Future of quality management system (ISO 9001) certification: novel grey forecasting approach

Quality 4.0 Maturity Assessment in Light of the Current Situation in the Czech Republic

Production companies throughout the world are currently facing challenges with the extensive transformation of their processes with regard to digitalisation and other features of Industry 4.0. Simultaneously, traditional quality management processes must be significantly changed, and the umbrella term “Quality 4.0” is used to represent this transformation. Many companies, including Czech enterprises, are still struggling with the concept of Quality 4.0, as there are a lot of uncertainties, misunderstandings, and false approaches. Additionally, a lot of questions arise about how to provide an objective and comprehensive assessment of the company’s maturity or readiness for Quality 4.0. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to present our proposal of a framework and methodology on how to assess and measure the maturity level for the implementation of Quality 4.0. This proposal will be supplemented by a presentation of the main results obtained from a special field study, which was conducted at Czech production companies with the aim of obtaining a representative set of information showing their readiness to adopt Quality 4.0 and convert existing quality management systems into the new era. The authors also identify some research gaps, including the necessity to confirm the mutual relationship between the dimensions and items of Quality 4.0 and the sustainable development of companies or society.

Analysis of Customer Satisfaction with the Quality of Energy Market Services in Poland

Environmental protection, sustainable development, quality, and value have become the goals of societal development in the twenty-first century. As the core of environmental protection, the new energy sector has become a widespread trend. In this article, we will look at how well and how satisfied customers are with the energy market’s service. A literature review of energy sector quality and value issues was conducted. The survey was conducted in 2021 in Poland with over 2404 respondents by the CAWI survey. Additionally, it was given a qualitative analysis. In the next step, we applied selected quality management methods and tools. The results of the study clearly show that the respondents expect energy companies to become more involved in building customer–enterprise relationships. Research shows that employees of energy companies should be trained more often in the field of customer service, especially in terms of an individual approach to the customer, which has value for the customer. The authors propose ways to build an arrow diagram to increase customer satisfaction levels. A model of elements determining quality as well as value for clients in the energy market was built.

Assessment and prediction of environmental sustainability: novel grey models comparative analysis of China vs. the USA

Emission forecasting is vital for policy-making and emission reduction goals globally. This research aimed to perform an accurate model for forecasting and assessing CO₂ emissions and the production of renewable electricity for the top two countries contributing to these emissions, the USA and China. In this study, we employed three novel advanced mathematical grey models: optimized discrete grey model (ODGM), nonhomogeneous discrete grey model (NDGM), and variable speed and adaptive structure grey model (VSSGM) to estimate the future trends of CO₂ emissions and renewable electricity production. These breakthrough models added value in this field of research by reducing uncertainty surrounding ambiguity and numerical ranges and improving accuracy in assessments by using small samples and imperfect information. The findings showed that, by 2026, China's electricity production based on renewable sources would be higher than that of the USA. We find CO₂ emissions in a downward trend, with more significant reductions in the USA than in China by the year 2026. The contributions of this study are the application of novel VSSGM and the use of synthetic relative growth rate modeling for predicting the overall growth of CO₂ emissions and the production of renewable electricity in analyzed countries. The originality of this study lies in proposing a novel synthetic doubling time model to compute how long it will take, for China and the USA, to reduce their CO₂ emissions and doubling their increase in renewable electricity production.