Quality means to satisfy, and preferably exceed, the needs and expectations of the customers. Increased customer requirements, new technological possibilities and the ongoing globalization mean that a focus on quality improvements is necessary for all organizations, both producers of goods and services, who want to strengthen their competitiveness on the world market.

The book consists of five fairly independent parts. In Part I the quality concept and the history of the quality movement is described. Furthermore, the relation between quality improvements, on one hand, and costs, profitability and success, on the other, is illustrated. Part II deals with methodologies and tools, which facilitate a customer focused product development. Among these are Quality Function Deployment, Reliability, Design of Experiments and Robust Design. Part III focuses on the concept of variation and on methodologies and tools for quality improvements. The Seven Improvement Tools, Statistical Process Control and Capability are discussed. Part IV discusses satisfaction and loyalty of external and internal customers, what these concepts mean and how to measure them. In Part V the important role of top management for quality improvements is discussed as well as the concept of leadership. Furthermore, Processes and Process Management, Six Sigma, Business Excellence Assessments, Quality Awards and ISO 9000:2000 are elucidated.

Second edition