Quality Conceptions and Development within NACE

Abstract Qualify means different things to different people, depending on their understanding of the term and the processes to which it applies. Simply stated, quality is conformance to requirements; a product or process must satisfy the requirements of the use or uses to which it is applied. The term "Quality management" as used in this paper does not mean that the Board of Directors are the best in the business, although I am sure they are! Quality Management or Total Quality Management(TQM) is a company- or organization-wide dedicated effort to making certain each and every product or process fulfills its requirements. The end result is that only quality products are produced. The process involves quality control, quality assurance, and internal auditing and monitoring of processes. No matter how much the employees or members want a quality, hassle-free work environment, it just will not work unless management is committed to it, and training and communications strongly emphasized. NACE’s concept of quality started as the idea that final inspection is the ultimate in "QC". Quality Control was the meeting of "specifications"; some were arbitrarily derived and had absolutely nothing to do with the requirements for the product. One of the first efforts to assure quality was the published document of Task Group T-1D-5,1 a survey of "quality control" for corrosion inhibitors. There have been some other efforts at quality control in the 25 years since this document was published, but the idea of quality as a continuing process that applies equally to making inhibitors, a string of tubing, or writing a NACE standard or document is just now catching on. There is not one standard and only one committee report on quality assurance. This paper outlines some the "quality" efforts of the past 25 years within NACE, and some work going on outside NACE that will impact on our business.