The companies, who are still not matured enough to have self assessment, can understand the expectations of a good QMS system by reading the guidelines for assessment. The concepts which have been given higher marks are the ones to be benchmarked.

In the Guidelines prepared, the maturity is assessed by 100 different angles, referred as elements of implementation of QMS. In each element, 5 possible levels are identified and marks are allotted for them. One need to verify in which level the company is there against each element of QMS. The maximum marks are 5 for each element and minimum is 1. Zero mark is not considered as we have taken a company for assessment which already has implemented QMS and is certified.

A company can therefore have maximum of 500 marks and minimum of 100. If the company scores 100 marks, it is considered as base level or Level 1. Company scoring between 102 to 200 is Level 2, 201 to 300 is Level 3, 301 to 400 is level 4 and 401 to 500 shall be level 5. The chances of a company falling in level 1 is very remote, as they cannot score just 1 in all the 100 elements, but could score more than 1 in number of elements.

As the concepts in QMS change depending on the developments of new concepts, the guidelines prepared also will change. However, by the logics adopted here, we can measure the effectiveness of implementation of any Quality Management System.

About the Author:

The author is a learned Consultant for QMS and Textiles.