'INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION' (ISO) HAS IMPROVED THE DEFINITION OF 'QUALITY'

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has defined 'quality' from time to time in its documents and standards.

ISO 8402:1994, Quality management and quality assurance - Vocabulary, an ISO standard published in 1994, defined quality as "totality of characteristics of an entity that bears on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs." In this definition, the meaning of 'entity' refers to include an activity, a process, a product, a service, an organization, a system, a person or combination thereof.

With publication of the revised standards in the year 2000, ISO 9000:2000 standard replaced the ISO 8402:1994 standard. The revised standard ISO 9000:2000 and also its revised edition ISO 9000:2005, Quality management systems - Fundamentals and vocabulary, defined quality as "degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements" together with following clarifications:"
- The term 'quality' can be used with adjectives such as poor, good or excellent.
- 'Inherent', as opposed to 'assigned', means existing in something, especially as a permanent characteristics.

In September 2015, a new version ISO 9000:2015 QMS standard has been published, which has replaced its earlier version and it defines quality as "degree of which a set of inherent (opposed to assigned, means existing in the object) characteristics (distinguishing features) of an object (that may be an entity, item or anything perceivable or conceivable, such as: product, service, process, person, organization, system, resource) fulfills requirements (needs or expectations that may stated, generally implied or obligatory)." It is also clarified that the term 'quality' can be used with adjectives such as poor, good or excellent.

ISO 9000:2015 standard also explains the fundamental concept of quality in its Para 2.2.1 that can be summarised as under:
- An organization, which focuses on quality, promotes a (proactive) culture in the organization.
- The culture of the organization results in certain behaviour, attitudes, activities and processes of the organization.
- Such behaviour, attitudes, activities and processes of the organization deliver value that fulfills the needs and expectations of customers as well as of interested parties.
- The quality of organization's product/service is determined by (i) the ability of such product/service to satisfy customers, and (ii) the intended and unintended impact of such product/service on relevant interested parties.
- The quality of a product/service includes intended functions and performance of such product/service and also perceived value and benefit to the customer.

With the above, we find that although ISO has now improved the definition of quality, however there is no shift in the meaning of quality in the ISO definition and it now pin points an object (means an entity, item or anything perceivable or conceivable), which may be a product, service, process, person, organization, system, resource that can be material (such as, equipment), immaterial (such as, planned schedule) or imagined (such as, future state of a product) with the same earlier meaning.

With best wishes,

Keshav Ram Singhal

The author has posted an article "Need to look afresh on quality" in September 2011 - CLICK HERE to read the article.

For details on the Training Handbook on ISO 9001:2015 QMS Awareness, please CLICK HERE.

Thanks.