Prelims

Half Title Page

Quality Management: Tools, Methods, and Standards

Title Page

Quality Management

Tools, Methods, and Standards

Edited by

Marco Sartor

University of Udine, Italy

Guido Orzes

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

United Kingdom – North America – Japan India – Malaysia – China

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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First edition 2019

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ISBN: 978-1-78769-804-8 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78769-801-7 (Online)

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Contents

About the Editors

Guido Orzes is Assistant Professor in Management Engineering at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy). He is also Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter Business School (UK) and Visiting Scholar at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (USA).

His research focuses on international sourcing and manufacturing and their social and environmental implications. He has published more than 50 scientific works on these topics in leading operations management and international business journals (e.g., International Journal of Operations and Production Management, International Journal of Production Economics, International Business Review, and Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management) as well as in conference proceedings and books.

He is involved (as work package leader or co-investigator) in various EU-funded research projects on global operations management and Industry 4.0, including SME 4.0 – Industry 4.0 for SME (Marie Skłodowska-Curie RISE), European Monitor on Reshoring (funded by the EU agency Eurofound), and A21Digital Tyrol Veneto (Interreg V-A Italia-Austria).

He is Associate Editor of the Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods and member of the board of the European division of the Decision Science Institute.

Marco Sartor is Associate Professor of Quality Management and Industrial Economics at the University of Udine. He has been Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter (UK) and Visiting Scholar at the University of South Florida (USA) and University of Rhode Island (USA). Marco Sartor’s research interests are related to international sourcing and manufacturing, quality management, and reshoring. He has published many scientific papers on these topics in leading international journals, including International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, and International Business Review.

He is the coauthor of two international books: Sourcing in China (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) and Sourcing in India (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). He is the coeditor of the book, International Operations Management (Gower, 2012).

He is a founding member and the President of ALIg, a no-profit professional network gathering hundreds of management engineers. He is also the shareholder of an academic spinoff (Innov@ctors). Marco is the President of the European division of the Decision Science Institute.

About the Authors

Federico Accerboni, graduated in Management Engineering, completed his studies in Italy at the University of Udine and then in Canada at the University of Windsor. He has analyzed the evolution of ISO/IEC 27001 collaborating with local companies.

Giovanni Atti is a past President of the Italian Association of Management of the Procurement and is an expert in business organization, particularly with regard to supply management processes.

Chiara Campailla graduated in Environmental Engineering and began her career in the field of applied environmental research, thus acquiring the main skills inherent to the management of the most widespread environmental problems. Since 2009, she has collaborated with Vistra, mainly dealing with the development of environmental and safety management systems in international projects both private and funded by international institutions.

Erik Cescon after gaining experience as a consultant in an international advisory company, he now works in a company leading the Home Automation sector; crossing Quality, Operations, and IT Department. He has consolidated his position in Finance and Controlling Department as a Business Controller.

Mauro Coletto is Digital and Business Analyst in Ferrari S.p.A. He received an MBA degree from Collège des Ingénieurs (Italy – Turin) and a Ph.D. degree from IMT School for Advanced Studies (Italy – Lucca) in “Computer, Decision, and Systems Science”. He graduated in Information Management Engineering at the University of Udine in 2012.

Giovanna Culot (MA, MBA) is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, focusing her research mostly in the areas of quality management, global operations, and new technological trajectories, such as Industry 4.0. She has a prior professional experience of more than 10 years in the industry (Fincantieri) and in management consulting (The Boston Consulting Group).

Alessio Dal Bo’ studied at University of Windsor and at University of Udine where he graduated in Management Engineering. He is really passionate about statistics, and he won the bronze medal in the Italian Olympics of Mathematics.

Tommaso De Monte graduated in Management Engineering at the University of Udine and he has analyzed the evolution of IS0 9000 standards.

Daniele Fersini after graduating in Management Engineering, he worked as a Functional Analyst at Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche Spa. As Process Improvement Specialist, he is now a Production Engineer at Acciaierie Venete Spa.

Valentina Galantini, after achieving her Master’s degree in Management Engineering in 2012, joined the Supply Chain Department of one of the Market Leaders for Eyewear production in the world, becomingPlanning Manager for Far East Region, after few years.

Patrizia Garengo is Associate Professor of Business Management and Organization and Performance Measurement at the University of Padua (Italy). To date, she has published two books and over a hundred papers in international journals and conference proceeding in the field of performance measurement and management.

Elisa Marson graduated in Management Engineering at the University of Udine in 2011. Since then she has worked as a Consultant in the field of quality, environment, and safety at work, and since 2015, she has been a Quality, Health & Safety and Environmental (QHSE) Manager for two companies in Italy.

Andrea Martini graduated in Engineering for the Environment and Territory, having gained experience in the field of environmental and safety at work, first in the academic field and then in the petrochemical sector. He started as external Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) Advisor, Trainer, and Auditor and is today the Chief Executive Officer of Vistra SRL, the leader company on international HSE support to Italian companies working worldwide.

Federico Minini, graduated in Law and is a Consultant in the field of occupational safety, environmental protection, and privacy. He specializes in risk assessment and in the implementation of organization and management models according to international standards and Italian national laws.

Elisa Moras, graduated with honors in Management Engineering in Italy, and immediately after left Italy to study Business Administration at the University of South Florida (USA).

Federico Olivo graduated in Management Engineering and gained his experience in quality in the military sector. He founded of Vistra SRL in the year 2000. He started as lead auditor, trainer, and advisor in quality management systems and is today the President of a company operating as a worldwide Quality, Health & Safety and Environmental (QHSE) player with projects in more than 60 countries and more than 1,000 clients. He is also a Lecturer in courses for Quality and Process Mapping in several Master’s and university courses.

Foreword

Quality: a concept so broad that it still remains rather indeterminate despite the wide literature that concerns it. Perhaps the word that comes closest to him is “improvement.” Many of the initiatives that carry this label consist in projects for improvement of the product, processes, internal organization, and connections with the external units.

These quality improvement projects present some characteristic aspects.

First of all, the systemic approach. The conventional name of quality management includes some principles and a group of interconnected and often complementary methodologies. Quality projects can act locally, but they must respond to an integrated logic. In any case, they require a look that is not restricted to the narrow space of a single activity or function: the adjective “total” that sometimes accompanies the word Quality underlines the need for a wide-ranging vision and an action that is not limited to a single technique or a limited company segment.

Second, the dynamic perspective. Quality cannot be (only) a stamp to be displayed when necessary, the snapshot taken on a goal traced by some standards. On the contrary, it is a dynamic process that continuously moves forward to achieve the objectives. In many situations, on the other hand, a quality that is closely linked to the standard, a quality assurance rather than a quality management, continues to prevail. We try to (r)ensure the customer on the internal procedures, considering the certification as a point of arrival rather than a step along the road of joint and continuous improvement.

Third, specificity. Any improvement project starts from an initial state. It improves a starting condition that is different from company to company because it is linked to its history, to the sector and the country in which it operates, and to the reference market. The different starting and boundary conditions impose distinct and specific trajectories. Vice versa, there is often a tendency to think that there is a best way of quality and that a recipe successfully tested in one company can be rigidly replicated in others. But it is difficult to understand the nature of a presumed best practice if the boundary conditions are not considered and the forms of adoption are evaluated with reference to their own peculiarities.

The editorial project of this book has taken on board these three characteristics. Quality is investigated and illustrated not as a list of principles or a toolbox of independent methodologies, but as a general philosophy that seeks to consistently compose objectives and tools, revealing their interdependencies. It is described not as a static goal, but as a dynamic process that is innervated in the company’s metabolism. Finally, the book combines experiences from different realities, extracting cues to adapt policies and practices according to the particularities of the context.

The picture that emerges from this detailed analysis conducted in several voices and from different perspectives offers an effective “improvement” in the understanding of the concept of quality, allowing the reader to move on a path that gradually thins the initial uncertainty and enriches it with a variety of educational and operational supports.

Guido Nassimbeni

University of Udine, Italy

Introduction

The current economic scenario, characterized by a growing international competition, leads to the rethinking of many of the governance mechanisms of our companies: from strategies to relationships with customers and suppliers, from processes to the role of human resources.

In this context, “quality management” – synonymous of efficiency and effectiveness and therefore competitiveness – becomes essential.

Quality has many meanings for the company and the market. Product quality (read as the ability to differentiate the offer from competitors) contributes to the creation of competitive advantages for the company. By increasing trust between the parties, by limiting opportunistic behaviors, and by consolidating cooperation, it is also able to bring improvements in the whole market.

The panorama of books dealing with the topic of “quality management” is quite complex. This volume aims to fill a gap in the current publishing scenario by providing an updated summary of the knowledge of a discipline that has boundless fields of application: from industry to public administration.

The work comes from the deep conviction that quality today (more than ever) represents a great opportunity to be seized for businesses, public administration, and society. An opportunity capable of being translated at company level into the ability to increase market shares, productivity, the ability to reward the capital invested, and at geoeconomic level in employment, development, and improvement of the quality of life.

The editors of the volume are professors of quality management and operations management in industrial/management engineering degrees. The authors are academics and businessmen (managing directors and chairmen of private companies) who have decided to contribute to the volume, synthesizing their own experiences and knowledge.

Starting from the history of quality, the volume accompanies the reader in a rapid review of the main tools and approaches aimed at improving effectiveness and efficiency in organizations. Balanced scorecard, QFD, and FMEA are some of the solutions that are first introduced theoretically and then described with concrete examples.

Adequate space is also given in the text to the theme of certifications. ISO 9000, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, and SA8000 are described in their essential features.

Today, we live in a century that burns ideas quickly: new ideas are often surpassed even before having assimilated them. This has led to the need to revise theories that have rapidly evolved over time.

History shows that the interest in quality awakens in crises. Crises offer opportunities for growth and development. At the beginning of the 1980s – when various events (from the oil crises to the appearance of fearsome Asian competitors on the international scene) had led to imbalances between supply and demand – many companies managed the adverse scenario by investing in quality. We trust that this work – contributing to the diffusion of the culture of quality – can offer a contribution in this sense.

Marco Sartor and Guido Orzes