How to Set Quality Improvement Goals

With the ever increasing pressures of competition, economics, consumerism and regulatory requirements, management must continually seek to improve their product/process. Modifications are implemented in order to move towards an optimal operating level which will satisfy all consumer and government requirements and still be economically sound.

As part of the management team, the quality professional must satisfy these obligations, but with additional handicaps. Primary among these are the enigmatic nature of quality and the existance of misleading ‘folklore’.

This paper will discuss how management can overcome these obstacles and satisfy their requirements by the proper formulation and application of quality (improvement) goals. The steps necessary to develop and implement these goals are provided and explained.