Celebrating Quality
As the celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee gets under way, it seemed like a good time to look back on how quality management has changed over the past 60 years too.
Quality standards have their roots in past errors which occurred during World War I, when under severe pressure to produce uniform products, a high percentage of shells failed to explode. The error was traced back to the different definitions of an inch by the two major armaments manufacturers, and eventually led to calibration standards.
Serious problems in weapons factories during World War II led to the introduction of inspectors in the factories and the requirement for written procedures. Whilst the quality of products in the UK were improving, by the 1950’s Japanese culture for conformance and discipline was beginning to reap rewards as they emerged as a major exporter. Based on a reputation of quality, they earned a reputation for cheaper, better products than their Western Counterparts.
Meanwhile, by the late fifties, the United States Department of Defense was looking for a way to increase the reliability of the products and munitions it was purchasing. This led to the first national quality standards MIL-Q-9858 – in 1959. The standard was adopted by NATO and revised a few times before emerging as British Standard BS7570 in 1979.
At that time the then Department of Trade and Industry in the UK was becoming concerned about the decline in Britain’s share of world trade. Global competition was becoming intense and quality was central to competitiveness.
The International Standards body, ISO, used BS5750 as a basis for the ISO9000 series of quality management standards, which were first published in 1987. Since then the ISO9000 has become established as the world’s most well-recognised quality system.
ISO reviews standards at regular intervals and the ISO9001 standard has been revised in 1994, 2000 and 2008. In 2000, a significant change in emphasis, moving away from the traditional inspection system to being customer focused, making it far more effective at delivering a competitive advantage for all types of organisations, rather than focusing on manufacturing.
The changes in emphasis boosted the standard’s popularity. It has now been adopted by over 1 million organisations in 176 countries.
Quality systems today may be more sophisticated than they were 60 years ago, but the value of quality to a business hasn’t really changed.
To find out more about how quality management systems can help your business, drop us an email or call us on 0333 321 0131.