In the concluding paragraph in his article entitled ‘Competition in the CSME needs a National Quality Infrastructure’ Dr Chatterpaul Ramcharan referred to the need for Guyanese manufacturers to overcome their reluctance and resistance and implement a quality management system which complies with the ISO 9001 international standard for the smaller enterprises which cannot reach the quality management system demanded of larger enterprises.
I imagine that many consumers and proprietors of small businesses would be glad to know that the ISO 9001:2000 ‘Quality Management Systems – Requirements’ was adopted by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) on the recommendation of the Technical Committee – Management Systems, and approved by the National Standards Council.
The text of the standard has been approved as suitable for publication as a Guyana Standard without deviations. GNBS states that certain conventions are not identical to those used in Guyana Standards. The Guyana Standard is GYS 238:2003.
The Guyana Standard is on sale at the GNBS, Exhibition Site, Sophia, for the sum of $5,000.
GNBS advises that, in the adopted standard, reference should be made to the most recent edition of ISO standards.
There are many chapters in the standard that deal with quality management, and it is not possible to condense them into a few paragraphs. I therefore quote from the introduction.
“The adoption of a Quality Management System should be a strategic decision of an organization. The design and implementation of an organization’s quality management system is influenced by varying needs, particular objectives, the products provided, the processes employed and the size and structure of the organization. It is not the intent of this international standard to imply uniformity in the structure of quality management systems or uniformity of documentation.
“The quality management system requirements specified in this International Standard are complementary to requirements for products. Information marked ‘NOTE’ is for guidance in understanding or clarifying the associated requirement.
“This International Standard can be used by internal and external parties, including certification bodies, to assess the organization’s ability to meet customer, regulatory and the organization’s own requirements.
“The quality management principles stated in ISO 9000 and ISO 9004 have been taken into consideration during the development of this International Standard.”
With the Caricom Single Market and Economy in force, the potential customers of businesses have increased tremendously. Competition has also increased and in the long run those that survive will be the businesses with quality management systems. However, there must be a level playing field, and if bank rates in Guyana are astronomically high then we must develop credit unions.
