Assessing Non Conformities in Quality Management Systems from Customer perspective and Firm perspective

Quality has been broadly recognized as one of the key factors to success in global market for all kind of business, while quality management practices and programs such as total quality management, six sigma, statistical process control and external certification programs such as the ISO 9000 series have been extensively researched and can be implemented in almost any industry. The present work aims to give advancements on industrial practice along the process of quality NC assessment and characterization, providing a comprehensive approach for quality NCs analysis and assessment. An assessment is modeled and proposed, whose outcomes define intervention priorities in accordance to specific quality features. Such assessment associates an intervention priority through the definition of a Ranking Criticality Index (RCI), as in Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) methodology, and the use of a fuzzy approach inference engine.