Implementation of QMS ISO 9001/2000 Case Study of Selected Ethiopian Leather Exporting & Processing Organizations
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The LLPI Leather and Leather Products Industry of Ethiopia generates the second major export
income of the country with between 10 and 20 % of total foreign earnings. International market is
sensitive to regulations and standards like, environment, safety and quality; where ISO: 9001
certification for quality management system is currently a popular requirement for the industry. It
is claimed that installing quality management system not only boosts market competitiveness but
enhance efficiency, productivity and profitability. This study addresses the importance, challenges,
assistance and gap analysis in implementation of ISO 9001:2000 in selected organizations in the
LLPI. The industry is stratified under tannery, foot wear, and leather products. 25 organizations
were selected that represent 73% of the tanneries, 38% of the footwear manufacturers and 29% of
the leather product manufacturers of the country. Cluster samples of Addis Ababa, D/Zeit, Nazreth
and Modjo were used due to concentration on these areas. The study is descriptive and
explanatory in nature where both primary and secondary data are in use.
Despite the grueling requirements of the international market only two organizations has been
certified. The advantages to be gained due to ISO certification includes new market entry, better
price, and maintenance of customers that lead to profitability and growth of the organization.
Also, productivity could be boosted with increased efficiency and effectiveness in internal
management processes. The challenges faced include the cost of certification, time and effort
needed to develop required documentation and infrastructure to satisfy the requirements. The lack
of commitment by owners of the organizations is also a major set back observed. Even there are
various support organizations working around the leather industry only few focused on the
certification of ISO 9001:2000. In the gap analysis unsatisfied requirements by most of the
organizations include; lack of proper QMS documentation, procedure and records, poor product
realization tools, missing infrastructure, poor quality objective setting, and lack of continuous
improvement tools. Hence, a lot remains by support organizations in creating awareness and
devising means to eliminate the challenges faced in the certification processes. With the
accreditation of the Quality and Standard Authority of Ethiopia QSAE for ISO 9001
certification; major part of the industry could be certified with reasonable cost and effort, by
restructuring their existing documents, management system and infrastructure if the commitment
of the owners of the organizations is gained.
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Keywords
Ethiopian Leather Exporting & Processing Organizations