By: Elowen Gray

Harrington Group International (HGI) is a privately held American software development company that designs and delivers enterprise quality management systems. Established in 1991 by Rick Harrington, Jr. in Orlando, Florida, the company is headquartered in Maitland, Florida, and employs approximately 30 staff. 

Its software platforms, including the Harrington Quality Management System (HQMS), are used in regulated industries to ensure compliance, oversee processes, and improve quality. Since its inception, HGI has played a key role in transitioning from paper-based systems to digital platforms in quality management.

Its tools are used in the aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, life sciences, and tech industries that require regulatory compliance and standards. The company’s partnerships with organizations and individuals have shaped modern quality management standards.

A defining collaboration occurred in 1994 when HGI partnered with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). At that time, ISO standards were distributed primarily on paper. 

HGI worked directly with ISO to create the first electronic version of the standards, making them digitally accessible to organizations. This initiative marked one of the early moves toward electronic distribution of regulatory frameworks and broadened accessibility for companies adopting ISO compliance measures.

In the same year, HGI entered into a partnership with the American Society for Quality (ASQ). This collaboration led to the development of software for the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI), a metric jointly owned by ASQ and the University of Michigan. 

The CSI was created to measure customer experience and satisfaction, with HGI designing a digital platform to help organizations calculate and use the index. It was an early example of using software to standardize and operationalize a large-scale quality metric.

Another long-standing association has been with Dr. H. James Harrington, a recognized figure in quality management. Dr. Harrington is the author of more than fifty books on the subject and has been cited alongside other major contributors to the field, such as Philip Crosby, Joseph Juran, and W. Edwards Deming. 

HGI has worked closely with Dr. Harrington to advance digital tools that align with evolving quality frameworks. His involvement has reinforced the company’s positioning within the broader discourse on enterprise quality improvement.

Through its collaborations, HGI contributed to the broader industry transition from manual to digital quality management systems. By creating electronic ISO standards, the company supported a foundational shift toward digitization in compliance management. 

Similarly, its work with ASQ and the University of Michigan on the CSI helped demonstrate how software could be applied to quality measurement and benchmarking. These projects established precedents that influenced the adoption of digital tools in quality assurance.

HGI’s partnerships have aligned it with recognized thought leaders like Deming, Juran, Crosby, and Dr. Harrington, positioning the company within a framework of quality assurance expert discussions. 

While the company has primarily acted as a developer of digital tools, its alignment with these standards and methodologies has linked its work to established theories and practices in the discipline of quality management.

HGI’s collaborations and contributions have been referenced in various industry and business media. In March 2022, PR Newswire reported on the company’s three decades of activity in the quality management software market. 

In July 2025, IssueWire reported on the launch of HGI’s Calibration Recall SaaS module, designed to address compliance through automated calibration tracking. 

These sources highlight the company’s ongoing presence in the sector and media recognition for technology and quality management. Harrington Group International’s history has been shaped by its product development and collaborations with industry organizations and experts.

From its work with ISO on the first electronic standards to its partnership with ASQ and its association with Dr. H. James Harrington, the company has participated in projects that advanced the digitization of quality management practices. 

These collaborations, along with continued recognition in trade publications, position HGI as a long-standing participant in the software solutions sector that supports global compliance and process improvement.