India is surging ahead on quality certification to meet the new global benchmark in the telecom industry known as TL 9000. As per the latest estimate, India has achieved 43 certifications of which 18 are independent and 25 are umbrella. Of the total TL 9000 certifications, 13 are from services, 11 from software, 18 from OEM, and one from service provider. On the other hand, at the international level, the TL 9000 certifications stands at 175 of this-123 are from supplier community, 33 from liaison, and 19 from the service provider community.
So, the big question is-what is this TL 9000 all about? In 1998, QuEST (Quality Excellence for Suppliers of Telecommunications) Forum developed TL 9000 Quality Management System to meet supply chain quality requirements of the telecom industry. QuEST Forum is a unique collaboration of ICT service providers and suppliers across the world who are dedicated to improve operational and supply chain quality and performance. The forum unifies global ICT community through the implementation of TL 9000 and is instrumental for its continuous improvement. The performance measurement allows companies to track their company's improvement and do a comparison vis-a-vis their competitors.
QuEST Forum has pursued a goal of global telecommunications quality and industry-wide performance excellence through its TL 9000 standard and accomplishes its goals by defining system requirements for all divisions of telecom products and services.
TL 9000: The New Benchmark
TL 9000 is telecom industry's unique extension to ISO 9001:2008 and includes supplemental requirements in the areas of: Performance measurements based on reliability of product; software development and life-cycle management; requirements for specialized service functions such as installation and engineering; requirements to address communications between telecom network operators and suppliers; and reporting of quality measurement data to a central repository.
TL 9000 is a two-part quality system with significant management and measurement components. In particular, TL 9000 certified organizations are required to comply with: All requirements clauses of the international standards ISO 9001:2008; telecom-specific requirements that apply to all registrations; telecom-specific requirements that apply to hardware, software, and/or service registrations; telecom industry measurements that apply in all product categories; and telecom industry measurements that apply in certain product categories specific to hardware, software and/or services. By employing TL 9000 quality management system, companies have been able to improve efficiency, implement process improvements, and reduce defects.
TL 9000 benefits all stakeholders in the ecosystem. The buyer benefits from assured quality and significant cost savings. The suppliers can increase their profit with the conformance of TL 9000 standards as they provide consistent quality. The service providers and suppliers gain from cost efficiencies and improved supplier relationships across the supply chain.
For improving quality benchmark, QuEST Forum has been very active and has published several studies related to it like: On Time Delivery (OTD), Number of Problem Reports (NPR), and Timeliness of Fix and Hardware Return Rates (RR). OTD is a TL 9000 measure which tracks suppliers ability to deliver products to their customers as per the delivery date. It is used to evaluate the company's OTD performance compared to meeting customer needs and expectations. NPR and Timeliness of Fix examines TL 9000 measures for problem report rate and its resolution within a predetermined period. Hardware Return Rates (RR) look at rates during 3 distinct periods of time-failures within the first 6 months (ERI), failures from month 7 through 18 (YRR), and failures after month 19 in the field (LTR).
The Global Perspective
Currently, QuEST Forum has 3 global regions with active volunteers from Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Americas. Due to the rapid growth and cultural diversity across the APAC Region, QuEST Forum has established local hubs in Japan, South Korea, Greater China, and India.
With the rapid growth of TL 9000 there is a continuing need to share information across geographies. The Forum conducts regular workshops in China and India to provide information to all companies with respect to quality and best practices. There are also sanctioned training classes available through instructor-led and online on TL 9000 requirements and measurements.
To help further expand TL 9000 in China, QuEST Forum has been working with the SAC (Standardization and Accreditation Council of the Peoples Republic of China) and CEPREI to have TL 9000 listed as a Chinese National Standard. It is hoped that this can be accomplished within the next 12 months.
All these are positive development for TL 9000 in India and so Indian service providers are also gearing themselves for the certification which will help them go a long way to provide excellent quality of service to a large number of subscribers as there are multiple operators with more than 100 mn subscribers.