Unravelling A Standard Called Qs-9000

Like IS-O9000, the goals of QS-9000 also speak of continuous improvement, reduction of defection, variation and waste. But, in reality, they're so advanced in setting standards that they go beyond the clauses of ISO-9001.

This new quality system standard unknown till recently to Indian industries has caught the eyes of the many of the 350 delegates at the fourth CII Quality Summit '96 being held in Bangalore.

"As Indian companies have identified ISO-9000 as the first step towards TQM, QS-9000 certification is all set to become the next milestone and reaching closer to the door of TQM," says A A Pandit of Menon and Menon Ltd, the first Indian company to receive this certification. QS-9000 is an ISO-9001-based quality system standard developed by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, the Big Three automobile giants of US. For years, the stringent controls in every function of the business, implemented by them have always been considered as guide poles by automotive sectors in many countries including India.

 

While ISO-9000 has received international acceptance as minimum basic requirement for any company to trade its products in European market and also to retain its share in the domestic market (till date the number of ISO-9001 or ISO-9002 certified Indian companies have crossed the figure of 2500.). The QS-9000 was originally, a quality system applicable to the automotive sector.

The birth of QS-9000 began when the Big Three decided to join together in 1992 to reduce redundancies and multiple demands on their suppliers, which resulted in the formint of a task force to standardise their quality system requirements for their suppliers. Today, besides the original Big Three, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Renault and Fiat have already subscribed to QS-9000 while many other OEMs are in the process of getting into it. But, Pandit insists that the standards presently applicable to automotive sectors, will be applicable to any other industry and may be merged with ISO, so to have a universally accepted quality standard. Other industries such as steel and electronics are considering adopting their own industry specific quality requirements similar to the one set by the Big Three.

As the first QS-9000 certified company in India, Menon and Menon Ltd, in Kolhapur, has already a stream of visitors dropping in every day curious to learn more.