What is the difference between quality assurance and quality infrastructure? I was recently asked this question by a young colleague who has just started coordinating projects to promote quality infrastructure. The answer to this question is undoubtedly essential for every newcomer to quality infrastructure. Moreover, it is also a welcome stimulus to think more fundamentally about the relationship between these concepts.
Continue readingQuality infrastructure has its origins in the industrial revolution of the 19th century, first in England, then throughout Western Europe and the USA, and later spread to Japan and other parts of Europe and Asia during the transition from agrarian to industrial societies. For a long time, QI was mainly a matter of checking whether physical products met defined technical specifications. Testing served both the safety of products and their usability in value-added processes based on the division of labour. Thus, the measurement of physical units was at the centre of the entire quality system.
Continue readingINetQI, the global community association for quality infrastructure, is very active in disseminating information. One of the most recent initiatives is the Business Benefits website, https://business-benefits.org, where case studies inform about the benefits of accredited quality infrastructure services.
Continue readingSMEs need to be informed about the technical requirements
Exported goods are rejected repeatedly at foreign borders. Import rejections mean loss of revenue and generate considerable costs for the exporter due to the return or destruction of non-compliant goods. According to a study by UNIDO, these “export losses” cost companies several hundred million USD every year [1]. Especially for SMEs in developing countries, such rejections can threaten their existence.
Continue readingAn important information source of the demand for Quality Infrastructure services is the Survey of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The Survey provides an overview of the global dissemination of management system standards (such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001).[1]
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Quality Infrastructure for Development 