Introduction

If we are to formally manage quality, we need to follow some basic principles:

• Document our journey
• Make the changes we see fit
• Review it at least annually
• Learn the lessons

The above is called the Reichart Cycle, or Plan-Do-Check-Act.  We’ll discuss it more later, but it’s an important concept to learn.  One of the key principles in Quality Management is continually improving as time goes on, and for that we need a written record of what we did and why.

There are two ways we can do this:

• A Quality Plan
• A Quality Management System

Let’s look at both in more detail.