Implementation of quality management system and the level of maturity of the company in the dairy industry of Serbia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to point out the existence of differences in the application of quality management systems as well as the level of maturity in the companies of the dairy industry in the Republic of Serbia. The initial assumption is based on the defined goal which states that the application of quality management systems and the level of maturity in these companies differ depending on their size. The research was conducted on the basis of QMMG - Quality Management Maturity Grid model of maturity. The initial assumption test was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test as a nonparametric alternative to one-way analysis of variance of different groups. In addition to this method, the methods analysis, the synthesis method and descriptive statistics were also used. Using the mentioned statistical methods, six aspects of the quality management system were processed (Management understanding and attitude, Quality organisation status, Problem handling, Cost of quality as percent of sales, Quality improvement actions and Summary of company quality posture) as well as the entire quality management system in selected companies. Statistically significant deviations were found in five of the six aspects as well as in the overall quality management system. The contribution of this research is reflected in the diagnosis of the level of maturity in the companies covered by this research together with the possibility of improving certain aspects of the quality management system in order to develop the skills needed to increase the companies ' quality performance.