A report On Total quality management (TQM)

Total quality management (TQM) is the organization-wide effort to install and make permanent a climate in which it continuously improves its ability to deliver high-quality products and services to customers. While there is no widely agreed-upon approach, TQM efforts typically draw heavily on the previously-developed tools and techniques of quality control. As a business phenomenon, TQM enjoyed widespread attention during the late 1980s and early 1990s before being overshadowed by ISO 9000, Lean manufacturing, and Six Sigma

Features

There is no widespread agreement as to what TQM is and what actions it requires of organizations,^[7][8] however a review of the original United States Navy effort gives a rough understanding of what is involved in TQM.

The key concepts in the TQM effort undertaken by the Navy in the 1980s include:^[9]

• "Quality is defined by customers' requirements."
• "Top management has direct responsibility for quality improvement."
• "Increased quality comes from systematic analysis and improvement of work processes."
• "Quality improvement is a continuous effort and conducted throughout the organization."

The Navy used the following tools and techniques:

• The PDCA cycle to drive issues to resolution
• Ad hoc cross-functional teams (similar to quality circles) responsible for addressing immediate process issues
• Standing cross-functional teams responsible for the improvement of processes over the long term
• Active management participation through steering committees
• Use of the Seven Basic Tools of Quality to analyze quality-related issue

Quality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:^{[citation needed]}

1. Elements such as controls, job management, defined and well managed processes, performance and integrity criteria, and identification of records
2. Competence, such as knowledge, skills, experience, and qualifications
3. Soft elements, such as personnel, integrity, confidence, organizational culture, motivation, team spirit, and quality relationships.

Controls include product inspection, where every product is examined visually, and often using a stereo microscope for fine detail before the product is sold into the external market. Inspectors will be provided with lists and descriptions of unacceptable product defects such as cracks or surface blemishes for example.

The quality of the outputs is at risk if any of these three aspects is deficient in any way.

Quality control emphasizes testing of products to uncover defects and reporting to management who make the decision to allow or deny product release, whereas quality assurance attempts to improve and stabilize production (and associated processes) to avoid, or at least minimize, issues which led to the defect(s) in the first place.^[ For contract work, particularly work awarded by government agencies, quality control issues are among the top reasons for not renewing a contract.

Total quality control

"Total quality control", also called total quality management, is an approach that extends beyond ordinary statistical quality control techniques and quality improvement methods. It implies a complete overview and re-evaluation of the specification of a product, rather than just considering a more limited set of changeable features within an existing product. If the original specification does not reflect the correct quality requirements, quality cannot be inspected or manufactured into the product. For instance, the design of a pressure vessel should include not only the material and dimensions, but also operating, environmental, safety, reliability and maintainability requirements, and documentation of findings about these requirements. Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to management methods used to enhance quality and productivity in business organizations. TQM is a comprehensive management 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 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.^[4]

DMAIC

The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:

• Define the system, the voice of the customer and their requirements, and the project goals, specifically.
• Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
• Analyze the data to investigate and verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered. Seek out root cause of the defect under investigation.
• Improve or optimize the current process based upon data analysis using techniques such as design of experiments, poka yoke or mistake proofing, and standard work to create a new, future state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability.
• Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects. Implement control systems such as statistical process control, production boards, visual workplaces, and continuously monitor the process.

Some organizations add a Recognize step at the beginning, which is to recognize the right problem to work on, thus yielding an RDMAIC methodology.

Quality management tools and methods used in Six Sigma

Within the individual phases of a DMAIC or DMADV project, Six Sigma utilizes many established quality-management tools that are also used outside Six Sigma. The following table shows an overview of the main methods used.

5 Whys Analysis of variance / ANOVA Gauge R&R /Regression Axiomatic design Business Process Mapping Cause & effects diagram (also known as fishbone or Ishikawa diagram) Check sheet Chi-squared test of independence and fits Control chart Control plan (also known as a swimlane map) Correlation Cost-benefit analysis CTQ tree Design of experiments General linear model Histograms

Pareto analysis Pareto chart Pick chart Process capability Project charter Quality Function Deployment (QFD) Quantitative marketing research through use of Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) systems Rolled throughput yield Root cause analysis Run charts Scatter diagram SIPOC analysis (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers) COPIS analysis (Customer centric version/perspective of SIPOC) Stratification Taguchi methods Taguchi Loss Function TRIZ Value stream mapping

Application

Main article: List of Six Sigma companies

Six Sigma mostly finds application in large organizations.^[52] An important factor in the spread of Six Sigma was GE's 1998 announcement of $350 million in savings thanks to Six Sigma, a figure that later grew to more than $1 billion.^[52] According to industry consultants like Thomas Pyzdek and John Kullmann, companies with fewer than 500 employees are less suited to Six Sigma implementation, or need to adapt the standard approach to make it work for them.^[52] Six sigma however contains a large number of tools and techniques that work well in small to mid size organisations as well. The fact that an organization is not big enough to be able to afford Black Belts does not diminish its abilities to make improvements using this set of tools and techniques. The infrastructure described as necessary to support six sigma ^[52] is as a result of the size of the organization rather than a requirement of six sigma itself.

Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to management methods used to enhance quality and productivity in business organizations. TQM is a comprehensive management 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 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

TQM, in the form of statistical quality control, was invented by Walter A. Shewhart. It was initially implemented at Western Electric Company, in the form developed by Joseph Juran who had worked there with the method. TQM was demonstrated on a grand scale by Japanese industry through the intervention of W. Edwards Deming—who, in consequence, and thanks to his missionary labors in the U.S. and across the world, has come to be viewed as the "father" of quality control, quality circles, and the quality movement generally.

Walter Shewhart, then working at Bell Telephone Laboratories first devised a statistical control chart in 1923; it is still named after him. He published his method in 1931 as Economic Control of Quality of Manufactured Product. The method was first introduced at Western Electric Company's Hawthorn plant in 1926. Joseph Juran was one of the people trained in the technique. In 1928 he wrote a pamphlet entitled Statistical Methods Applied to Manufacturing Problems. This pamphlet was later incorporated into the AT&T Statistical Quality Control Handbook, still in print. In 1951 Juran published his very influential Quality Control Handbook.

W. Edwards Deming, trained as a mathematician and statistician, went to Japan at the behest of the U.S. State Department to help Japan in the preparation of the 1951 Japanese Census. The Japanese were already aware of Shewhart's methods of statistical quality control. They invited Deming to lecture on the subject. A series of lectures took place in 1950 under the auspices of the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). Deming had developed a critical view of production methods in the U.S. during the war, particularly methods of quality control. Management and engineers controlled the process; line workers played a small role. In his lectures on SQC Deming promoted his own ideas along with the technique, namely a much greater involvement of the ordinary worker in the quality process and the application of the new statistical tools. He found Japanese executive receptive to his ideas. Japan began a process of implementing what came to be known as TQM. They also invited Joseph Juran to lecture in 1954; Juran was also enthusiastically received.

Japanese application of the method had significant and undeniable results manifesting as dramatic increases in Japanese product quality—and Japanese success in exports. This led to the spread of the quality movement across the world. In the late 1970s and 1980s, U.S. producers scrambled to adopt quality and productivity techniques that might restore their competitiveness. Deming's approach to quality control came to be recognized in the United States, and Deming himself became a sought-after lecturer and author. 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. But while the quality movement has continued to evolve beyond its beginnings, many of Deming's particular emphases, particularly those associated with management principles and employee relations, were not adopted in Deming's sense but continued as changing fads, including, for example, the movement to "empower" employees and to make "teams" central to all activities.

TQM PRINCIPLES

Different consultants and schools of thought emphasize different aspects of TQM as it has developed over time. These aspects may be technical, operational, or social/managerial.

The basic elements of TQM, as expounded by the American Society for Quality Control, are 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.

The real root of the quality movement, the "invention" on which it really rests, is statistical quality control. SQC is retained in TQM in the fourth element, above, "production quality control." It may also be reflected in the third element, "control of purchased material," because SQC may be imposed on vendors by contract.

In a nutshell, this core method requires that quality standards are first set by establishing measurements for a particular item and thus defining what constitutes quality. The measurements may be dimensions, chemical composition, reflectivity, etc.—in effect any measurable feature of the object. Test runs are made to establish divergences from a base measurement (up or down) which are still acceptable. This "band" of acceptable outcomes is then recorded on one or several Shewhart charts. Quality control then begins during the production process itself. Samples are continuously taken and immediately measured, the measurements recorded on the chart(s). If measurements begin to fall outside the band or show an undesirable trend (up or down), the process is stopped and production discontinued until the causes of divergence are found and corrected. Thus SQC, as distinct from TQM, is based on continuous sampling and measurement against a standard and immediate corrective action if measurements deviate from an acceptable range.

TQM is SQC—plus all the other elements. Deming saw all of the elements as vital in achieving TQM. In his 1982 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—a common strategy of Japanese business. He argued that if management adhered to such a philosophy, various aspects of business—ranging from training to system improvement to manager-worker relationships—would become far healthier and, ultimately, more profitable. But while Deming was contemptuous of companies that based their business decisions on numbers 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 other organizational objectives.

MAKING TQM WORK

In the modern context TQM is thought to require 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 who 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 managers develop an appreciation for, and confidence in, TQM over a period of time.

Teamwork, the third necessary ingredient for 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 overall process, and align their work goals with those of the organization. The modern "team" was once the "quality circle," a type of unit promoted by Deming. Quality circles are discussed elsewhere in this volume.

For best results TQM requires a long-term, cooperative, planned, holistic approach to business, what some have dubbed a "market share" rather than a "profitability" approach. Thus a company strives to control its market by gaining and holding market share through continuous cost and quality improvements—and will shave profits to achieve control. The profitability approach, on the other hand, emphasizes short-term stockholder returns—and the higher the better. TQM thus suits Japanese corporate culture better than American corporate culture. In the corporate environment of the U.S., the short-term is very important; quarterly results are closely watched and impact the value of stocks; for this reason financial incentives are used to achieve short term results and to reward managers at all levels. Managers are therefore much more empowered than employees—despite attempts to change the corporate culture. For these reasons, possibly, TQM has undergone various changes in emphasis so that different implementations of it are sometimes unrecognizable as the same thing. In fact, the quality movement in the U.S. has moved on to other things: the lean corporation (based on just-in-time sourcing), Six Sigma (a quality measure and related programs of achieving it), and other techniques.

PRACTICING TQM

As evident from all of the foregoing, TQM, while emphasizing "quality" in its name, is really a philosophy of management. Quality and price are central in this philosophy because they are seen as effective methods of gaining the customer's attention and holding consumer loyalty. A somewhat discriminating public is thus part of the equation. In an environment where only price matters and consumers meekly put up with the successive removal of services or features in order to get products as cheaply as possible, the strategy will be less successful. Not surprisingly, in the auto sector, where the investment is large and failure can be very costly, the Japanese have made great gains in market share; but trends in other sectors—in retailing, for instance, where labor is imposed on customers through self-service stratagems—a quality orientation seems less obviously rewarding.

For these reasons, the small business looking at an approach to business ideal for its own environment may well adapt TQM if it can see that its clientele will reward this approach. The technique can be applied in service and retail settings as readily as in manufacturing, although measurement of quality will be achieved differently. TQM may, indeed, be a good way for a small business, surrounded by "Big Box" outlets, to reach precisely that small segment of the consuming public that, like the business itself, appreciates a high level of service and high quality products delivered at the most reasonable prices possible.

Definition of 'Total Quality Management - TQM'

The continuous process of reducing or eliminating errors in manufacturing, streamlining supply chain management, improving the customer experience and ensuring that employees are up-to-speed with their training. Total quality management aims to hold all parties involved in the production process as accountable for the overall quality of the final product or service.

Customer satisfaction

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Customer satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals."^[1] In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 71 percent responded that they found a customer satisfaction metric very useful in managing and monitoring their businesses.^[1]

It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy.^[2]

Management commitment  

The responsibility for leadership and for creating the environment of continuous improvement belongs to all levels of management, but particularly to the highest.

Senior management should be aware of how the success of the organisation, with respect to the safe operation of the railway system in a continuously changing internal and external environment, depends largely on the ability to monitor and continuously improve the effectiveness of risk control measures.

If senior management does not express informed, sustained commitment to safety as one of the primary business objectives, the commitment for safety in the field can easily shift towards other, sometimes conflicting, business objectives, particularly in less mature organisations.

Management commitment implies the direct participation by the highest level management in all specific and important safety aspect or programs of an organisation. 

The list below shows examples on how management commitment is delivered in practice, through a sequel of safety aspects and, in case, the relevant connection to other elements of SMS that are dealt with in this application guide:

• showing passion and interest for safety,
• formulating and establishing safety policy and objectives [ref. to 7.1.2 – safety policy],
• setting targets to improve or maintain safety and benchmarking performance against others in railway sector or other industries [ref. to 7.1.3 – corporate safety targets],
• providing resources and training [ref. to 7.2.1 – risk control and to 8.2.1 – competence management system],
• ensuring that all staff – including the board – are sufficiently trained and competent in their safety responsibilities [ref to 8.2.1 – competence management system],
• ensuring control at all levels of the organization [ref. to 7.1.5 – management control],
• receiving regularly information about safety, eg performance data (accidents, incidents, dangerous occurrences), and evaluating and reviewing the SMS in light of results achieved [ref. to 7.3 – monitoring],
• being aware of what is happening on the ground, and what audits or assessments are undertaken, receiving results related to the activities carried out internally or by contractors  [ref. to 7.3.3 – internal auditing],
• ensuring appropriate board level review of SMS,
• ensuring that all levels of the organisation, including the board, receives relevant safety information [ref. to 8.3.3 – internal external communication],
• being confident that workforce are properly consulted on and safety matters, and that their concerns are reaching the appropriate level including, as necessary, the board ensuring that your organisation’s risks are assessed, and that appropriate control measures are established and maintained [ref. to 8.3.2 – involvement of staff],
• creating the environment of continuous improvement [ref. to 7.4.1 – continuous improvement],
• bringing to the attention of the board the changes in working arrangements that may have significant implications for safety [ref. to 7.4.3 – Change management],
• promoting safety culture.

Strong and active leadership is reinforced by visible, active commitment from the top:

• establishing effective ‘downward’ and ‘upward’ communication systems,
• establishing effective management structures,
• integrating of safety management with business decisions

Customer-supplier partnership

  

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In quality control, extended relationship between buyers and sellers based on confidence, credibility, and mutual benefit. The buyer, on its part, provides long-term contracts and assurance of only a small number of competing suppliers. In reciprocation, the seller implements customer's suggestions and commits to continuous improvement in quality of product and delivery.

Partnership Defined

Supplier Partnership:
A commitment over an extended time to work together to the mutual benefit of both parties, sharing relevant information and the risks and rewards of the relationship. These relationships require a clear understanding of expectations, open communication and information exchange, mutual trust and a common direction for the future.
-- Institute for Supply Management

Customer-Supplier Partnership:
An extended relationship between buyers and sellers based on confidence, credibility and mutual benefit.
-- Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals

The days of going it alone in manufacturing are long gone, if ever they existed. As companies cast off all but their core competencies or extend their supply networks across oceans and continents, their inherent risks increase and their assemblage of suppliers becomes increasingly important.

Partnering with suppliers (or customers) to develop deep, mutually beneficial relationships over the long-term is frequently cited as a means by which to lessen that risk and develop true supply chain excellence. The reality has been less pretty.

"The term customer-supplier 'partnership' has been used very loosely over the years. I've heard it referred to as the 'P word' with a negative connotation," says Sherry Gordon, author of "Supplier Evaluation and Performance Excellence" and president of management consulting firm Value Chain Group. "Suppliers are sometimes wary of some customers using the term, as customer firms may erroneously view partnerships as a way to get more out of the supplier" -- price concessions, for example -- without any mutual give and take.

Performance measurement is the process of collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group, organization, system or component. It can involve studying processes/strategies within organizations, or studying engineering processes/parameters/phenomena, to see whether output are in line with what was intended or should have been achieved.

Performance measurement has been defined by Neely^[1] as “the process of quantifying the efficiency and effectiveness of past actions”, while Moullin^[2] defines it as "the process of evaluating how well organisations are managed and the value they deliver for customers and other stakeholders”. Discussion on the relative merits of these definitions appeared in several articles in the newsletter of the Performance Management Association.^[3]

Performance measurement in business

Good performance is the criterion whereby an organization determines its capability to prevail. Performance measurement estimates the parameters under which programs, investments, and acquisitions are reaching the targeted results.^[4] However, a model for performance set faulty may depict a disadvantageous situation which does not support the organization nor the thriving to the set aims.

Performance Reference Model of the Federal Enterprise Architecture, 2005.^[5]

All process of measuring performance requires the use of statistical modeling to determine results. A full scope copy of the performance of an organization can never be obtained, as generally some of the parameters cannot be measured directly but must be estimated via indirect observation and as a complete set of records never delivers an assessment without compression to key figures.

Several performance measurement systems are in use today, and each has its own group of supporters. For example, the Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan and Norton, 1993, 1996, 2001), Performance Prism (Neely, 2002), and the Cambridge Performance Measurement Process (Neely, 1996) are designed for business-wide implementation; and the approaches of the TPM Process (Jones and Schilling, 2000), 7-step TPM Process (Zigon, 1999), and Total Measurement Development Method (TMDM) (Tarkenton Productivity Group, 2000) are specific for team-based structures. With continued research efforts and the test of time, the best-of-breed theories that help organizations structure and implement its performance measurement system should emerge.

Although the Balanced Scorecard has become very popular, there is no single version of the model that has been universally accepted. The diversity and unique requirements of different enterprises suggest that no one-size-fits-all approach will ever do the job. Gamble, Strickland and Thompson (2007, p. 31) list ten financial objectives and nine strategic objectives involved with a balanced scorecard.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Basu, Ron, and J. Nevan Wright. Quality Beyond Six Sigma. Elsevier, 2003.

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

Juran, Joseph M. Architect of Quality. McGraw-Hill, 2004.

"The Life and Contributions of Joseph M. Juran." Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. Available from http://part-timemba.csom.umn.edu/Page1275.aspx. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.

Montgomery, Douglas C. Introduction to Statistical Quality Control. John Wiley & Sons, 2004.

"Teachings." The W. Edwards Deming Institute. Available from http://www.deming.org/theman/teachings02.html. Retrieved on 12 May 2005.

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