Development Strategy for a Quality Management System of Gayo Coffee Agro-Industry Using Soft Systems Methodology

The potential of Gayo coffee production in Aceh Province, Indonesia, has not been thoroughly well optimized, especially the low quality of coffee products and an inadequate quality management. Resulting in a demand of a holistic mapping problem system to elaborate the problem and discover the root and the most suitable solution. This article explains the development strategy for quality management system of Gayo coffee agro-industry using Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) approach. The SSM approach is able to provide solutions for unstructured problems. In this case, it is recommended to initiate an improvement from the farmers and exporters regarding the planning, controlling, and improving the quality under a control of local government, research institutions, and universities. Building a union and tools for the quality observation, control, and improvement is highly needed with a continuous process to achieve a sustainable improvement.