Abstract:

BS 5750 in the UK is a quality assurance system creating a set of procedures designed to document and improve practices to maximise the quality of a company's output. In the UK it was initially conceived for manufacturing industry, but in the last two or more years its relevance to service industries such as market research has been perceived, and a number of market research agencies have achieved BS 5750 accreditation. FDS was one of the first of these, and our purpose in presenting this paper is to share that experience from the initial concept through the process of gaining accreditation to our experience of it in practice. BS 5750 and its international equivalent, ISO 9000 is here to stay; increasingly its possession is going to be a necessary qualification for supplier consideration. BS 5750 when positively implemented is an indication of a commitment to a management philosophy of Total Quality Management and a necessary step to that goal. BS 5750 is not a system conceived externally and imposed on a company's operation. It is created by the company itself in the light of the company's current operating practices, and helps the company to achieve and maintain best practice. Achieving BS 5750 is an arduous and lengthy process. It is not to be undertaken lightly and successful implementation requires the commitment of everyone in the company, both in the process of acquiring it and of maintaining it once accredited. This is how FDS did it.