1. Evolution of the concept of quality

• 1900 the quality of production was responsibility of the worker.
• 1920 The figure of the foreman is introduced in order to supervise the proper execution of the worker’s task.
• 1935. Inspection of pieces is made in order to avoid that they arrive to the customer in bad conditions.
• 1960. Statistics tools are introduced in the inspection and based on them is tried to solve the problems in the production chain.
• 1980. Systems of Total Quality Control are implemented, which seek to achieve quality throughout the production process.
• 1990. Total quality from the management system. This implies a system of continuous improvement in which each part of the process of production ensures the compliance of the requirements established by the customer.
• 1990. Models of excellence in management. Management ideal models are generated, which serve as a reference and inspiration for organisations that adopt it for implementing improvements permanently in the different elements that compose them.

2. What is and is not quality?

Quality has had many definitions over time, the ISO 9001 family of standards quality are fulfilled when the customer considers that the requirements of the product or the services previously established between him and the supplier are satisfied.
A system of quality management helps organisations to ensure that these requirements will be accomplished, either in a product or a service.
To implement a system of management doesn’t mean that the organisation is exempt from making mistakes, surely they will occur, and anyway there will be a system to detect, prevent and correct these mistakes and avoid that they arrive to the customer and after detect and avoid the causes that produced it, so as not happen again, there is an improvement cycle were the mistakes are transformed into opportunities for improvement.
A management system based on the ISO 9001:2008 standard or the EFQM Model of Excellence doesn’t mean a pile of papers and activities that nobody understands. A system well designed and implemented incorporates all requirements of the model of reference adapting them to the cultural and operational reality of the organisation, thus the new tasks proposed by the system are not a burden but a complement of daily activities and contribute through continuous improvement to increase its effectiveness every day and customer satisfaction.
The models of quality management have requirements, not methodologies. That is to say, they say us what we have to do in the organisation, but they don’t say how. How to do things is designed and decided according to organizational characteristics and the resources of the company.

3. What is a System of Quality Management?

A system is a set of elements with certain relations between them. In the organisations the elements that are integrated in a management system are human, technological, financial, cultural, technical resources of infrastructure and materials.
Therefore, a system of quality management is the orderly and systematic interaction of all elements of the organisation, based in a model of reference, with the aim to achieve the requirements and satisfaction of the customer.

4. What organisations are implementing a System of Quality?

There are no limitations for the implementation of a system of quality management; it may be present in a global company or in a familiar one, in an NGO or a financial institution, in a hospital or in a school. What is important is that the organisation has a genuine interest for continuous improvement and for customer satisfaction.