TL 9000 Quality Management System (QMS)

This document was created by QuEST Forum to meet the quality requirements of the worldwide telecommunications industry.

It defines quality system requirements for the design, development, production, delivery, installation and maintenance of telecom products and services while also providing a measurement system that allows companies to track performance and improve results.

As the telecom industry’s “unique extension” to ISO 9001:2008, TL 9000 includes four supplemental areas:

1. Reliability and associated costs.

2. Software development and management.

3. Requirements for specialized service functions such as installation and engineering.

4. Requirements to address communications between telecom service providers and suppliers.

With its telecommunications focus, TL 9000 eliminates the need for multiple telecom quality management standards, reduces costs of doing business and ultimately results in better products and services to consumers. What’s more, it provides the consistent set of quality expectations needed to drive efficiency and performance across the global telecommunications supply chain.

The TL 9000 Quality Management System requires an organization to engage in continual improvement of products, services or processes. To ensure effectiveness and provide a performance baseline, TL 9000 enables organizations to input company registration information through the online Registration Repository System (RRS) and access benchmarkable data and industry trend reports through the QuEST Forum web site.

Registration to TL 9000 has proven beneficial to both service providers and suppliers. Testimonials and case studies from member companies cite improvements such as a 20 percent savings in cost of quality; a 40 percent improvement in on-time deliveries; an 80 percent reduction in procurement cycle time and 25 percent reduction in first-year return rates.

QuEST Forum cites the following benefits of TL 9000 Implementation for buyers and certified organizations.

• TL 9000 certification, along with independent audits, allows companies to save time and money by complying with only one quality standard. Customers save the cost of on-site inspections.

• TL 9000 certified organizations have access to performance data for benchmarking that can help them achieve further product and service improvement. This shows a commitment to quality and business excellence.

• Certification decreases costs of product life cycle management, audits, supplier management expenses and general operations.

• Certification results in improvements to performance (manufacturing and service), productivity, reliability of processes and production, life-cycle management, supply chain efficiencies, employee teamwork, efficiency of external audits and site visits, operational consistency and quantifies performance results.

• Provides access to a greater customer base.

• Enhances the competitive position of certified organizations.

• Improves customer service and overall satisfaction.

• Establishes a method to gather and measure quality and performance data.

• Demonstrates a commitment to product quality and customer value (focus on cycle-time reductions; on-time deliveries; return rates; reliability; defect elimination).

• Demonstrates the company’s accountability and focus on continuous improvement.

• Enables the development of stronger customer/supplier relationships.

TL 9000 is both a management and measurement system comprised of two parts, covering the following areas:

• Requirements clauses of ISO 9001:2008.

• Common telecom industry requirements that apply to hardware, software and services.

• Telecom-specific requirements for hardware, software and services.

• Common telecom industry measurements that apply to all product categories.

• Telecom industry measurements specific to hardware, software and services.

• International standard ISO 9001:2008.

• Common TL 9000 requirements.

• Hardware-specific requirements.

• Software-specific requirements.

• Services-specific requirements.

• Common TL 9000 measurements.

• Hardware measurements.

• Software measurements.

• Services measurements.

The Requirements Handbook establishes and details hardware, software and services quality system requirements and provides a consistent set of parameters specific to the global telecom industry.

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