Quality and information technology

Until recently the use of information technology (IT) to support quality management within European enterprises has been limited. However, within the EU-supported Integration in Manufacturing (IiM) programme (part of the ESPRIT programme), a group of research and technology development (RTD) projects has now been directed at this issue and their results are being promoted by the Q+IT2 working group. IT systems and software packages can provide real value for enterprises, helping them to apply quality management and quality-related techniques accurately and effectively-particularly for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Whether an enterprise is providing products or services, quality should be part of their processes. What IT has achieved, and how it can help, is not well known among industrial enterprises because of low awareness of the products and the ways in which they can be used to their best advantage. The potential benefits for enterprises are considerable-more advanced quality management practices can be a vital factor in moving the enterprise from a market-survival situation to becoming a market leader