ISO 9004-4 1993 Standard in Plain English

Guidelines for Creating Quality Improvements

ALSO SEE  ISO 9001 2008 TRANSLATED INTO PLAIN ENGLISH

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Quality improvement 

• Quality improvement refers to a set of activities whose purpose 
  is to enhance efficiency and effectiveness for the benefit of the
  organization and its customers. Improvements can be achieved by
  looking for ways to improve process efficiency and effectiveness.

• Quality systems should generate quality improvements. 
  Your quality system should encourage and support 
  continuous quality improvement. 

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Develop an
improvement
program 

• Design and develop a quality improvement
  program. Your program should:

  • Improve your organization's ability 
    to serve the needs of its customers.

  • Show people how to use quality 
    improvement tools and techniques. 

  • Help people to identify quality improvement 
    opportunities (quality losses). 

  • Explain how quality improvement projects 
    should be planned and executed. 

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Create a
sociocultural
environment
that supports
improvement 

• The following values describe a sociocultural environment 
  that supports and encourages continuous quality improvement.
  Managers can help create this environment by:

  • Trusting employees. 

  • Respecting employees.

  • Encouraging cooperation.

  • Respecting and supporting teamwork.

  • Respecting and supporting individualism.

  • Encouraging employees to trust each other.

  • Encouraging employees to respect each other. 

  • Transmitting a sense of purpose or mission. 

  • Allowing employees to control their own work. 

  • Encouraging open and honest communication.

  • Giving employees access to corporate information.

  • Setting a good example by improving work quality. 

  • Making quality improvement an important
    part of every employee's job description.

  • Involving both customers and subcontractors 
    in the quality improvement process. 

  • Encouraging employees to meet the needs, wants, 
    and expectations of internal and external customers.

  • Recognizing and rewarding individuals and groups
    who make important contributions to quality and
    quality improvement.

  • Giving employees the power, ability, and resources
    to improve the quality of their own work activities
    and immediate environment. 

  • Encouraging everyone to learn as much as they
    can about quality and about how to improve
    quality on a continuous basis. 

  • Ensuring that all education, training, and
    awareness programs support quality and
    encourage quality improvement.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Reduce or
avoid quality
losses 

• Reduce or avoid quality losses by exploiting 
  every chance to improve quality.

• Quality losses can be caused by:

  • Decrease in customer goodwill or satisfaction.

  • Failure to take full advantage of employee talent. 

  • Waste or misuse of physical and financial resources. 

  • Inability to exploit every chance to add more value.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Create
a structure
that supports
improvement 

• Develop an organizational structure that supports quality
  improvement. Such an organization would have methods 
  which can be used to:

  • Identify quality improvement opportunities. 

  • Develop quality improvement objectives. 

  • Allocate resources to achieve these objectives. 

  • Grant the authority to make quality improvements. 

  • Distribute the responsibility to make improvements. 

  • Guide and coordinate quality improvement activities.

  • Monitor and measure quality improvement progress. 

  • Review and evaluate quality improvement results.

• Make sure that all members of your organization are 
  encouraged to recommend quality improvements.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Define quality
improvement
responsibilities 

• Define and distribute the following quality improvement
  responsibilities. Your organization should:

  • Develop plans to improve work processes. 

  • Monitor quality losses and improvements. 

  • Ensure that every process is oriented towards quality.

  • Expect open communication between departments. 

  • Identify the needs of internal and external customers.

  • Ensure that suppliers understand customer needs. 

  • Ask people to look for improvement opportunities. 

  • Monitor and control quality improvement projects. 

  • Evaluate quality improvement projects.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Develop an
improvement
planning
process 

• Develop a quality improvement planning process and
  incorporate this into your business planning process.
  Your quality improvement planning process should:

  • Identify and address quality losses. 

  • Uncover quality improvement opportunities. 

  • Develop quality improvement objectives. 

  • Define strategies to achieve these objectives. 

  • Involve all personnel in the planning process. 

  • Ask for input from customers and suppliers. 

  • Ensure that implementation is monitored. 

  • Arrange to evaluate quality system changes.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Develop an
improvement
measurement
system 

• Develop a quality improvement measurement
  system. Your measurement system should:

  • Pinpoint quality improvement opportunities (losses). 

  • Evaluate quality improvement results. 

  • Measure and monitor:

    • Customer satisfaction. 

    • Process efficiency. 

    • Resource utilization. 

    • Environmental impact. 

    • Professional development.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Develop an
improvement
review
procedure

• Develop a procedure that managers can use to review 
  quality improvement activities. This review procedure 
  should ensure that your:

  • Organizational structure supports quality improvement. 

  • Quality improvement planning process functions properly. 

  • Quality improvement measurement system is effective. 

  • Quality review results are considered
    at the next planning session.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Carry
out quality
improvement
projects 

• Plan your quality improvement projects.

  • Select a quality improvement topic.

    • Select a quality loss that must be prevented, or

    • Select a quality process that must be improved.

  • Prove that there is a need for the project.

  • Appoint a team to carry out the project.

  • Define the project's purpose and scope.

  • Develop a schedule to control progress.

  • Allocate resources to carry out the project.

• Execute your quality improvement projects.

  • Investigate the loss and prevent or correct it.

    • Clarify the nature and extent of the loss.

    • Analyze the factors that actually cause the loss.

    • Review alternative corrective or preventive actions.

    • Formulate actions to correct or prevent the loss.

    • Implement corrective and preventive actions.

    • Confirm that your actions created an improvement.

    • Verify that changes didn't cause bad side effects.

  • Investigate the process and improve it.

    • Identify and define process problems.

    • Analyze the factors that cause problems.

    • Review alternative corrective or preventive actions.

    • Formulate actions to address problems and causes.

    • Implement corrective and preventive actions.

    • Confirm that your actions created an improvement.

    • Verify that changes didn't cause bad side effects.

  • Find ways to sustain the improvement in quality.

    • Provide training.

    • Modify procedures.

    • Update specifications.

    • Revise job descriptions.

    • Improve process controls.

• Monitor and control all quality projects.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

Analyze the
facts before
you decide to
make quality
improvements 

• Use the following kinds of tools and techniques to collect 
  and analyze data and to discover what the facts are before 
  you make quality improvement decisions:

  • Flow charts

  • Histograms

  • Benchmarking

  • Tree diagrams

  • Control charts

  • Pareto diagrams

  • Affinity diagrams

  • Scatter diagrams

  • Cause and effect diagrams

  • Special forms to collect data

• Make sure staff members have been trained 
  to use these kinds of tools and techniques.

ISO 9004-4: 1993

PRAXIOM RESEARCH GROUP LIMITED
9619 - 100A Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T5K 0V7, Canada
Telephone: (780)461-4514 info@praxiom.com

Updated on November 3, 2008. On the Web since May 25, 1997.