Improving approaches to product quality management at large manufacturing enterprises.

Abstract

Dynamic conditions of the market environment force companies to seek and apply more progressive methods of quality management. While small companies are more flexible and can quickly adapt to new challenges, large enterprises find it more difficult to change their approaches due to the large number of internal standards, approval parties, and the degree of influence of quality standards on production operations. A reasonable combination of QMS approaches according to the ISO:9001:2015 standard and Lean principles improves the situation and helps improve production quality. However, in the conditions of modern competition, when production deadlines have a direct correlation with the financial wellbeing of the company, there is a need to introduce more modern, adaptive management technologies, for example, to make a transition to project management models even in such conservative areas as shipbuilding and construction. In this context, managing departments responsible for quality requires the manager not only to know the basic principles of forming and using project teams, but also to have the skills to apply these methods. The focus is gradually shifting towards “soft skills”, since the project management methodology, at its core, implies the correct distribution of roles between participants, identifying their strengths, which in turn is the result of a reasonable and professional approach to searching and hiring employees. Mental qualities and way of thinking prevail over applied knowledge and are more valuable for the leader and the company. This article analyzes the problems and challenges facing managers and the reasons for the decline in the overall quality level of large companies. In addition, the article provides practical examples indicating tools for improving the quality management system and describes the economic effect of introducing these tools.