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A core definition of total quality management (TQM) describes a management approach to longterm
success through customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in
improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work.
Total Quality Management Principles: The process of TQM are:
Customer-focused
The customer ultimately determines the level of quality. No matter what an organization does to foster
quality improvementtraining employees, integrating quality into the design process, upgrading
computers or software, or buying new measuring toolsthe customer determines whether the efforts
were worthwhile.
Total employee involvement
All employees participate in working toward common goals. Total employee commitment can only be
obtained after fear has been driven from the workplace, when empowerment has occurred, and
management has provided the proper environment. High-performance work systems integrate continuous
improvement efforts with normal business operations. Self-managed work teams are one form of
empowerment.
Process-centered
A fundamental part of TQM is a focus on process thinking. A process is a series of steps that take inputs
from suppliers (internal or external) and transforms them into outputs that are delivered to customers
(again, either internal or external). The steps required to carry out the process are defined, and
performance measures are continuously monitored in order to detect unexpected variation.
Integrated system
Although an organization may consist of many different functional specialties often organized into
vertically structured departments, it is the horizontal processes interconnecting these functions that are the
focus of TQM.
Micro-processes add up to larger processes, and all processes aggregate into the business
processes required for defining and implementing strategy. Everyone must understand the
vision, mission, and guiding principles as well as the quality policies, objectives, and critical
processes of the organization. Business performance must be monitored and communicated
continuously.
An integrated business system may be modeled after the Aldridge National Quality
Program criteria and/or incorporate the ISO 9000 standards. Every organization has a unique
work culture, and it is virtually impossible to achieve excellence in its products and services
unless a good quality culture has been fostered. Thus, an integrated system connects business
improvement elements in an attempt to continually improve and exceed the expectations of
customers, employees, and other stakeholders.
During times of organizational change, as well as part of day-to-day operation, effective communications
plays a large part in maintaining morale and in motivating employees at all levels. Communications
involve strategies, method, and timeliness.
Project charter to define the focus, scope, direction, and motivation for the improvement team
Voice of the customer to understand feedback from current and future customers indicating
offerings that satisfy, delight, and dissatisfy them
Value stream map to provide an overview of an entire process, starting and finishing at the
customer, and analyzing what is required to meet customer needs
Failure mode and effects analysis for identifying possible product, service, and process failures
Design of experiments (DOE) to solve problems from complex processes or systems where
there are many factors influencing the outcome and where it is impossible to isolate one factor
or variable from the others
Kaizen event to introduce rapid change by focusing on a narrow project and using the ideas and
motivation of the people who do the work
Control plan to document what is needed to keep an improved process at its current level
Economies of scale
Diseconomies of scale
The systematic lowering of the cost structure and consequent unit cost reductions that
occur over the life of a product
Customization of the features of products and services to meet the unique need of groups
and individual customers.
Primary Roles
Infrastructure (Leadership
Production
manufacturing.
Achieve rapid
response
through
flexible
manufacturing.
Marketing
R&D
Materials Management
Information Systems
Human Resources
responsiveness.
Develop programs to get employees to think like
customers.
operated. Under Japanese management, the factory was soon producing TV sets with 1/20th the number
of defects they had produced under Motorola management. They did this using the same workforce,
technology, and designs, making it clear that the problem was Motorola's management. Eventually, even
Motorola's own executives had to admit "our quality stinks.
Finally, in the mid 1980s, Motorola decided to take quality seriously. Motorola's CEO at the time, Bob
Galvin, started the company on the quality path known as Six Sigma and became a business icon largely
as a result of what he accomplished in quality at Motorola. Today, Motorola is known worldwide as a
quality leader and a profit leader. After Motorola won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in
1988 the secret of their success became public knowledge and the Six Sigma revolution was on. Today it's
hotter than ever.
Define:
Define the goals of the improvement activity. At the top level the goals will be the strategic objectives of
the organization, such as a higher ROI or market share. At the operations level, a goal might be to
increase the throughput of a production department. At the project level goals might be to reduce the
defect level and increase throughput. Apply data mining methods to identify potential improvement
opportunities.
Measure:
Measure the existing system. Establish valid and reliable metrics to help monitor progress towards the
goal(s) defined at the previous step. Begin by determining the current baseline. Use exploratory and
descriptive data analysis to help you understand the data.
Analyze:
Analyze the system to identify ways to eliminate the gap between the current performance of the system
or process and the desired goal. Apply statistical tools to guide the analysis.
Improve:
Improve the system. Be creative in finding new ways to do things better, cheaper, or faster. Use project
management and other planning and management tools to implement the new approach. Use statistical
methods to validate the improvement.
Control:
Control the new system. Institutionalize the improved system by modifying compensation and incentive
systems, policies, procedures, MRP, budgets, operating instructions and other management systems. You
may wish to utilize systems such as ISO 9000 to assure that documentation is correct.
Infrastructure:
A very powerful feature of Six Sigma is the creation of an infrastructure to ensure that performance
improvement activities have the necessary resources. In this author's opinion, failure to provide this
infrastructure is the #1 reason why 80% of all TQM implementations failed in the past. Six Sigma makes
improvement and change the full-time job of a small but critical percentage of the organization's
personnel. These full time change agents are the catalyst that institutionalizes change. Figure 2 illustrates
the required human resource commitment required by Six Sigma.