This
section summarizes ISO
9004-2. It highlights the main points. It does not present
detail. If you need a detailed and complete interpretation of the
ISO 9004-2 standard, please consider purchasing our hardcopy version.
ISO
prepared section 9004-2 to show organizations how to set up a
quality service system. Because all organizations are service
oriented to some extent, even manufacturers can benefit from the
ideas discussed here. As a result, you should consider setting up
a quality service system even if your organization is not in the
service industry.
- A
quality service system is one that:
- Ensures that
customer needs are met.
- Receives
regular feedback from customers.
- Considers the
social aspects of service delivery.
- Respects
customer perceptions and opinions.
- Pays
attention to the culture of the organization.
- Supports
personnel training and development.
- Controls
costs and improves efficiency.
- Quality
service systems serve the needs of all kinds of
customers.
- A quality
service system should be set up to serve the
needs of both external and internal customers
(internal customers are people inside your own
organization).
- A quality
service system should be set up if you provide
intangible services to customers or sell products
to them. Either way the quality principles are
the same.
- A
quality service system can improve almost any function.
It
can improve the quality of the following types of
functions: hospitality, health, communications,
maintenance, merchandising, utilities, financial, sales,
professional, educational, governmental, administrative,
technical, purchasing, and scientific.
- Definitions. Remember
the following definitions as you study 9004-2:
- A
characteristic is a quality.
- Service
is a result. This result is produced when people
carry out activities that are oriented towards
meeting customer needs.
- Service
delivery is an activity. Service delivery
activities are carried out by people who are
oriented towards meeting customer needs.
- Define
service and service delivery characteristics. When you do so, consider
the following general types:
- Service
accessibility and availability.
- Service
safety, security, and reliability.
- Comfort and
attractiveness of facilities.
- Service
delay, duration, and delivery times.
- Service
capacity and size of service facilities.
- Number of
service providers and service tools.
- Service
hygiene and service provider cleanliness.
- Competence
and knowledge of service providers.
- Courtesy,
attentiveness, and communication skills.
- Quantity and
types of service supplies and materials.
- Control
service and service delivery characteristics.
- Develop
procedures to control the
characteristics (qualities) that define the
service and service delivery process.
- Develop
procedures to measure the
characteristics (qualities) that define the
service and service delivery process.
- Define
a quality service policy. This policy should:
- Discuss your
image and reputation.
- Describe your
attitude towards service quality.
- Define the
level of service you want to achieve.
- Make the
customer the focal point of your policy.
- Emphasize the
importance of customer satisfaction.
- Explain that
everyone is expected to apply this policy.
- Emphasize
that senior managers are committed to the policy.
- Define
your quality objectives and list the steps you will take to
achieve these objectives. Consider the following general
types of objectives:
- To prevent
customer dissatisfaction.
- To respect
social and environmental needs.
- To foster a
collective commitment to quality.
- To clearly
define customer needs and expectations.
- To look for
opportunities to improve service quality.
- Define
responsibility and authority. Define service quality
responsibilities and give people the authority to carry
them out.
- Review
quality service system. Your managers, or their
representatives, must carry out a regular review of your
quality service system to evaluate its effectiveness and
to look for ways of improving it.
- Provide
human resources. Provide the human
resources that will be needed to implement and run your
quality service system.
- Raise
awareness.
Develop a quality service awareness program for both new
and experienced personnel.
- Motivate
people.
Create a corporate environment that motivates people to
provide quality service.
- Deliver
training programs that cover the following topics:
- Process
monitoring and control.
- Data
collection and analysis.
- Problem
solving and causal analysis.
- Quality
improvement and corrective actions.
- Teamwork,
interaction, and communications.
- Develop
a system of communication to encourage teamwork and support
service delivery. Your communication system may include
briefings, meetings, memos, email, reports, forums, and
telephone conversations.
- Provide
the material resources that people will need to
implement, manage, and operate your quality service
system.
- Develop
a quality service information system made up of:
- Quality
manuals that describe your quality service
system.
- Quality plans
which specify how the requirements for
quality will be met for each particular service.
- Quality
procedures which define how quality service
activities
are to be carried out, documented, monitored, and
controlled.
- Quality
records which document the operation and
functioning
of your quality service system.
- Carry
out internal quality audits to verify that your quality
service system has been implemented and to measure its
effectiveness.
- Communicate
with customers. Help service delivery personnel to
develop effective patterns of communication and
interaction with customers. Encourage your service
delivery personnel to:
- Listen
carefully to customer expectations and comments.
- Keep
customers informed about your organization and
its services.
- Develop
market research procedures. Develop and document procedures to
plan and control your market research process. Your
market research procedures should ensure that your
marketing people:
- Determine if
there is a demand for the service that you plan
to offer.
- Clarify what
customers expect from the service you intend to
offer.
- Evaluate the
service and performance of the competition.
- Review all
governmental and industrial regulations,
standards, and codes that govern the service that
you intend to develop.
- Confirm that
your organization can, in fact, deliver and
support the services that you intend to develop.
- Monitor
market trends and technological changes.
- Set
up service design teams. Select a design team and define its
responsibilities. Your team should:
- Plan,
prepare, validate, maintain, control, and update
your service, service delivery, and quality
control specifications, and ensure that all
service brief requirements will be met.
- Identify the
materials, supplies, and services that will be
needed to support the service delivery process.
- Carry out
formal service design reviews and evaluations.
- Develop
contingency plans to deal with potential service
failures.
- Develop
design review procedures. These
procedures must ensure that:
- Service
design results are compared with the initial
service brief at every stage of the design
process.
- Service
design results are compared with service, service
delivery, and quality control specifications.
- Service
delivery interests are represented at review
meetings.
- Customer
needs, wants, expectations, and requirements are
met.
- Service
quality will be measured, monitored, and
controlled.
- Prepare
service briefs. Once you've made the decision to
offer a service, prepare a service brief. This document
describes the service, the needs that it must fulfil, and
the obligations and requirements that must be met.
- Prepare
specifications.
Convert your service brief into specifications. Convert
your service brief into:
- Service
specifications which describe the service.
- Service
delivery specifications which explain how
the service
will be delivered to your customers.
- Quality
control specifications which define how
both the service and the service delivery process
will be evaluated and controlled.
- Your
service design is officially complete when you have defined your
service, service delivery, and quality control
specifications.
- Develop
service design validation procedures. These procedures should
ensure that your service and service delivery processes:
- Are fully
designed and developed.
- Have all the
resources they need.
- Will meet
customer needs and expectations.
- Work properly
under all real world conditions.
- Conform to
all relevant codes and standards.
- Perform
revalidations.
Carry out periodic revalidations of your services to
ensure that customer needs are still being met, and to
identify possible service and service delivery
improvements.
- Control
changes in specifications. Develop procedures to manage and
control changes in your specifications (service design
documents).
- Develop
launch procedures to control the introduction of new
services.
- Develop
an advertising policy. Make sure that it encourages
accuracy.
- Develop
purchasing procedures. Develop procedures to control the
purchase of goods and services that will be used during
service delivery.
- Evaluate
subcontractors.
Before you hire a subcontractor, evaluate:
- His service
procedures and facilities.
- Samples of
his products and services.
- The
experience other companies have had with the
subcontractor.
- Track
subcontractors.
Develop procedures to track and record the identity and
use of products and services provided by subcontractors
and used in the delivery of your services.
- Protect
customer property. Develop procedures to control and
protect customer property during the service delivery
process.
- Control
the service delivery process. Develop service delivery
procedures to control your service delivery process.
These procedures should ensure that:
- Your services
conform to service specifications.
- Service
delivery conforms to your specifications.
- Service and
service delivery deviations are handled.
- Develop
service quality assessment methods. Develop methods
which ensure that your organization:
- Measures key
process activities to identify undesirable
trends and prevent customer dissatisfaction.
- Encourages
service delivery personnel to monitor and
inspect their own service delivery activities.
- Evaluates the
quality of the interaction and communication
between your personnel and your customers.
- Develop
assessment methods your customers can use. Develop service quality
assessment methods that your customers can use to
routinely evaluate the quality of your services and
service delivery activities. These methods should allow
you to measure customer satisfaction.
- Control
measurement methods. Develop procedures to control your
service measurement methods. Such procedures should
ensure that all methods are valid and that personnel know
how to use them.
- Control
service and service delivery nonconformities.
- Make all
service personnel responsible for identifying and
reporting service and service delivery
nonconformities.
- Allocate
responsibility for correcting service
nonconformities.
- Develop
corrective action procedures which ensure that
customer complaints and nonconformities are
handled immediately and that causes are
thoroughly investigated.
- Develop
a record keeping system. Develop a service delivery record
keeping system that documents your service delivery
activities.
- Develop
an information system. Develop a service quality
information system to allow you to evaluate service
performance and to provide a basis for generating service
quality improvements.
- Develop
a service quality improvement program which:
- Identifies
and monitors customer service characteristics,
market trends, service nonconformities, and
inefficiencies.
- Generates
ideas for improving service quality and
efficiency.
Related Publications |
If you would like to purchase a complete
and detailed
version of
ISO 9004-2 Guidelines Translated
into Plain English, please consider
the following options. Notice that ISO 9004-2 is part of
Titles 5, 7, and 9. |
Title 7: ISO 9000
Translated into Plain English |
Title 7
covers ISO 9000(1-2-3-4), ISO 9001, ISO 9002,
ISO 9003,
ISO 9004(1-2-3-4), ISO 10011(1-2-3), and ISO
10013 |
I want to order Title 7 |
I want to see ISO 9001, ISO 9002,
ISO 9003 before I order
I want to
see ISO 9000, ISO 9004, ISO 10011, and ISO 10013 before I
order |
Thank
you for visiting this section. You are, of course, welcome to
view our material as often as you wish, free of charge. However,
you are not legally authorized to print or copy it. If you would
like to purchase a bound hardcopy,
please contact our Sales Department. Our sales people would be
very pleased to take your order or to answer any questions you
might have.
This
web page was first published on May 25, 1997 |
This
web page was updated on April 26, 1999 |
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO
PROVIDE FEEDBACK PLEASE CONTACT
Praxiom
Research Group Limited
3814
- 41 Avenue, Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, T6L 5M4
Phone: (780)461-4514
Fax: (780)463-6034
praxiom@connect.ab.ca |
http://connect.ab.ca/~praxiom/9004-2.htm |
©
Praxiom Research Group Limited |