ABSTRACT
In earlier chapters we have seen how the keystone of quality management is the concept of customer and supplier working together for their mutual advantage. For any particular organization this becomes ‘total’ quality management if the supplier/customer interfaces extend beyond the immediate customers, back inside the organization, and beyond the immediate suppliers. In order to achieve this, a company must organize itself in such a way that the human, administrative and technical factors affecting quality will be under control. This leads to the requirement for the development and implementation of a quality management system that enables the objectives set out in the quality policy to be accomplished. Clearly, for maximum effectiveness and to meet individual customer requirements, the management system in use must be appropriate to the type of activity and product or service being offered.
