QUALITY STANDARDS – STILL UNUSED POTENCIAL

Today, quality is a word that is probably most frequently mentioned in the business world, regardless of the human activity in question. Quality management, quality systems, total quality tools for measuring quality, quality standards and many other approaches and methods help a company to operate successfully in all its aspects and segments. This paper will review the reasons for incomplete utilization of potential for improvements in the company where a quality system according to the ISO 9000 series has been introduced, and common mistakes and failures in the implementation of the ISO 9001 quality system will be pointed out. The evolution of standards from the first to the last revision will be calrified and the potential benefits to the business of each version will be compared. The paper will give an overview of studies that prove a connection between the establishment of the ISO 9001 quality management system and the improvement of various aspects of the business. A number of guidelines and tips on how to prepare and successfully implement a quality system in accordance with the ISO 9001 will be mentioned as well as how to continue operations successfully after obtaining a certification. The paper presents the results of measurements of attitudes obtained on a sample of 52 subjects. The purpose has been to examine the level of their knowledge about the effects of the ISO 9001 standard introduction in business, and to investigate how important is to a user to hold a certification of the company whose services and / or products s/he uses.