The progress of quality management in Thailand

Abstract

Describes the progress of quality management in Thailand. Quality management is new to Thai industry, but it has been adopted with great speed in recent years. Reports on a major survey, carried out to identify the current position, trends and attitudes within Thai industry. Notes a great increase in certification to the ISO 9000 series standards. Identifies reasons for seeking certification, the key difficulties and benefits experienced in introducing ISO 9000. The implementation of total quality management (TQM) in Thailand was also surveyed. Results indicated that TQM had made relatively little progress and, with the exception of a few large Thai‐owned groups, was largely concentrated in foreign‐owned companies within the electronics sector. However, increasingly, Thai‐owned companies are accepting the challenge of ISO 9000 and looking towards TQM in the future.