Certification of quality systems against standards such as the ISO 9000 series is increasingly seen in Europe. Many European companies expect that once they have achieved certification, their customers will automatically accept this as infallible evidence that they are the best supplier to meet the customer's expectations. Other companies are now implementing total quality management as a new management philosophy for quality and productivity improvement. A large number of methodologies have been developed in the last decades with greater employee involvement. This article focuses on the current situation in Europe.