ABSTRACT
The world of quality is expanding exponentially. All over the world, quality seems to be in the driver’s seat; however, with this globalization many problems and opportunities have risen primarily due to inconsistent standards in the market place. What the international standards have tried to do-and seem to be very successful in doing so-is to standardize a minimum level of quality. This chapter focuses on these standards and summarizes their contribution to quality. Specifically, the chapter addresses the ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and QS-9000. Furthermore, it addresses some of the issues of the proposed TE-9000, and Zl . l l . Finally, it presents a short discussion on both the Q1 and TQE programs of Ford Motor Co.
