QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN GARMENTS INDUSTRY THROUGH TQM APPROACH

ABSTRACT

Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of the important tools to improve quality and reduce
manufacturing cost by reducing rework and scrape. There has a great applicability of TQM method in RMG
sector. Several implementations have proven that the TQM approach really works in practice and improves
of even 90% and more quality level in some situations. As RMG sector is a large industrial sector in
Bangladesh; Quality Improvement can play a vital role for improving productivity as well as economic
development for the country. We have used the tools of TQM such as Flow chart, Check sheet, Histogram,
Pareto Chart, Scatter Diagram, Control Chart, Cause and effect diagram in a garment industry of
Bangladesh and it is found that a significant amount of rework and scrape per style, per month has
minimized by applying this method. The implementation has enabled to reduction in rework and cost of
poor quality, through proper utilization of company's internal resources without the need for significant
investment.

INTRODUCTION
The term total quality management (TQM) has become a buzz-word now-a-days. It refers to
organization wide effort to achieve quality. It can accurately be described as a philosophy about quality
that suggest for involving everyone in the organization in a quest for quality. It extends to suppliers as well as to customers. If fact, in TQM, the customer is the focal point, as the business is driven by customers. As such, customer’s satisfaction is the main driving force. Everyone in the organization, form the top most chief
executive, up to the bottom most workers, has to take part in this endeavor. Achieving world class quality is not just another program; it is an ongoing process [1, 2 and 3]. The definition of TQM is a term created by the U.S. Naval Air Systems as: TQM stands for “Total Quality Management”. An organization uses TQM as a long term approach to achieving customer satisfaction. Total Quality Management requires all employees of the organization for improving the products, processes and services. All employees, no matter what role, are responsible for quality and quality assurance. When done orrectly, the entire business culture is TQM
[2]. A manufacturing company that possesses many complexities can be highly challenged when maintaining
production goals and standards in conjunction with a major organizational change. Garment manufacturing is
a complex industry for many reasons. The product line is a complex array of styles, seasons, varying life cycles, and multidimensional sizing [4]. Many sewn product                                    
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