Problem solving in Productivity & Quality

 Key Questions

1. Where did the idea of TQM come from?
2. What are the main differences between traditional quality management and TQM?
3. What is the role of ISO 9000?
4. What are the main implementation issues in TQM initiatives?
5. How do quality awards and models contribute towards TQM?

Where did the idea of TQM come from?

The notion of TQM was first developed by Feigenbaum and popularises by W Edwards Deming who implemented many TQM programmes in Japan, where his ideas, initially at least, were more readily accepted. In essence, Deming, Juran, Crosby and all the other gurus, said that total quality management involves everyone taking a positive and proactive approach to quality and that good quality, i.e. consistent conformance to customers’ expectations, can only be achieved if:

• The organizzation understands what customer needs are and could define and specify all of them (see quality characteristics chapter 17).
• All employees understand that all parts of an organizzation have a role to play in meeting customer expectations, not just the people on the shop floor, but the work of finance staff for example in ensuring error free invoices for example.
• Each employee recognices that they have an impact on quality.
• All the costs of quality are considered, not just the cost of putting things right when they go wrong, but also the costs of trying to prevent problems, with an emphasis on the latter in order to bring about a reduction in the former.
• There is a focus on getting things ‘right first time’ and instead of putting it right when it goes wrong to try to make sure it does not go wrong in the first place.
• There are robust and organization-wide quality systems and procedures that both ensure the things above happen, but also the removal of systems and procedures that can make quality difficult to deliver (see Deliberate Defectives box).
• The organization is concerned with continually improving what it does and how it does it (see chapter 18).

What are the main differences between traditional quality management and TQM?

What was different and important about TQM was that it changed people’s views about the nature of quality problems and the responsibility for quality. Quality was (and still is in some organisations!) seen simply an issue for manufacturing or service employees where the role of management is to put checks and controls in place (using some of the techniques described in chapter 17) in order to ‘inspect-in’ quality. This is what is known as the ‘traditional’ approach to quality. Deming and the other gurus challenged this view with their beliefs that:

• Quality was an issue for everyone (everyone in the organisation and also suppliers and customers, i.e. the whole of the supply chain).and

• Quality had to be ‘built-in’ to prevent problems occurring.

The Eurocamp and Unipart illustrations in the chapter provide examples of this.

What is the role of ISO 9000?

What are the main implementation issues in TQM initiatives?

The main implementation issues are:

• To realise that TQM is not a ‘quick fix’ but a long-term approach to quality. Good quality needs to be underpinned by systems with clearly set out goals and guidelines.
• The need for top management commitment – because TQM involves the whole organisation without top level support any such initiative is doomed to failure. This support usually is evidenced by an executive champion, and a high level steering group.
• Involving the people who know – TQM is not a management tool but a means of involving everyone in identifying and solving problems. It is essential that there should be means of involving everyone, providing necessary training and also recognising success when it is achieved.
• The final issue is that TQM may, over time, lose its effectiveness (see figure 20.8), if it is seen as a ’programme’ (with an implied start and end) rather than a ‘working philosophy’ that is a part of the organisation’s way of working. To this end many organisations refrain from using the name ‘TQM’ and simply seek to encourage good (TQM) practice.

How do quality awards and models contribute towards TQM?

The Ulster Carpets box provides a useful example of the application of the EFQM quality award and how it underpinned the company’s TQM approach.

Quality awards are useful because they:

• Provide motivation for improving quality and pursuing TQM approaches.
• Provide frameworks to assess quality.
• Provide incentives to improve quality.
• Provide international recognition of success.