Abstract

Competition among manufacturers, changing consumer patterns, technological advances, new customer demands and many other factors have forced companies since 1950 to implement a new total quality management approach. The aim of this approach is to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of products in each activity individually and as a whole by means of the quality criterion of satisfying consumer requirements. Quality' is understood not only as the technical characteristics (durability, materials, etc.) of a product or service, but also as the ability to satisfy customer needs, accuracy, low cost, maintenance of quality, etc. Attempts to formulate the concept have led to different definitions in relation to it. Here are some of them: 'Quality is that which meets and even exceeds the customer's expectations'; 'it is the usability of the product according to its intended use'; 'quality is any activity (therefore not only product) of the company aimed at satisfying the customer's needs'; 'quality is a way of managing the organisation, affecting every activity and every process'; 'it means survival'; 'quality is the extent to which a product or service satisfies the technical prescriptions and requirements of the customer'. Therefore, the traditional formulation of "quality" referring only to the product is not sufficient. The modern definition approximates the concept in terms of understanding the customer and the value it represents to them.