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Klaus J. Zink: Professor at the University of Kaiserslautern, and Director of the Research Institute Technology and Work, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Wolfgang Voss: Wolfgang Voss
Traditional quality understanding
German companies considered quality management and quality assurance to be the same for many years. Quality was mainly a technical task assigned to an engineering department. The focus was on product quality, meaning compliance with specifications from customer orders (Zink, 1998, p. 11). Thus, quality could be defined and measured exactly by (geometric) dimensions, (physical) power, metallurgic properties etc. and respective limits of tolerance.
This understanding led to sophisticated testing procedures at the end of production and assembly lines. Statistical methods were employed not to control processes and reduce spoilage but to prevent defective parts from being delivered to the customer. The system was continuously improved and perfected over the years. It proved successful for a long period of time, rendering the label "Made in Germany" a widely accepted quality mark around the world.
However, times have changed rapidly. International competitors, especially those from Asia and the USA, were more and more successful - abroad and even in domestic markets. Technical expertise and production knowledge spread, excellent product quality was also achieved abroad. Germany suddenly found out it had lost its leading edge. What was even worse, competitors had not only caught up. Being able to produce at lower costs and being quicker in reacting to customer demands, they had even gone in the lead - particularly in the field of mass production.
When competitive pressure grew strong enough, German companies recognized they had to change. Quality control in its wide-spread and very traditional sense as end-of-the-line testing was not up to date any more. It was rather efficient regarding defect rates of outgoing products. But is was just too expensive for keeping up with international competitors. For that reason, prevention-based approaches were introduced. This was the first step to establishing a quality system in many companies, providing the basis for a late boom in ISO certifications.
The ISO 9000 series of standards gave a strong impetus to the quality movement. However, once more Germany did not manage to be at the leading edge. In 1982, BS 5750 was introduced in the UK. German companies mainly considered this...