ISO 9000 QMS & TQM Performance Measure: Analysis of pilot study

Manufacturing companies in India have never had it so tough, after having the contend with recent economic crisis and witnessing the global slow down, they are now confronting with the increase in prices of raw materials, interest rates, high customer expectation on the quality of products and services. Given the competitive pressure, many manufacturing companies continuously seek ways to improve quality. Quality Management System (QMS) is a centered activity associated with continuous improvement in the performance of organizations. QMS has many challenges to the managers as a common matter of interest is to satisfy the customers & the ability to sustain global competitive pressure for long-term success. ISO 9000 and Total Quality Management (TQM) are the two approaches that claim that, if implemented in industries, it gives competitive advantage to survive in global market. However this is an important issue for any organization to start either with ISO 9000 or TQM as business strategy. In view of assessing this important issue a pilot study was conducted for ISO 9000 certified and TQM practicing manufacturing industries located in central India. The findings of the study provides useful information and empirical investigations about measuring performance and justifies the need of improvements on various quality management practices under ISO 9001:2000 QMS as compared to TQM practicing industries.