TQM

QualityDefinition: A measure of excellence.

Four Ways of Looking at Quality Definitions

David M. Dilts, Professor of the Faculty of Science at the Universität of Waterloo, Waterloo Ontario, Canada made a list of quotations according to 5 different targets:

1. Customer - based

"Quality consists of the capacity to satisfy wants."(C.D. Edwards, "The Meaning of Quality", in Quality Progress Oct.1968)

"Quality is fitness for use." (J.M. Juran, ed. Quality Control Handbook 1988)

2. Manufacturing - based

"Quality is the degree to which a specific product conforms to a design or specification" (H.L. Gilmore: Product Conformance Cost. Quality progress June 1974)

"Quality [means] conformance to requirements." (P.B. Crosby: Quality Is Free)

3. Product - based

"Quality refers to the amount of the unpriced attributes contained in each unit of the priced attribute." (K. B. Leifler: Ambiguous Chamges in Product Quality,

American Economic Review Dec.1982)

4. Value - based

"Quality is the degree of excellence at an acceptable price and the control of variability at an acceptable cost." (R. A. Broh: Managing Quality for Higher Profits, 1982)

Dimensions of Quality8 Dimensions of Quality

The definition of quality is often a hotly debated topic. While it may seem intuitive, when we get right down to it, “quality” is a difficult concept to define with any precision.

The most fundamental definition of a quality product is one that meets the expectations of the customer. However, even this definition is too high level to be considered adequate.

In order to develop a more complete definition of quality, we must consider some of the key dimensions of a quality product or service.

Dimension 1: Performance

Does the product or service do what it is supposed to do, within its defined tolerances?

Performance is often a source of contention between customers and suppliers, particularly when deliverables are not adequately defined within specifications.

The performance of a product often influences profitability or reputation of the end-user. As such, many contracts or specifications include damages related to inadequate performance.

Dimension 2: Features

Does the product or services possess all of the features specified, or required for its intended purpose?

While this dimension may seem obvious, performance specifications rarely define the features required in a product. Thus, it’s important that suppliers designing product or services from performance specifications are familiar with its intended uses, and maintain close relationships with the end-users.

Dimension 3: Reliability

Will the product consistently perform within specifications?

Reliability may be closely related to performance. For instance, a product specification may define parameters for up-time, or acceptable failure rates.

Reliability is a major contributor to brand or company image, and is considered a fundamental dimension of quality by most end-users.

Dimension 4: Conformance

Does the product or service conform to the specification?

If it’s developed based on a performance specification, does it perform as specified? If it’s developed based on a design specification, does it possess all of the features defined?

Dimension 5: Durability

How long will the product perform or last, and under what conditions?

Durability is closely related to warranty. Requirements for product durability are often included within procurement contracts and specifications.

For instance, fighter aircraft procured to operate from aircraft carriers include design criteria intended to improve their durability in the demanding naval environment.

Dimension 6: Serviceability

Is the product relatively easy to maintain and repair?

As end users become more focused on Total Cost of Ownership than simple procurement costs, serviceability (as well as reliability) is becoming an increasingly important dimension of quality and criteria for product selection.

Dimension 7: Aesthetics

The way a product looks is important to end-users. The aesthetic properties of a product contribute to a company’s or brand’s identity. Faults or defects in a product that diminish its aesthetic properties, even those that do not reduce or alter other dimensions of quality, are often cause for rejection.

Dimension 8: Perception

Perception is reality. The product or service may possess adequate or even superior dimensions of quality, but still fall victim to negative customer or public perceptions.

As an example, a high quality product may get the reputation for being low quality based on poor service by installation or field technicians. If the product is not installed or maintained properly, and fails as a result, the failure is often associated with the product’s quality rather than the quality of the service it receives.

Summary

It should be obvious from the discussion above that the individual dimensions of quality are not necessarily distinct. Depending on the industry, situation, and type of contract or specification several or all of the above dimensions may be interdependent.

When designing, developing or manufacturing a product (or delivering a service) the interactions between the dimensions of quality must be understood and taken into account.

While these dimensions may not constitute a complete list of relevant dimensions, taking them into consideration should provide us with a better understanding of the slippery concept of quality.

Dimensions of QualityThe most comprehensive and perhaps the simplest definition of quality is that used by advocates of total quality management (W. Edwards Deming, 1982): "Doing the right thing right, right away." Experts generally recognize several distinct dimensions of quality that vary in importance depending on the context in which a QA effort takes place. The following nine dimensions of quality have been developed from the technical literature on quality and synthesize ideas from various QA experts. Together, they provide a useful framework that helps health teams to define, analyze, and measure the extent to which they are meeting program standards for clinical care and for management services that support service delivery. While all of these dimensions are relevant to developing country settings, not all nine deserve equal weight in every program. Each should be defined according to the local context and specific programs.

Technical performance: The degree to which the tasks carried out by health workers and facilities meet expectations of technical quality (i.e., adhere to standards)

Access to services: The degree to which healthcare services are unrestricted by geographic, economic, social, organizational, or linguistic barriers

Effectiveness of care: The degree to which desired results (outcomes) of care are achieved

Efficiency of service delivery: The ratio of the outputs of services to the associated costs of producing those services

Interpersonal relations: Trust, respect, confidentiality, courtesy, responsiveness, empathy, effective listening, and communication between providers and clients

Continuity of services: Delivery of care by the same healthcare provider throughout the course of care (when appropriate) and appropriate and timely referral and communication between providers

Safety: The degree to which the risks of injury, infection, or other harmful side effect are minimized

Physical infrastructure and comfort: The physical appearance of the facility, cleanliness, comfort, privacy, and other aspects that are important to clients

Choice: As appropriate and feasible, client choice of provider, insurance plan, or treatment.

Quality PlanningWhat is Quality Planning?

According to ISO 9000:2000 the definition of Quality Planning is "art of quality management focused on setting quality objectives and specifying necessary operational processes and related resources to fulfill quality objectives."

A Quality Plan is a document specifying which procedures and associated resources shall be applied by when and by whom to a specific project, product, process, or contract.

Definitions of quality planning on the Web:

actions which determine the goals and demands for quality as well as for the application of elements of quality systems; www.unizg.hr/tempusprojects/glossary.htm

Determining which quality standards are necessary and how to apply them.www.projectauditors.com/Dictionary/Q.html

Quality Planning is a structured process for defining the methods that will be used in the production of a specific product or family of products. Quality planning embodies the concepts of defect prevention and continuous improvement as contrasted with defect detection.thequalityportal.com/glossary/q.htm

Part of quality management focused on setting quality objectives and specifying necessary operational processes and related resources to fulfill the quality objectives. A part of Quality planning is the quality assurance plan.www.health-plus.eu/project-glossary/

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Basic Planning for Quality is a much-needed primer on the management of quality control in the laboratory. For lab managers and directors, quality specialists, and clinical laboratory scientists who are looking for a saner way to manage quality in their labs, this manual will provide the missing ingredient – an objective way to manage your testing processes to achieve the quality needed for patient care while accounting for the actual performance of the methods in your laboratory.

Establish a practical process for managing quality in your laboratory!

Plan your quality logically, efficiently, and quickly!

Move beyond compliance with JCAHO, CLIA, NCCLS, and other rules!

Optimize your QC to minimize waste and maximize performance!

Select the best control rules for your tests!

Basic Planning for Quality makes use of over 65 illustrations, graphs and tables, explains more than two dozen applications in detail, covers CLIA, JCAHO, NCCLS and other requirements, includes appendices on CLIA requirements, European Biologic Goals, and provides a database of quality recommendations for over 300 analytes

Develop a strategic quality plan

Organizations, regardless of whether they are private, public or not-for-profit, face a continuous barrage of requests to improve quality. Every quality management initiative can, and must be tied to key business process performance indicators in order to have any real impact on productivity and the bottom-line. However, strategic plans are rarely translated into the quality strategies needed to ensure overall performance improvement gains.

Management may attend public quality sessions to get acquainted with the latest strategy and then come back into your organization prepared to introduce initiatives such as Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, Process Management, Quality Awards and so on. But the complaints about quality continue in the organization until someone finally asks the questions:

Are these the right strategies?

Do we even know what the problem is that we're trying to fix?”

Business Improvement Architect’s Strategic Quality Planning Process will move your organization and/or a department's quality management team beyond the notion of quick fixes and into the realm of solutions. It leads to the development of Quality Management Strategies.

This process starts with defining what "quality" may mean to your organization/department and continues with a process for developing quality standards, creating a vision for quality and translating the vision into a series of quality strategies. We will take your quality team through a process to:

Review your organization’s and/or department’s strategic plan or imperatives

Identify what quality initiatives or strategies have been used in the past

Understand the voice of customer

Engage employees and gain their feedback to ensure their continued commitment to quality

Create the quality vision

Develop a statement of quality and standards

Identify the quality strategies

Develop the strategic implementation plan.

Quality CostsDefinition and Explanation of Quality Costs:

A product that meets or exceeds its design specifications and is free of defects that mar its appearance or degrade its performance is said to have high quality of conformance. Note that if an economy car is free of defects, it can have a quality of conformance that is just as high as defect-free luxury car. The purchasers of economy cars cannot expect their cars to be as opulently as luxury cars, but they can and do expect to be free of defects.

Preventing, detecting and dealing with defects cause costs that are called quality costs or costs of quality. The use of the term "quality cost" is confusing to some people. It does not refer to costs such as using a higher grade leather to make a wallet or using 14K gold instead of gold plating in jewelry. Instead the term quality cost refers to all of the costs that are incurred to prevent defects or that result from defects in products.

Quality costs can be broken down into four broad groups. These four groups are also termed as four (4) types of quality costs. Two of these groups are known as prevention costs and appraisal costs. These are incurred in an effort to keep defective products from falling into the hands of customers. The other two groups of costs are known as internal failure costs and external failure costs. Internal and external failure costs are incurred because defects are produced despite efforts to prevent them therefore these costs are also known as costs of poor quality.

The quality costs do not just relate to just manufacturing; rather, they relate to all the activities in a company from initial research and development (R & D) through customer service. Total quality cost can be quite high unless management gives this area special attention.

Four types of quality cost are briefly explained below:

Prevention Costs:

Generally the most effective way to manage quality costs is to avoid having defects in the first place. It is much less costly to prevent a problem from ever happening than it is to find and correct the problem after it has occurred. Prevention costs support activities whose purpose is to reduce the number of defects. Companies employ many techniques to prevent defects for example statistical process control, quality engineering, training, and a variety of tools from total quality management (TQM).

Prevention costs include activities relating to quality circles and statistical process control. Quality circles consist of small groups of employees that meet on a regular basis to discuss ways to improve quality. Both management and workers are included in these circles.

Statistical process control is a technique that is used to detect whether a process is in or out of control. An out of control process results in defective units and may be caused by a miscalibrated machine or some other factor. In statistical process control, workers use charts to monitor the quality of units that pass through their workstations. With these charts, workers can quickly spot processes that are out of control and that are creating defects. Problems can be immediately corrected and further defects prevented rather than waiting for an inspector to catch the defect later.

Some companies provide technical support to their suppliers as a way of preventing defects. Particularly in just in time (JIT) systems, such support to suppliers is vital. In a JIT system, parts are delivered from suppliers just in time and in just the correct quantity to fill customer orders. There are no stockpiles of parts. If a defective part is received from a supplier, the part cannot be used and the order for the ultimate customer cannot be filled in time. Hence every part received from suppliers must be free from defects. Consequently, companies that use just in time (JIT) often require that their supplier use sophisticated quality control programs such as statistical process control and that their suppliers certify that they will deliver parts and materials that are free of defects.

Appraisal Costs:

Any defective parts and products should be caught as early as possible in the production process. Appraisal costs, which are sometimes called inspection costs, are incurred to identify defective products before the products are shipped to customers. Unfortunately performing appraisal activates doesn't

keep defects from happening again and most managers realize now that maintaining an army of inspectors is a costly and ineffective approach to quality control.

Employees are increasingly being asked to be responsible for their own quality control. This approach along with designing products to be easy to manufacture properly, allows quality to be built into products rather than relying on inspections to get the defects out.

Internal failure Costs:

Failure costs are incurred when a product fails to conform to its design specifications. Failure costs can be either internal or external. Internal failure costs result from identification of defects before they are shipped to customers. These costs include scrap, rejected products, reworking of defective units, and downtime caused by quality problem. The more effective a company's appraisal activities the greater the chance of catching defects internally and the greater the level of internal failure costs. This is the price that is paid to avoid incurring external failure costs, which can be devastating.

External Failure Costs:

When a defective product is delivered to customer, external failure cost is the result. External failure costs include warranty, repairs and replacements, product recalls, liability arising from legal actions against a company, and lost sales arising from a reputation for poor quality. Such costs can decimate profits.

In the past, some managers have taken the attitude, "Let's go ahead and ship everything to customers, and we'll take care of any problems under the warranty." This attitude generally results in high external failure costs, customer ill will, and declining market share and profits.

External failure costs usually give rise to another intangible cost. These intangible costs are hidden costs that involve the company's image. They can be three or four times greater than tangible costs. Missing a deadline or other quality problems can be intangible costs of quality.

Internal failure costs, external failure costs and intangible costs that impair the goodwill of the company occur due to a poor quality so these costs are also known as costs of poor quality by some persons.

Examples of four types of quality cost are given below:

Prevention Costs Internal Failure Costs

Systems development

Quality engineering

Quality training

Quality circles

statistical process control

Supervision of prevention activities

Quality data gathering, analysis, and reporting

Quality improvement projects

Technical support provided to suppliers

Audits of the effectiveness of the quality system Net cost of scrap

Net cost of spoilage

Rework labor and overhead

Re-inspection of reworked products

Retesting of reworked products

Downtime caused by quality problems

Disposal of defective products

Analysis of the cause of defects in production

Re-entering data because of keying errors

Debugging software errors

Appraisal Costs External Failure Costs

Test and inspection of incoming materials

Test and inspection of in-process goods

Final product testing and inspection

Supplies used in testing and inspection

Supervision of testing and inspection activities

Depreciation of test equipment

Maintenance of test equipment

Plant utilities in the inspection area

Field testing and appraisal at customer site Cost of field servicing and handling complaints

Warranty repairs and replacements

Repairs and replacements beyond the warranty period

Product recalls

Liability arising from defective products

Returns and allowances arising from quality problems

Lost sales arising from a reputation for poor quality.

Real Business Example:

SIMPLE SOLUTION:

Very simple and inexpensive procedures can be followed to prevent defects. Yamada Electric Company had a persistent problem assembling a simple push button switch. The switch has two buttons, an on button and an off button, with a small spring under each button. Assembly is very simple. A worker inserts the small spring in the device and then installs the buttons. However the workers some time forget to put in one of the springs. When the customers discover such a defective switch in a shipment from Yamada, an inspector has to be sent to the customer's plan to check every switch in the shipment. After each such incident, workers are urged to be more careful, and for a while quality improves. But eventually, someone forgets to put in a spring, and Yamada gets into trouble with the customers again. This chronic problem was very embarrassing to Yamada.

Shigeo Shingo, an expert on quality control, suggested a very simple solution. A small dish was placed next to the assembly station. At the beginning of each operation, two of the small springs are taken out of a parts box containing hundreds of springs and placed in the dish. The worker then assembles the switch. If a spring remains on the dish after assembling the switch, the worker immediately realizes a

spring has been left out, and the switch is reassembled. This simple change in procedures completely eliminated the problem.

Source: Shigeo Shingo and Dr. Alan Robinson, editor-in-chief, Modern Approaches to Manufacturing Improvement: The Shingo System, (Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press, 1990), pp. 214-216.

Overview of TQM

The roots of Total Quality Management (TQM) go back to the teachings of Drucker, Juran, Deming, Ishikawa, Crosby, Feigenbaum and countless other people that have studied, practiced, and tried to refine the process of organizational management. TQM is a collection of principles, techniques, processes, and best practices that over time have been proven effective. Most all world-class organizations exhibit the majority of behaviors that are typically identified with TQM.

No two organizations have the same TQM implementation. There is no recipe for organization success, however, there are a number of great TQM models that organizations can use. These include the Deming Application Prize, the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, the European Foundation for Quality Management, and the ISO quality management standards. Any organization that wants to improve its performance would be well served by selecting one of these models and conducting a self-assessment.

The simplest model of TQM is shown in this diagram. The model begins with understanding customer needs. TQM organizations have processes that continuously collect, analyze, and act on customer information. Activities are often extended to understanding competitor's customers. Developing an intimate understanding of customer needs allows TQM organizations to predict future customer behavior.

TQM organizations integrate customer knowledge with other information and use the planning process to orchestrate action throughout the organization to manage day to day activities and achieve future goals. Plans are reviewed at periodic intervals and adjusted as necessary. The planning process is the glue that holds together all TQM activity.

TQM organizations understand that customers will only be satisfied if they consistently receive products and services that meet their needs, are delivered when expected, and are priced for value. TQM organizations use the techniques of process management to develop cost-controlled processes that are stable and capable of meeting customer expectations.

TQM organizations also understand that exceptional performance today may be unacceptable performance in the future so they use the concepts of process improvement to achieve both breakthrough gains and incremental continuous improvement. Process improvement is even applied to the TQM system itself!

The final element of the TQM model is total participation. TQM organizations understand that all work is performed through people. This begins with leadership. In TQM organizations, top management takes personal responsibility for implementing, nurturing, and refining all TQM activities. They make sure people are properly trained, capable, and actively participate in achieving organizational success. Management and employees work together to create an empowered environment where people are valued.

All of the TQM model's elements work together to achieve results.

Why TQM?

TQM refers to an integrated approach by management to focus all functions and levels of an organization on quality and continuous improvement. Over the years TQM has become very important for improving a firm's process capabilities in order to achieve fit and sustain competitive advantages. TQM focuses on encouraging a continuous flow of incremental improvements from the bottom of the organization's hierarchy. TQM is not a complete solution formula as viewed by many – formulas can not solve managerial problems, but a lasting commitment to the process of continuous improvement.

The Main Driving Force

The main driving force of TQM is customer satisfaction.

Deming's 14 Point Plan for TQM

By: Dr. W. Edwards Deming

Dr. W. Edwards Deming: (1900-1993) is considered to be the Father of Modern Quality

Dr. Deming preached that to achieve the highest level of performance requires more than a good philosophy – the organization must change its behavior and adopt new ways of doing business.

Deming's approach were amply summed up in his famous 14 Points.

Point 1: Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of the product and service so as to become competitive, stay in business and provide jobs

Point 2: Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. We no longer need live with commonly accepted levels of delay, mistake, defective material and defective workmanship.

Point 3: Cease dependence on mass inspection; require, instead, statistical evidence that quality is built in.

Point 4: Improve the quality of incoming materials. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of a price alone. Instead, depend on meaningful measures of quality, along with price.

Point 5: Find the problems; constantly improve the system of production and service. There should be continual reduction of waste and continual improvement of quality in every activity so as to yield a continual rise in productivity and a decrease in costs.

Point 6: Institute modern methods of training and education for all. Modern methods of on-the-job training use control charts to determine whether a worker has been properly trained and is able to perform the job correctly. Statistical methods must be used to discover when training is complete.

Point 7: Institute modern methods of supervision. The emphasis of production supervisors must be to help people to do a better job. Improvement of quality will automatically improve productivity. Management must prepare to take immediate action on response from supervisors concerning problems such as inherited defects, lack of maintenance of machines, poor tools or fuzzy operational definitions.

Point 8: Fear is a barrier to improvement so drive out fear by encouraging effective two-way communication and other mechanisms that will enable everybody to be part of change, and to belong to it.

Fear can often be found at all levels in an organization: fear of change, fear of the fact that it may be necessary to learn a better way of working and fear that their positions might be usurped frequently affect middle and higher management, whilst on the shop-floor, workers can also fear the effects of change on their jobs.

Point 9: Break down barriers between departments and staff areas. People in different areas such as research, design, sales, administration and production must work in teams to tackle problems that may be encountered with products or service.

Point 10: Eliminate the use of slogans, posters and exhortations for the workforce, demanding zero defects and new levels of productivity without providing methods. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships.

Point 11: Eliminate work standards that prescribe numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for people in management. Substitute aids and helpful leadership.

Point 12: Remove the barriers that rob hourly workers, and people in management, of their right to pride of workmanship. This implies, abolition of the annual merit rating (appraisal of performance) and of management by objectives.

Point 13: Institute a vigorous program of education, and encourage self-improvement for everyone. What an organization needs is not just good people; it needs people that are improving with education.

Point 14: Top management's permanent commitment to ever-improving quality and productivity must be clearly defined and a management structure created that will continuously take action to follow the preceding 13 points.

HISTROY of TQMHistory of Total Quality Management

Deming's Contributions

In 1947 W. Edwards Deming Ph.D., an American statistician, was invited to help the Japanese work on their census tracts. Two years later, Dr. Deming, returned to Japan to teach a course on statistical control. His first formal course began in July 1950 with 220 engineers enrolled in the course. The Japanese industrialists were receptive to idea of improving quality because they wanted to have a larger export market. What Deming was teaching, however, went well beyond traditional statistical control courses. It involved a management philosophy.

Deming taught about problem solving and team work, concepts that were new to statistical quality control. He was even critical of some of the statistical quality control practices of his day. He taught that use of slogans to reduce production defects is counter productive. He thought that rewarding and punishing workers based on statistical control would be blaming the victim. He thought the focus should be on improving the process not blaming the workers. He was astute enough to know that if an idea is to survive it needs organizational champions. He insisted that statistical control staff move from factory floors to management positions. In essence, Dr. Deming took the idea of statistical control and transformed it into a method of management. In Dr. Deming's hands, a concept that was previously only

an engineering tool became an over arching management style. That first group of engineers went back and told their managers. Soon Japanese industrialists became committed to the idea of improving quality through Deming's management methods. Following his ideas, they set up organization wide units, involved all employees in improvement, organized cross functional teams to examine a problem and solve it. Gradually, the Japanese products improved. In time, Japanese products exceeded the quality of American Products. Entire industries were lost to Japan. The success of Total Quality Management in Japan and the loss of market share by the American companies awakened the American industrialists.

1930s TQM history

The history of TQM starts with Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne experiements from 1927 through 1932. These experiments showed that workers participation in decision making improves productivity.

In the 1930s, the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company studied lighting levels, workday lengths, and rest period lengths to maximize productivity. During the lighting level studies, researchers found that when the lights were brighter, worker productivity increased. However when lighting level was decreased worker productivity also increased.

This change in behavior from the employees is now called the Hawthorne effect. It basically states that when workers are involved in studies or decision making, productivity increases.

Also during the 1930s, Walter Shewhart developed control charts. which are a statistical method to control processes.

1940s TQM History

In the 1940’s US was in World War II. Click here to review the History of the ISO 9001 standard. WWII pushed standardization, statistical control, and best manufacturing practices.

1950s History of Total Qality Management

In the 1950s Edward Deming taught statistical methods and Dr Juran taught quality management techniques to the Japanese.

Armand Feigenbaun wrote Total Quality Control. This became the first work that started many Total Quality Management theories.

In 1954 Abraham Maslow created a pyramid of self actualization needs. In terms of work productivity, the lower levels of needs must be met prior to employees performing at higher levels. The needs in order are

Physiological which is to eat, sleep, and have shelter Safety which is to have economic and physical security Belonging which is to be accepted by family and friends Esteem which is to be held in high regard

Self actualization which is to achieves ones best.

1960s TQM History

In the 1960s Douglas McGregor formed the Theory X and Theory Y leadership models.

A Theory X leader applies a negative approach to management. They assume most workers really do not like to work and try to avoid work.

A Theory Y leader believes workers want to do a good job. They believe workers will offer solutions to problems and participate in problem solving events. An involved employee is a productive employee.

1970s History of TQM

In 1968 the Japanese shaped the phrase Total Quality Control. TQC is a company wide quality control philosophy. This philosophy drove Japan to the world quality leader in the 1970s. For the most part, Japan remains the quality leader. However the world has significantly closed the gap.

1980s History of TQM

In the 1980 the U.S. Navel Air Systems coined the TQM phrase. The Navy based most of the principles on the Japanese Total Quality Control philosophy.

Many companies adopted TQM during the 80s. TQM spread like wild fire. Many companies saw significant gains in productivity. However many companies started the program and failed miserably because they weren't willing to change.

1990s History of Total Quality Management

In the 1990s' TQM evolved. Experts introduce new methods that supported TQM. These include Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma.

Organizations could now become certified to ISO 9001

The Malcom Baldridge National Quality Award (MBNQA) was created for the US. MBNQA auditors give this award to companies who show the most outstanding quality management practices.

2000s History of Total Quality Management

In the 2000s, ISO revised ISO 9001 to focus more on business planning, quality management and continuous improvement. Other certification standards were created including AS9100 for aerospace, TS16949 for automotive, ISO 14001 for environmental, TL9000 for electronics, and ISO 17025 for laboratories. These standards all include the ISO 9001 elements.

Key Concepts of Total Quality Management include

structured system for exceeding customer expectations system that empowers employees drives higher profits drives lower costs continuous improvement. management centered approach on improving quality.

Benefits of TQM include

Improves competitive position increase adaptability to global markets elevated productivity superior global image eliminates defects significantly reduces waste. reduces quality costs Improves management communication raises profits drives customer focus customer loyalty reduces design time.

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)

Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to management methods used to enhance quality and productivity in organizations, particularly businesses. TQM is a comprehensive system approach that works horizontally across an organization, involving all departments and employees and extending backward and forward to include both suppliers and clients/customers.

TQM is only one of many acronyms used to label management systems that focus on quality. Other acronyms that have been used to describe similar quality management philosophies and programs include CQI (continuous quality improvement), SQC (statistical quality control), QFD (quality function deployment), QIDW (quality in daily work), TQC (total quality control), etc. Like many of these other systems, TQM provides a framework for implementing effective quality and productivity initiatives that can increase the profitability and competitiveness of organizations.

ORIGINS OF TQM

Although TQM techniques were adopted prior to World War II by a number of organizations, the creation of the Total Quality Management philosophy is generally attributed to Dr. W. Edwards Deming. In the late 1920s, while working as a summer employee at Western Electric Company in

Chicago, he found worker motivation systems to be degrading and economically unproductive; incentives were tied directly to quantity of output, and inefficient post-production inspection systems were used to find flawed goods.

Deming teamed up in the 1930s with Walter A. Shewhart, a Bell Telephone Company statistician whose work convinced Deming that statistical control techniques could be used to supplant traditional management methods. Using Shewhart's theories, Deming devised a statistically controlled management process that provided managers with a means of determining when to intervene in an industrial process and when to leave it alone. Deming got a chance to put Shewhart's statistical-quality-control techniques, as well as his own management philosophies, to the test during World War II. Government managers found that his techniques could be easily taught to engineers and workers, and then quickly implemented in over-burdened war production plants.

One of Deming's clients, the U.S. State Department, sent him to Japan in 1947 as part of a national effort to revitalize the war-devastated Japanese economy. It was in Japan that Deming found an enthusiastic reception for his management ideas. Deming introduced his statistical process control, or statistical quality control, programs into Japan's ailing manufacturing sector. Those techniques are credited with instilling a dedication to quality and productivity in the Japanese industrial and service sectors that allowed the country to become a dominant force in the global economy by the 1980s.

While Japan's industrial sector embarked on a quality initiative during the middle 1900s, most American companies continued to produce mass quantities of goods using traditional management techniques. America prospered as war-ravaged European countries looked to the United States for manufactured goods. In addition, a domestic population boom resulted in surging U.S. markets. But by the 1970s some American industries had come to be regarded as inferior to their Asian and European competitors. As a result of increasing economic globalization during the 1980s, made possible in part by advanced information technologies, the U.S. manufacturing sector fell prey to more competitive producers, particularly in Japan.

In response to massive market share gains achieved by Japanese companies during the late 1970s and 1980s, U.S. producers scrambled to adopt quality and productivity techniques that might restore their competitiveness. Indeed, Deming's philosophies and systems were finally recognized in the United States, and Deming himself became a highly-sought-after lecturer and author. The "Deming Management Method" became the model for many American corporations eager to improve. And Total Quality Management, the phrase applied to quality initiatives proffered by Deming and other management gurus, became a staple of American enterprise by the late 1980s. By the early 1990s, the U.S. manufacturing sector had achieved marked gains in quality and productivity.

TQM PRINCIPLES

Specifics related to the framework and implementation of TQM vary between different management professionals and TQM program facilitators, and the passage of time has inevitably brought changes in TQM emphases and language. But all TQM philosophies share common threads that emphasize quality, teamwork, and proactive philosophies of management and process improvement. As Howard Weiss and Mark Gershon observed in Production and Operations Management, "the terms quality management, quality control, and quality assurance often are used interchangeably. Regardless of the term used within any business, this function is directly responsible for the continual evaluation of the effectiveness of the total quality system." They go on to delineate the basic elements of total quality management as expounded by the American Society for Quality Control: 1) policy, planning, and administration; 2) product design and design change control; 3) control of purchased material; 4) production quality control; 5) user contact and field performance; 6) corrective action; and 7) employee selection, training, and motivation.

For his part, Deming pointed to all of these factors as cornerstones of his total quality philosophies. In his book Out of the Crisis, he contended that companies needed to create an overarching business environment that emphasized improvement of products and services over short-term financial goals. He argued that if such a philosophy was adhered to, various aspects of business—ranging from training to system improvement to manager-worker relationships—would become far more healthy and, ultimately, profitable. But while Deming was contemptuous of companies that based their business decisions on statistics that emphasized quantity over quality, he firmly believed that a well-conceived system of statistical process control could be an invaluable TQM tool. Only through the use of statistics, Deming argued, can managers know exactly what their problems are, learn how to fix them, and gauge the company's progress in achieving quality and organizational objectives.

MAKING TQM WORK

Joseph Jablonski, author of Implementing TQM, identified three characteristics necessary for TQM to succeed within an organization: participative management; continuous process improvement; and the utilization of teams. Participative management refers to the intimate involvement of all members of a company in the management process, thus de-emphasizing traditional top-down management methods. In other words, managers set policies and make key decisions only with the input and guidance of the subordinates that will have to implement and adhere to the directives. This technique improves upper management's grasp of operations and, more importantly, is an important motivator for workers who begin to feel like they have control and ownership of the process in which they participate.

Continuous process improvement, the second characteristic, entails the recognition of small, incremental gains toward the goal of total quality. Large gains are accomplished by small, sustainable improvements over a long term. This concept necessitates a long-term approach by managers and the willingness to invest in the present for benefits that manifest themselves in the future. A corollary of continuous improvement is that workers and management develop an appreciation for, and confidence in, TQM over a period of time.

Teamwork, the third necessary ingredient for the success of TQM, involves the organization of cross-functional teams within the company. This multidisciplinary team approach helps workers to share knowledge, identify problems and opportunities, derive a comprehensive understanding of their role in the over-all process, and align their work goals with those of the organization.

Jablonski also identified six attributes of successful TQM programs:

Customer focus (includes internal customers such as other departments and coworkers as well as external customers)

Process focus

Prevention versus inspection (development of a process that incorporates quality during production, rather than a process that attempts to achieve quality through inspection after resources have already been consumed to produce the good or service)

Employee empowerment and compensation

Fact-based decision making

Receptiveness to feedback.

IMPLEMENTING TQM

Jablonski offers a five-phase guideline for implementing total quality management: preparation, planning, assessment, implementation, and diversification. Each phase is designed to be executed as part of a long-term goal of continually increasing quality and productivity. Jablonski's approach is one of many that has been applied to achieve TQM, but contains the key elements commonly associated with other popular total quality systems.

Preparation—During preparation, management decides whether or not to pursue a TQM program. They undergo initial training, identify needs for outside consultants, develop a specific vision and goals, draft a corporate policy, commit the necessary resources, and communicate the goals throughout the organization.

Planning—In the planning stage, a detailed plan of implementation is drafted (including budget and schedule), the infrastructure that will support the program is established, and the resources necessary to begin the plan are earmarked and secured.

Assessment—This stage emphasizes a thorough self-assessment—with input from customers/clients—of the qualities and characteristics of individuals in the company, as well as the company as a whole.

Implementation—At this point, the organization can already begin to determine its return on its investment in TQM. It is during this phase that support personnel are chosen and trained, and managers and the work force are trained. Training entails raising workers' awareness of exactly

what TQM involves and how it can help them and the company. It also explains each worker's role in the program and explains what is expected of all the workers.

Diversification—In this stage, managers utilize their TQM experiences and successes to bring groups outside the organization (suppliers, distributors, and other companies have impact the business's overall health) into the quality process. Diversification activities include training, rewarding, supporting, and partnering with groups that are embraced by the organization's TQM initiatives.

FURTHER READING:

Deming, W. Edwards. Out of the Crisis. MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study, 1982.

Hiam, Alexander. Closing the Quality Gap: Lessons from America's Leading Companies. Prentice Hall, Inc., 1992.

Hunt, V. Daniel. Quality in America: How to Implement a Competitive Quality Program. Business One Irwin, 1992.

Jablonski, Joseph R. Implementing TQM. 2nd ed. Technical Management Consortium, Inc., 1992.

McManus, Kevin. "Is Quality Dead?" IIE Solutions. July 1999.

Roberts, Harry V., and Bernard F. Sergesketter. Quality Is Personal: A Foundation for Total Quality Management. The Free Press, 1993.

Weiss, Howard J., and Mark E. Gershon. Production and Operations Management. Allyn and Bacon, 1989.

Youngless, Jay. "Total Quality Misconception." Quality in Manufacturing . January 2000.

SEE ALSO: ISO 9000 ; Quality Control

1. Define Benchmarking?

Benchmarking is a systematic method by which organizations can measure themselves against the best industry practices. The essence of benchmarking is the process of borrowing ideas and adapting them to gain competitive advantage. It is a tool for continuous improvement.

2. Enumerate the steps to benchmark?

a) Decide what to benchmark

b) Understand current performance

c) Plan

d) Study others

e) Learn from the data

f) Use the findings

3. What are the types of benchmarking?

i. Internal

ii. Competitive

iii. Process

4. What is a QFD?

Quality Function Deployment is a planning tool used to fulfill customer expectations. It is a disciplined approach to product design, engineering, and production and provides in-depth evaluation of a product.

5. What are the benefits of QFD?

i. Customer driven Product/Servive design and development

ii. Reduces implementation time

iii. Promotes teamwork

iv. Provides documentation

6. What are the steps required to construct an affinity diagram?

i. Phrase the objective

ii. Record all responses

iii. Group the responses

iv. Organize groups in an affinity diagram

7. What are the parts of house of quality?

i. Customer requirements

ii. Prioritized customer requirements

iii. Technical descriptors

iv. Prioritized technical descriptors

v. Relationship between requirements and descriptors

vi. Interrelationship between technical descriptors

8. How will you build a house of quality?

a) List customer requirements

b) List technical descriptors

c) Develop a relationship matrix between WHATs and HOWsd) Develop an interrelationship matrix between HOWs

e) Competitive assessments

f) Develop prioritized customer requirements

g) Develop prioritized technical descriptors

9. Define FMEA?

Failure Mode Effect Analysis is an analytical technique that combines the technology and experience of people in identifying foreseeable failure modes of a product or process and planning for its elimination.

10. What are the stages of FMEA?

1. Specifying possibilities

a. Functions

b. Possible failure modes

c. Root causes

d. Effects

e. Detection/Prevention

2. Quantifying risk

a. Probability of cause

b. Severity of effect

c. Effectiveness of control to prevent cause

d. Risk priority number

3. Correcting high risk causes

a. Prioritizing work

b. Detailed action

c. Assigning action responsibility

d. Check points on completion

4. Revaluation of risk

a. Recalculation of risk priority number

11. What are the goals of TPM?

The overall goals of Total Productive Maintenance, which is an extension of TQM are

i. Maintaining and improving equipment capacity

ii. Maintaining equipment for life

iii. Using support from all areas of the operation

iv. Encouraging input from all employees

v. Using teams for continuous improvement

12. Give the seven basic steps to get an organization started toward TPM?

a) Management learns the new philosophy

b) Management promotes the new philosophy

c) Training is funded and developed for everyone in the organization

d) Areas of needed improvement are identified

e) Performance goals are formulated

f) An implementation plan is developed

g) Autonomous work groups are established

13. What are the major loss areas?

i. Planned downtime

ii. Unplanned downtime

iii. Idling and minor stoppages

iv. Slow-downs

v. Process nonconformities

vi. Scrap

14.Why is a conventional design process not sufficient?

Conventional design processes focus more on engineering capabilities and less on customer needs. When they do try to incorporate customer perspectives, these tend to be engineer-perceived or producer-perceived. Quality Function Deployment (QFD), however, focuses like a laser all product development activities on customer needs

15.How does QFD offer strategic advantage?

The expected and exciting requirements provide the best opportunity for competitive advantage - if you can find a way to make them visible and then deliver on them. However, in this fast changing world, hitting the right target of customer satisfaction is made more difficult by fragmenting customer segments, new technology, and competitive pressures. QFD makes

invisible requirements and strategic advantages visible, allows you to prioritize and deliver on them in a focused product development process.

Unit IV notes 2 -Web Links

For additional information on how this benchmarking is done in an organ9ization, follow this links.

http://management.about.com/cs/benchmarking/a/Benchmarking.htm

http://www.bambooweb.com/articles/b/e/Benchmarking.html

Benchmarking

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Benchmarking (also "best practice benchmarking" or "process benchmarking") is a process used in management and particularly strategic management, in which companies evaluate various aspects of their business processes in relation to best practice, usually within their own industry. This then allows companies to develop plans on how to adopt such best practice. Benchmarking may be a one-off event, but is often treated as a continuous process in which companies continually seek to challenge their practices.

A process similar to benchmarking is also used in technical product testing and in land surveying. See the article benchmark for these applications.

like this You'll find many more interesting applications.

regarding QFD follow this link

http://www.qfdi.org/what_is_qfd/what_is_qfd.htm

Regarding taquchi's loss function follow this link

http://elsmar.com/Taguchi.html

For information related to FMEA

please visit the following link

http://www.npd-solutions.com/fmea.html

http://www.isixsigma.com/tt/fmea/

Eight elements are key in ensuring the success of TQM in an organization.

Total Quality Management is a management approach that originated in the 1950's and has steadily become more popular since the early 1980's. Total Quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company's operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations.

To be successful implementing TQM, an organization must concentrate on the eight key elements:

Ethics

Integrity

Trust

Training

Teamwork

Leadership

Recognition

Communication

This paper is meant to describe the eight elements comprising TQM.

Key Elements

TQM has been coined to describe a philosophy that makes quality the driving force behind leadership, design, planning, and improvement initiatives. For this, TQM requires the help of those eight key elements. These elements can be divided into four groups according to their function. The groups are:

I. Foundation - It includes: Ethics, Integrity and Trust.

II. Building Bricks - It includes: Training, Teamwork and Leadership.

III. Binding Mortar - It includes: Communication.

IV. Roof - It includes: Recognition.

I. Foundation

TQM is built on a foundation of ethics, integrity and trust. It fosters openness, fairness and sincerity and allows involvement by everyone. This is the key to unlocking the ultimate potential of TQM. These three elements move together, however, each element offers something different to the TQM concept.

1. Ethics - Ethics is the discipline concerned with good and bad in any situation. It is a two-faceted subject represented by organizational and individual ethics. Organizational ethics establish a business code of ethics that outlines guidelines that all employees are to adhere to in the performance of their work. Individual ethics include personal rights or wrongs.

2. Integrity - Integrity implies honesty, morals, values, fairness, and adherence to the facts and sincerity. The characteristic is what customers (internal or external) expect and deserve to receive. People see the opposite of integrity as duplicity. TQM will not work in an atmosphere of duplicity.

3. Trust - Trust is a by-product of integrity and ethical conduct. Without trust, the framework of TQM cannot be built. Trust fosters full participation of all members. It allows empowerment that encourages pride ownership and it encourages commitment. It allows decision making at appropriate levels in the organization, fosters individual risk-taking for continuous improvement and helps to ensure that measurements focus on improvement of process and are not used to contend people. Trust is essential to ensure customer satisfaction. So, trust builds the cooperative environment essential for TQM.

II. Bricks

Basing on the strong foundation of trust, ethics and integrity, bricks are placed to reach the roof of recognition. It includes:

4. Training - Training is very important for employees to be highly productive. Supervisors are solely responsible for implementing TQM within their departments, and teaching their employees the philosophies of TQM. Training that employees require are interpersonal skills, the ability to function within teams, problem solving, decision making, job management performance analysis

and improvement, business economics and technical skills. During the creation and formation of TQM, employees are trained so that they can become effective employees for the company.

5. Teamwork - To become successful in business, teamwork is also a key element of TQM. With the use of teams, the business will receive quicker and better solutions to problems. Teams also provide more permanent improvements in processes and operations. In teams, people feel more comfortable bringing up problems that may occur, and can get help from other workers to find a solution and put into place. There are mainly three types of teams that TQM organizations adopt:

A. Quality Improvement Teams or Excellence Teams (QITS) - These are temporary teams with the purpose of dealing with specific problems that often re-occur. These teams are set up for period of three to twelve months.

B. Problem Solving Teams (PSTs) - These are temporary teams to solve certain problems and also to identify and overcome causes of problems. They generally last from one week to three months.

C. Natural Work Teams (NWTs) - These teams consist of small groups of skilled workers who share tasks and responsibilities. These teams use concepts such as employee involvement teams, self-managing teams and quality circles. These teams generally work for one to two hours a week.

6. Leadership - It is possibly the most important element in TQM. It appears everywhere in organization. Leadership in TQM requires the manager to provide an inspiring vision, make strategic directions that are understood by all and to instill values that guide subordinates. For TQM to be successful in the business, the supervisor must be committed in leading his employees. A supervisor must understand TQM, believe in it and then demonstrate their belief and commitment through their daily practices of TQM. The supervisor makes sure that strategies, philosophies, values and goals are transmitted down through out the organization to provide focus, clarity and direction. A key point is that TQM has to be introduced and led by top management. Commitment and personal involvement is required from top management in creating and deploying clear quality values and goals consistent with the objectives of the company and in creating and deploying well defined systems, methods and performance measures for achieving those goals.

III. Binding Mortar

7. Communication - It binds everything together. Starting from foundation to roof of the TQM house, everything is bound by strong mortar of communication. It acts as a vital link between all elements of TQM. Communication means a common understanding of ideas between the sender and the receiver. The success of TQM demands communication with and among all the

organization members, suppliers and customers. Supervisors must keep open airways where employees can send and receive information about the TQM process. Communication coupled with the sharing of correct information is vital. For communication to be credible the message must be clear and receiver must interpret in the way the sender intended.

There are different ways of communication such as:

A. Downward communication - This is the dominant form of communication in an organization. Presentations and discussions basically do it. By this the supervisors are able to make the employees clear about TQM.

B. Upward communication - By this the lower level of employees are able to provide suggestions to upper management of the affects of TQM. As employees provide insight and constructive criticism, supervisors must listen effectively to correct the situation that comes about through the use of TQM. This forms a level of trust between supervisors and employees. This is also similar to empowering communication, where supervisors keep open ears and listen to others.

C. Sideways communication - This type of communication is important because it breaks down barriers between departments. It also allows dealing with customers and suppliers in a more professional manner.

IV. Roof

8. Recognition - Recognition is the last and final element in the entire system. It should be provided for both suggestions and achievements for teams as well as individuals. Employees strive to receive recognition for themselves and their teams. Detecting and recognizing contributors is the most important job of a supervisor. As people are recognized, there can be huge changes in self-esteem, productivity, quality and the amount of effort exhorted to the task at hand. Recognition comes in its best form when it is immediately following an action that an employee has performed. Recognition comes in different ways, places and time such as,

Ways - It can be by way of personal letter from top management. Also by award banquets, plaques, trophies etc.

Places - Good performers can be recognized in front of departments, on performance boards and also in front of top management.

Time - Recognition can given at any time like in staff meeting, annual award banquets, etc.

Conclusion

We can conclude that these eight elements are key in ensuring the success of TQM in an organization and that the supervisor is a huge part in developing these elements in the work place. Without these elements, the business entities cannot be successful TQM implementers. It is very clear from the above discussion that TQM without involving integrity, ethics and trust would be a great remiss, in fact it would be incomplete. Training is the key by which the organization creates a TQM environment. Leadership and teamwork go hand in hand. Lack of communication between departments, supervisors and employees create a burden on the whole TQM process. Last but not the least, recognition should be given to people who contributed to the overall completed task. Hence, lead by example, train employees to provide a quality product, create an environment where there is no fear to share knowledge, and give credit where credit is due is the motto of a successful TQM organization.

About The Author

Nayantara Padhi is an HR Executive in an Indian Steel Industry, and is pursuing a Ph.D. on "The Human Dimension Of TQM". Mr. Padhi has published numerous articles in different national and international journals, and has completed a P.G. in Industrial Relations And Personnel Management.