A Generic Framework for Developing a Quality

Proceedings of the 7th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference 2006 17-20 December 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

A Generic Framework for Developing a Quality Management System (QMS) for Small Manufacturing Organizations Dwi Agustina Kurniawati† Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta 55281 INDONESIA Tel.: +62-274376748, Email: [email protected] M. Y. Noordin Department of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor MALAYSIA Tel.: +60-75534697, Email: [email protected]

Abstract. Most references providing guidelines for developing quality management system (QMS) for small organizations have some shortcomings. These guidelines did not adequately consider the characteristics of small organizations. They also did not explain the transition from the organization’s current situation to the documented QMS itself. There is a missing link (gap) between them. The objective of this research is to develop a guideline, in the form of a generic framework, called the Framework for Developing a QMS for Small Manufacturing Organizations (FDQSMO). The methodology used is derived from literature reviews related to quality, ISO 9001:2000 quality system and previous case studies and frameworks in the quality management area. These four sources provide answers to the factors, concepts and idea that are fundamental and become the basis for developing FDQSMO. FDQSMO considers the characteristics of small organization and the obstacles in implementing ISO 9001:2000. The concepts adopted are management commitment, process approach, system concept, maturity level of QMS, internal motivation, integration of business and QMS objective, QMS based on organizational strategy, measurable, effective and efficient QMS, external assistance, continuous improvement, Plan-Do-Study-Action (PDSA) and dynamic model. The basic idea of FDQSMO is to provide a step by step approach, as a stepping stone towards achieving ISO 9001:2000 standard certification. It is anticipated that FDQSMO can provide a proper guideline for any small manufacturing organizations to develop and implement an effective QMS in order to improve their competitiveness in the global market. Keywords: framework, quality management system, step stone QMS, maturity level, ISO 9001:2000, small manufacturing organization

1. INTRODUCTION The 20th century will be remembered as the century of productivity, whereas the 21th century will come to be known as the century of quality. This was the prediction of Dr. Joseph M. Juran (Schlickman, 2003). Quality has become the key factor for the survival and competitiveness of a company. There is some misunderstanding and misconception about quality, in that some people associate quality with degree of excellence, perfection and the value of an object (Tricker, 2001). This often results in a production-oriented rather than customer-oriented approach (Wilton, 1994). Feigenbaum (1991) defines quality as the total product and

service characteristics of marketing, engineering, manufacture and maintenance through which the product and service in use will meet the expectation of the customer. Juran and Gryna (1988) define quality as “fitness for use”. Some others define quality as customer satisfaction, conformance to requirements and freedom from defects, imperfection or in contamination. The most commonly accepted definition is the one issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), that is, ‘the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy the stated or implied need (Wilton, 1994; Tricker, 2001). Today, customers are not only interested in a product that has high quality; they are also interested in a product

________________________________________ †: University Address: Jalan Marsda Adisucipto, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia. Tel. +62-274589621. Website: http//www.uin-suka.ac.id 249 Home Address: Jalan Kadipaten Kulon no. 27 Yogyakarta, 55132, Indonesia.

Kurniawati and Noordin

QMS, it was also reported from the case studies’ findings of companies that implemented QMS also faced some difficulties, obstacles and barriers, especially small organizations. Based on Mo and Chan (1997), the obstacles faced by the companies in implementing QMS are both technical and cultural obstacles. Small companies also have more limited resources than large companies, so they face more obstacles and barriers than the large ones. Their unique characteristics and limitations contribute to the obstacles and difficulties faced by small organization in implementing the QMS. Reviews of some handbooks in ISO 9000 standard development (i.e. Hoyle, 1994; Wilton, 1994; Badiru, 1995; Dalfonso, 1995; Lamprecht, 1996; Tricker, 2001; Tricker and Sherring-Lucas, 2001), some thesis in QMS development (i.e. Karapetrovic, 1995; Wang, 2001; Robertson, 2002; Yeo, 2002; Azizudin, 2005) and a lot of frameworks that are published in papers and journals (i.e. Ho and Fung, 1994; Hamzah and Ho, 1994; Tang and Tummala, 1996; Mo and Chan, 1997; Pfeifer and Wunderlich, 1997; van der Wiele et al., 1997; Chan et al., 1999; Tannock and Krassachol, 2000; Yusof and Aspinwall 2001; Thiagaragan et al., 2001; Telarc Limited, 2001; Duffy, 2004) were made. From the review of these references, it can be concluded that most of these references do not give adequate guidelines on developing QMS for small organizations. There are two problems identified from these reviews i.e.: - There are insufficient references providing proper guidelines on developing QMS for small organizations. - Guidelines which explain clearly how to translate from the company’s current state to its documented QMS is also not available. Thus, there is a missing link/gap between the company’s current states and the documented QMS itself (Figure 1). All these shortcomings have contributed to the difficulties, obstacles and barriers faced by small organizations in developing and implementing their QMS. The objective of this paper therefore is to develop a generic framework, which provides proper guidelines for small manufacturing organizations to develop their QMS, named Framework for Developing a QMS for Small Manufacturing Organizations (FDQSMO). Proper guideline means a framework that: 1) Consider characteristics and limitations of small organizations, obstacles and barriers faced in implementing QMS as well as other theories and concepts related to quality, ISO 9001:2000 QMS Standard 2) Fills the gap between small

that is delivered at the same level of quality. Consumers need assurance that the product they bought meets their requirement. Customer demands not only a quality product, but also consistency of its quality. An organization can achieve it by having a quality management system (Tricker, 2001). Thus, quality management system (QMS) is important for an organization. Through developing and implementing a QMS, an organization will ensure that the product it produced is able to meet the customer requirement and ensure that the product is constantly at the same level of quality. Organization that has a carefully structured QMS can achieve it ultimate goals for quality assurance and quality control (Tricker and Sherring-Lucas, 2001). ISO 9001:2000 is a QMS standard that is applied and legally accepted all over the world as an international standard for QMS, which is issued by the International Organization for Standardization. The standard specifies the requirements that an organization should comply in order to obtain ISO 9001:2000 certification. ISO 9001:2000 can also be defined as “a management system to direct and control an organization with regard to quality” (Tricker and Sherring-Lucas, 2001). Adoption of a QMS in an organization should be a strategic decision. Design and implementation of an organization’s quality management system is influenced by varying needs, particular objectives, products produced, process employed and the size and structure of the organization. Each company’s quality system is unique and there is no such things as a ‘model system’ (Wilton, 1994). It is not the intent of ISO 9001:2000 to imply uniformity in the structure of the QMS or uniformity of documentation (Department of Standards Malaysia, 2000). It has been reported that by implementing QMS, some benefits will be obtained. The benefits can be in the form of both internal and external benefits. Internal benefits include improvements in the manner jobs are being, reduced defect rate, improvement in the effectiveness of business process, higher knowledge and awareness in quality and better quality management practices whereas external benefits can be in the form of quality image and marketing tool (Rayner and Porter, 1991; McTeer and Dale, 1996; Quazi and Padibjo, 1998; Lipovatz et al., 1999; Casadesus and Gimenez, 2000; Gotzamani and Tsiotras, 2002; Vouzas and Gotzamani, 2005). Others also mentioned that ISO 9001:2000 QMS standard can become a journey and stepping stone towards total quality management (Ho and Fung, 1994; Tang and Tummala, 1996; Vouzas and Gotzamani, 2005). Thus, it can be seen that QMS is important and should be in place in the organizations. Beside benefits obtained from the implementation of

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Kurniawati and Noordin Literature Review of:

Fill up this gap by providing a framework

Basis of FDQSMO:

Quality

Small Organization’s Current state

Missing Link

Documented QMS

ISO 9001:2000

Factors Concepts

Previous Case Studies

Figure 1: Missing Link between Small Organization’s Current State and Documented QMS

Framework for Developing a QMS for Small Manufacturing Organizations (FDQSMO)

Idea

Previous Frameworks

organizations’ current state and the documented QMS. It is important to develop the FDQSMO such that it can be used by any small manufacturing organizations as a tool to develop an effective and efficient QMS by themselves which can then be implemented to improve their competitiveness in this global market.

Figure 2: Basis of the Framework Development

adopts and combines theories and concepts related to quality and the findings from previous case studies and frameworks. Thus, the framework developed can enhance the existing guidelines and also give better guideline than the previous frameworks. Through the literature review, answers for the three questions, factors, concepts and basic idea, are found. The basis for the development of the framework is explained as follows.

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In developing FDQSMO, there are three questions that should be answered and these would become the basis in developing the framework. The questions are what factors, what concepts and what basic idea should be considered in developing the framework. The methodologies applied by previous researchers in developing a framework can be categorized into three groups. First methodology is start from literature study then proposing the framework. This methodology was used by Ho and Fung (1994), LaHay and Noble (1998) and Karapetrovic and Willborn (1998). Second methodology is start from doing case studies then proposing framework. This methodology was used by Mo and Chan (1997). Third methodology is the combination of the two methodologies above that is start from literature study and doing case study then proposing framework. This methodology was used by Yusof and Aspinwall (2001) and Zadry (2005). This research applies the first methodology in developing FDQSMO (Figure 2). This involves a thorough literature study on works related to quality, ISO 9000, previous case studies and frameworks, in order to obtain the factors, concepts, and basic idea that are important and should be considered in developing FDQSMO.

3.1 Factors Need To Be Considered Small enterprises have different definition in each country (Lamprecht, 1996). In Malaysia, based on Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation (SMIDEC), small enterprises are defined as: "small enterprises are enterprises with full-time employees not exceeding 50 or with annual sales turnover not exceeding RM10 million” (SMIDEC, 2005). This definition and those of micro-enterprise and medium-enterprise are given in Table 1. Small and medium-sized industries (SMIs) in Malaysia have played an important role in Malaysia’s industry. They represent more than 80% of the total manufacturing establishments in Malaysia. Also, they contributed to about 30% total output in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector (National Productivity Center, 2002).

3. DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRAMEWORK (FDQSMO) The advantage of FDQSMO, compared to others frameworks, is that the framework developed not only considered the theory related to ISO 9001:2000, it also

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Table 1: Definition of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Micro enterprise Sales turnover of less than RM250,000 or full time employees less than 5

Small enterprise Sales turnover between RM250,000 and less than RM10 million or full time employees between 5 and 50 Source: SMIDEC (2005)

3.2.1 Management Commitment The important prerequisite in implementing quality system is top management commitment (Yusof, 1995; Quazi and Padibjo, 1998). In some frameworks that have been reviewed, it was found that some of the frameworks begin by management commitment, i.e. Tang and Tummala (1996), Chan et al. (1999) and Zadry (2005). Rayner and Porter (1991) reported that management commitment can be related to the benefits obtained. This means that management commitment is a very important concept that should be adopted in developing FDQSMO and during developing QMS. Management commitment should become the first element to exist before the other elements are developed. Without management commitment, the other elements are impossible to be implemented (Chan et al., 1999). Management commitment can be formed in vision, mission, quality policy and quality objectives.

Medium enterprise Sales turnover between RM10 million and RM25 million or full time employees between 51 and 150

Small enterprises have different characteristics compared to the large one. Some of these can be disadvantages for them, for example lack of financial resources and lack of management knowledge. On the other hand there can be advantages for them, for example the simple organization in small enterprise make them more flexible than the large one (Gustafsson et al., 2001; Yusof and Aspinwall, 2001; Chang, 2002; Duffy, 2004; Bhuiyan and Alam, 2005). Beside unique characteristics, small industries also face some obstacles and difficulties in implementing QMS, and these difficulties are the effect of its unique characteristics. Based on the summaries from case studies reviews, small enterprises unique characteristics and the obstacles (barriers) they faced in implementing QMS are as follows: - Quality culture is low - Quality awareness is low - Quality management practice is low - Top management commitment toward quality is low - Knowledge related to quality is limited - Maturity level of quality is low - Limitation of resources (financial and technical) - Limitation in external assistance

3.2.2 Process Approach A process can be defined as “a set of interrelated or interacting activities, which transforms inputs into outputs” (British Standards Institution, 2004). ISO 9001:2000 is made up of many processes and these processes are glued together by means of many input-output relationships. Such input-output relationships turn a loose network of processes into an integrated system. ISO 9001:2000 promotes the adoption of a process approach when developing, implementing and improving the effectiveness of a QMS to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements (Department of Standards Malaysia, 2000). ISO 9001:2000 put the process approach as one of its eight principles (Tricker, 2001; International Organization for Standardization, 2005). The application of a system of processes within an organization together with the identification and interactions of these processes within the system of processes, as well as over their combination and interaction of these processes and their management, can be referred to as the “process approach” (Department of Standards Malaysia, 2000). The process approach is used to enhance organization’s effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its defined objectives. A process approach is a powerful way of organizing and managing how work activities create value for the customer and other interested parties. Thus, by applying the process approach, quality management system is treated as a network of processes. Subsequently, the system developed can be more effective and efficient; and be integrated and in line with the strategy and objective of the company.

Considering the factors above, it is necessary to provide a simple quality system that become the entry-level and step stone QMS (Tannock and Krassachol, 2000). The step stone QMS reflects their current state, simplifies and eases the implementation of the QMS. Thus, factors that need to be considered in developing FDQSMO are: 1) Small industries’ characteristics and limitations relate to its nature. 2) Obstacles and barriers faced by small industries in implementing QMS.

3.2 Concepts Need To Be Considered There are some important concepts that should be adopted in formulating and developing the framework. These concepts are as follows.

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3.2.3 System Concept

implementation of some quality improvement actions. This concept adopted from van der Wiele et al. (1997) is shown in Figure 3. Another concept is adopted from Chan et al. (1999). They proposed a five level quality system model. In this model, it is stated that each organizations has its own maturity level. Then, its maturity level will determine the QMS practiced. Higher maturity level of the organization will drive the organization to implement higher QMS practices. In another words, higher quality system practices requires higher maturity level. It is difficult to implement higher quality management practices with low maturity level. Similarly, it is impossible if an organization has high maturity level to implement low quality management practices. This concept adopted from Chan et al. (1999) is shown in Figure 4.

System concept is a very important concept to be adopted and implemented. ISO 9001:2000 QMS standard adopted system concept as one of its eight principles (Tricker, 2001; International Organization for Standardization, 2005). ISO 9001:2000 applied system approach or system concept, means that all components in the organization are involved and have responsibility in the QMS implementation. Quality is not the responsibility of any one person or functional area, but it is everyone’s job (Besterfield, 2004). The responsibility for quality begins when marketing determines customer’s quality requirements and continues until the product is received by a satisfied customer. The system approach to quality integrates the various function and responsibilities of the different units, and it provides a mechanism to ensure that the goal of the organization is being met through the coordination of the goals of the individual units (Mitra, 1993). By implementing the system concept, departments, factors, activities, processes are managed and treated as a system. Thus, by implementing the system concept, the separate activities, department and function, all can be coordinated and integrated to achieve one company’s goal, objective and direction, termed ‘quality function or quality spiral’ (Juran and Gryna, 1988). System concept will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the system itself rather than if these are managed separately and not treated as an integrated system (Juran and Gryna, 1988; Feigenbaum, 1991).

Maturity level of QMS Higher level

Business Excellence/ Quality Award Level

Lower level

ISO 9000:1994 Level Time

Figure 3: Relationship between Time – Maturity Level (Adopted from van der Wiele et al., 1997)

3.2.4 Maturity Level of QMS Pall (1987) as quoted by Mitra (1993) divides the maturity level of quality into three stages of quality improvements. They are commitment stage - consolidation stage - maturity stage. Hyland et al. (2000) categorized a company’s maturity level based on its implementation of continuous improvement in four levels. They are mature stage - developing stage - immature stage - not applicable. Van der Wiele et al. (1997) proposed a framework to achieve quality award and business excellence by considering the maturity level of the company’s quality system. Concept adopted from van der Wiele et al. (1997) is a positive relationship between time and maturity level of quality system. Maturity level of quality system is growing according to the implementation time of quality improvement action. Implementation time of quality system will make the organization’s maturity level become higher. Longer implementation time of quality improvement action, will result in the higher maturity level of quality system. In another words, maturity level growth needs time. The growth of maturity level requires time of

Level of QMS Practiced Level 5 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Lower level

Higher level

Maturity level of QMS

Figure 4: Relationship between Maturity Level of QMS – Level of QMS Practices (Adopted from Chan et al., 1999) From the theories and concepts adopted above, FDQSMO should consider the company’s current maturity level of QMS. By adopting this concept, the QMS

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3.2.6 Quality Culture

developed by FDQSMO will reflect the company’s current state and consequently small organizations will face less obstacles and barriers in implementing QMS that is developed according to its maturity level rather than without considering its maturity level. By considering maturity level, the small organizations will feel at ease in implementing the QMS. Maturity level of QMS concept is related to the explanation of basic idea of the framework, that is, the mechanism of improvement in FDQSMO. This will be explained in section 3.3.

One factor that should also be considered, besides the maturity level of QMS, is the quality culture. Quality culture is a very important factor to be considered and adopted in making any quality program, including quality management system (Mallak et al., 1997; Quazi and Padibjo, 1998; Duffy, 2004). Mallak et al. (1997) concluded that there is a relationship between quality culture and desired output obtained (i.e. ISO 9000 certification). Understanding an organization’s culture may provide structured and informed guidance. Duffy (2004) emphasized that quality culture is very important to be considered when developing a quality program, especially a quality program for small industries. This is because small industries have unique and different quality culture rather than the large one. Quality culture is build from the collection and integration of knowledge, awareness, company’s believe, habit, understanding and norms (Duffy, 2004). All these elements determine the company’s quality culture. In addition, quality culture can be seen as a component of maturity level of QMS. Quality culture reflects and determines the maturity level itself. Company that has high positive quality culture must have high maturity level of QMS. Conversely, company that has low and negative quality culture will possess low maturity level. Thus, there is a relationship between quality culture and maturity level of QMS. Thus, only with positive quality culture, the QMS will be successfully implemented and can assist the company towards ISO 9000 Certification. Thus, in FDQSMO, quality culture concept should be considered. The framework and QMS that are developed according to the company’s quality culture will be more effective, efficient and easier to be implemented rather than framework and QMS developed that ignore the existing quality culture in the company.

3.2.5 Internal Motivation There is a relationship between the motivation of QMS implementation and the benefits obtained, that is, motivation will determine the benefits obtained. Higher benefits will be obtained when the QMS implementation is driven by internal rather than external motivation. In some research and case studies conducted, it is found that motivation affects the performance and the benefit obtained. Based on previous case studies results, it is found that if organization is driven and motivated more by internal motivation (factors) it will result in obtaining more benefits and higher improvements in its performance rather than if it is driven and motivated by external motivation or pressure ( Brown, et al., 1998). Singels et al., (2001) found that only when an organization is internally motivated for an improvement of its organizational processes, will certification result in an improvement of its performance. Based on Poksinska et al., (2002) research finding, it is stated that motivation for certification may influence the performance of ISO 9000. The overall benefits which the companies gained from the Standard showed dependency on the motivation which initiated the drive for the certification. Gotzamani and Tsiotras (2002) stated that motives driving companies to ISO 9000 certification are particularly significant for its real contribution, since it was proved that they influence both the companies’ performance improvement on TQM issues and their overall benefits from certification. The certification motives will effect on overall certification benefits and performance improvement. Based on these findings, FDQSMO adopts internal motivation concept. Thus, in FDQSMO, the QMS development and implementation is driven by internal motivation of the organization. Internal motivation concept is related to the explanation of the mechanism of improvement in FDQSMO, that is, the basic idea of the framework. This is explained in section 3.3.

3.2.7 Integration of Business and QMS Objectives Schlickman (2003) proposed and emphasized the usefulness and importance of integrating and combining business strategy and QMS objectives. It is stated that the company will gain benefit if it makes and produces QMS by integrating business strategy and QMS objectives. This is similar to the framework proposed by LaHay and Noble (1998). In their framework, they integrated and combined business processes and TQM. FDQSMO adopts this concept. The adoption of this concept will make the QMS developed more effective compared to QMS that do not integrate them (Schlickman, 2003). The integration will affect not only the quality

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3.2.12 External Factors

aspect of the company, but also the company’s bottom line. Thus, the QMS developed is not something that has unreal achievement, but rather it is something that has resulted in real achievement, in terms of its bottom line aspect.

Some case studies reported that it will be very useful and helpful to provide external assistance especially for small industries, as they can give stimulus and become accelerator to the company’s current state. Quazi and Padibjo (1998) reported that the Singapore Government has been successful in driving its SMI’s quality state, because the Government has successfully created positive quality culture through its external assistance to Singapore SMIs. External assistance has been successful in improving and increasing the SMI’s quality culture in Singapore. External assistance, such as involvement and assistance from government, university, institution, or even from the scholar, will become the stimulus and accelerator for the company, especially small industries, to increase and improve its current states. External assistance can improve the small industries’ knowledge of quality, its awareness of quality, its practices in quality management and its belief, understanding and habits in quality. All of these will improve significantly its quality culture and its maturity level of QMS to be on higher level. Thus, external factor is an important concept and should be considered in developing FDQSMO.

3.2.8 QMS Based On Organizational Strategy The QMS developed should be based on organizational strategy (Schlickman, 2003). By doing this, the QMS developed can be in line and support the overall business processes and not just supports the quality section only.

3.2.9 Measurable According to the suggestions of Schlickman (2003) and Duffy (2004), the quality objectives, metrics and targets need to be stated in a measurable manner so that the progress achieved can be tracked thus making it easier for improvement planning. By defining and determining in measurable manner, the quality objectives, metrics and targets can be evaluated and improved easily.

3.2.10 Dynamic Model

3.2.13 Continuous Improvement and PDSA

In order to facilitate any improvement actions, the framework proposed should be a dynamic and not a static model. This concept was adopted also by Dale (1994), Hamzah and Ho (1994), Ho and Fung (1994), LaHay and Noble (1998) and Chan et al. (1999) in developing their model.

Continuous improvement is a very important concept that should not be ignored. Some frameworks that have been reviewed adopted the continuous improvement concept, i.e. Ho and Fung (1994); Pfeifer and Wunderlich (1997); LaHay and Noble (1998); Thiagaragan et al. (2001); Duffy (2004) and Zadry (2005). By adopting continuous improvement, the QMS developed based on FDQSMO can still be improved, revised and enhanced according to the maturity level of the QMS and its quality culture growth. Continuous improvement concept will facilitate the QMS developed to be always updated and revised according to the growth and improvement on company’s maturity level itself. Then, the continuous improvement concept adopted in this framework is performed through Plan-Do-Study-Action cycle (Pfeifer and Wunderlich, 1997; Schlickman, 2003). Continual improvement concept is facilitated by process approach, in which process approach is a concept that has also been adopted in FDQSMO (see 3.2.2). In addition, continuous improvement is as a consequence of the step by step idea and step stone QMS adopted in this framework. It means that the framework provides a step stone or intermediate QMS. With adoption of continuous improvement concept, the step stone QMS or intermediate QMS can still be improved and revised, over time, to become a better QMS. Finally, the organization can achieve

3.2.11 Effective and Efficient QMS Schlickman (2003) emphasized that QMS developed should be effective. It means that QMS developed should be able to achieve targets, goals and objectives that have been determined previously. It will be a useless QMS if the QMS developed fail to achieve and realize all the targets and objectives of the QMS itself. A good QMS is defined as a QMS that is able to achieve and realize the targets, objectives and goals of the QMS that have been determined before. Secondly, Schlickman (2003) suggested when developing an efficient QMS, it is enough to document only what is required. There should not be over documention because it will produce a lot of paperwork and not something that is really needed and required. Thus, an efficient QMS is not developed.

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where it directly implements the ISO 9001:2000 standard QMS (Figure 6). The mechanism for improvement using the step stone QMS is shown schematically in Figure 7. Initially, the small organization will develop a QMS based on the current state for implementation. Then, after a period of time, experience gained from the initial QMS implementation will automatically provide the impetus to enhance and improve the current state of the small organization QMS leading to the next higher state level. The whole cycle is then repeated again.

and comply with ISO 9001:2000 Standard Certification or even go beyond ISO 9001:2000 standard to achieve TQM and business excellence. The idea of step stone or intermediate QMS will be further detailed in section 3.3.

3.3 Basic Idea of the Framework The basic idea of the framework is to “Provide a step by step approach, as a step stone towards achieving ISO 9001:2000 Standard Certification”. Step stone QMS idea is a concept adopted from some previous frameworks. Chan et al. (1999) proposed a quality system model in Coloration Industries in Hong Kong with five levels. Telarc Limited, a quality management system standard institution in New Zealand, proposed the Q-Base Code Standard. Q Base Code is a step stone QMS Standard provided for New Zealand SMEs (Telarc Limited, 2001). Similar to the QBase Code is the step stone QMS provided for SMEs in Thailand, that is TFQSS (Thai Foundation Quality System Standard), developed by the Thailand government for SMEs in Thailand (Tannock and Krassachol, 2000). Explanation of how step by step approach and step stone QMS becomes the basic idea of FDQSMO is described next. From Figure 5, it can be seen that the small organization has a longer path compared to the large organization. It means that the small organization has to comply with many unfulfilled requirements of the ISO 9000:2000 standard because of its low current state compared to large organization.

Higher maturity level, awareness and knowledge

Continuous Improvement

QM QM QM QM QM

ISO 9001:2000 Initial Gap

Small organization

New Gap

Figure 6: New Gap Based on Step Stone QMS Highest state (level)

ISO 9001:2000

Higher state (level)

Improved QMS

Higher state (level)

Improved QMS

Current state (level)

Initial QMS

ISO 9001:2000 Large organization’s Current State

Small Organization’s Current State

Path that should go through (gap between current state and ISO 9001:2000 Standard)

Figure 7: Mechanism of Higher State and Documented QMS Improvement

Figure 5: Gap between Organization’s Current State and ISO 9000:2001 Standard.

Detail explanation of the mechanism for improvement using the step stone QMS is related to maturity level of QMS concept, internal motivation concept and benefits obtained from the QMS implementation. The detail explanation is described next. Firstly, some previous case studies found that QMS implementation will bring about positive impacts where both internal and external benefits will be accrued by the

Thus, the solution suggested is by providing step stone QMSs for small organization. By providing step stone QMSs toward ISO 9001:2000 standard, small organization will ultimately obtain ISO 9001:2000 Certification after following the step by step approach, as the path is not too long. It means that it will be easier for them to follow the new path rather than following the previous or initial path

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companies. The implementation of the step stone QMS (initial QMS) will also bring about these benefits. Secondly, some previous researches also found that by implementing any QMS, with time, improvement in the company’s awareness, knowledge and QMS practices will be achieved. By the time of QMS implementation and quality improvement action, the company’s maturity level improved in the higher level. This is supported by the theory adopted from van der Wiele et al. (1997), in which in their framework, it is said that the maturity level of QMS has positive relationship with the time of implementation (Figure 3). With time of QMS implementation, the organization’s maturity level will become higher. Thirdly, from the theory adopted by Chan et al. (1999), there are five levels in their quality system model (Figure 4). It is stated that the quality management system practices is related to the maturity level. Higher QMS practices require higher maturity level. In another words, higher maturity level will drive higher QMS practice (higher maturity level will drive the organization to implement higher QMS practices). In short, the implementation of any QMS, with time, will result in two things. These are benefits for the small organization who implement it both internal and external benefits and increasing (improvement) in knowledge and awareness in quality and QMS practices in which with time it will be accumulated to make the organization’s maturity level become higher. Then, the mechanism of improvement begins by applying the step stone QMS or initial QMS according to the organization’s current level. With time, the organization will obtain benefits, including increase in quality awareness, quality knowledge and QMS practices, from this implementation. This benefits obtained will be accumulated, to make the organization’s maturity level become higher. Benefit achieved and higher maturity level will become organization’s internal motivation, in which this internal motivation will drive the organization to improve its current QMS and revise according to its new higher state or level. From this scenario, the improvement in QMS practices is driven mainly by internal motivation rather than external motivation. The scenario above will be repeated and become a cycle until the organization achieves its highest level of maturity and its QMS complies with ISO 9001:2000 standard.

4. THE FRAMEWORK (FDQSMO) From the previous description and explanation, the generic framework named Framework for Developing a QMS for Small Manufacturing Organizations (FDQSMO), is developed after considering the factors, concepts and

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ideas mentioned, is shown in Figure 8. In this framework, the organization’s vision, mission and strategy of business must first be determined. Based on these, the management should determine the objectives of business according to the vision, mission and business strategy. From the business objectives that have been determined, the QMS objectives need to be formulated. Thus, QMS objectives should be made in line with the business objectives. These three aspects form the management commitment of the organization and is referred to as the objective section. Based on the objective section, the QMS is developed. QMS in this framework is divided into two parts, the core section and the supporting section. The core section consists of the production process section. This section is compulsory and should exist for any QMS. The supporting section consists of the document control process and the provision of resources process. This section is an additional section that is included in the QMS of organization that has higher level of maturity. For organization that has low maturity level, it can develop a QMS containing only the core section. FDQSMO also has a check section. This section provides the measurement mechanism for checking the result of QMS implementation. The check section measures the improvement achieved towards the QMS objectives. From the objective section, core section and check section, it is then translated to become documented QMS. Thus, QMS developed refers to the FDQSMO that has been customized for the particular organization. FDQSMO can bridge the gap between organization’s current state and the documented QMS. This missing link between both is filled by this framework. Additionally, FDQSMO promotes external assistance as the accelerator to stimulus the improvement of organization. Lastly, FDQSMO has a continuous improvement mechanism. This mechanism is used to facilitate the improvement of the QMS. Through the continuous improvement mechanism, development of the QMS can be always changed and improved according to the improvement of its level (state) or the changing of its condition.

5. CONCLUSION FDQSMO is a framework giving guidelines for small manufacturing organizations to assist them in developing QMS. FDQSMO considers small organization characteristics. It provides for a step by step approach and is a step stone for developing QMS. FDQSMO also considers the maturity level of the organization in that the QMS developed is according to its maturity level. It emphasizes on the existence of management commitment during the development and implementation of the QMS, in


External Assistance

Vision-Mission-Strategy of Business Business Objectives QMS Objectives

CI CI

Core Section CI

Documented QMS

Supporting Section

Check/Measures

Figure 8. The Generic Framework of Developing a QMS for Small Manufacturing Organizations (FDQSMO)

Through FDQSMO, the missing link between the organization’s current state and the documented QMS is filled. In implementing FDQSMO, the organization should first customize the FDQSMO based on its own state. Then, based on the customized framework, it is translated to become the documented QMS. Thus, FDQSMO bridges the gap between organization’s current state and its documented QMS. Finally, through FDQSMO implementation, it is hoped that small manufacturing organizations can used it to assist them in developing and implementing an effective QMS easily, with less obstacle and difficulties, through step stone QMSs and using a step by step approach, thus making them more competitive in the global market.

the form of presenting and determining the vision, mission, quality policy and objectives. The quality objectives should be measurable to ease measurement and for improving the quality objective itself. FDQSMO adopts and proposes the mechanism of internal motivation that drives the development and implementation of QMS. FDQSMO is a generic framework, consider and develop QMS according to the organization’s maturity level, adopts continuous improvement and uses the step by step approach in applying the framework. These means FDQSMO includes a dynamic model in which the framework can be always changed depends on the organization’s state or condition, that is initial QMS and complete QMS. FDQSMO also promotes the integration of the QMS and the business objectives. This integration will make the implementation of QMS not only to support the quality aspect, but also to support the achievement of the whole business objectives. For this, QMS objectives should be made in line with the business objectives. FDQSMO also considers the quality culture of the organization. It is important to make an effective QMS. FDQSMO also promotes any external assistance, as a stimulus, to accelerate the organization’s state to become higher.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT Kurniawati, D.A wishes to thank UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta for the scholarship given during the course of this research.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES Dwi Agustina Kurniawati is a lecturer in Industrial Engineering Department, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta. She received B.Eng in Industrial Engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) Indonesia in 2003. In 2006 she received M.Eng in Advance Manufacturing Technology from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Malaysia. Her teaching and research interests are in manufacturing, quality, production system, operation research and mathematical modeling. Her email address is Dr. Noordin bin Mohd. Yusof is an Associate Professor at the Department Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. He has taught numerous manufacturing and industrial engineering related subjects. His research interests are in machinabilty studies, hard turning, application of design of experiments techniques and quality. His email address is