Quality Management in Cartographic Production
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Kay, S.
1CHIEF DIRECTORATE: NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION Email: sissiel.kay@drdlr.gov.za
Abstract
Cartographic production involves a number of processes that must be followed. In larger cartographic production organizations, such as national mapping organizations, these processes are usually spread across more than one organizational component and different cartographers. Many of these cartographic production organizations strive to achieve the highest quality cartographic products. Failure to achieve this will result in reputational damage to the organization. Such organizations should then implement a functional quality management system. The quality management system, based on the principle of total quality management, will provide the organization with a life of continual improvement. This will be based on well documented procedures and standards. The paradigm of quality checking is replaced with a paradigm of quality assurance. This provides many advantages to the organization – which will be discussed in the paper. The well documented procedures enable the organization to better understand what is happening when and where, thus improving the whole production process. It also facilitates the compilation of explicit knowledge from the expertise of the highly-skilled cartographer. The organization can then utilize less knowledgeable cartographers in the cartographic production and still achieve the same high standards. The paper discusses the process of documenting procedures and how these should be used, including the advantages. The whole quality management system is dependent on standards, that set the norms for quality. These standards may include international or national defined standards, but these standards are usually at a higher level and not easily used at the production or implementation level. Standards specific to the products or key procedures of the organization must be set up as well. The development and application of these standards are discussed, as well as some lessons learnt. The existence of documented procedures and standards may be the main ingredients for quality cartographic production but do not necessarily guarantee it. After all, humans are involved. So the quality-minded organization must ensure compliance with the procedures and standards. Thus quality audits must be conducted. Various types of audits and the approaches to these are discussed. The advantages of undertaking quality audits are also covered. Lessons learnt in implementing a quality management system in a national mapping organization are shared.
Keywords
Quality management; Cartographic production; Procedures, standards, audit