A New Approach to Quality Assurance －to Assure Reliability and Safety of Industrial Products in an Advanced Technological Society－

Abstract

The quality control activities based on methods and systems developed in Japan since the 1950's have contributed greatly to Japan's remarkable economic growth. In the second half of the 1960's, a quality assurance system which is important for assuring product reliability and safety was constructed based on the concept of total quality management in response to the ever-increasing needs of an advanced technological society. Nevertheless, there has recently been increased concern about vehicle safety and consumer product defects. New safety standards have been established and consumer protection laws have been revised to address these problems. In this paper, a quality assurance system for assuring reliability and safety from the early development stage is presented that is based on present social tendencies and factors such as the use of highly advanced technologies and the diversified market structure.