9.3.2 Product Quality Management Systems

Product quality ^{* is} laid at the stages of research and design, is provided in the manufacturing process and maintained at the stage of operation or consumption. Thus, product quality management is carried out at all the listed stages through the implementation of appropriate actions.

As an object of management, product quality also has the following features that influence the nature of its management process:

- in terms of its structure, product quality is a hierarchical system of properties, in which the properties of each previous level are determined by the simpler properties of subsequent levels;

- a significant impact on quality has a time factor, which is associated with the moral and physical aging of the product;

- the level of individual indicators of product quality in the transition from one stage of the life cycle to another (research - development - manufacturing - operation) tends to decrease;

- the need for additional costs to maintain the level of product quality in the field of exploitation of consumers.

The need for a systematic approach to managing product quality stems from the diversity and interconnectedness of external and internal factors and conditions affecting quality, from the continuity of its formation and ensuring throughout the life cycle, from the participation in this process of all elements of the production and exploitation or consumption sphere. Comprehensive quality management is a modern form of management - an enterprise management system in a market environment focused on achieving commercial success through the production of products of the required level of quality.

An integrated approach to quality management began to be embodied in the 50s of the twentieth century. in the creation and widespread introduction in the enterprises of developed countries of product quality management systems (quality systems).

The first major step in this direction in our country was the creation and implementation in 1955 of the Saratov system of defect-free production of products and putting it to the technical control department and the customer from the first presentation (BIP system). All subsequent years, the system methods of quality management have developed and been practically tested at the enterprises of the country (systems: KANARSPI - quality, reliability, life from the first products; NORM - scientific organization of work on increasing motor potential; SBT - system of defect-free labor, STI - scientific organization of labor, production and management, etc.).

The generalization of experience and the development of systematic quality management methods led to the development in the early 70s of the basic provisions of an integrated product quality management system (CC UKP). This system connected all the best and progressive in that period, which was characteristic of previous systems.

The basis of the KPP PCS was the general organizational principles and the uniform methodology for organizing quality management work, which were not dependent on production specifics and were acceptable to most enterprises. The organizational and methodological basis of the CC UKP was the standards of enterprises, and on the basic provisions, principles of development and operation of the CC UKP were developed GOSTs.

Other industrialized countries (USA, Germany, England, Japan, etc.) also carried out work on the creation of quality systems, which are reflected in the relevant national standards. The experience of the largest firms in many countries in quality management, characterized by a wide variety of concepts and methods for the formation of quality systems, was compiled by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the ISO 9000 series of international standards (MS). Today, the ISO 9000 standards are accepted as national standards. practically in all developed countries of the world, including Russia. We have developed and operate GOSTs based on these standards [8,9].

The ISO 9000 standards are increasingly used in contracting between firms as models for evaluating the supplier’s quality assurance system. At the same time, the compliance of such a system with the requirements of ISO standards is viewed as a definite guarantee that the supplier is able to fulfill the requirements of the contract and ensure consistent product quality. Therefore, contracts include a condition for the need for such compliance, supplementing the requirements for a product or service, as reflected in the relevant standards or technical conditions.

In accordance with the MC , a quality system is understood as a set of organizational structure, responsibility, procedures, processes and resources, ensuring the implementation of general quality management. According to the methodology of MS ISO 9000, the quality system should be focused on specific market needs. It serves as a tool for the implementation of the main directions, goals and objectives, i.e. enterprise policy in the field of quality . The formation of a quality policy is original in quality activities. At the same time, the responsibility for determining this policy, as well as for decisions concerning the development, implementation and operation of a quality system, lies with the management of the enterprise.

The quality system ^* must meet the following requirements:

• customer requirements for a product or service must be met;
• problems (defects) should be warned, and not detected after the occurrence;
• if a defect or non-compliance is allowed, the system must ensure that they are detected;
• the system must ensure that no further production or the consumer of the detected defective or inappropriate products is admitted;
• the system should ensure continuous and widespread improvement of products, elements of production and quality systems.

The quality system, covering all stages of the product life cycle - from marketing to disposing of products after use, functions alongside and in cooperation with all other activities affecting quality. Therefore, the quality system is considered as an integral part of the enterprise management system as a whole, integrated into production. However, today it is not just one of many production management subsystems. The practice of foreign management indicates the feasibility of giving the quality policy a priority role among other areas and aspects of the firm’s activities. This determines the priority of the quality system in the enterprise as a tool for implementing this policy.

The functioning of the quality system involves the involvement of all personnel of the company, including workers. The implementation of the objectives of the quality system is ensured by technical, administrative and human factors affecting the quality of the products produced.

The quality system is designed to ensure the quality of specific products, and therefore, in an enterprise producing various types of products, it can include quality subsystems for each type of product.

Coordination of quality management is usually carried out by a department or one of the departments of the enterprise specially created for this purpose. The organizational and legal basis of the quality system are state, industry standards, as well as enterprise standards for product quality management.

Work on the further development of the principles and methods of quality management led to the creation of the concept of total quality management (TQM - Total Quality Management). The concept of TQM is based on the fact that in modern conditions the solution of the quality problem is increasingly determined by the human factor, i.e. the attitude of people to work and the attitude of managers towards personnel. At the same time, the concept of TQM is based on such concepts as corporate (corporate) culture, leadership style ^* , democratization of management. The main task of the leadership is to initiate the creative potential of workers in a certain direction. The concept places quality at the center of all production activities that predetermine customer satisfaction and, as a result, improve the economic and social position of the enterprise.

TQM goes far beyond product quality assurance; it permeates the very essence of management. This gave grounds for American scientists to call the fourth-generation TQM approach. It is important to note that the concept of the ISO 9000 standards is not an alternative to the TQM concept. Moreover, in the words of A. Feigenbaum - the founder of integrated quality management, these two types of movement are partners in achieving a common goal, but at different stages of the enterprise’s movement towards quality. The standards are ISO standards and TQM is an evolutionary development.