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INTRODUCTION
In recent years there has been scant growth in the number of UK companies becoming registered to BS 5750 1!, the UK national standard for quality systems which is updated in 1987 2! and on which the equivalent international--ISO 9003 3! standards are based.
According to the British Standards Institution (BSI), the basic principles of the standard are applicable to any industry (whether manufacturing or service sector) and to all sizes of company, and the benefits of incorporation of BS 5750 into the workplace are potentially numerous. The spectrum of principle benefits includes: a first-class marketing tool, improved customer satisfaction leading to increased competitiveness and profitability, improved export markets, customers less likely to insist on their own audits thus saving time and money, quality costs reduced, and improved company morale as quality rises.
Research into issues associated with BS 5750 has already been undertaken in the UK, the studies focusing on a small group of companies located in England 4! or on specific industry sectors such as the textile industry 57! where the uptake of BS 5750 has been poor. In contrast to previous studies, the present study focuses specifically on Scottish manufacturing industry and covers the full spectrum of industry sectors. It aims to determine the view of Scottish manufacturing companies of BS 5750, its benefits and the problem areas associated with it.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY
Questionnaires were sent to 80 Scottish manufacturing companies, currently registered to BS 5750 Part 1, Part 2 or Part 3, which were randomly selected from the 1990 Scottish Development Agency Register of Quality Assessed Scottish Companies. The questionnaires were addressed to the contact name supplied in the register: 52 companies (65 per cent) responded.
The questionnaires consisted of 20 questions covering five main areas: company details, BS 5750 in operation, auditing the standard, quality management, other comments.
RESULTS
COMPANY DETAILS
The companies included in the survey covered primary, secondary and tertiary industry sectors and were equally split in size terms, there being 34 per cent with fewer than 100 employees, 34 per cent with 100-500 employees and 32 per cent with more than 500 employees. Distribution by turnover (in L millions) was as follows: less than L5m (33 per cent), L5-10m (14 per cent), L10-50m (27 per cent)...