Quality management in management. Quality management: conditions, goals, principles, methods, essence

Quality how economic category associated with the concepts consumer value», « utility», « satisfaction of needs". Hence, the measure of the utility of a product should be considered socially required quality, which determines the achievement of the level consumer properties, ensuring the satisfaction of needs with the most productive use of the material, labor and financial resources at the disposal of the organization.

The concept of " quality» includes the following components: life activity, service product, process, project, technology, personnel, labor, organization, management.

Quality control- this is an effective organization management system, a high level of qualification of top and middle management, the adequacy of the functioning of the personnel management system to the goals and objectives of the organization.

Quality control can be estimated from the following parameters:

1. The speed of making important decisions. The possibility of prompt response of the management system to changes in the market situation depends on it. In practice, there are often cases when, due to slow decision-making, connections with partners are lost, profitable contracts are missed, and the image of the enterprise is “spoiled”.
2. Reasonableness for making important decisions. A significant part of the success of the enterprise depends on the balance and validity of decisions. If decisions are made by force of will”, without a competent assessment of the consequences, the result is often expressed in a waste of resources. Especially often insufficiently substantiated decisions are made in the areas of advertising, personnel selection and business projects in which every manager considers himself a professional.
3. Real delegation of authority. The management system works effectively with well-established horizontal interaction of all links, which requires the delegation of a significant share of authority to the lower levels of the hierarchy. With sufficient delegation, the long absence of the top manager does not slow down the activity of the enterprise.
4. Ability to delegate authority. It evaluates the ability of top management to delegate authority. Real delegation may not be at this stage of the development of the enterprise, but it will be necessary for further development.
5. Control over the implementation of decisions. Often the manager's practice includes issuing instructions to middle managers without specifying deadlines and tracking the result.
6. Reward and punishment system. Directly related to performance control. It can help solve problems, or it can slow it down. Significantly affects the psychological climate in the enterprise.
7. Permeability of information "down". The effectiveness of the execution of management tasks at all levels of the hierarchy directly depends on the quality and quantity of information coming down to the lower level. At a minimum, information should pass on what to do (in practice it does not always happen) in the normal mode and why to do it. The conscious execution of the assignment by the staff on the basis of their own ideas about it increases the likelihood of achieving a positive result. Moreover, it must be borne in mind that the personnel always have their own ideas about the purpose of the assignment, how correct they are, depends on the information coming “down”.
8. Permeability of information "up". Feedback from the manager to the company. With its complete absence, management is helpless, with serious restrictions, it loses quality.
9. Personnel policy . Who and how is hired, career growth. Personnel development, motivation.
10. Quality of activity planning. Reflects the possibility of successive actions aimed at achieving the goal. In practice, there is, among other things, a lack of planning, which significantly increases the burden of top management with the need for constant correction of personnel actions.
11. Leadership. Perception by the staff of the top manager as a leader worth following, the ability of the leader to captivate. To a large extent determines the possibility of innovation.

The quality of management significantly depends on the internal potential of the organization, i.e., the ability to improve, which is assessed by the quality of management and production, financial management, marketing and sales, personnel, business process structure and organizational structure.

The spheres of management are objectively interconnected, since management is a systemic formation. Therefore, any changes in any element or control link cause corresponding changes in all its other components.

All systems contain a number of interrelated elements, and the control system is no exception.

The management process is defined as a set certain types activities aimed at streamlining and coordinating the functioning and development of the organization and its elements in the interests of achieving their goals.

In management systems, a wide variety of organizational relationships and information transformations function and are carried out. The development of methods for their ordering in management processes is one of the topical theoretical problems and practical tasks of management technology.

The effectiveness of management depends on many indicators, such as: efficiency, cost-effectiveness, quality, etc.

Quality- a set of product properties that determine its suitability to satisfy certain needs in accordance with its purpose.

Quality control(English) quality control) - an operational activity carried out by the managers and personnel of the enterprise, influencing the process of creating products in order to ensure its quality by performing the functions of planning and quality control, communication (information), developing and implementing measures and making quality decisions.

Control- the general function of organized systems (social, biological, technical), ensuring the preservation of their structure, maintaining the mode of activity, the implementation of programs and goals. Management may be some organizational structures and economic bodies, subdivisions or the managerial influence itself. Social management is a purposeful impact on society in order to maintain or improve its certain qualitative specifics. From social management, state management and management are distinguished economic structures- firm, workshops, etc. Quality management is associated with such concepts as "general" quality management (quality management) and quality management as an operational activity (quality control).

General quality management- Aspects common function management that defines the quality policy, goals and responsibilities. It is implemented through quality planning, quality management, quality assurance and quality improvement within the quality system.

operational management quality control— methods and activities of an operational nature used to fulfill the quality requirements.

"Total Quality Management" is a quality-oriented approach to managing an organization based on the participation of all its members and aimed at achieving long-term success through

satisfaction of consumer requirements and benefits for members of the organization and society.

Quality management is carried out through the implementation managerial functions. As a rule, these include:

Quality planning;

Quality policy;

Interaction with the external environment.

Staff training and motivation;

Organization of work on quality;

Information about product quality, market needs and scientific and technical progress;

- “development of necessary measures;

Implementation of activities;

Quality control.

All these functions are interconnected, and their implementation is a process of product quality management. This process should cover all stages of production. According to ISO international standards, such functions as quality policy and planning, organization of work on quality, training and motivation of personnel, strategic decision-making and interaction with the external environment should be classified as “general” quality management. Quality control, information, development of measures, operational decisions and their implementation should be part of the "operational" quality management.

In general, general direction and operational quality management are related to management activities, it would be expedient to combine them into general process quality management.
Quality control relies on the application and development of standards that are ahead of the level achieved and allow the preparation of measuring instrument components with new, higher quality indicators. One of the main goals of quality management is to reduce quality costs. The cost of quality consists of the manufacturer's costs and other costs. The manufacturer's costs consist of costs associated with the planning, organization and implementation of quality systems, the development of requirements for procedures and production processes; quality assessment costs; costs due to internal and external failures resulting from quality loss reasons.

quality requirements- expression of individual needs or their translation into a set of quantitatively or qualitatively established requirements for the characteristics of an object, in order to enable their implementation and verification. It is essential that the quality requirements fully reflect the established and anticipated needs of the consumer. The term "requirement" covers market and contract requirements as well as the internal requirements of the organization. They can be developed, detailed and updated at various stages of planning. Specified quantitative performance requirements include, for example, nominal values, relative values, limit deviations and tolerances. Quality requirements should be expressed at an early stage in functional terms and documented.

Quality control- a systematic check of the extent to which the object is able to fulfill the established requirements.

A quality assessment may be performed to determine the supplier's quality capability. In this case, depending on specific conditions the result of the quality assessment can be used for qualification, approval, registration or accreditation purposes. An additional qualifier may be used with the term "quality assessment" depending on the scope (eg, process, personnel, system) and time (eg, pre-contract) of the quality assessment, such as "pre-contract process quality assessment".

The overall supplier quality assessment may also include an assessment of financial and technical resources.

Quality planning— the activity that establishes the objectives and requirements for quality and the application of the elements of the quality system. Quality planning covers:

1) product quality planning: identification, classification and evaluation of quality characteristics, as well as setting goals, quality requirements and penalties;

2) planning of managerial and functional activities (preparation for the application of the quality system, including organization and compilation calendar schedule);

3) preparation of a quality program and development of provisions for quality improvement.

General Quality Management(quality management) - those aspects of the overall management function that define the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities, and implement them through such means as quality planning, quality management, quality assurance and quality improvement, within the quality system. General Quality Management Responsibilities

lie at all levels of management, but they must be managed by top management. All members of the organization are involved in the overall quality management. In general quality management, the emphasis is on economic aspects.

In general, the quality management system consists of the following areas of work:

1) analysis of the actual quality of manufactured products;

2) quality level planning for new developments;

3) quality control and assurance.

10) Marketing management. Analysis of the current situation. External environment. Analysis and forecasting of trends. Competitive environment. Overview of own marketing activities. Analysis of the current marketing plan. Analysis of relations with consumers. Scheme of application of Michael Porter's model. Scheme of STEP-analysis. Scheme for conducting a SWOT analysis.

Marketing Management- this is an analysis of the market environment and internal capabilities of the company, planning, implementation and control over the implementation of activities in order to achieve the company's business objectives (profit generation, sales growth, increase in market share, etc.).

Marketing Management Challenge— influence the level, timing and nature of demand in a way that helps the organization achieve its objectives.

There are two levels of marketing management: strategic marketing and tactical marketing .

AT modern conditions The functioning of the economy is of particular importance to improve the quality and competitiveness of products manufactured by business entities (works performed, services rendered). Quality is the most important condition effective work enterprises and organizations, ensuring their economic sustainability in a market environment.

According to the definition given in the ISO 9000 series of international quality management standards, quality is a set of properties or characteristics of products or services that give them the ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. At the same time, it is considered that needs are conditional if they are defined in product standards, other regulatory documents, contracts for the supply of products, technical specifications for development, etc.

The level of product quality is characterized by the intensity of the manifestation of certain properties and is expressed using quantitative and qualitative indicators. There are various classifications of indicators for assessing the level of product quality. One of them, for example, provides for the division of quality indicators into single ones used to assess the properties of a particular product; complex - to characterize the quality level of a unit of production as a whole; integral - to assess the quality of a certain volume of products (the share of defective products in its total volume; the share of products for which complaints were received; product grade; the share of certified products; the share of products supplied for export, etc.).

Single indicators, in turn, can be divided into classification and evaluation. The first of them characterize the purpose of the product and its scope. The main estimated indicators of the quality of industrial products usually include the following: this purpose (or technical effect), reliability in consumption, efficiency in operation, ergonomics (characterizing the "man-product" system), environmental friendliness , safety in operation, aesthetics, standardization and unification, manufacturability in production, cost, etc.

At present, the concept of quality is expanding significantly. It applies not only to manufactured products (services rendered), but also to any processes carried out at enterprises, including labor. Improving the quality of products (works, services) is ensured on the basis of quality management, the creation of an appropriate quality management system at enterprises. The latter is considered as a target subsystem, within which the activities of various production and management units are coordinated to ensure the quality of products and work.

The main tasks of this target subsystem the following:

• comprehensive improvement of the organization of production and management in order to ensure the release of products (provision of services) that meets the requirements of its consumers;
• activation of the "human" quality factor, the implementation of social reserves to improve quality.

Quality management in production can also be considered as a form of management innovative activities, aimed to a greater extent at improving the products (works, services). At the same time, the central place belongs to management methods - economic, organizational, socio-psychological.

To the main economic methods quality management include: quality planning; stimulating the improvement of the quality of the results of the activities of enterprises (through the system of taxation, financing, pricing, lending, etc.); material incentives improving the quality of work of performers.

Organizational methods of quality management aimed at the formation of progressive forms of organization of production, management and labor at the enterprise, contributing to the improvement of quality, including the creation of modern quality management systems.

Socio-psychological methods include: the creation of favorable working and living conditions for workers, the formation of a normal socio-psychological climate in teams, the development of intra-production mechanisms for stimulating quality, moral stimulation, involving workers in solving quality problems, for example, by participating in the work of "quality circles", etc. Socio-psychological methods of quality management are most characteristic of Japanese firms, which attach particular importance to the activation of " human factor» efficiency.

• market research, or marketing. The content of this function is to identify current and future needs for products, their main characteristics, the choice of "target markets" and ways to enter markets. Marketing also involves the study of technical and organizational possibilities for the production of more advanced products, the development of appropriate recommendations;
• quality forecasting and planning are closely related to marketing research. The predictive function is implemented at the highest level of enterprise management, including through the formation of a quality policy and is differentiated by time intervals. Planning the level and improvement of product quality is a key function in the quality management system and is implemented at all levels of enterprise management. At the highest level, this is reflected in the relevant sections of the business plan, programs to improve the technical level and product quality; at the lower levels, production plans departments, plans for organizational technical events, etc.;
• standardization of requirements for the quality of products, works, services. The content of this function is associated with the establishment of mandatory values ​​for indicators of product quality, semi-finished products, production and other processes, performance results. individual workers and collectives.

Product quality requirements are treated as minimum values useful properties products, and to limit the negative impact of products on the user. These requirements are reflected in product standards, specifications and other regulatory documents.

In accordance with world practice, mandatory and recommendatory requirements are specified in product standards. The first of them relate to the characteristics of products related to safety for the life and health of people, their property, with the protection environment, compatibility and interchangeability of products. The objects of standardization, in addition to products, can be processes, including technological ones, and services. Standards for products, processes, services are developed by international organizations for standardization and quality management, government bodies and organizations, industry and trading firms, consumer associations.

Enterprises can develop the following types of standards: for products, if their quality characteristics exceed the requirements of other standards; standards for internal use - for technological processes, tools, equipment, parts, Assembly units, management organization, etc.

Preparation for the production of new products is a set of works and actions to establish relations with the direct consumer or customer of the product being created, the formation of specific requirements for it, the organization of development and the adoption of decisions on its manufacture. In general, the following stages of production preparation are distinguished: research- development of recommendations for achieving the required indicators of product quality and the creation of appropriate technical, organizational, economic and social prerequisites; design— implementation of results scientific research in specific projects, including design, technological and other documentation, samples new technology etc.; development- a set of works to expand the production of new products, the implementation of design results.

Metrological support involves the fulfillment of the required volume and accuracy of measurements of product quality indicators, the most complete provision of production with the necessary measuring instruments for this, improvement of the applied measuring instruments and methods, and the creation of new measuring equipment.

Logistical quality assurance combines all activities to create a material base to achieve a given level of quality: providing production with modern technological equipment, high-quality objects of labor, the creation of a test base, the development of instrumental and measuring facilities, the organization of interaction with suppliers of raw materials, materials, components.

Operational quality management involves ensuring the planned level of product quality during its development, manufacture, storage, transportation, marketing and consumption.

Stimulating the improvement of the quality of products and works involves the creation of favorable conditions for the most complete use of the "human factor" of quality assurance. Incentives for quality improvement are divided into material and moral; they should be focused on the efficiency of workers and teams.

Quality control and product testing. The quality control function ensures feedback in the control system. The main types of control over the quality of products, works, services of enterprises are: production, state, inspection and public:

• production, or in-house, quality control is carried out at all stages of production and is carried out mainly by the management personnel of enterprises, as well as by special units (departments, bureaus) technical control. Self-control has also become widespread;
• the main forms of state quality control are: state supervision of compliance with the requirements of standards and measuring instruments, product certification and control over the availability of quality certificates for imported products, departmental quality control;
• inspection control is carried out by bodies, organizations and firms that certify products, or quality management systems this enterprise, including to confirm the validity of certificates;
• public control over quality is realized primarily through consumer societies and associations.

Product testing is a comprehensive quality check carried out according to a special program by departments of enterprises or specialized organizations - testing centers and laboratories.

Product certification is a system of measures and actions that confirm the compliance of the actual product characteristics with the requirements normative documents, mainly standards - international, national, corporate, etc. World practice provides various systems and product certification models, however, any of them is based on some general requirements. As a rule, certification is carried out by independent certification bodies: public, private firms, associations, international organizations for standardization and quality management. The actual process of assessing the conformity of products to regulatory requirements is carried out in specially accredited testing centers and laboratories.

Certification can be voluntary or mandatory. Mandatory certification is subject to products, the characteristics of which are defined as mandatory in the development of regulatory documents for products. The list of products required for certification is determined competent authorities, including state ones, and is constantly expanding.

Organization of work with personnel in the field of quality. Work with personnel should be carried out in two directions: training and advanced training of personnel in the field of quality, i.e. acquisition by employees of the necessary knowledge and skills for the high-quality performance of the assigned functions; activation of the "human factor". This applies to all employees of the enterprise, including management personnel.

The functions of quality management can also include accounting and reporting on quality, technical and economic analysis of product quality, etc. Organization is important for the effective functioning of quality management systems. information support, which should cover all levels of management and all stages life cycle products.

The listed quality management functions are assigned to certain links of the enterprise management system, i.e. determine the structure of the quality management system.

The main links of this structure include: a special service (subdivision) of quality management, marketing, production preparation, technical control, standardization, metrology, staff development, logistics, etc. The coordinator of quality assurance work at enterprises is usually the management service quality, the main tasks of which are: determining the level of product quality at all stages of its "life cycle", control over design developments, technological preparation of production, metrological support, product manufacturing quality; study of the requirements of consumers of products; accounting and analysis of costs for quality assurance; improvement of the quality management system; development of relevant regulatory documents.

Currently, there are no unified forms of quality management in enterprises and organizations. These forms may vary from country to country and from company to company. Many enterprises of the CIS and foreign countries in quality management, they are guided by the international standards ISO 9000, supplemented in recent years by ISO 14000 standards. ISO standards use the concept of “quality loop” and distinguish the following stages and activities for quality assurance, called “elements of the quality loop”: marketing and market research; product design and development; logistics; planning and development of technical processes; production of products; control and testing; packaging and storage; sales and distribution of products; installation and operation; technical assistance and maintenance; disposal after use.

To the basic principles for the creation and operation of quality management systems ISO standards include:

• quality management is essential component management of the organization;
• definition of the quality policy, the responsibility for which and the functioning of quality systems lies with top management;
• development of a quality system taking into account the specifics of the enterprise;
• ensuring confidence that the quality system is correctly understood and effectively used, meets the requirements of the consumer, prevents quality problems, covers all stages and activities, all levels of management;
• documentation of the quality system;
• assessment of the quality system of the supplier by the consumer;
• free choice by the supplier of objects of labor;
• orientation of the system to specific products;
• widespread use of statistical methods of quality control;
• traceability of a product unit and all major quality assurance activities at all stages of its creation;
• use of "quality groups".

ISO 9000 standards suggest that the effectiveness of a quality system must be proven through quality system certification. The objects of verification and evaluation in the course of certification of quality systems are: the quality system, its compliance with a certain model, the state of documentation, quality management activities; product information; organization of production.

Quality management includes all the management functions of developing a quality policy, setting goals, authorities and responsibilities, as well as the planning, quality control and quality assurance processes by which these functions are implemented within the quality system.

Product quality management is a constant, purposeful process of influencing the factors and conditions that ensure the creation of products that are optimal in terms of the requirements imposed on it and ensure its most efficient use.

A factor is a specific force that can change the properties of the starting materials. The factors include objects of labor, means of labor, living labor. Their combination changes the properties of materials in such a way that these properties become capable of satisfying certain needs. The conditions for improving the quality of products are understood as the circumstances, the environment in which the factors for improving quality operate. By the scale of impact, the conditions can be private and general. Particular conditions include the forms of organization of production and labor, the psychological climate in the team, etc. general conditions include market conditions, the current incentive mechanism for high quality products, etc. Conditions have a significant impact on the manifestation of the possibilities of factors. Depending on the conditions, the factors either fully manifest their capabilities, or this manifestation is restrained, and then it is necessary to spend more time and money to improve the quality. One of the most difficult tasks of quality management is to ensure the most harmonious combination of factors and conditions for this activity when developing measures to improve product quality.

A system-integrated approach to the organization of work on quality management in our country began to develop from the mid-1950s, when a system of defect-free manufacturing of products was created in Saratov. This was followed by other systems, such as: KSUKP (comprehensive product quality management system) SBT (defect-free labor system), KANARSPI (quality, reliability, resource from the first products), NORM (scientific organization of work to increase the motor life of engines), and the pinnacle of the development of domestic quality management systems have become integrated product quality management systems (CS PQP), developed in the mid-1970s. These systems were created on the basis of summarizing the experience of quality management both in our country and abroad.

CS UKP is the first system in which enterprise standards became the organizational and technical basis. Many of the approaches used in the CS of the UKP were further developed in the ISO 9000 series "Product Quality Management".

Concentrated international experience product quality management in enterprises is assembled in international standards for quality management. In many countries, these standards are adopted as national ones: in Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, etc. In foreign practice international quality management standards are used in contracting between firms as models for evaluating a supplier's quality assurance system.

In March 1987, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted a set of international standards of the 9000 series "Product Quality Management": 9000--9004. These standards formulated the basic principles of quality systems, which have not lost their relevance at the present time. First of all, it has been established that the quality system is created and implemented at the enterprise as a means of ensuring the implementation of a certain policy and the achievement of the set goals in the field of quality. Therefore, the formulation and documentation of the quality policy by the top managers of the enterprise is considered primary. Management should ensure that this policy is understood, implemented and implemented at all levels of the enterprise.

The quality system should cover all stages of the product life cycle. The life cycle is also called the quality loop.

The quality loop is a closed sequence of measures that determine the quality of goods or processes at the stages of their production and operation.

Fig.1.2

It is usually broken down into smaller steps: marketing, design R&D, planning, purchasing, production or service, inspection, packaging, storage, sales and distribution, installation, technical support and service, after-sales activities, disposal after use.

According to the nature of the impacts on the stages of the quality loop, three areas can be distinguished: quality assurance, quality management and quality improvement.

Product quality assurance is a set of planned and systematic activities that create conditions for the implementation of each stage of the quality loop so that the products meet certain quality requirements. For technical products, quality assurance means that the design and manufacture of the product is ensured in such a way that all its parts and the product as a whole can initially perform the specified functions.

Product quality management is a method and activity of an operational nature. These include process management, identifying various types of nonconformities in products, production or quality systems and eliminating these nonconformities and their causes.

An example of quality management is statistical regulation. technological process using control charts. This method allows you to prevent the occurrence of defects and deviations, so it is preferred to other methods related to quality management by deviations that have already occurred.

Improvement in the quality of compliance with the requirements can be achieved in parallel with a reduction in price (reduced costs, scrap, number of rework). Improving the quality of a project, on the contrary, basically increases costs - a better and more aesthetic project costs a lot of money.

The goal of continual improvement in product quality can be as follows:

* improvement of product parameters;

* increase the stability of the quality of workmanship;

* cost reduction. This is due to the principles of optimization, where any one can act as an optimized parameter, and the rest are restrictions.

Until recently, when solving quality problems, enterprises focused on the technical level of product quality without taking into account market needs. At the same time, it should be noted that the domestic quality management system has made a significant contribution to the development of approaches to product quality management throughout the world. In this issue, domestic experience is taken into account in the development of international standards for quality systems.

The product quality management system is a set of management bodies and management objects, activities, methods and means aimed at establishing, ensuring and maintaining a high level of product quality.

The product quality management system includes the following functions:

Functions of strategic, tactical and operational management.

Functions of decision-making, control actions, analysis and accounting, information and control.

Functions are specialized and common for all stages of the product life cycle.

Management functions for scientific, technical, industrial, economic and social factors and conditions.

In accordance with international standards The ISO 9000 series highlights the quality policy and the quality system itself, which includes the assurance, improvement and management of product quality. With the help of the quality loop, the relationship between the manufacturer of products and the consumer, with the entire system that provides a solution to the problem of product quality management, is carried out.

Thus, product quality assurance is a set of planned and systematic activities that create the necessary conditions for the implementation of each stage of the "quality loop" so that the products meet the quality requirements. In a competitive environment, enterprises will be able to successfully develop by introducing system management product quality. At present, the growing demand for product quality improvement is one of the characteristic features development of the world market.

General (total) quality management (TQC), carried out by firms in Western Europe, the USA and Japan, implies three mandatory conditions:

1. Quality as basic strategic goal activities are recognized by the top management of firms. At the same time, specific tasks are set and funds are allocated for their solution. Since quality requirements are determined by the consumer, there can be no such thing as a constant level of quality. Quality must constantly increase, for quality is an ever-changing goal.

2. Quality improvement activities should affect all departments without exception. Particular attention is paid to improving quality at stages such as R&D, which is due to a sharp reduction in the time needed to create new products.

3. An ongoing learning process (focused on a specific workplace) and increase staff motivation.

The modern development of the quality management system has received as a result of the transition from total quality management (TQC) to total quality management (TQM).

If TQC is quality management in order to fulfill established requirements, then TQM is also the management of goals and the requirements themselves. TQM also includes quality assurance, which is interpreted as a system of measures that gives the consumer confidence in the quality of products.

The TQM system is a comprehensive system focused on continuous quality improvement, minimization production costs and just-in-time delivery. The main ideology of TQM is based on the principle - there is no limit to improvement. With regard to quality, there is a target setting - the desire for “0 defects”, for “0 unproductive costs”, for just-in-time deliveries. At the same time, it is realized that it is impossible to achieve these limits, but it is necessary to constantly strive for this and not stop at the results achieved. This ideology has a special term - "continuous quality improvement" The TQM system uses quality management methods that are adequate to the goals. One of the key features of the system is the use of collective forms and methods of searching, analyzing and solving problems, constant participation in improving the quality of the entire team.

A special place in the world practice of product quality management is occupied by quality circles as a form of attracting enterprise employees to conscious participation in the process of improving product quality, the company's image and their own well-being. Quality circles first appeared in Japan in 1962 and became an important factor in improving the quality and competitiveness of products, which greatly contributed to the advancement of Japan among the leaders in the world market for goods. Since the end of the 70s. the movement to create quality circles has become widespread in many countries of the world (Hungary, USA, France, Germany, Sweden, Yugoslavia, etc.). Their wide dissemination was facilitated by active propaganda, numerous publications, organization of conferences and seminars. A quality circle is a small group (from 3 to 12 people) of workers or employees of one production unit who meet regularly (once a week) and for an hour (during working or non-working hours) discuss the problems that have arisen in their work. Collective forces under the leadership of the leader find solutions production tasks and implement them themselves or with the help of specialists.

The main objectives of quality circles are:

Contribute to the growth and development of the company;

Creating an atmosphere in which respect for each member of the workforce is shown;

Activation of the use of the human factor.

In recent years, in developed countries, the influence of society on enterprises has increased, and enterprises have begun to take into account the interests of society more and more. This has led to the ISO 14000 standards, which set out requirements for quality systems in terms of environmental protection and product safety. ISO 14000 certification of quality systems is becoming as popular as ISO 9000 certification. The influence of the humanistic component of quality has increased significantly. The attention of business leaders to meeting the needs of their staff is increasing.

In the absence of requirements for the quality and competitiveness of products, favorable conditions were created for the monopolization of production, the elimination of competition, and the formation of a shortage. The low quality of products, especially indicators of the resource of reliability and trouble-free products, is a guarantee of an increase in the volume of production of the same products; the costs of eliminating defects and failures, maintaining (repairing) products in working condition.

In fact, with centralized planning and orientation of the economy to gross indicators, the tasks of developing and implementing at the enterprises of the country effective systems qualities were not required.

As a result, the tasks of the X Five-Year Plan (1976-1980) and the XI Five-Year Plan (1981-1985) of intensifying production, improving the quality of products based on the full use of the achievements of scientific and technological progress were not achieved. Most of the enterprises and sectors of the country's economy, using the recommendations of the Central Committee of the CPSU to disseminate best practices in the development and implementation of the Saratov system of defect-free manufacturing of products (BIP) in the country, limited themselves to the introduction of a system of defect-free labor (SBT).

Forecasting needs, technical level and product quality;

Product quality improvement planning

Standardization of product quality requirements

Product certification;

Organization of development and production new products for production;

Organization of technological preparation of production;

Organization of metrological support;

Organization of logistics;

Special training and education of personnel;

Ensuring the stability of the planned level of product quality during its development, manufacture, storage, transportation, marketing and consumption (operation);

Stimulating the improvement of product quality;

Departmental quality control and product testing;

Legal support of product quality management;

Information support of the system.

In order to implement these recommendations, state and industry standards for unified systems of state standardization (SSS), design and technological documentation (ESKD and ESTD), technological preparation for production (ESTPP), development and production of products (SRPP), etc. were developed by the State Committee in Science and Technology (SCST), State Standard, academic and industry institutes, scientists of universities, specialists from leading enterprises developed and proposed methods and techniques ( guidelines, instructions), instructions, regulations, enterprise standards governing the procedure, advanced creative organization and technology for meeting the requirements of state and industry standards in various sectors of the economy.

- one of the most frequently used queries in the search engine. What are they looking for under this concept? The concept of quality is defined in the ISO 9000:2005 standard (the Russian analogue is GOST R ISO 9000-2008) “Quality management systems. Fundamentals and vocabulary” as:

the degree of compliance of the totality of inherent characteristics (distinctive properties) with the requirements (needs or expectations).

And nowhere is it said that quality is compliance with a certain GOST or TU. However, to the question, "What is quality?", the vast majority of employees of any company will answer: "Quality of products / services." To the question "What should it correspond to?" answer: "We have GOST (TU, internal standard ...), which must comply with the quality of products (services) manufactured by our enterprise." Who is responsible for quality? “Quality control inspectors should be responsible for quality. Otherwise, what is the OTC for then? They must check the finished product for compliance with regulatory documents. And no one talks about the quality of management. Unfortunately, all other employees and management do not consider quality to be their concern either. And this is the main problem of quality management. Quality must be built into every process. Nothing will work without this. Thus, from the concept of product quality, we are moving to the next level - to the concept quality of management (management), which can be represented as several levels.

Quality Management Principles

The concept of quality is embedded in the eight principles of the quality management system (QMS):

1. Consumer Orientation. The quality of manufactured goods/services is always determined by consumers. Companies must strive to meet and even exceed the quality demanded by consumers.
2. Leadership. The QMS at the enterprise should be headed by the top management of the enterprise. Without their personal participation and influence, the process of continuous improvement cannot be launched. They must create conditions in the company for the involvement of all employees.
3. Employee Involvement. The improvement process is also impossible without the involvement and management of the enterprise's personnel. Employees must understand their goals and objectives, feel their importance to the company and enjoy their work.
4. Process approach. The process approach permeates the entire organization, determining the sequence of work and the order of interaction of each employee and department.
5. Systems approach. It is not enough to develop processes for the entire organization. It is necessary to combine them with each other and manage as a single system.
6. Continuous Improvement. The company achieves quality through continuous improvement. Process quality and therefore quality management decisions, is provided by standardization of processes, their constant measurement, analysis, improvement.
7. Fact-based decision making. The company ensures stable quality of manufactured goods/services through monitoring and analysis of all processes: main, managerial and auxiliary.
8. Mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers. Building trusting mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers is an important condition for ensuring high-quality raw materials/components. Lean and Theory of Constraints provide excellent, proven solutions for ensuring uninterrupted supply with minimal inventory.

Indeed, to control quality, no certification is necessary. For this, knowledge and desire are enough. But the implemented QMS helps to structure all processes, identify the responsibilities and relationships of each employee, use positive and negative experience for continuous improvement of the company.

Deming's 14 Key Principles

"Father" quality management theory considered to be William Edwards Deming. It was thanks to Deming that Japan performed its economic miracle after World War II. In Japan, Deming's merits were highly appreciated, awarding him one of the highest orders on behalf of the emperor. In addition, a Quality Management Achievement Award was established in the form of a Silver Medal with a Deming Profile.

8 principles of QMS have been developed by ISO Based on Deming's 14 Key Principles:

1. Constancy of purpose. Set a goal for continuous product and service improvement and be determined to achieve it. Allocate resources to ensure long-term goals, not just short-term profits. This is the only way to achieve competitiveness, preserve the enterprise and provide people with jobs.
2. New philosophy. Adopt a new quality philosophy. We can no longer live with the usual level of delays, errors, defects in materials, defects in workmanship. It is necessary to transform the Western style of management.
3. End addiction to mass control. Eliminate the need for checks and inspectors as a way to achieve quality, primarily by building quality into products. Demand statistical evidence of "built-in" quality both during production and in purchasing functions.
4. End the practice of purchasing at the lowest price. Along with the price, demand serious confirmation of its quality. Refuse the services of suppliers who are not able to statistically confirm the quality of their products / services. Seek to establish long-term relationships and mutual trust with one supplier of one type of raw materials / components. The goal in this case will be to minimize the total cost, not just the initial cost.
5. Improve every process. Improve continuously, today and always, all processes. Constantly look for problems in order to improve all activities and functions in the company, improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly reduce costs. Continuous improvement of the system is the first responsibility of management.
6. Put into practice the training and retraining of personnel. Put into practice modern approaches to training and retraining for all employees, including managers and managers, in order to better use the capabilities of each of them. Keeping up with the constant changes in business requires new skills and abilities.
7. Establish leadership. Managers at all levels should be responsible not for bare numbers, but for quality. Managers and managers must ensure that immediate action is taken when they receive reports of defects, malfunctions, poor raw materials, unclear work instructions, etc. that are detrimental to quality. Improving quality automatically leads to increased productivity.
8. Banish your fears. Encourage effective two-way communication and other means to root out fear and hostility within the organization. Any employee who fears his superior cannot properly cooperate with him. Those who experience fear try to hide from those they fear. And how can you expect a full return from people who just want not to be noticed?
9. Break down barriers between divisions, services, departments. People from different functional departments must work in teams in order to troubleshoot problems that may arise with products or services. Most companies are organized along functional lines (purchasing, sales, production, marketing management, etc.), but they must interact.
10. Give up empty slogans and appeals. Refrain from using posters, slogans, and slogans for workers that demand they work without marriage, improve productivity, etc., but do not say anything about methods to achieve these goals. Such calls only cause hostility, because. most of the problems of poor quality and productivity are caused by the system and, thus, their solution is beyond the capabilities of ordinary workers.
11. Eliminate arbitrary numerical norms and assignments. Eliminate work instructions and standards that set arbitrary norms, quotas for workers, and quantitative targets for managers. Replace them with support and assistance from senior management in order to achieve continuous improvements in quality and productivity.
12. Give employees the opportunity to be proud of their work. Eliminate the barriers that rob workers and managers from taking pride in their work. This implies, among other things, the rejection of annual appraisals (assessments of the performance of employees) and management methods by objectives (KPI). And again, the responsibilities of managers, supervisors, foremen must be shifted from achieving purely quantitative indicators to achieving quality.
13. Encourage the pursuit of education. Establish a vigorous self-improvement education and support program for all employees. The organization needs not just people, it needs competitive employees who improve their knowledge as a result of education.
14. Commitment to Quality Improvement and Top Management Efficiency. Clearly indicate top management's strong commitment to continual improvement in quality and performance and their commitment to putting all of the principles discussed above into practice. Establish a structure in senior management that will give impetus to the advancement of the principles discussed above on a daily basis, and act. Statements of support are not enough here, concrete deeds are needed.

An example of how “quality” problems are solved with quality is the well-known Japanese method of solving problems “5 Why” (5 Why). For example, the manager found a puddle of oil in the shop. To understand the cause of this problem, he must ask the question “why?” 5 times:

1. Why is there a puddle of oil on the floor? Because it drips from this machine.
2. Why is it dripping from the machine? Because the gasket is leaking.
3. Why is the gasket leaking? Because it's of poor quality.
4. Why do we use low quality gaskets? Because the purchasing department buys the cheapest.
5. Why does the purchasing department buy the cheapest gaskets? Because the evaluation of the work of the purchasing department depends on obtaining the lowest prices for the purchased goods.

Compare, usually to solve this problem they ask such questions: “Whose machine is this? Whose responsibility is it to change the pads on time? We don't ask "why?". We immediately ask: “Who?”

It is important that by using the 5 Whys methodology we find the true cause of the problem, which lies in the field of evaluating the effectiveness of the purchasing department. If we ask "Who?", we do not look for reasons in the system, we immediately look for the guilty among the workers. As a result, we will find only a "switchman" - a worker responsible for replacing the gasket. But this will not solve our problem.