Organizations are expected to follow trends and adapt their management to market conditions. In an era of rapid change and an environment that is difficult to predict, this is an extremely complicated task. In order to effectively respond to the needs coming from the market, companies implement various methods and adapt available concepts, translating them into the language of practice. Contemporary quality management methods and tools seem to combine the need to skilfully respond to customer expectations and ensure the appropriate level of sustainability issues in the organization’s activities. The main purpose of this article is to analyze the possibilities of using contemporary quality management methods and tools for the sustainable development of the organization. The main method in this article was a literature review that covered the area of the sustainable development of enterprises and the search for good practices in the field of quality management instruments in this area. The other methods are observation and direct interview. Twenty quality methods and tools were selected and divided according to their functions. The research identified benefits and good practices in their use, which can support action for sustainable development.

This article shows the results of research on psychosocial risks for a group of machine and plant operators (n = 1014) from the construction, chemical, energy, mining, metal and food industries in Poland. The Psychosocial Risk Scale designed in Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (NIOM) by Moscicka-Teske and Potocka was used to indicate the occurrence of general and specific occupational stressors and the level of their stressfulness. The results revealed that the studied machine and plant operators experience job context stress – related to working environment features concerning work organization – more frequently than job content stressors – related to the type of tasks they perform. Moreover, a correlation analysis between work features and the health and occupational functioning of the respondents revealed significant but weak relationships between the variables (from −0.08 to −0.23). Comparative analysis revealed the differences between the studied sectors. Such a comparison makes it possible to set goals for each sector and to attempt to improve the distinctive areas.

Poka Yoke is a method of quality management which is related to prevent faults from arising during production processes. It deals with "fail-sating" or "mistake-proofing". The Poka-yoke concept was generated and developed by Shigeo Shingo for the Toyota Production System. Poka Yoke is used in many fields, especially in monitoring production processes. In many cases, identifying faults in a production process involves a higher cost than necessary cost of disposal. Usually, poke yoke solutions are based on multiple sensors that identify some nonconformities. This means the presence of different equipment (mechanical, electronic) on production line. As a consequence, coupled with the fact that the method itself is an invasive, affecting the production process, would increase its price diagnostics. The bulky machines are the means by which a Poka Yoke system can be implemented become more sophisticated. In this paper we propose a solution for the Poka Yoke system based on image analysis and identification of faults. The solution consists of a module for image acquisition, mid-level processing and an object recognition module using associative memory (Hopfield network type). All are integrated into an embedded system with AD (Analog to Digital) converter and Zync 7000 (22 nm technology).

Taking care of entrepreneurs for full compliance of the products with the requirements and expectations of the customer and the relevant regulations and standards begins in the product design phase. The next important step is to design manufacturing technology. The result of this process, together with the criteria relating to the assessment and acceptance of the results of each operation is a quality plan. The subsequent results of the products realization depend on the awareness of entrepreneurs and their serious approach to quality planning. This article is an example of a tabular quality plan for the production of housing of cylinder head milling machines for the metal. It is the result of a project realized for the machines production company. It has developed the table form, which was completed in cooperation with a technology team and based on existing technology cards. The article includes a fragment of a quality plan covering various manufacturing operations of the machine production. The example of a quality plan to produce the parts machine confirms that it is possible to clearly identify the different stages of production with a guarantee which the company declares its customers. It can be proved that the production takes place in supervised conditions. There were also specified the necessary human and technical resources, documentation and records and most of all space and criteria of measurement and sizes relating to the acceptance or rejection of results of production stages.