According to ISO 9000:2005, quality is, “[the] degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.” ISO 9000:2005 also defines the terms characteristic and requirement. Characteristic is defined as, “distinguishing feature.” Requirement is defined as, “need or expectation that is stated, generally implied, or obligatory.” So, replacing the words with their definitions, we arrive at the following definition for quality: “[the] degree to which a set of inherent distinguishing features fulfills needs or expectations that are stated, generally implied, or obligatory.”

Roughly, a quality product is one that meets the needs of the customer. For metal products, customers often state their needs in terms of material composition requirements, dimensional and tolerance requirements, finish requirements, etc. Such product requirements are typically captured on blueprints. When a supplier provides a customer with parts meeting all requirements stated on a blueprint, the parts are considered to be of good quality. When parts do not meet applicable requirements, they are not considered to be quality parts. Even when all product requirements are met, the issue of quality is not closed. Customers typically also have needs or expectations for timely delivery, proper packaging and paperwork, etc. The degree to which these needs or expectations are met also impact customers” perception of quality.

In some cases, customer needs or expectations are not stated. On a cold snowy day, a deli patron would not need to state that she wants her chicken noodle soup to be served hot. If the soup arrived cold, the patron would rightly send it back because it does not meet her (unstated) expectation of hot soup. Cold chicken noodle soup is not quality product.

In still other cases, organizations are obliged to comply with product requirements that may be unknown to the customer. For example, medical devices are subject to many statutory and regulatory requirements (e.g., FDA, MDD) that pertain to all medical devices, regardless of  the customer or manufacturer. An organization engaging in the manufacture of medical devices is obliged to comply with all such requirements–else the product is not deemed suitable for customers in the first place.

Quality is precisely what customers expect of a product when they decide to purchase it. When a customer awards an order to a supplier, the  supplier is expected to provide quality–good product delivered on time. In other words, when supplier organizations accept orders, they are expected to keep their promises of quality. So in the end, quality can be thought of as keeping promises.

One of the most difficult things that potential clients have to cope with is how to choose a good consultant.  Unfortunately it is almost immpossible to be certain because they all tell you that they are the best and who is to know what information is important if you have never heard it before.

A few weeks ago this question was posed of Cavendish Scott by a potential client – now a client in progress.  And what a good question!  Why? Because the question asks you to choose between two important factors but you have to be good at both.  In fact this is often the reason why many consultants don’t do a good job.

Here is our response:

This is a technical standard.  If you half-heartedly address half of one of the requirements (even if you are applying it in spirit) then you will get a nonconformance and you might fail your audit.  You have to be technical on every requirement on every occasion or it may cost you.  We have tools that we use to ensure we cross our T’s and dot our I’s.  We don’t make mistakes like this.  We guarantee it (in writing).

Over the years, our immersion in the standard and demands of many customers keep our focus on the true purpose of the standard – improvement in quality performance.  You cannot improve if the system is overly burdensome, has too much bureaucracy or is difficult to maintain.  The standard requires none of these but actually encourages unique solutions based on each individual company.  We tailor your existing system, matching the requirements of ISO to what you do at the moment not asking you to change.  Where there are new things that the standard requires for you to do, we ensure an appropriate level of discipline and control that is very practical for your type of organization.  For instance it is not necessary for you or any people in your organization to be experts in ISO.  That just doesn’t work.  There is no ISO requirement and trying to remember all the requirements is expensive.  Our solutions prove you have addressed ISO in a practical way and provide you with the technical tools to demonstrate it.

Bottom line is that we are very practical.  We don’t blatantly demand improvement (formalization and discipline is often improvement enough).  We support positive practical solutions that make sense for your organization and (almost) co-incidentally, but very technically and precisely meet the requirements of ISO.