Quality Improvement and Quality Management: Complementary or Contradictory?
Authors: Calhoun Michael B. 
Published: December 2007

Quality improvement processes (QIP's) and quality management systems (QMS's)are becoming part of manufacturing and service company language. In some cases, there are perceived differences between the concepts of continuous improvement and documented systems to ensure quality. I have seen examples of QIP's and QMS's working in a complementary fashion to improve existing manufacturing and administrative processes. These examples show that quality improvement activities are compatible with and can enhance the effectiveness of QMS's if the two are integrated property.

Introduction

Many organizations talk about quality. Some use the word in the traditional framework of quality assurance and quality control. Others consider the word to be a part of the QIP or total quality management (TQM). Still others see the situation as an "either/ or" choice. This paper discusses QMS's and the QIP and reviews their complementary and contradictory traits.

What Is OMS?

In this paper, QMS means the system of formal, documented practices used by an organization to measure, report. and control the quality of its goods and services. QMS's are common features of manufacturing companies, especially those involved in the manufacture of highly regulated products. Less common areQMS's that manage the quality of services.

Today the ISO 9000 series of international quality standards, arguably the best-known QMS, and related standards [such as British Standard (BS) 5750] are being used far beyond the traditional realm of manufacturing companies. These standards are sets of requirements for critical elements in documented business systems that touch on topics from management review and design control to statistical techniques.

The following are operational definitions of QMS. 1. QMS provides a method that allows a company to "… organize itself in such a way that the technical, administrative and human factors affecting the quality of its products and services will be under control …" 2. QMS is "… aimed primarily at preventing nonconformity …" 3. QMS acts to "… assure compliance with the requirements of the contract." QMS is ". . a network of planned and systematic actions necessary to provide confidence that a product is produced or a service is performed in accordance with specified requirements."

QMS thus establishes a way to meet the stated requirements. It provides the minimum (the floor or foundation, if you will) of customer expectations. This does not imply that customer satisfaction follows when a QMS is in place.

These standards are beginning to have an impact on commercial matters as well. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Europe. The European Community (EC)has adopted the ISO 9000 series as part of its efforts to establish a system for product certification and testing and quality system registration. Publicity surrounding the coming of a more well-defined EC has focused attention on this aspect of barrier-free trade within the EC.

What Is QIP?

QIP is a management philosophy aimed at continuously improving products and services through a formal system that recognizes suppliers and customers(internal and external), identifies processes, and provides methods of meeting customer needs. Many acronyms and phrases are used to express this same philosophy, including TQM and process improvement. Although each practitioner brings something unique to the format, this paper deals with such change programs as a whole (QIP) with no comment on the effectiveness of a particular technique or element.

QIP is often described as a series of repeating cycles that give it a continuous, ongoing characteristic. QIP is a philosophy that is applicable to all areas of business, from floor-sweeping to sales to executive decisions. It focuses on envisioning the company as a linkage of processes, rather than simply giving desired outcomes or rules of administration.

Are OMS and QIP Contradictory?

Basically, the two concepts are not contradictory. Crawford and Puri have made point-by-point comparisons of BS 5750 and the ISO 9000 series with the Deming philosophy to answer this question. This is something of an "apples to oranges" comparison because the two concepts were not designed to answer the same sets of needs. Although the recommended methods for achieving quality improvement may contradict certain provisions of QMS in a given setting, these conflicts can be resolved. It has been my experience. however, that QMS provides a framework and a discipline that make implementation of QIP easier, not harder.

For example, internal quality audits mandated by QMS initially were seen as confrontations by most department managers. Gradually, as QIP developed, managers became less adversarial in their approach to such audits and began to use them as one benchmark of their department's quality improvement. A key to this transition is the use of professionally trained auditors and an insistenceon clear, concise, objectively written reports that are reviewed personally with the manager involved.

Are QMS and QIP Complementary?

Yes, the two concepts are complementary! QMS and QIP can work in harmony to provide a commercial basis for product and service quality and a method for continuous improvement. QMS can be likened to traffic laws. When I drove my car to work this morning, I stayed below the speed limit, I obeyed the traffic signs, and yielded to other traffic as required. I operated within the laws(QMS). On the other hand, I also stopped to aid a driver whose car had stalled on the road. I went beyond the QMS requirements to improve the traffic flow by assisting another driver (QIP). The benefits of QIP for existing management systems become apparent when specific projects are tackled.

JPT

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