Assessment of Implementation Level of Quality Management Standards in Re-Rolling Steel Mills (Deformed Steel Bars) in Pakistan

Abstract

Quality of construction project is mainly depended on quality of construction materials and the workmanship. The construction industry of Pakistan has been struggling with quality issues since long. The ineffective quality regulatory body and non availability of local quality standard specifications could not give a clear direction to local construction materials industry and compelled to follow international standards for high quality products. This issue has also resulted in production of many substandard and counterfeit products. The purpose of this research is an attempt to evaluate the implementation of quality management standards in Re-rolling Steel Mills during manufacturing of steel bars looking insight the knowledge and registration of Re-rolling mills with Organizations of International Standardization and Standards. A small survey was conducted to gather information of prevalence of quality management system in Re-rolling steel mills. The survey starts with a questionnaire which is designed to collect data from the executives and quality assurance personnel of Re-rolling mills. By analyzing the response to the questionnaire, the opinion of the executives and quality responsible personnel of Re-rolling steel mills on the quality assurance and control in general and its particular application in the manufacturing of deformed steel bars was comprehended. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS software using four types of statistical analysis, namely Shapiro-Wilk test for normality distribution, Frequency distribution, Friedman One-way ANOVA for comparison of Means and test for outliers. This study tries to, by gathering the theories drawn from literature review and field survey, examine the prevalence of quality management standards in Re-rolling Steel Mills in order to give recommendations for the improvement of the service quality. The findings of this study shows that the overall ranking of Quality assurance and Quality control procedures basing on their means is (1) Specification (2) Control of non conforming products (3) Test equipment (4) Internal quality audits (5) Suppliers quality assurance (6) Quality plan and management procedures (7) Monitoring, inspection and testing (8) Handling, storage, packing and delivery (9) Involvement of workers (10) Customers focus (11) Continual improvement (12) Document control (13) Statistical techniques (14) Personnel training. Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has developed Pakistan standards as PS 1879 and PS 1612 based on ASTM 615A and BS 4449 respectively being adjusted to Pakistan environment by participation of renowned construction firms, universities and steel Re-rolling mills. Only 31 % steel Re-rolling mills being surveyed are registered with PSQCA which shows less attraction to PS and more confidence on ASTM 615-A and BS 4449. The certification with ISO is not very high and only 40% are holding the ISO certification and most of the company respondents consider it very important but complex, demanding and formally procedural. The research indicates quality control and quality assurance factors are implemented in the Re-rolling industry but quality improvement factors are given less attention. The QMS is not implemented in true spirit even in the mills which are ISO certified. The research might be useful to advise the Re-rolling industry to stress upon the quality management factors which are lacking in practice. The high quality steel products can enhance the life of structures in Pakistan as well as increase the volume of exports by building the international confidence. Also further study can be done on study of quality management system implemented in manufacturing of other construction materials. The quality of construction materials can also be studied from client, contractor and consultant perspective.