, processes and resources necessary for overall quality management. It is intended for continuous improvement of activities, to increase the competitiveness of the organization in the domestic and world markets, and determines the competitiveness of any organization. . It is part of the organization's management system.

Modern QMS are based on the principles of TQM. The various parts of an organization's management system can be integrated together with the quality management system into a single management system using common elements. This increases the effectiveness of planning, the efficiency of resource use, and creates a synergistic effect in achieving the overall business goals of the organization.

QMS certification according to ISO 9000 is widely used. QMS certification is based on independent audits by a third party (certification body).

Foundation of the organization

Quality management systems are driven by the organization's customer requirements. Consumers need products (services) whose characteristics would satisfy their needs and expectations. Consumer needs and expectations are constantly changing, causing organizations to experience pressure from the competitive environment (market) and technological advances. To maintain ongoing customer satisfaction, organizations must continually improve their products and their processes. An organization's QMS, as one of the management tools, gives confidence to the top management of the organization itself and its consumers that the organization is able to supply products that fully comply with the requirements (of the required quality, in the required quantity for a specified period of time, spending the established resources on it). This management tool operates strictly within the so-called iron triangle of the project.

The QMS is based on eight principles of quality management:

1. Customer Focus- the organization needs to do what the consumer wants now and will want in the future, even if he does not realize it.
2. Executive Leadership- since the organization always operates within the framework of limited resources and input data in a competitive environment, only a leader with vision and fortitude is able to ensure the achievement of its goals (mission).
3. Staff Engagement- since the organization’s personnel are its main resource and at the same time the most sensitive stakeholder, the leaders’ reliance on it is the key to success.
4. Process approach- An organization’s QMS is not a static entity and its elements are processes through which goals are achieved, that is, through processes any changes are ensured.
5. Systematic approach to management- implies taking into account all factors affecting the external and internal environment of the organization.
6. Continuous improvement- the basis of modern management, which implies constant adaptation to existing and expected changes in the environment, and sometimes shapes them.
7. Making fact-based decisions- a reminder that the stability of an organization’s functioning is possible not only on the basis of intuition, but also using measurement data.
8. Mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers- along with the principle customer orientation involves creating sustainable supply chains based on mutually beneficial cooperation.

Target

Achieving long-term success by maximizing customer, employee, owner and community satisfaction. The purpose of the QMS is to ensure that the results of the company's processes meet the needs of the consumer, the organization and society. (compliance with both explicit requirements and implied needs).

Tasks

• Continuous improvement of product quality and reduction of quality assurance costs through the use of the PDCA cycle (Deming cycle), consisting of: planning, action, analysis, adjustment (eliminating the causes of nonconformity, and not just correcting the results obtained);
• Creating confidence among consumers that there are no defects through certification of the quality management system.

Principles

1. Establishment needs and expectations consumers and other interested parties of the organization in the field of quality of products or services.
2. Availability policies and goals organization (or a dedicated part of the organization) corresponding to meeting the predetermined needs of consumers (external and internal). (see 1.).
3. Statement Scientific schools and areas of management#Process approach to the management of """processes""" and responsible for them necessary to achieve the goals of the organization (or a dedicated part of the organization). Implementation of a process approach in achieving these goals (see 2).
4. Determination of necessary resources and providing them with those responsible for the processes to achieve the goals of the organization (or a dedicated part of the organization) (see 2. - 3.).
5. Development and Application methods for measuring effectiveness and efficiency each process based on key quality indicators (see 1. - 3.).
6. Determining the mechanisms required for warnings of inconsistencies And eliminating their causes. And the implementation of these mechanisms in QMS processes (see 3).
7. Development and application of a process for continuous improvement of the entire QMS(see 1. - 2.).

As can be seen from the definition, the primary element of the QMS are the needs and expectations of consumers (internal and external) of products or services, business owners, personnel and society. The organization's policies and goals are a response to the needs and expectations of interested parties. And the subsequent process approach completes the description of the path to achieving goals and implementing long-term policies. Each of the points described above is key for any QMS that is in constant cyclical interaction on the path to extremely high quality.

Industry QMS

Standardization of the QMS based on the requirements of ISO 9001 provides only the basis for stable customer satisfaction, however, each industry has its own special requirements and specifics. To more fully ensure customer satisfaction, industries are creating their own industry models of quality management systems in the form of separate standards or in the form of Recommendations for the implementation of ISO9001. The most developed models of quality management systems in industries are:

• ISO/TS 16949 - Automotive component suppliers.
• ISO 13485 - medical device manufacturers.
• AS 9100 - Aerospace Component Suppliers.
• ISO 29001 - petrochemical and gas industry.
• TL 9100 - enterprises in the telecommunications industry.
• IRIS is the railway supply chain.
• ISO 22000 - food supply chain.
• ISO 20000 - service management (this standard is not made according to the structure of ISO 9001, but in general, it corresponds to the spirit of TQM).
• IWA 1 - healthcare institutions.
• IWA 2 - educational institutions.
• IWA 4 - local authorities.

Notes

Literature

• Lapidus Vadim Arkadevich, Rekshinsky A. N. Dialogue between a consultant and the head of the company. To senior management on total quality (TQM) and ISO 9000 standards, version 2000, Priority ADM Center LLC, 2005, 88 p.

What is a Quality Management System?

Summarizing the various definitions developed by ISO (International Organization for Standardization), a worldwide federation of national standardization organizations (ISO member bodies). We can say that the QMS is a documented management system that allows you to apply a process approach to all aspects of the organization’s activities and ensures effective interaction and improvement of working methods and processes, including product production. This management system is based on standards and principles that define methods for implementing effective quality management. The quality management system (QMS) is part of the company’s overall management system, which functions to ensure stable quality of products and services provided. The methodology of the quality management system (QMS) is based on the principles of system and process approaches. The principle of consistency is implemented in the management of a company as a system of interconnected processes aimed at given goals. The process approach allows us to identify the processes that have the greatest impact on the goals. In this process, process inputs and outputs, internal and external customers, suppliers and other interested parties are identified and measured. Thus, the processes performed within the product life cycle determine the construction of the organizational structure of the enterprise. The execution of all processes for all elements of the organizational structure is documented. At the same time, the effectiveness of the quality system at each level is confirmed by relevant quality data. Accordingly, a modern quality management system combines an organizational structure, a documentation structure and an information structure, as well as processes affecting quality. It is obvious that for effective functioning, these structures must be interconnected and completely cover the organization and all processes.

The implementation of a quality management system and its subsequent certification provide companies with a number of strategic and economic advantages:

• Gaining an advantage over competitors when participating in Russian and international tenders, exhibitions, and auctions.
• Satisfying suppliers' requirements for the company to have an existing QMS.
• Fulfillment of the conditions for receiving a state, military or any other order that is financed from the federal or local budget.
• Increasing the image and investment attractiveness of the company in the eyes of foreign and Russian partners.
• Improving the image of the organization in the region and industry, which is important for achieving superiority in the market.

INTERNAL:

• Improving the management system and increasing its effectiveness and efficiency;
• Optimizing business processes and increasing their manageability;
• Improving the interaction of all departments, company services, as well as management levels;
• Optimization of the company's document flow, facilitating the transition to electronic document flow.
• Improving the quality of products/services through improving the quality of all processes;
• Improving the quality of staff work through a clear, specific, targeted distribution of responsibilities, rights and powers.
• Creating a basis for the rapid and effective implementation of other quality and safety management systems (ISO 14000, HACCP, GMP, etc.)

Purpose

The QMS is designed to quality the products or services of an enterprise and “adjust” this quality to the expectations of consumers (customers). At the same time, its main task is not to control every unit of production, but to make sure that there are no errors in the work that could lead to defects (poor quality of products or services).

The following principles of quality philosophy help to understand why they act this way to ensure quality. The reason for marriage is always wrong actions. And in order to avoid them, it is necessary to formalize (describe) the correct actions to create quality products or services, develop instructions for performing the correct actions and control these actions.

Structure

The QMS as a system consists of the following elements: organization, processes, documents, resources.

According to ISO, an organization is the people and facilities with the distribution of responsibilities, powers and relationships. In other words, the organization is understood as a set of elements of the organizational structure related to quality, the rules of their interaction, as well as the person responsible for quality.

A process is a set of interconnected and interacting elements of activity that transform “inputs” into “outputs.” In this case, the “inputs” of a process are usually the “outputs” of other processes. Processes in an organization are typically planned and implemented to add value (from input to output).

The concept of procedure is important in the QMS. A procedure is an established way of carrying out an activity or process. Thus, a procedure can be called a process (or a set of processes); on the other hand, it is a document that formalizes the correct way to carry out a process.

Document – ​​information (significant data) placed on an appropriate medium. Other organizational and administrative documents of the enterprise must be associated with the quality system documents, for example, “Regulations on divisions” and “Job instructions”.

QMS resources are everything that quality management provides (human, time, etc.).

Thus, a QMS is a system consisting of an organization, processes, documents and resources aimed at developing quality policies and goals, as well as achieving these goals.

The presence of a QMS is necessary for any organization that supplies products for export or cares about its own image, participates in tenders or seeks to expand sales markets and acquire new customers. The international standard ISO 9001:2008 is the most widely used standard for establishing and implementing a quality management system.

World practice has shown that the application of the principles of the international standard ISO 9001:2008 (or the Russian state standard GOST R ISO 9001-2008) is today a reliable tool for building an effective management system, increasing competitiveness and creating favorable conditions for investment growth.

Mikhail Yurievich Rybakov Business consultant, business coach, senior partner of Just Consulting, certified project management specialist (IPMA)
Alexander Leonidovich Shmailov Leading trainer-consultant on quality management, head of the Quality Management department at Just Consulting
Magazine "Management News", No. 1 for 2008

“The challenge of the times for enterprises can be formulated as “mastering an ever-increasing variety of rapidly changing tasks faster and more cost-effectively.”

Alexander Leonidovich Shmailov

Annotation

This article is devoted to the creation and implementation of a quality management system (QMS) in a Russian company. After reading it, you:

• Find out what benefits your business will receive from implementing a QMS
• Study modern types of QMS and you can choose the most suitable one for you
• You will be able to understand how to create a QMS in your company and prepare it for international certification

The article bears practical nature and is based on world practice and many years of experience of the authors in the field of quality in such companies as:

• Western: BEKO (plant in Russia), Daimler-Benz/Mercedes Benz Avtomobili, Trocal, KBE, TUV EC, Volvo Truck Corporation Russia, Kuhne+Nagel LLC Russia, etc.
• Russian: BeeLine, Business Process LLC, Corbina Telecom, Moscow Business School, Sawatzky, YUKOS NK, etc.

The entire article will be based on a single end-to-end example. We took the fictitious company “Etalon” as our hero. This is a multi-brand car dealership center for the sale, repair and maintenance of cars of European brands. This example is good because:

• firstly, many of us regularly use the services of car service stations (service stations)
• secondly, this example can illustrate the implementation of QMS in companies engaged in sales, production and service provision.

Company history. Problems

The Etalon company was founded in 2001. At that time, she was servicing Volkswagen cars. Over time, a number of Japanese and Korean brands also began to sell and service. Today, Etalon is one of the leaders in the regional market. However, recently the competition has become increasingly fierce and therefore the company has begun to pay more serious attention to those points that it had not previously reached:

• Service station personnel do not comply with time standards and enterprise standards
• The Directorate believes that the productivity of direct labor (mechanics, electricians, diagnosticians) could be much higher
• Customers are not entirely satisfied with the quality and speed of service
• Rare clients seek services again: they go to competitors

And therefore:

• The company is losing market position
• Owners and investors are not satisfied with the return on invested capital.

Of course, these problems were not new to management. And, of course, they tried to solve them:

• Installed video surveillance of the work performed by mechanics, mechanics and electricians
• Increased or decreased the bonus level, linking it to productivity
• Trained receptionists to work with clients
• And much more

However, all this gave only temporary improvement. And then one day the owner of the company heard that There is such a science - quality management, and decided to implement it in my company.

What is quality management and what does it provide?

What are the benefits for business?

Advantages, which you can get are very diverse:

• Reduced production costs and increased profits
• Increasing the capitalization and investment attractiveness of the company
• Increasing the company's manageability and transparency for management
• Increased employee motivation and loyalty, improved team environment
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Developing the company's image and increasing its competitiveness
• Opportunity to enter foreign markets and cooperate with major Russian companies
• Continuous improvement of company performance

How is this achieved?

To put it simply, quality is about how to build your business wisely. There are:

Quality management is the same area of ​​management as production, finance, personnel and others. But at the same time, it is more complex, affecting all aspects of the company’s work, and therefore under the control of its top management.

And all successful companies in the world (from such giants as Daimler-Benz to small companies) in a variety of business areas are dealing with these issues.

What are the quality management systems?

There was a time when every leading company created its own QMS. However, in order to “not reinvent the wheel”, based on the practices of the world’s most successful companies (best practices), various quality standards, For example:

• ISO 9001:2000
  Talks about how to build an efficient, long-term successful company, regardless of its field of business. It is also used to evaluate partners: how risky it is to work with them.
  This standard is the basic one for all QMSs created in the world, so we will take it as a basis for further presentation. Other standards clarify and detail the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 for specific countries and industries.

• ISO QS 9000
  Standard for evaluating suppliers and contractors in the automotive industry. Adopted by the “big three” American automobile companies: Ford, General Motors, Chrysler.
• VDA 6.1/6.2
  European standard similar to ISO QS 9000. Adopted by German companies such as BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Siemens.
• ISO TS 16949

An international standard that grew from those described above.

But that's not all. If you have implemented a QMS, then you have reached a certain basic level for the industry. But competition is growing, and if you want to develop further, your reference point may be further improvement programs, For example:

• Statistical Process Control (SPC)
  A set of techniques for monitoring product quality at all stages of the life cycle.
• Quality Cost Management
  Reducing costs from low quality (defects) by preventing it.
• Toyota production system - TPS and lean production (Lean Production)
  Toyota production system. It is one of the most successful quality management systems in the world.
• Modern preventative maintenance (TPM) methods
  A system of Japanese methods for assessing and improving the overall efficiency of production equipment.
• Six Sigma
  A system originally developed by Motorola. Based on a project approach to implementing improvements and a clear organizational structure.

Basic principles of quality management

In work on quality we can highlight 3 levels:

1. Ideology

2. Psychology

3. Tools

“What does this mean? - you ask. - What does ideology have to do with it? In our country this was more than enough! Look at the results!”

That’s right, but the whole point is that a company employee can be given the best tools, machines and equipment, but if he won't want to work efficiently, all your efforts will be a waste of money and time.

Ideology needed to form public opinion. For example, in Japan the principle “A good person is ashamed to do bad work” is promoted. In the USA, Quality is often compared to religion. A person cannot be forced to believe in God. The same goes for quality. You can’t force it, but you can convince it, create the appropriate mood within the framework of an individual project, a company or an entire society.

Understanding psychology an employee is needed in order to be able to convey the basic principles of quality to employees.

A tools help to put the principles of quality into practice.

Quality as a discipline was largely created through the efforts of individuals. They are often called “Quality Gurus”. It was they who laid the ideological foundation for quality as a management discipline and developed tools that are actively used all over the world.

Edward Deming is rightfully considered one of the founders of the world science of quality. In the 1940s XX century he worked as a professor of statistics at New York University. At that time, he first began to think that statistical methods could be used for quality management. He offered his ideas to many American companies, but at that time his ideas were not accepted in US business circles. He tried to find understanding in a number of countries around the world, including the Soviet Union. He almost remained in our country, but the country’s leadership demanded that he publicly declare that Soviet industry is the highest quality in the world. Having familiarized himself with the state of affairs at several factories, he was unable to take such a step, which means he was forced to continue his search for a country where his ideas would be accepted. Japan turned out to be such a country.

After the Second World War, Japan was in a very difficult economic situation, and the goods that its industry produced were completely uncompetitive due to very low quality. For six years, Dr. Deming lectured and advised Japanese business leaders and government officials. As a result, the Japanese were able to put new management principles into practice and become world leaders in the quality of their products.

Much later, in the early 80s, many years after the start of the “Japanese industrial revolution”, in the book “Overcoming the Crisis” Deming formulated his famous "14 principles of quality", which reflect his many years of successful experience working on quality in major companies around the world.

The essence of Deming's approach is that the reasons for low efficiency and poor quality most often lie in the system, not in the employees. Therefore, to improve operational results, managers must adjust the system itself. Deming paid special attention to:

• necessity collecting statistical information about deviations from standards
• reducing deviations in company processes and products
• due to search, analysis and elimination of causes of deviations.

So let's consider "Edward Deming's 14 Principles", which to this day form the basis for quality management throughout the world.

1. Commitment to improvement

“Make sure that the desire to improve a product or service becomes constant; your ultimate goal is to become competitive, stay in business and provide jobs.”

Rice. Rising quality in Japan and the USA

The Japanese love to talk about how they have surpassed America in quality. And do you know how they explain their success?

In the USA, quality is improved from time to time when some technological or management breakthrough occurs. In Japan, one of the components of any work is its continuous improvement (Kaizen). We will look at how this happens below (PDCA cycle). In the meantime, I invite you to think about the question: how does quality change over time in Russia? Remember the dynamics of changes in the quality of many brands that have appeared on the consumer market in recent years...

Iterative Improvement (PDCA Cycle)

One of the main principles in the development of quality is the principle of continuous improvement. It finds practical implementation in the implementation of the famous PDCA cycle (from the English words: plan- plan, do- do, check- check, act- act), developed by Edward Deming.

This principle symbolizes the infinity of the improvement process. Imagine that you are sailing on a boat towards a certain goal. The boat will periodically be carried away by the current and turned around by the wind. To sail to your intended goal, you will have to regularly adjust your course using the principle of feedback. Note that goals can also change... However, in business, people often think that once they find the right solution, they can use it forever.

Rice. PDCA cycle

The PDCA cycle is often depicted as a person pushing a wheel of continuous development up an incline. The circle symbolizes the continuous nature of improvement. This symbol is very popular in Japan, as is the technique itself. For example, the PDCA cycle is often a topic of discussion at Quality Circles.

2. New philosophy

“We live in a new economic era. Leaders must rise to the challenge of this era, must recognize their responsibilities and become leaders to bring about change.”

If you want to run your company using the old “I’m the boss, you’re the fool!” principle, it’s best to leave all talk about quality right away. The experience of most companies that have successfully implemented a quality management system suggests that it all starts with faith in the quality of the company's top management. Moreover, often at first you have to overcome a wall of misunderstanding and resistance on the part of the bulk of employees and middle-level managers. Quality is “doomed to success” only if top managers accept it as one of the main priorities for the company’s development, regularly proclaim its important role, and most importantly, adhere to the principles of quality in their daily work, persuading employees to follow the new course by their example.

3. Stopping mass inspections

“Overcome dependence on quality control. Quality cannot be achieved through mass testing, but must be the result of a sustainable manufacturing process.”

Initially, quality as a management discipline arose with the introduction of assembly line production at the beginning of the 20th century. Before this, an artisan producing his products in small batches could control the production process himself from start to finish. And the worker standing on the assembly line became separated from the results of his labor, that is, those “10 nuts” that he screwed every day from morning to evening were very far from the shiny beautiful cars that rolled off the assembly line at the end of assembly and finishing.

Then, for the first time, the idea of ​​creating quality control departments (technical control departments) arose, that is, special divisions arose whose main task was quality control of manufactured products. The main problem with final inspection is that even if some defects in finished products are found, their elimination can be very expensive for the company, and often “hidden defects” arise that will only be discovered when the product reaches the end user.

Another disadvantage of mass control is the psychological problems that arise in production when there are a large number of controllers. Who enjoys working when you are constantly being watched by the watchful eye of a supervisor?

The opposite of total control is development of the quality of the business process and technological process so much so that marriage would be impossible in principle. Also one of the goals is to achieve process reproducibility. For example, one car can be produced in a garage, but in order to make a thousand identical ones, and even with workers of different skill levels, quality management is precisely what is needed.

4. Be careful with cheap purchases

“Stop purchasing based on seeking the lowest price and instead minimize total costs. Try to have one supplier for each component, work with him on the basis of long-term, trusting relationships.”

Any company depends on the resources it acquires on the foreign market. Management often forces purchasing managers to focus on minimum prices. However, when choosing suppliers, it is important to pay attention not only to the price of the purchased products, but also to total cost of ownership given resource throughout its entire service life, which includes the cost of repairs, spare parts, and losses from downtime of cheaply purchased resources. Often, a simple economic calculation shows that it is better to buy more expensive but high-quality products. You can calculate what is more profitable: invite a team of professionals or a team of guest workers to build your cottage, who are sober only at the time of concluding the contract, and who first picked up a trowel a month ago. As they say, “I’m not rich enough to buy cheap things”...

5. Continuous improvement of systems

“It is necessary to constantly look for the causes of defects in order to improve in the long term all production and service systems, as well as any other activities associated with the enterprise.”

This principle tells us how important it is to analyze the causes of problems that arise during the operation of a company. “There are no defeats - there is only feedback,” say the wise. Our mistakes and miscalculations are invaluable experience that will make our path to success in the future easier. Only a detailed examination of the reasons that led to a particular problem allows it to be eliminated in the future. From the very first steps of project development, it is extremely important to cultivate in employees the principle of a detailed analysis of emerging difficulties in order to take real steps to eliminate and prevent them in the future.

There are a number of tools that allow you to analyze the causes of existing or potential problems.

6. Personnel training system

“Create a system of on-the-job training.”

Have you noticed that often a young specialist who comes to work after studying at a university has no idea what needs to be done, even if he works in his specialty (which is rare these days)? How to raise professionals who will successfully cope with the tasks assigned to them, and also become the backbone of the company in the future?

World experience shows that a mentoring system, when experienced employees train young newcomers, can help solve this problem. This approach gives a “triple effect”: you train young people, increase the loyalty of experienced specialists, unite the team, and lay the foundations for respectful relationships between colleagues.

7. Effective leadership

“Modern management techniques must be adopted to help employees do their jobs better.”

A well-known principle says: in order to get a different result, it is necessary to make some changes in the system. That is, if you don’t change anything, then the result will be “as always.” Are you satisfied with the work of your employees? No? Then who is responsible for making changes happen in your company?

In the new conditions, when increasingly greater results are expected from an employee, as well as a responsible, creative approach to work, the manager is no longer the overseer over the “careless employee” that he often was before. A modern approach to management implies a partnership between employees and managers, in which the manager plays the role of a mentor, a “senior comrade” who can show the employee the path to his professional growth.

8. Eliminate the atmosphere of fear

“It is necessary to promote mutual communication and use other means to eliminate fear among workers. Then people will be able to work effectively in the interests of the company.”

What are workers afraid of? It’s worth starting a conversation about this with the fact that in any company with more than 100 people, business interests are largely replaced by the interests of building a career within the company. This means that all actions taken by the employee will be aimed at increasing their merits in the eyes of their superiors and hiding all mistakes.

What does this lead to? People are starting to be afraid. Be afraid to talk about a mistake you made, to once again turn to management with a proposal for improvement: “How will they look at me? Won't they punish me? Won't they make me responsible for implementing my proposal? What if I can’t handle it?” As a result, a person takes on only the most “safe” jobs and strives to shift responsibility to colleagues and managers. What kind of creative approach to work can we talk about in such a team environment?

Another negative consequence of the fear of punishment at work, the division of the company into “bosses” and “ordinary workers” is the emergence of mutual responsibility among ordinary employees. There are many negative consequences. This is both theft and mutual concealment of inaction and mistakes.

What is the reason for this situation? The main reason for confrontation between employees and management is usually fear. After all, it often happens that when problems are discovered (for example, a defect occurs), management is engaged in “searching for the last resort,” “so that it is discouraging.” And the problem often lies in labor organization problems and system shortcomings.

A number of successful companies have introduced the following principle: if an employee himself admits his guilt in making a mistake, he is not only not punished, but is also rewarded if he has come up with a real way to prevent this mistake in the future. After all, now this employee has gained valuable experience! Of course, this does not apply to those who make mistakes every day. However, as practice shows, most workers really strive to do their job as best as possible. Don't interfere with this!

9. Removing barriers

“It is necessary to eliminate barriers between individual areas of the company’s activities and divisions.”

Have you noticed that sometimes you can hear such conversations in companies.

Accounting: “These salespeople are slackers! Not only do people come to the office only in the evening, but documents are constantly delayed!”

Sellers: “This accounting department is a complete swamp! Not only do they sit there all day, wiping their pants, but they also constantly make mistakes in their calculations, and you won’t get any documents from them!”

If you hear similar conversations in your project, this means that you have developed confrontation between units. Why does it happen?

The fact is that the majority of company employees are busy with their narrow business and do not notice the importance of what other departments are doing or the problems that exist in their work. This means that what other departments are doing begins to seem unimportant. As a result, conflicts and mutual accusations arise.

What to do in such a situation? As a rule, this situation is resolved through a series of procedures aimed at resolving conflicts and establishing constructive interaction between departments. Moreover, to conduct such events, people are needed who will not be “friends” for either party, and often a team of invited consultants plays this role.

10. Refusal of slogans

“Slogans, calls and warnings must be eliminated. They only cause opposition, since in most cases poor quality is caused by the system, and not by the behavior of a particular employee.”

“You must work efficiently!”, “Five-year plan - in three years!” - we’ve all heard this somewhere before, haven’t we? When you hear such a fiery call, what desire arises inside? Do quality work, or do something different in relation to the one who repeats this slogan day after day?

Does this mean that propaganda is not needed at all? What should I do? How to convey the necessary ideas to employees? Moreover, the author spoke above about the “ideology of quality”. Is there a contradiction here?

Of course, it exists, but there are also methods for resolving it. Firstly, modern methods of creating public opinion (PR) are much more subtle than simply uttering slogans. Secondly, there are other ways to convey ideas to the masses, for example, the work of Quality Circles, which, in our experience, work great in Russia (of course, if they are organized correctly).

11. Refusal of arbitrarily established standards (quotas) in production. Change of leadership

a) “Abandon quantitative quotas for workers”;

b) “Give up quantitative goals for the administration.”

As the practice of implementing quality management systems shows, there is always a contradiction in companies: to work efficiently or to work well. In general, our whole life is woven from contradictions. For example:

Car: prestigious or cheap?

Go by train or fly by plane?

Employee: smart or flexible?

One of the tasks of the project manager is to resolve such contradictions at the earliest stage of planning. Moreover, the situation is often complicated by the fact that priority quality in work contradicts those quantitative production standards, which are set for employees. They would be happy to work well, but at a certain load level this becomes physically impossible.

How can this be? Find compromises between quality and quantity, rather than going to one of the extremes.

12. Being able to be proud of your work

“Anything that calls into question the ability of every employee and every manager to take pride in their work must be eliminated.”

Have you noticed how differently those who go to work “just to earn money” and those who are proud of their professionalism, their team, and their company have different attitudes in their work? And yet, how many obstacles managers sometimes create on the way for employees to feel proud of their company! To the point that employees of newly spun off subsidiaries of one very large Russian company, who work side by side with it every day, are prohibited from wearing its symbols! It's hard to see the bitterness in people's eyes when they talk about it! People just give up because of this attitude towards themselves...

But sometimes you need to take very simple actions to maintain an employee’s self-respect and pride in their profession. Methods such as honor boards and award certificates are still relevant today. And how happy serious adults are when they receive a postcard signed by their manager for a professional holiday!

13. Encourage learning

“It is necessary to create a comprehensive training program and an environment in which self-improvement becomes a necessity for every employee.”

Do your employees undergo frequent training? No? And do you want them to keep up with the changes that are happening in our lives?

They say about Japanese companies that everyone trains everyone there, and this is one of the reasons for the rapid growth of the Japanese economy. In our country today the situation is such that up to 70% of the population do not work in their basic profession. Engineers lead, psychics treat, and everyone who couldn’t find a place in other areas becomes a salesperson. And what do you expect from such employees? It can be surprising to see what hopes the head of such a newly minted sales department places on his “eagles,” one of whom wanted to become a doctor but gave up, another is looking for a job after culinary school, and the third just came from the army. Of course, these may be quite worthy people, however, no one would think of putting a peasant in the pilot’s seat and sending him across the Atlantic!

Create conditions in which it will be prestigious for your company’s employees to study. For example, you can associate career growth with completing certain trainings, or obtaining a “second higher education.”

14. Transformation is everyone's business

“Make sure every employee is part of the change program.”

People say: “Alone in the field is not a warrior.” Well, what will you achieve in the area of ​​quality if your employees in the smoking room giggle at you, discussing “another whim of the boss”?

One of the first tasks of a project manager is to involve all employees in working to improve quality. And make sure that people participate in it voluntarily and with enthusiasm.

It should be noted here that although Deming’s principles have proven their effectiveness in Japan and other countries of the world, they were developed a long time ago, and the Japanese mentality is significantly different from the Russian one.

That is, when borrowing any advanced experience, you should creatively rework it to suit the conditions of your reality. What principles will you develop for your company, based on the best global experience?

Creation of a QMS

So, how is a QMS created? As with everything, there is at least two ways:

• do it yourself;
• order on the side.

Americans call this “make or buy”. Both have advantages: in the first case, you will learn a lot, gain your skills, and get the most adapted system, but it will take you a lot of time. In the second, you will spend more money, but you will save time and get quick, professional results.

Most people choose the second option. We will look at it using the example of the Etalon company.

There are several main stages:

• Preparation
• Analysis of the “as is” condition
• Training of managers and personnel in quality management
• Documentation development
• Formation of QMS documentation
• Implementation
• Internal audit
• Internal auditor training
• Conducting internal audits
• Quality management report to senior management
• QMS certification
• Repeated audits, continuous improvements, recertifications.

Preparation

Analysis of the “as is” condition

To begin with, the consulting company conducts preliminary rough assessment of the client in order to determine the contours of the future project. Evaluated:

• The company's industry and areas of business
• Organizational structure, management structure, number of personnel
• Does the client need certification, if so, what kind, why and in what time frame?
• And other parameters.

Rice. Organizational structure of the service station

It is worth mentioning here that certification varies. Companies' offers can be classified in different ways. For example:

• “Selling a certificate” + QMS as a bonus. Wishful thinking.
• Assistance in creating the organizational maturity of the company (speed, accuracy, quality of fulfilling customer orders) + certificate as its confirmation.

The first option is more widespread on the market, and the second, alas, often comes down to the first as implementation progresses. A truly professional consultant can do both options, but initially focuses on the second. Its advantages were described above in the section “What are the benefits for business?”. This is what we will talk about next.

Certification also happens:

• Western(TUV, Lloyd register, BVQI, DNV, SGS, etc.)
• Russian(GOST-R, VNIINMASH, Russian Register, etc.)

Western certification bodies are good because they have many years of experience and reputation, transfer successful experience from other companies, but their services are very expensive.

At the same time, Russian ones are cheap, but the emphasis during implementation is more on administrative resources and coercion.

Based on preliminary assessment consultant makes an offer to the client, where he describes the goals of the project, its stages, and costs. As a rule, the client arranges a competition (explicitly or not) among consultants. A contract is concluded with the winner, in which the terms of reference (TOR) and project plan are included in the annexes. This is very important because... allows you to agree “onshore” on mutual expectations and requirements, and the scope of work. Otherwise, the project tends to “grow,” which leads to dissatisfaction on both sides.

It is also worth mentioning that the success or failure of a project largely depends on the client. Thus, he often strives to complete the most expensive steps on his own, and does not complete them, or does them poorly. And sometimes the project is greatly delayed due to the absence of key client persons (business trips, etc.) and delays in providing information.

The same thing happens in the preliminary stages “grinding in” between consultant and client. After all, mutual trust is important for success: a consultant often learns a lot of confidential information about the company. It’s no wonder that maintaining trade secrets is an important point in any consulting contract.

For the success of the creation and operation of the QMS, the support of the company’s key persons is critical, incl. its senior management. Therefore, it is useful to carry out the so-called kick-off training, which describes the key benefits of creating the system, the mechanisms of its operation and the stages of its creation.

• identify weaknesses and risks in the client’s business (non-compliance with the standard)
• identify potential improvements that can be implemented, preferably at minimal cost. They are sometimes also called “low hanging fruit.”

A step-by-step survey of company personnel is conducted, starting from senior management to performers.

Further implementation largely depends on the competence of this stage. If the consultant is competent, then already at this stage a vision of “how it should be”, and not only from him, but also from the client.

This stage ends formation of a QMS implementation project in the company.

An example is given at the beginning of this section. You can supplement it with a network diagram, Gantt chart and responsibility matrix.

Documentation development

Identification of the Company's main processes

At the next stage, it is necessary to implement the concept that emerged after analyzing the current state of the company. And, first of all, it is necessary to develop a “principal diagram of the company”, and not so much “as is”, but “as it should be”, taking into account the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard. In quality management, this scheme is usually called "process landscape": it contains the names of the processes taking place in the company and, possibly, the connections between them.

Processes are usually divided into three groups:

• Company management processes
• Core processes (that add value to the customer and bring profit to the company)
• Supporting (auxiliary) processes.

However, we adhere to the approach proposed by the Austrian consultant Karl Wagner (ProCon), who also highlights:

• Measurement, analysis and improvement processes.

This makes it possible to ensure that the created QMS will actually fulfill its functions: to promote business prosperity. If these processes do not exist, the QMS is just a declaration.

Rice. Interrelation of processes in the company.

Displayed first main processes, as the most important for the company. We trace the entire path from receiving a customer’s order to issuing him a finished product or service. For example:

• Searching and attracting clients
• Conclusion of contracts
• Fulfilling orders
• Development of new products (R&D).

Note that the division of processes into groups is very arbitrary and controversial, and primarily depends on the scope of business and the goals of the company. For example, for a bank, financial management is the main process.

• Selection and evaluation of suppliers
• Work with personnel
• Life support for office and technical processes
• Safety.

In order for core and supporting processes to function successfully, they must be managed. For this there are leadership processes. For example:

• Strategic management
• Tactical Control
• Operational management.

You can control it in different ways. It can be based on the intuition of managers, or it can be based on facts, preferably expressed in digital form. To do this it is necessary to produce measurements, then analyze received information. And based on the analysis - improve the work of the entire company or individual processes. Let’s say, in our example, the workshop manager set the price of an hour of work for the paint shop at 40 euros. Based on what: competitor analysis, customer surveys? Such a manager is at great risk if, for example, the cost of an hour is 37 euros: pretty soon his business will collapse, and he may not even suspect it, because it does not have a system for collecting and analyzing evidence.

Detailed description and development of processes

• Name
• Owner (responsible)
• Process boundaries (start and end)
• Inputs and outputs (starting with outputs)
• Process execution logic

There are many ways to describe processes, from the simplest to the most complex, such as IDEF0 and ARIS. However, we recommend using simple flowcharts: they are less scientific and easy for everyone to understand.

Rice. Description of the order processing process at the Etalon service station

During the description, processes are repeatedly adjusted and improved. Their landscape may also change. It is convenient to identify 4 working groups from among the company’s employees, each of which describes the processes of one of the groups listed above.

Determination of QMS management procedures

In order for processes to be effectively executed taking into account the requirements of ISO 9001:2000, it is necessary to develop six mandatory QMS management procedures:

• Document management
• Records management
• Non-conformity management
• Internal audit management
• Corrective Actions
• Preventive measures

To documentation The QMS was convenient to use; it was necessary to formulate some of its structure and document templates.

Posts are necessary in order to record how this or that work was performed. Remember the sheet on which the cleaning lady marks the time she cleaned the restaurant toilet - this is an example of records.

Rice. Example entries. “Car acceptance form for repairs”

Discrepancy management is working with customer complaints: both external and internal.

Internal audits are necessary in order to evaluate what cannot be measured in a normal measurement system. For example, the quality of documentation. First of all, performers are questioned regarding compliance with specified regulations.

If during the audit non-compliance with the requirements of the standard was identified, it is necessary to take corrective measures to correct them.

To ensure that inconsistencies do not arise in the future, preventive measures are taken.

Formation of QMS documentation

Of course, the QMS must be documented. The documentation is arranged in the form of a pyramid:

Scope of application Sets benchmarks in the field of quality Entire enterprise To all employees Describes the quality system in accordance with the established quality policy and objectives and the applicable standard Entire enterprise Internally: at the departmental level Outside: project participants Describes the activities of individual functional units necessary for the implementation of elements of the quality system One or more departments of the enterprise Only within one or more departments Consists of detailed working documents Department, individual workplaces Only within one department

• At the top level— the company’s quality policy and goals, which are detailed in the Quality Management Manual. This documentation is presented in the most general form and is of an “advertising” nature. It is provided to clients, suppliers, and partners. However, it contains links to the next level, which contains the company's know-how, and therefore access to it should be limited.

Quality Policy

1. Customer Focus
   We focus on the needs of our customers and work with them in a friendly and helpful manner in order to achieve long-term partnerships reliably and in the long term.
2. Economical
   We are committed to acting from an economic point of view. We clarify our company's processes from the point of view of their economic sense and efficiency. For our clients, we maintain current technologies and fundamental knowledge and guarantee this. We strive to further cover costs and competitive cost of our products.
3. Quality of services
   Our activities are defined within the framework of processes that should ensure the highest quality of our services. Responsibility and competence are clearly defined in order to ensure clear information flows and regulations for the regulation of interfaces.
   Preventing or quickly resolving nonconformities is part of our process-oriented QMS.

• On average— descriptions of processes and procedures. These are documents regulating the company’s activities: how to analyze the market, how to work with suppliers, create new products, etc.
  Above is an example of a process description
• On the bottom- work instructions, job descriptions, drawings, operational instructions, document forms, etc.

Implementation

Once the QMS has been created, it must be implemented. To do this you need:

• Share responsibility for the implementation of the created processes between managers and employees.
• Provide training. It is recommended to train managers first, who then train their employees.

Internal audit

Now we need to check how much what we planned corresponds to what actually is. The main goal is to improve the created system.

Internal auditor training

First of all, it is important to determine who will be the internal auditors. A good auditor can be a person who is not inclined to authoritarian control, but to looking for opportunities to improve the system.

Then carry out education, both audit procedures and necessary skills, such as asking effective questions, listening, identifying the causes of problems, suggesting improvements, separating problems from specific people, etc.

Then carry out exam, where the future auditor demonstrates his skills.

Conducting internal audits

The audit is carried out approximately a week after the end of implementation. When carrying it out, the following options are possible:

• Everything is described and works. Everything is fine here.
• If it is described, but does not work, then they decide whether a description is needed.
• If it is not described, but it works, then they evaluate whether a description is needed to make the processes repeatable or whether it is enough to create a “checklist” or conduct a simple briefing under signature.
• Not described and doesn't work. If a process is needed, then we come up with an optimal algorithm, otherwise we throw away the process.

Implementation of improvement activities based on audit

Based on the results of the internal audit, it is written report, has the following structure:

• General information about the state of affairs in the company from the point of view of quality management
• Critical non-compliance with the requirements of the standard
• Notes
• Recommendations

Based on the report, a list of events to improve the QMS.

Rice. Internal audit report outline

Rice. Internal audit report form

Quality management report to senior management

Once the QMS has been established and internal audits have been carried out, the Quality Management Officer submits a report to the company's senior management that contains an analysis of:

• Customer complaints
• Company market shares
• Corrective actions
• Preventive measures
• Internal audits
• Dedicated resources
• Work with personnel
• Corporate culture
• Etc.

During this procedure, the authorized person “sells” the created system to the first person of the company, demonstrating to him all the benefits of using the QMS. Based on the results of the report, senior management makes decisions on final adjustments to the system, sometimes quite radically.

Rice. Agenda for the “Report to Senior Management”

QMS certification

When the QMS is completely ready, it is certified, i.e. confirmation by an accredited body that the created system complies with the standard. Simply put, some reputable independent organization provides a guarantee that your company is operating well and stably.

Certification has a number of steps:

• QMS is being developed
• A certification body is selected
• Application submitted
• Documentation (quality manual) is sent to the certification body and checked in absentia
• Time for certification audit is scheduled
• Auditors check the working system. The number of auditors depends on the size of the company being audited. During the audit, auditors identify “critical deviations,” comments and recommendations. If there are more than 3 critical deviations, then the certification is interrupted, the payment is “burned”, and the time for the next audit is set. However, this happens extremely rarely.

It is worth noting that the cost of certification depends on the size of the company and the number of man-days of work of the auditor. The cost of one man-day of work by a Western certification body is equal to the monthly salary of an average Russian manager.

Repeated audits, continuous improvements, recertifications

Since the principle of continuous improvement is inherent in the QMS from the very beginning, so-called control audits are carried out annually, and every third year - mandatory recertification of the system.

So, the QMS has been created and is working. What did this give to our company “Etalon”? A very simple and important thing - she has become more competitive and successful. And no matter what changes occur in the market, its shareholders and management are now confident that the company will be able to quickly adapt to them: not only to preserve itself, but also to reach a qualitatively new level.

With quality management, the winds of change become favorable!

What else?

Of course, there are other important aspects when implementing quality management in a company.

• For example, it is impossible to do without tools, of which more than 600 have been developed to date: from the simplest to the very complex.
• It is very important to work correctly with personnel so that your QMS is not just a pile of paper, but a really working mechanism for increasing the competitiveness of the company.

1 W. Edwards Deming, “Exiting the Crisis.” - Tver: Alba Publishing House, 1994

You will need

• - “Quality Policy”;
• - “Quality Manual”;
• - “System-wide documented procedures”;
• - a program that complies with the Quality Policy;
• - regulatory documents regulating business processes in the company;
• - prepared and trained personnel.

Instructions

The quality management system is an indicator of the company’s reliability and its ability to produce products in accordance with customer requirements. The purpose of implementing the system is to eliminate possible errors in the work of personnel, which could result in defects. The procedure for implementing a quality management system is very multifaceted and multi-stage and requires a long time to implement (up to 1.5 years).

The implementation of a quality management system begins with a management decision about the advisability of initiating this process. At the senior management level, goals for building the system are developed, as well as specific tactical steps to achieve them. All this must be documented in the form of orders and strategic documents. One of the most important is the “Quality Policy”, which in an accessible and concise form should contain the key principles on which the quality system will be based. They must be consistent with the company's priorities and based on its values.

The next step is to convey the decision to create a system to the staff, and also justify to them the importance of this procedure. All employees, under the guidance of the responsible person in the company, must study management theory as well as basic ISO standards. Special attention is paid to the competence of personnel, their necessary knowledge and experience within the framework of the quality management system.

Next, you need to compare the current state of affairs in the company and the requirements according to ISO standards. This can be done by interviewing and surveying company employees. The result should be a report that will indicate how the specific requirements of the standard are implemented and what needs to be achieved. The report should pay special attention to the current state of affairs: the company's main and auxiliary processes, the most critical business processes, the presence of relevant regulations, as well as the distribution of responsibilities and powers among individuals and departments. The result of implementing a quality management system should be the elimination of contradictions between the current and required state of affairs.

The implementation of a quality management system is impossible without drawing up a project program. It should contain a description of the stages of the procedure, a list of those responsible for each stage, as well as budget allocation. The latter consists of the costs of paying for the services of external consultants, the cost of staff training, as well as the price that will have to be paid for distracting management from their main work. The program concludes with criteria that management will use to determine whether they have achieved their goals (e.g. defect rate, customer satisfaction rate, return rate).

ISO standards require that all of a company's business processes be documented. Initially, based on the “Quality Policy”, a “Quality Manual” is prepared. This document contains a description of areas of responsibility, requirements for the quality department, document flow algorithm, procedures for receiving and processing complaints. Another group of documents is called “System-Wide Documented Procedures.” According to the standard, 6 key procedures must be regulated. This is the management of documents, data, audits, defects, activities that correct inconsistencies and prevent the occurrence of inconsistencies. Finally, the next group of documents should describe the rules for effective planning and implementation of management processes.

After all business processes have been normalized, it is necessary to begin trial operation of the system. You can launch processes gradually, for example, by starting trial operation in the supply department, then moving to the sales department. Trial operation should be accompanied by an internal audit of the management system to determine strengths and weaknesses. During the audit, quantitative indicators of quality and ideal parameters to be strived for should be compared. All deviations must be recorded and adjusted based on the results of the employees’ work.

The final stage is QMS certification. To do this, you need to submit an application to the certification body, attach to it all the prepared regulatory documentation, a diagram of the company’s organizational structure and a list of its key clients. After conducting an examination of the provided documents and checking the quality system directly at the enterprise, the certification center draws up a protocol that reflects all discrepancies. Based on its results, the company must eliminate all comments within a limited time frame and provide the results of the adjustments. If non-conformities are eliminated, the company is given a certificate. It takes about a month to complete it.