The utilization of ISO 9004: case study of the maintenance area of a public transportation company
Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering
ISSN: 1355-2511
Article publication date: 14 March 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The continuous improvement in the performance and satisfaction of all stakeholders is a permanent management objective and part of an organisation’s strategy. To achieve this goal, organisations invest in technological upgrades, process improvements and management models that assure efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to verify the possibility of measuring the management maturity level of an organisation that is dedicated to passenger public transportation; this organisation is used as a reference framework for the self-evaluation maturity-level measurement tool provided by the ISO 9004:2009 standard.
Design/methodology/approach
The objective of this paper was accomplished through a case study in which the selected measurement instrument was applied to the management system of the maintenance area of one of the largest subway companies in Brazil.
Findings
The results of the study showed that the referential method was capable of precisely and adequately measuring the maturity level of the appraised management system. The method also enabled the researchers to identify best practices for the study organisation, which can be employed by the administration to develop action plans to improve their management system.
Research limitations/implications
As a limitation, the results obtained by this paper cannot be generalised, because they were based on only one company. As a result, the conclusions established cannot be extended to other types of companies since their competitive priorities and management practices may be different and generate characteristics of maturity that were not considered in this work. However, these limitations can be minimised if additional researches ponder other types of organisations.
Practical implications
On the practical side, this paper motivates companies to improve their operations management by using the self-evaluation tool to identify gaps in their management systems and consequently plan actions to achieve the related improvements.
Originality/value
The ISO 9004:2009 standard provides a self-evaluation instrument that can support companies on measuring their respective management system maturity level. However, this paper was able to demonstrate that the aforesaid tool can be used in a broader way as it allows management to define action plans to boost their management systems towards a full utilisation of best management practices.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Research Backing Fund from UNINOVE – Universidade Nove de Julho for providing the financial support needed to develop this work.
Citation
Vanalle, R.M., Lucato, W.C. and Rodrigues, R.T. (2016), "The utilization of ISO 9004: case study of the maintenance area of a public transportation company", Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 94-110. https://doi.org/10.1108/JQME-04-2014-0017
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited