Maturity Models for Testing and Calibration Laboratories: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Currently, testing and calibration laboratories are undergoing organizational restructuring in view of technical and regulatory requirements. To assist these laboratories, maturity models (MMs) can be used for the implementation and maintenance of management systems. The use of fuzzy logic is often found in association with the construction of MMs. Fuzzy logic helps in the construction of these models, removing subjective elements from the maturity assessment. Therefore, the objective of this study was to perform a systematic literature review (SLR) using the Methodi Ordinatio focused on MMs built with fuzzy logic that aim to evaluate the degree of maturity of testing and calibration laboratories that have implemented ISO/IEC 17025 for their quality management systems (QMSs). This analysis was performed with articles published between 2012 and 2022 in several databases using keywords such as “maturity model”, “fuzzy” and “ISO 17025” and resulted in 18 articles, which made up the bibliographic portfolio. After analyzing the content of these studies, it was possible to conclude that, although no study specifically discussed this MM, the discovered articles were important for presenting ideas and suggestions for future research.

1. Introduction

Several types of testing and calibration laboratories have undergone organizational restructuring in view of current technical and regulatory requirements. The number of guidelines published by regulatory bodies is increasing, and new barriers to national and international trade are constantly emerging. Additionally, the new expectations and demands of society, as well as technological innovations and competition, are pressuring laboratories into providing a range of products and services of acceptable quality to the market. Thus, laboratory managers need to continuously increase their technical capacity to guarantee reliable results with reduced analysis costs and time [1,2].

For laboratories to remain competitive and cement their position in the consumer market, a viable option is the implementation of a QMS. A QMS is a set of interconnected elements with principles and guidelines that are applied in the day-to-day processes of an organization, aiming to meet quality policy and organizational objectives. Thus, the objectives of QMSs are to develop actions that bring consistent responses to the improvement of management processes and to ensure the efficient management of available resources and inputs in order to promote the continuous improvement of an organization. This is possible because a QMS is a tool capable of bringing control and standardization to an organizational processes. Thus, it allows the effectiveness of actions to be measured without losing focus on meeting consumer expectations [3,4,5,6].

In the case of testing and calibration laboratories, the ISO/IEC 17025 standard—“General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories”—defines the foundations for implementing a QMS. It is intended for all types of laboratories that perform testing and calibration, regardless of size or the type of activity performed. The standard is divided into eight topics that include, along with scope, normative references and terms and definitions, general requirements, structure requirements, resources, personnel, processes and management system requirements. Thus, the implementation of a QMS requires a holistic view of all laboratory activities and their necessary modifications among both the laboratory management and its collaborators [7,8,9].

The ISO/IEC standard establishes guidelines for laboratories to demonstrate their technical capacity to produce technically valid and reliable results of an expected quality [7]. In addition, implementation of the standard and the acquisition of accreditation make it possible for laboratories to issue reports of their results with due international recognition, enabling the expansion of trade in their products and services. Many organizations only accept products and services provided by laboratories that are accredited with ISO 17025 [8].

The accreditation process in a laboratory follows numerous steps, from the internal audit to the external audit performed by a third-party accreditation body. This certification is valid for two years, and the laboratory undergoes an external audit process annually. Deviations, errors and complaints must be addressed, and all the requirements of the standard must be verified for the granting of accreditation to be effective [8,10]. According to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) [11], in 2021, 85,000 laboratories worldwide had ISO 17025 accreditation.

A well-implemented and well-managed QMS gives top management staff the confidence to make decisions. However, the internal audit process itself, as well as organizational changes, changes in laboratory techniques, new types of analysis and the calibration of new instruments, among other factors, mean that laboratories need to encourage continuous improvement of laboratory activities and, consequently, the QMS. To achieve this, it is necessary to assess the laboratory’s ability to meet the requirements of ISO 17025 and then draw up an action plan for what needs to be improved [8,9,10].

One way to do this is through MMs. Among the functions of an MM, assessing the current capacity of an organization and helping in the implementation of improvements are vital. Thus, an MM can be understood as a set of elements that can be used to measure the level of development of an organization; an MM can be used to assess how skillful an organization is in managing its activities. Through MMs, guidelines can be established for the adoption of best organizational management practices. Normally, MMs use evolutionary scales to classify the maturity level of organizations. Organizational efficiency increases from the moment organizations reach higher levels of maturity in their activities [12,13,14,15,16]. However, models need to be constructed in such a way as to guarantee the standardization of their applications, and a methodology that ensures that their measurements and evaluations are reliable, accurate and replicable must be used. The models must also be accompanied by validation methodologies that represent their assertiveness in fulfilling their objectives [17].

The first recognized MM was Crosby’s Quality Management Maturity Grid. In the area of software management, the CMM developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is one of the most well-known and popular MMs, serving as a basis for the development of other MMs. ISO 9004 is an organizational tool that can be used to raise the level of maturity of several components of a QMS [18].

Considering the importance of MMs for the implementation and maintenance of management systems, this study searched for maturity models that could help testing- and calibration-laboratory managers implement and/or evaluate their QMSs based on ISO 17025. It is also important to analyze how these models were developed and their ease of use, which is a focus of the analysis in this article.

Fuzzy logic can be used to build standardized MMs that are easy to use and applicable to any type of process, as well as offering ways to assess the maturity of an organization, since it allows flexibility in diagnosing the degree of maturity, and remove subjective elements from the conducted assessments [19].

Fuzzy set theory was proposed by Zadeh in 1965 [20] and is considered the foundation for linguistic and imprecise approaches. This is because fuzzy logic resembles the human way of reasoning, dealing with approximations, uncertainties and assumptions. With this method, it is possible to change linguistic terms into numbers, which facilitates the understanding of the results of maturity assessments [21]. The reduction in the subjective elements inherent in decision-making processes, the increase in the consistency of the results and, consequently, the optimization of the evaluation results are advantages that justify the use of fuzzy logic in the process of developing MMs [22].

In this context, the objective of this article was to search for MMs built using fuzzy logic that assess degrees of maturity in testing and calibration laboratories that adopt ISO/IEC 17025 in its most recent version (published in 2017) for their QMSs. Despite being a theoretical study, this article promotes discussion of this topic by demonstrating relevant studies, presenting discussions and research advances and highlighting gaps to be filled. To do so, an SLR was adopted as a methodological procedure using a formal protocol.

This article is divided into sections and starts with an introduction, which contextualizes the theme and outlines the study objective. This is followed by a description of the materials and methods, in which the systematic review methodology and the details of the data collection are described. Then, the results obtained via bibliometric and content analyses of the studied articles are provided, before finally presenting the conclusions.

2. Materials and Methods

SLRs are fundamental for reliably elucidating relevant published research and highlight the originality of studies, research gaps that studies can fill and the scientific contributions of studies. SLRs aim to ensure greater rigor and better reliability in bibliographical research. SLRs can be divided into two distinct categories: (i) reviews of an established subject, in which accumulated knowledge must be analyzed and synthesized; and (ii) reviews of new topics, which must be studied and discussed [23]. This study aimed to open new opportunities for future research. However, it was necessary to establish a strategy and outline a method to conduct the searches and analyze the results [24].

The method chosen to develop the systematic review in this study was the Methodi Ordinatio, which consists of a protocol for selecting and classifying relevant scientific articles. This method uses journals’ impact factors, numbers of citations and the articles’ years of publication as variables to be input into the InOrdinatio equation (Equation (1)). This equation helps the researcher to rank articles by relevance using a descending order for the values obtained [25]. The choice of this method was guided by the fact that it employs the InOrdinatio equation, which prioritizes the timeliness of the published articles, the relevance of the journal in which they are published and the recognition of certain studies by the scientific community as assessed from the number of citations. These aspects are what make it different from other methods for systematic reviews (i.e., [25,26]).

$$InOrdinatio=(\frac{IF}{1000})+\alpha \times \left[10-\left(YR-YP\right)\right]+(\sum Ci)$$

(1)

where IF refers to the impact factor; α is the weight assigned (between 1 and 10) for the year of publication, prioritizing the most recent articles; and Ci represents the number of times the article has been cited. In addition, the difference between the year of research (YR) and the year of publication (YP) was calculated [25,26].

The Methodi Ordinatio is divided into nine steps (Figure 1). The first steps (steps one, two, three and four) refer to the definition of the intention of the search, a preliminary exploratory search of the databases using keywords, the definition and combination of keywords and databases and a definitive search of the databases. The fifth stage comprises the process of filtering the initial articles to exclude duplicate articles, books, articles incompatible with the research objective and those with restricted access. Steps six, seven and eight consist of collecting the data for the equation variables, applying InOrdinatio to delimit the quantity and order of the articles and then performing a search of the full texts of the articles. The ninth and final step consists of the final reading and systematic analysis of the articles [25,26].

To facilitate the visualization of the articles that were excluded during the filtering steps, the PRISMA flow diagram [27] (Figure 2) was used.

The Methodi Ordinatio is the subject of various publications across many journals, consolidating itself as a process for reviewing knowledge according to delimitations, perceptions of themes and the motivations of researchers and citing the work of Regatieri et al. [28], Sarmento et al. [29], Sierdovski et al. [30], Zahaikevitch et al. [31] Cerqueira-Streit et al. [32], Thesari et al. [33], Lizot et al. [34], Buss et al. [35], Solis et al. [36], Souza et al. [37], Bail et al. [38] and Soares et al. [39].

This SLR consisted of a search for maturity models that use ISO/IEC 17025, preferably in its latest version (2017), with the aim of verifying methods of measuring the maturity of management systems based on the standard in testing and calibration laboratories. In addition, studies that used fuzzy logic as a way of removing subjective elements from the maturity assessment were also sought. Thus, the guiding question to be answered was: are there maturity models with fuzzy logic that use ISO/IEC 17025 as an assessment requirement?

For this purpose, case study articles, bibliographical research, field research, explanatory research and other theoretical and practical compilations were considered, noting points that discussed maturity models built based on the standard. As a result, we sought to identify the characteristics of these maturity models and how fuzzy logic was used.

Articles in English and Portuguese were considered using a publication time horizon of ten years (from 2012 to 2022). Although the latest version of the standard was published in 2017, with substantial changes compared to its previous version, a longer study period was necessary since maturity models using other versions of the standard may have been developed during this time.

The inclusion criteria were that the studies should be fully available published studies with the chosen search terms in their titles, the search terms or combinations of these terms in their keywords or a focus on maturity models, their relationship with the ISO/IEC 17025 standard and the elements that characterize these models. Excluded studies included those that did not provide evidence focused on the relationship between maturity models and the use of the standard, only addressed maturity models, disregarded ISO/IEC 17025 or were published before 2012.

The chosen keywords consisted of “maturity model”, “maturity assessment”, “ISO 17025”, “integrated management systems” and “fuzzy’. The keywords “integrated management systems” were included since there is a tendency to create integrated management systems. The strings formed were: (maturity model OR maturity assessment) AND (ISO 17025), (ISO 17025) AND (integrat* management system*), (ISO 17025) AND (fuzzy). The databases used in this SLR were IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Emerald, Science Direct, Taylor & Francis Online and the Periodicals Portal of CAPES. The Web of Science (WoS) and Scielo databases were consulted but did not show results with the search strings.

Generally, SLRs create a large number of databases and publications that need to be carefully analyzed. Thus, it is necessary to use tools to organize these bibliographic references. The tool chosen for managing the references in this SLR was Mendeley Desktop software version 1.19.4 developed in London, UK (2019). Another tool used in this research was VOSviewer version 1.6.18 developed in Leiden, Netherlands (2022). VOSviewer is a computer program that was developed by Van Eck and Waltman [40] to create, visualize and explore bibliometric maps of scientific literature. VOSviewer can be used to analyze all types of bibliometric network data; for example, collaboration relationships between researchers.

3. Results and Discussion

The SLR methodology was used to obtain answers to the research question, and the articles found in the search are presented in this section. An overview of the theme was produced and then, in order to find trends and correlations between the analyzed articles, an analysis was conducted based on bibliometric information, such as co-citations of authors, the year and journal of publication, the countries that published most on a theme and the leading authors.

3.1. Bibliometric Analysis

To provide an overview of the subject of this SLR, the terms central to this study were searched in the Scopus and WoS databases: “maturity model” OR “maturity assessment” and “ISO 17025”. These databases were chosen because the results found could be easily incorporated into VOSviewer to create author correlation clouds.

In Scopus, 4044 papers published in 2012 or later were found that contained the terms “maturity mode” or “maturity assessment” in their titles, abstracts and/or keywords. In WoS, 2378 papers were found that contained these terms. Figure 3 shows the generated cloud of relationships between authors: 77 clusters were formed containing 197 correlated authors. The largest cluster formed consisted of 36 authors.

These studies were also analyzed in relation to the year of publication, journal of publication, the prolific authors, the countries with the highest numbers of publications and the types of published articles. In the Scopus database, the year 2020 had the highest number of publications with 486 articles, followed by 2021 (485 publications) and 2019 (457 publications). Regarding the journals of publication, Communications in Computer and Information Science stood out with 87 publications. According to the WoS database, the year with the highest number of relevant papers published was 2021 (321 articles), followed by 2019 (306 articles) and 2020 (297 articles). The journal Sustainability had the highest number of relevant publication (58 articles). This information can be viewed in Figure 4 and Figure 5.

The most prolific authors in the Scopus database were Rocha, Á. (19 articles), Carvalho, J.V. (15 articles), Gökalp, E. (15 articles) and Borbinha, J. (14 articles). The most prolific authors in the WoS database were Rocha, Á. (16 articles), Proenca, D. (12 articles) and Borbinha, J. (11 articles). The numbers of publications are shown in Figure 6.

The most common types of papers in the Scopus database were conference papers (1805 articles), representing 44.60% of the papers found, followed by research papers (1768 articles), representing 43.70%. The remaining publications comprised review articles, conference abstracts, books, etc. The most common types of papers in the WoS database were research papers (1258 articles), representing 52.90% of the articles found, followed by conference papers (1028 articles), representing 43.23% of the articles found. The remaining publications comprised review articles, conference abstracts, etc.

The most prolific countries in the Scopus database were the United States (437 articles), followed by Germany (377 articles) and China (293 articles). The most prolific countries in the WoS database were the United States (258 articles), followed by China (234 articles) and Germany (194 articles), as shown in Figure 7.

The term “ISO 17025” was found in the titles, abstracts and/or keywords of 779 papers published in the Scopus database from 2012 onwards. In the WoS database, 640 papers were found to contain this term. Figure 8 shows the generated cloud of relationships between authors. When analyzing the cloud, nine clusters were established with 16 associated authors. The largest cluster formed comprised four authors.

As previously undertaken for the term “maturity”, these studies were also analyzed regarding the year of publication, journal of publication, leading authors, countries with the highest numbers of publications and types of published articles. According to the Scopus database, 2019 was the year with the highest number of publications (92 articles), followed by 2017 (85 articles) and 2021 (79 articles). Regarding the journals of publication, Accreditation and Quality Assurance stood out with 58 publications. In the WoS database, 2021 was the year with the highest number of publications (84 articles), followed by 2020 (74 articles) and 2019 (71 articles). Regarding the journal of publication, Accreditation and Quality Assurance had the highest number of publications (58 articles). This information is shown in Figure 9 and Figure 10.

The most prolific authors in the Scopus database were Vassileva, E. (12 articles), Deconinck, E. (7 articles) and Grochau, I. H. and Ten Caten, C.S. (6 articles). The most prolific authors in the WoS database were Zieba, P. (16 articles), followed by Hafez, Y. M. and Vassileva, E. (12 articles each) and Abdelaal, K. and Korneva, A. (10 articles each). The numbers of publications by authors can be seen in Figure 11.

The most common types of papers in the Scopus database were research papers (510 articles), representing 65.50% of the papers found, followed by conference papers (177 articles), representing 22.70% of the papers found. The remaining publications comprised review articles, book chapters, etc. The most common types of papers in the WoS database were research papers (510 articles), representing 81.25% of the papers found, followed by conference papers (129 articles), representing 20.16% of the papers found. The remaining publications comprised review articles, conference abstracts, etc.

The most prolific countries in the Scopus database were Italy (72 articles), followed by Brazil (69 articles) and the United Kingdom (67 articles). The most prolific countries in the WoS database were Italy (67 articles), followed by Brazil (58 articles) and Germany (50 articles), as shown in Figure 12.

The results presented thus far were derived from the bibliometric analysis conducted with the keywords of the central search axis of the SLR. The Methodi Ordinatio was used for the strings formed from the keywords of the search axis together with the keywords of interest. The strings formed, which were already mentioned in the methodology section, were (maturity model OR maturity assessment) AND (ISO 17025), (ISO 17025) AND (integrat* management system*) and (ISO 17025) AND (fuzzy). In each database, the resources available for the formation of strings were used; for example, an asterisk was used to search for derivations of the original term.

The raw portfolio consisted of 462 articles, which were imported into Mendeley software where the merge feature was used to remove duplicate papers, leaving 400 papers that went through the subsequent filtering procedures. Step five of the Methodi Ordinatio consists of reading the titles and abstracts of papers and excluding articles that are not in line with the search topic. Alongside this step, step eight was performed, which consists of locating the full papers. Following these two processes, 18 articles remained. Figure 13 shows a diagram of this process utilizing the PRISMA structure.

These articles were incorporated into VOSviewer software to build a correlation cloud for the authors. This cloud is displayed in Figure 14, and the few correlations shown between the authors highlight fields that can be explored in future research. There were two clusters, one formed with three authors (Dargi, A., Ghadimi, P. and Heavey, C.) and another formed with only one author (Gotzamani, K.).

For these articles, the IF of the publication journal, the year of publication and the Ci were identified. Then, for each article, the InOrdinatio equation (Equation (1)) was applied to calculate the ordering of articles in accordance with the previously described identification criteria and select the most relevant articles to be systematically read and analyzed [25]. For this research, a value of 10 was used for α, considering that the year factor was relevant for the researched topic. To obtain the IFs of the journals, the Journal Citation Report [41] was consulted, which offers a means of evaluating the quality of journals. Google Scholar^® was used to identify the number of citations of each article, and the year of publication was obtained by importing Mendeley data. The results of this sorting can be seen in

Table 1. Information about the 18 articles in the bibliographic portfolio.

Title	Authors	Year	Journal	JCR	Citations	InOrdinatio
Sustainable supplier selection: A multi-criteria intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS method	Ashkan Memari, Ahmad Dargi, Mohammad Reza Akbari Jokara, Robiah Ahmad and Rahman Abdul Rahim [42]	2019	Journal of Manufacturing Systems	9.498	334	404.01
A generic model for integration of Quality, Environment and Safety Management Systems	Manuel Ferreira Rebelo, Gilberto Santos and Rui Silva [43]	2014	The TQM Journal	0.000	150	170.00
Management systems integration: Lessons from an abandonment case	Maria Gianni and Katerina Gotzamani [44]	2015	Journal of Cleaner Production	11.072	118	148.01
Sustainable supplier performance scoring using audition checklist based fuzzy inference system: A case application in automotive spare part industry	Pezhman Ghadimi, Ahmad Dargi and Cathal Heavey [45]	2017a	Computers & Industrial Engineering	7.180	73	123.01
Indicators for maturity and readiness for digital forensic investigation in era of industrial revolution 4.0	Khairul Akram Zainol Ariffin and Faris Hanif Ahmad [46]	2021	Computers & Security	5.105	28	118.01
A qualitative study on integrated management systems in a non-leading country in certifications	Merce Bernardo, Katerina Gotzamani, Fotis Vouzas and Marti Casadesus [47]	2018	Total Quality Management & Business Excellence	4.168	47	107.00
Leadership and quality management measurement models: An empirical study	Natkamol Chansatitporn and Vallerut Pobkeeree [48]	2020	International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance	1.140	3	83.00
Integrated management systems as a driver of sustainability performance: Exploring evidence from multiple-case studies	Jeniffer de Nadae, Marly M. Carvalho and Darli Rodrigues Vieira [49]	2020	International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management	0.000	3	83.00
Making sustainable sourcing decisions: Practical evidence from the automotive industry	Pezhman Ghadimi, Ahmad DargI and Cathal Heavey [50]	2017	International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications	5.992	32	82.01
Análisis para la Implementación del Sistema de Gestión de Calidad y del Sistema de Gestión Ambiental para el Laboratorio de Análisis Instrumental de la Escuela Politécnica Nacional	Mónica Susana Delgado, Marcelo Cabrera and Gabriela Pérez [51]	2019	Revista Politécnica	0.000	8	78.00
The integration of quality management systems in testing laboratories: A practitioner’s report	Pieter Dehouck, Robert Koeber, Elena Scaravelli and Hendrik Emons [52]	2019	Accreditation and Quality Assurance	0.856	3	73.00
A capability maturity model for digital investigations	Martin Kerrigan [53]	2013	Digital Investigation	2.676	53	63.00
Methodological proposal for the assessment of environmental aspects in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)	Liven Fernando Martínez Bernal, José Javier Toro Calderón and José Herney Ramírez Franco [54]	2018	4th International Workshop on UI GreenMetric World University Rankings, IWGM 2018	0.000	0	60.00
An approach to TQM evaluation in pharma business	Valentina Marinkovic, Stana Bekcic, Gordana Pejovic, Tatjana Sibalija, Vidosav Majstorovic and Ljiljana Tasic [55]	2016	The TQM Journal	0.000	20	60.00
DF-C2M2: A capability maturity model for digital forensics organizations	Ebrahim Hamad Al Hanaei and Awais Rashid [56]	2014	2014 IEEE Security and Privacy Workshops	0.000	19	39.00
Development of a metrological management model using the AHP and SEM techniques	Jaime Beltrán, Jesús Muñuzuri, Miguel Rivas and Enrique Martín [57]	2014	International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management	0.000	10	30.00
Chapter 4—The Forensic Laboratory Integrated Management System	David Watson and Andrew Jones [58]	2013	Digital Forensics Processing and Procedures	0.000	0	10.00
Good Integration for the Chemical Industry	Vera Pelantov [59]	2012	Procedia Engineering	0.000	1	1.00

.

The bibliometric analysis showed that 2014 and 2019 were the most prolific years, each with three publications. With regard to the journal of publication, the journals International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management and The TQM Journal contained two publications each. Ahmad Dargi was the most prolific co-author (three portfolio articles), followed by Katerina Gotzamani, Pezhman Ghadimi and Cathal Heavey (two articles each). The article by Memari et al. [42] entitled “Sustainable supplier selection: A multi-criteria intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS method” had 334 citations. Most publications were research articles; only two conference articles were found. Additionally, the region with the most publications was the United Kingdom.

3.2. Content Analysis

Content analysis was performed for all 18 portfolio articles. In addition, all articles obtained a positive result from the application of InOrdinatio, which characterizes an acceptance criterion, as recommended by Pagani, Kovaleski and Resende [26]. However, it is worth mentioning that none of the studies focused on a maturity model developed considering the requirements of ISO 17025, nor was fuzzy logic used as a tool to assist in the studies’ evaluations. Therefore, a content analysis was conducted to present ideas that can serve as inspiration for the construction of this specific maturity model. The following paragraphs present analyses of these articles.

The article by Rebelo, Santos and Silva [43] presents a generic model of an integrated management system (IMS) based on ISO 9001 quality standards, as well as ISO 14001 for the environment and OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety. The proposal was developed in a Portuguese organization that had already adopted several rules to manage its activities but in an isolated way. Thus, the authors highlighted several factors that contribute to systems being integrated. The authors suggested the adoption of the PDCA cycle to integrate, implement and maintain the proposed integration. Each stage of the cycle presents the requirements of the standards. Although the standards used have already been updated, this article demonstrates a way to integrate the most diverse management systems using the PDCA cycle. The article by Gianni and Gotzamani [44] reported that many management system integration models have already been built, but there is no link that connects these theoretical models created for practical applications in organizations. The authors suggested that the main cause of the failure to maintain these integrated systems is the lack of commitment from top management staff. Notably, the methods of integration and implementation of requirements are factors that can lead to failure if not well-executed. Thus, the authors suggested that the performance-oriented management of activities and the execution of integrated audits are key processes that can improve the level of systems’ integration. The authors also suggest that the development of academic research in conjunction with the demands of managers is important for providing guidelines to ensure the success of systems’ integration. Corroborating this theme, the article by Nadae, Carvalho and Viera [49] aimed to show the impact that an IMS can have on the sustainability performance of an organization. Therefore, four companies from different sectors were studied, and the results showed that the challenges in implementing an IMS are similar; e.g., the commitment of employees and senior management to the implementation of the system. Additionally, although sustainability is not a direct motivation for the development of an IMS, strategic sustainable actions can improve an IMS.

In Bernardo et al.’s study [47], an analysis of the integration of management systems in Greece was carried out, a country that has a reduced number of certifications for ISO standards 9001, 14001 and 22000. A questionnaire was circulated, and the results showed that four of the five analyzed organizations integrated management systems but had not yet reached a high level of integration. This was due to deficiencies in Greek auditing bodies in terms of a lack of qualified management system auditors. Thus, the authors suggested that governments and certification bodies work together with organizations to improve the integration of management systems.

In the article by Delgado, Cabrera and Pérez [51], the development of an IMS based on the ISO 17025, 9001 and 14001 standards was proposed. The article is not extensive and presents only a correlation between the standards. The authors concluded that there are two methodologies, one proposed by Block and Marash [60] and another proposed by Ferguson et al. [61], that can be used to assist in the IMS implementation process. However, the article does not discuss these methodologies.

Although not part of the filter chosen for this systematic review, a chapter from the book Digital Forensics Processing and Procedures by Watson and Jones [58] analyzed an IMS for a forensic analysis laboratory based on PAS 99. According to the authors, “PAS 99 is the first specification of IMS requirements in the world based on the six common requirements of ISO Guide 72”, which is a standard for writing management system standards. This chapter also highlighted the benefits of adopting a single management system and emphasized the use of the PDCA cycle for the implementation of an IMS.

In the study by Dehouck et al. [52], the integration of management systems based on the ISO/IEC 17025, ISO/IEC 17043 and ISO Guide 34 standards in laboratories in Belgium and Italy was described. The most important fact highlighted in the study is that each country has its own method of conducting the accreditation procedure. Research has thus been conducted to harmonize management systems so that integration can take place in a standardized manner. In addition, the authors highlighted that involving workers in a bottom-up approach contributed to quick, efficient and adequate integration.

Pelantov’s study [59] was the earliest published article in the portfolio and provided a temporal analysis of how management systems have been integrated, implemented and maintained in chemical industries in the Czech Republic throughout history. This study highlighted that a recurring problem is the lack of employee involvement in the maintenance of management systems and the construction of separate management systems, making future integration difficult. The author suggested that managers should promote synergy between organizations to facilitate the exchange of information and the growth of the segment.

Bernal et al. [54] proposed a methodology to measure major environmental impacts, evaluating the affected area and the frequency of activities that impact this environment. This methodology is used in higher education institutions (HEIs) and has two phases: the identification of existing environmental aspects and the measurement of impacts. This methodology is in line with the ISO 14001:2015 standard. To assess the impacts, the duration of the polluting activity, severity and magnitude are considered and evaluated on a five-point scale. Although the proposal is especially suitable for HEIs, the methodology can be applied elsewhere since it is proven to be effective.

In the study by Ghadimi, Dargi and Heavey [45], a supplier evaluation method was built based on the three pillars of sustainability. The objective was to select suppliers with more sustainable practices. In the literature review section, the authors highlighted several published studies that have used fuzzy logic and supplier evaluation. Thus, for the evaluation proposed in the article, a checklist and a Mamdani fuzzy inference system were used to remove inaccuracies and subjective elements from the collected data. Suppliers were classified into five categories, considering environmental, social and economic parameters. Using this method, it is possible to classify suppliers according to their performance in these parameters in a precise and less subjective manner, making the developed proposal a viable aid to decision making.

In an SLR using five databases, Ariffin and Ahmad [46] explored the use of maturity indicators in the field of digital forensics in the Industry 4.0 era. The authors found five common maturity indicators in several studies: (1) development of people and capacity; (2) organization, policy and cooperation; (3) process; (4) technology and technique; and (5) legislation and regulation. However, the authors found that the maturity level of an organization is linked to the type of model chosen by the organization to assess this.

In the study by Chansatitporn and Pobkeeree [48], an exploratory analysis was carried out to evaluate the role of organizational leadership and its characteristics in the development and maintenance of measurement models of quality management. A questionnaire with 27 questions was used and techniques such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the collected data. By analyzing the results, the authors concluded that the development of leadership attributes and the engagement of all those involved in the activities are necessary for an organization’s growth.

In a study by Ghadimi, Dargi and Heavey [50], an evaluation model was proposed to address the problem of sustainable supplier selection and order allocation (SSS&OA). This model uses a checklist based on the three dimensions of sustainability: economic, environmental and social. Each criterion is evaluated within three categories, and the results are analyzed according to fuzzy logic. The developed model was tested with a real case. This article was similar to that previously presented [53]; however, the authors used a different approach to analyze the possible alternatives: the max–min solution approach.

Memari et al. [42] presented a method to select suppliers with sustainable practices. This method was developed using the TOPSIS multicriteria method, which was added to fuzzy logic. Nine criteria and thirty sub-criteria were considered to evaluate suppliers according to their sustainable practices. This method was applied with a real case study and proved to be effective in meeting the proposed objective.

Kerrigan’s study [53] used capability maturity model integration as a basis for building a new model to assess the maturity of organizations that conduct digital research: the digital research capability maturity model (DI-CMM). The model uses a five-level scale and 15 evaluation criteria. This model was tested in three organizations and the author suggested that the model could be improved and tested in other organizations.

The article by Marinkovic et al. [55] aimed to explore good practices and the integration of a management system based on the concept of total quality management (TQM) in the pharmaceutical sector in Serbia. To conduct this study, a questionnaire with 16 questions was created and sent to 121 managers in the pharmaceutical sector. By analyzing the answers obtained, the authors concluded that the adoption of standardized management systems—mainly through norms, such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 1800—enables growth and sustainability in relation to organizations’ actions.

Hanaei and Rashid [56] proposed the DF-C²M², a capability maturity model that allows organizations to assess the maturity of their digital forensic resources and outline action plans to improve them according to business or regulatory requirements. The model uses a five-point scale to assess and classify maturity and six analysis criteria. The model was developed through consultations and interviews with digital forensics experts and is supported by a tool that provides visual representations of capability gaps and strengths. The model was tested and evaluated with a real laboratory case.

Finally, Beltrán, Muñuzuri and Martín [57] presented a quantitative model to assess the maturity of metrological management in companies based on the ISO 10012:2003 standard. To build this model, the authors used structural equations to identify the underlying relationships between different model variables. The model has a five-point scale to assess maturity and uses the AHP technique to establish the weights of each criterion. The criteria are the requirements of the standard. The authors also indicate that the adoption of the PDCA cycle is important to guarantee continuous improvement.

As already mentioned, the articles that made up this bibliographic portfolio did not present the specific maturity model sought in the SLR. Consequently, it was not possible to analyze how these models were constructed and applied. However, the articles were analyzed to present insights and ideas so that maturity models for QMS that use ISO 17025 and fuzzy logic can be developed.

Table 2. Highlights of bibliographic portfolio studies.

Title	Authors	Highlights from Articles
Sustainable supplier selection: A multi-criteria intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS method	Ashkan Memari, Ahmad Dargi, Mohammad Reza Akbari Jokara, Robiah Ahmad and Rahman Abdul Rahim [42]	Use of the TOPSIS multicriteria method added to fuzzy logic for the evaluation of suppliers with sustainable practices
A generic model for integration of Quality, Environment and Safety Management Systems	Manuel Ferreira Rebelo, Gilberto Santos and Rui Silva [43]	Use of the PDCA cycle as an integration tool for management systems based on different standards
Management systems integration: Lessons from an abandonment case	Maria Gianni and Katerina Gotzamani [44]	Development of academic work in conjunction with the demands of managers is important to provide guidelines to ensure the success of systems’ integration
Sustainable supplier performance scoring using audition checklist based fuzzy inference system: A case application in automotive spare part industry	Pezhman Ghadimi, Ahmad Dargi and Cathal Heavey [45]	Use of Mamdani fuzzy logic to evaluate suppliers according to environmental, social and economic parameters
Indicators for maturity and readiness for digital forensic investigation in era of industrial revolution 4.0	Khairul Akram Zainol Ariffin and Faris Hanif Ahmad [46]	The maturity level of an organization is linked to the type of model chosen by the organization to assess maturity
A qualitative study on integrated management systems in a non-leading country in certifications	Merce Bernardo, Katerina Gotzamani, Fotis Vouzas and Marti Casadesus [47]	To increase the number of organizations with certified IMSs, it is necessary to have an integration policy and develop qualified auditors to assess these systems
Leadership and quality management measurement models: An empirical study	Natkamol Chansatitporn and Vallerut Pobkeeree [48]	Statistical techniques were used to impartially assess corporate leadership characteristics
Integrated management systems as a driver of sustainability performance: Exploring evidence from multiple-case studies	Jeniffer de Nadae, Marly M. Carvalho and Darli Rodrigues Vieira [49]	Strategic actions that seek business sustainability can improve IMSs
Making sustainable sourcing decisions: Practical evidence from the automotive industry	Pezhman Ghadimi, Ahmad Dargi and Cathal Heavey [50]	The max–min solution approach was used to evaluate suppliers according to environmental, social and economic parameters
Análisis para la Implementación del Sistema de Gestión de Calidad y del Sistema de Gestión Ambiental para el Laboratorio de Análisis Instrumental de la Escuela Politécnica Nacional	Mónica Susana Delgado, Marcelo Cabrera and Gabriela Pérez [51]	Correlations between standards were presented
The integration of quality management systems in testing laboratories: A practitioner’s report	Pieter Dehouck, Robert Koeber, Elena Scaravelli and Hendrik Emons [52]	The effort to harmonize different regulations across different countries is important to ensure standardization of IMS implementation.
A capability maturity model for digital investigations	Martin Kerrigan [53]	Use of a capability maturity model integration derivation as a basis for building a new maturity assessment model using a five-level scale and 15 assessment criteria.
Methodological proposal for the assessment of environmental aspects in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)	Liven Fernando Martínez Bernal, José Javier Toro Calderón and José Herney Ramírez Franco [54]	Use of an ISO with an environmental aspect assessment tool
An approach to TQM evaluation in pharma business	Valentina Marinkovic, Stana Bekcic, Gordana Pejovic, Tatjana Sibalija, Vidosav Majstorovic and Ljiljana Tasic [55]	The adoption of standardized management systems, mainly through norms, enables growth and sustainability in relation to organizations’ actions
DF-C2M2: A capability maturity model for digital forensics organizations	Ebrahim Hamad Al Hanaei and Awais Rashid [56]	Development a capability maturity model that uses a five-point scale
Development of a metrological management model using the AHP and SEM techniques	Jaime Beltrán, Jesús Muñuzuri, Miguel Rivas and Enrique Martín [57]	Creation of a model to assess the maturity of organizations based on the ISO 10012:2003 standard using a five-point scale to assess maturity and the AHP technique to establish the weights of each criterion
Chapter 4—The Forensic Laboratory Integrated Management System	David Watson and Andrew Jones [58]	Use of the PDCA cycle for the implementation of an IMS
Good Integration for the Chemical Industry	Vera Pelantov [59]	Management systems must be integrated before they are implemented, and the involvement of all stakeholders is important for the success of an IMS

shows the main highlights of these articles.

In this context, similarities were found between the articles, and some considerations can be stated:

• Management systems are often created using the PDCA cycle;
• For the continuous improvement of management systems and to guarantee their success, it is necessary to adopt practices that promote the involvement and active participation of all stakeholders;
• The use of standards, such as ISO standards, as well as assisting in the construction and evaluation of management systems, are important ways to ensure the standardization of implementation and assessment;
• Maturity models are also built based on ISO standards—this factor is important, as it ensures standardization and impartiality at the time of assessment;
• The use of fuzzy logic in association with the construction of maturity models is impartial. In addition to promoting impartial evaluation, it also removes possible subjective elements;
• Maturity models for the assessment of the degree of maturity of a given organization are commonly developed using a five-point scale.

4. Conclusions

The main objective of this article was to search for MMs built using fuzzy logic to assess the degrees of maturity in testing and calibration laboratories that adopt ISO/IEC 17025 for their QMSs (its most recent version was published in 2017). To this end, Methodi Ordinatio was used as a formal protocol to conduct an SLR. The method chosen for the SLR proved to be efficient and easy to implement and did not compromise the development of the research.

The SLR was performed using 2012 to 2022 as the search period and IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Emerald, Science Direct, Taylor & Francis Online and CAPES Portal as databases. The keywords used were “maturity model”, “maturity assessment”, “ISO 17025”, “integrat* management system*” and “fuzzy”. After undertaking all the steps of the method, it was possible to build a bibliographic portfolio with 18 articles. However, none of these articles presented the desired maturity model sought, which indicates a gap to be filled. This could be a path for the development of future research.

In this review, articles were selected and analyzed to find ways to develop a maturity model such as the one sought. It was found that the PDCA cycle is adopted for the implementation of management systems, maturity models are built using standards such as ISO standards with fuzzy logic and maturity is generally evaluated on a five-point scale. In addition, the commitment of all those involved in the organizations’ activities is a success factor for the implementation and maintenance of management systems. This demonstrates a way to develop maturity models that meet the requirements of ISO 17025 with impartiality and use a standardized assessment.

This article has several limitations. Firstly, the SLR was carried out using a limited number of databases and with a 10 year publication period. Secondly, a filter was used for the language of publication, restricting our search to articles written in Portuguese or English. Based on these limitations and considering the lack of studies with the analyzed theme, further research could explore additional bibliographic databases, different publication time periods and studies published in other languages.