THE ROLE OF QUALITY IN THE PROCESS OF IMPROVING COMPETITIVENESS OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY

International business practice has proved that there is a correlation between the improvement of the quality of business and establishment and development of the competitive capabilities of business organizations. Application and development of the concept of quality creates the preconditions to improve the other factors of competitiveness, such as productivity and innovation. Domestic companies for many years have a problems with the competitive ability on international level. Insufficient investment in qualiz, low productivity and inadequate investments in recearsch and development activity has resulted poor competitive position of the domestic economy. Improving the quality of business in domestic enterprises will affect the improvement of the competitiveness of enterprises. The application of modern methods and management techniques should enable improvement of productivity, as well as the quality of business.

DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITES BETWEEN TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, ISO 9001, LEAN PRODUCTION, AND SIX SIGMA

Total quality management is a management approach with the goal to achieve customer satisfactionthrough product, service, and organizational culture improvement. ISO 9000 is a set of international standards thatis developed for achieving an effective quality management system in order to satisfy customer needs. The concept oflean production is described as a systematic approach to reduce the number of defect products, and reduce the sizeof the warehouse, without lowering productivity. Six sigma includes tools, and techniques for improving processesregarding quality, and reducing the number of defect products. In this paper the differences, and similarities of totalquality management, ISO 9001, lean production, and six sigma, will be investigated. The paper presents the criteriafor successful implementation, and use of the mentioned concepts in various companies. The amount of risk thateach concept brings is also evaluated. The goal of the paper is an analytic approach, and a concise description ofquality management systems, and business performance imrpovement.

INFLUENCE OF INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ON RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The concept of risk has always been implicitly incorporated into the structure of ISO 9001, but the publication of the latest version of standard ISO 9001:2015 set the risk management in the spotlight. On the other hand standards such as ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 have always had explicit requirements regarding the risk assessment of certain elements of the company business. That implies that the existence of integrated management system should improve and develop risk management system of the company. This hypothesis was a starting point for this paper, which should give a direct answer what is the correlation between integrated management system and risk management system in the company. Based on theoretical considerations and practical experience, the authors provided an overview of quality management dimensions and risk management dimensions and their interrelations. This paper provides the results of a survey conducted in 50 ISO certified companies in region, which were analyzed and corresponding conclusions were made.

MONITORING AND IMPROVING ORDER PREPARATION TIME USING CONTROL CHART

One of the most important process during order realisation is goods preparation according to the customer’s order. Order preparation/picking process is only one of the processes that needs to be monitored in order to achieve efficiency. When monitoring performance, usually economical parameters are being observed, although time is equally important factor. There are lots of ways to monitor process efficiency, but in this paper, control chart were used. A two month period was observed with the total of 3468 orders. Aim of this paper was to determine when the uncontrolled process occurred. Also potential causes which led to the uncontrolled process were analysed. Finally, some preventive-corrective actions for reducing or eliminating those causes are provided. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the proposed methodology is very useful for monitoring and improving the time component of the logistics processes.

QFD TOOLS EFFICIENCY IN BUSINESS EXCELLENCE RELATED TO SMALL-SCALE PRODUCTION

An overview of the application of QFD tools through the application of modular architecture in the new product realization is presented in this paper. The QFD application can be considered as an engineering method in the analysis of the buyer's desires and business opportunities in business excellence. The application of modular architecture in product design provides the realization of new and diverse products suitable for re-use as well as for materials recycling. From this point of view, we have tried to explain the significance of the new Lean philosophy from the aspect of re-use of products, reduction of waste and employees’ efficiency increase. In this regard, the QFD tool represents the link between design and production process improvement.

QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT AT THE MACHINING OF WEAR RESISTANT HARD COATS

The article deals with the quality and productivity increasing at the machining of wear resistant hard coats. The goal of the authors was to understand the main factors that influence final surface quality at machining of the coatings from cobalt - chrome alloys. This type of alloy is generally selected to the operating conditions in which it is necessary to resist various forms of wear, high temperatures and corrosion. Efficient production of these components can be achieved by appropriate combination of economically preferred core material components of which the common characteristic is defined by toughness and coating optimized for specific operating conditions.

LEAN SYSTEM AS THE BASIS OF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND COMPETITIVENESS OF LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

This study is aimed to assess the organisational competitiveness, and readiness of our economy to compete in the open market, after accession to European Union. The concept of organisational competitiveness and business excellence is discussed and viewed through the implementation of LEAN practices. To assess the maturity of LEAN, over 200 organisations from various industries were included into the survey design. The questionnaire was used as a research instrument. In order to avoid the negative effect of a superior competition, it is necessary to help our organizations to reduce the difference between them and their main competitors in the European Union. The first step in a situation like this, has always been establishing the points of greatest differences and vulnerabilities of our economic organizations. The study shows the lack of awareness about some LEAN drivers. Such shortcomings might negatively impact the competitiveness of our economy, due to the fact that many of EU companies are heavily oriented towards the implementation of key LEAN concepts

IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE MODEL IN CLUSTER ENVIRONMENT

This paper deals with Business Excellence Model (BEM) and its implementation in cluster network environment. Total Quality Management and Organizational Excellence Model have gained a lot of attention in the last two decades as a way for organizations to meliorate business practices and operations and consequently to gain competitive edge. This paper presents the major objectives and benefits that drive companies to implement BEM. Furthermore, considering the most important barriers organizations are encountering during their endeavour to implement and apply Business Excellence Model, cluster networks, as environment that facilitates the implementation of BEM, are explained, determining the manner in which clusters help overpass the main obstacles. Since clusters imply interconnection of diverse actors which promote both knowledge creation and dissemination, innovation potential increase, resource exchange and similar, they are seen as facilitating environment for implementation for Business Excellence Model.

AN ANALISYS OF IMPORTANCE OF CSR CONCEPT APPLICATION IN FUNCTION OF IMPROVING COMPANIES' COMPETITIVENESS

In this paper, the authors are analysing the effects of implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concepts so far, both in Serbia and partly in other Central Europe countries. The companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE countries), in generaly, are familiar with the term CSR, but the application of tools and methods is different. Due to the comprehensive notion of CSR, the companies usually undertake philanthropic and voluntary activities, thus dealing with certain social problems. However, the concept of CSR itself encompasses much broader aspects, such as: environmental protection, care for employees’ satisfaction, application of international standards etc. In Serbia, managers are trying to keep up with the trend of CSR implementation, but unfortunately they still do not understand fully the scope of this concept, as well as its application for the development of the company’s competitiveness. Among the analiysis of trends in filed of CSR implementation, the central part of this paper is presentation of some results from research, conducted among managerial student polulation, in 2016.

BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL DEVELOPMENT IN QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

This paper emphasizes the importance of developing information systems aimed at improving quality of operations. It is presented the basic and most important steps which are the basis for the formation of information systems. An example which is illustrated in this paper refers to the modeling of business processes and relational databases. The importance of proper and documented business process model is reflected in the consistency of the flow of information, data models and activities and their clear perception. It can be considered that the present step is the basis for the further implementation of information technology. In line with this consideration, this paper aims to highlight the importance of the problem presented in the function of improving quality of operations. The presented methodological framework can be universally applied as a starting point for the design of information systems relating to the segment of building permits issuing.