TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (T Q M) Quality Defined A short definition that is widely accepted is Quality is customer satisfaction According to ISO

O 9000, quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Broadly, quality is: 1. Fitness for use (Juran ) The components are said to possess good quality, if they work well in the equipment for which they are meant. Quality is thus defined as fitness for purpose. 2. Grade Quality is the distinguishing feature or grade of the product in appearance, performance, life, reliability, taste, odor, and maintainability etc. These are generally called as quality characteristics. 3. Degree of preference Quality is the degree to which a specified product is preferred over competing products of equivalent grade. This is based on comparative tests by customers and is normally called customer preference. 4. Degree of excellence Quality is a measure of the degree of general excellence of the product. 5. Conformity to requirement ( Philip Crosby ) Conformity to requirements is concerned with how well a product conforms to design and other specifications. Changing Criteria of quality Quality in yesteryears Product quality is the key Focus on product and service Corrective methods were followed Responsibility with Quality Department Quality was a function Result was important Quality was measured by product attributes Quality Champions were the quality employers Mainly the system was focused Quality was considered to be a tool Quality in the 21 century Customer requirement is the key Focus on all business tasks Preventive methods are followed Responsibility with every employee Quality is a strategy Process is important Quality is measured by cost of quality Quality Champions are the top management teams Mainly both system and human components are focused Quality is considered to be a process philosophy
st

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Efficiency versus Effectiveness Efficiency is Doing things right Effectiveness is Doing right things Drivers of Quality

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

Competition in the market Knowledge Explosion Threat for survival Demand from stake holders Promise of greater profit Desire to do better (Internal or self motivation)

Quality Management Quality management is the process of identifying and administering the activities needed to achieve the quality objectives of an organization. The universal process of managing quality is illustrated below. Quality Planning Establish quality goals Identify customers Discover customer needs Develop product features Develop product features Establish process controls Transfer to operations Quality Control Choose control subjects Choose units to measure Set goals Create a sensor Measure actual performance Interpret the difference Take action on the difference Quality Improvement Prove the need Identify projects Organize project teams Diagnose the causes Provide remedies, prove that remedies are effective Deal with resistance Change and control Hold the gains

Ten Principles of Quality Management (QM) i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. Vision based Customer focused Prevention oriented Scientifically approached Process given more importance than end result Data based on analysis Continuous improvement strategies Cost conscious attempt Documentation for traceability Reward / Recognition assured

QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a technique introduced in Japan by Yoji Akao in 1966 and used extensively by Toyota (and since by many other companies around the globe). The technique aims to capture what the customer needs, and work to how it might be achieved. According to Akao (1990), QFD "is a method for developing a design quality aimed at satisfying the consumer and then translating the consumer's demand into design targets and major quality assurance points to be used throughout the production phase". It is a structured procedure used to translate the expressed or perceived needs of customers first into specific product or service design characteristics and features, and then into process and operational characteristics. In this 'translation' it attempts to prioritize the requirements of the design process (the 'what's) and reconcile them with the attributes embodied in the design "solution" (the 'how's) - using a specific mechanism known as the "what-how" matrix. First, customers' requirements (which form the vertical axis of the matrix) are matched with the design attributes (which form the horizontal axis of the matrix). The individual elements of the matrix are used to indicate the degree and direction of influence of the main design attributes on

customer needs. To do this some kind of coding scheme is used. This is often pictorial using, for example, circles and triangles. (It is important at this stage to clearly record all assumptions used in judging the nature of these relationships.) The purpose is to make explicit what, without QFD, might have remained unexplained in the design process. The correlation between different design attributes is recorded so that the consequence for other attributes of changing one attribute is understood. In addition, specific target values of each design attribute may be defined and, if the product or service is already in use, a competitive assessment comparing the product or service in question with competitors' offerings may be mapped. Similarly, a perceived customer rating of each requirement comparing current product or service performance against competitors can also be recorded. Once the important design attributes have been identified (together with an understanding of their current state), they can be transposed to a second matrix to form the "what"s; these must be reconciled with the specific design features of the product or service. After a similar analysis, these in turn form the "what"s of the process matrix which links the design features of the product or service with the attributes of the design of the process which will create the product or service. This in turn may be extended by a final operational matrix to help design the operational control system used in the process. QFD requires designers to be both analytical and explicit in terms of their design objectives ("what"s), their design solutions ("how"s) and the relationship between them. Furthermore, it helps to integrate the various functions and departments commonly associated with design activities in large organizations. A disadvantage cited by practitioners is the complexity involved in using QFD in large design projects; the number of factors used in each axis of the matrix must be minimized if the process is not to become unmanageable. Conversely, if the number is artificially restricted too severely, important relationships may be overlooked. Deming's 14 points W Edwards Deming was an American statistician who was credited with the rise of Japan as a manufacturing nation, and with the invention of Total Quality Management (TQM). Deming went to Japan just after the War to help set up a census of the Japanese population. While he was there, he taught 'statistical process control' to Japanese engineers - a set of techniques which allowed them to manufacture high-quality goods without expensive machinery. In 1960 he was awarded a medal by the Japanese Emperor for his services to that country's industry. Deming returned to the US and spent some years in obscurity before the publication of his book "Out of the crisis" in 1982. In this book, Deming set out 14 points which, if applied to US manufacturing industry would, he believed, save the US from industrial doom at the hands of the Japanese. Although Deming does not use the term Total Quality Management in his book, it is credited with launching the movement. Most of the central ideas of TQM are contained in Out of the Crisis The 14 points seem at first sight to be a rag-bag of radical ideas, but the key to understanding a number of them lies in Deming's thoughts about variation. Variation was seen by Deming as the disease that threatened US manufacturing. The more the variation - in the length of parts supposed to be uniform, in delivery times, in prices, in work practices - the more waste, he reasoned. From this premise, he set out his 14 points for management, which are paraphrased here: 1."Create constancy of purpose towards improvement". Replace short-term reaction with

long-term planning. 2."Adopt the new philosophy". The implication is that management should actually adopt his philosophy, rather than merely expect the workforce to do so. 3."Cease dependence on inspection". If variation is reduced, there is no need to inspect manufactured items for defects, because there won't be any. 4."Move towards a single supplier for any one item." Multiple suppliers mean variation between feed stocks. 5."Improve constantly and forever". Constantly strive to reduce variation. 6."Institute training on the job". If people are inadequately trained, they will not all work the same way, and this will introduce variation. 7."Institute leadership". Deming makes a distinction between leadership and mere supervision. The latter is quota- and target-based. 8."Drive out fear". Deming sees management by fear as counter- productive in the long term, because it prevents workers from acting in the organizations best interests. 9."Break down barriers between departments". Another idea central to TQM is the concept of the 'internal customer', that each department serves not the management, but the other departments that use its outputs. 10."Eliminate slogans". Another central TQM idea is that it's not people who make most mistakes - it's the process they are working within. Harassing the workforce without improving the processes they use is counter-productive. 11."Eliminate management by objectives". Deming saw production targets as encouraging the delivery of poor-quality goods. 12."Remove barriers to pride of workmanship". Many of the other problems outlined reduce worker satisfaction. 13."Institute education and self-improvement". 14."The transformation is everyone's job". Deming has been criticized for putting forward a set of goals without providing any tools for managers to use to reach those goals (just the problem he identified in point 10). His inevitable response to this question was: "You're the manager, you figure it out." W. EDWARDS DEMING'S SEVEN DEADLY DISEASES: 1. Lack of constancy of purpose to plan product and service that will have a market and keep the company in business, and provide jobs. 2. Emphasis on short-term profits: short-term thinking (just the opposite of constancy of purpose to stay in business), fed by fear of unfriendly takeover, and by push from bankers and owners for dividends. 3. Personnel review systems, or evaluation of performance, merit rating, annual review, or annual appraisal, by whatever name, for people in management, the effects of which are devastating. Management by objective, on a go, no-go basis, without a method for

accomplishment of the objective, is the same thing by another name. Management by fear would still be better. 4. Mobility of management; job hopping. 5. Use of visible figures only for management, with little or no consideration of figures that are unknown or unknowable. 6. Excessive medical costs. 7. Excessive costs of liability.

PDCA Cycle From problem-faced to problem-solved The PDCA Cycle is a checklist of the four stages which you must go through to get from `problemfaced' to `problem solved'. The four stages are Plan-Do-Check-Act, and they are carried out in the cycle illustrated below.

The concept of the PDCA Cycle was originally developed by Walter Shewhart, the pioneering statistician who developed statistical process control in the Bell Laboratories in the US during the 1930's. It is often referred to as `the Shewhart Cycle'. It was taken up and promoted very effectively from the 1950s on by the famous Quality Management authority, W. Edwards Deming, and is consequently known by many as `the Deming Wheel'. Use the PDCA Cycle to coordinate your continuous improvement efforts. It both emphasizes and demonstrates that improvement programs must start with careful planning, must result in effective action, and must move on again to careful planning in a continuous cycle. Also use the PDCA Cycle diagram in team meetings to take stock of what stage improvement initiatives are at, and to choose the appropriate tools to see each stage through to successful completion. How to use the PDCA Cycle diagram to choose the appropriate tool is explained in detail in the `How to use it' section below.

Plan-Do-Check-Act Here is what you do for each stage of the Cycle: Plan to improve your operations first by finding out what things are going wrong (that is identify the problems faced), and come up with ideas for solving these problems. Do changes designed to solve the problems on a small or experimental scale first. This minimizes disruption to routine activity while testing whether the changes will work or not. Check whether the small scale or experimental changes are achieving the desired result or not. Also, continuously Check nominated key activities (regardless of any experimentation going on) to ensure that you know what the quality of the output is at all times to identify any new problems when they crop up. Act to implement changes on a larger scale if the experiment is successful. This means making the changes a routine part of your activity. Also Act to involve other persons (other departments, suppliers, or customers) affected by the changes and whose cooperation you need to implement them on a larger scale, or those who may simply benefit from what you have learned (you may, of course, already have involved these people in the Do or trial stage).

You have now completed the cycle to arrive at `problem solved'. Go back to the Plan stage to identify the next `problem faced'. If the experiment was not successful, skip the Act stage and go back to the Plan stage to come up with some new ideas for solving the problem and go through the cycle again. Plan-Do-Check-Act describes the overall stages of improvement activity, but how is each stage carried out? This is where other specific quality management, or continuous improvement, tools and techniques come into play. The diagram below lists the tools and techniques which can be used to complete each stage of the PDCA Cycle. Jurans Quality Improvement Plan Quality Trilogy in TQM Juran defines quality as fitness for use in terms of design, conformance, availability, safety, and field use. His concept closely incorporates the point of view of the customer. Juran introduced the managerial dimensions of planning, organizing, and controlling and focused on the responsibility of management to achieve quality and the need for setting goals. Juran was less concerned with detailed techniques of quality control and much more centered on the idea of management responsibility. He emphasized that quality issues need to be addressed through management action in the same way as strategic issues, financial issues or any other concerns. Juran's approach is based on the idea that the QI program must reflect the strong interdependency that exists among all of the operations within an organization's production processes. According to Juran, Quality Planning is the process of understanding what the customer needs and designing all aspects of a system that is able to meet those needs reliably. Once the system is put into operation, Quality Control is used to constantly monitor performance for compliance with the original design standards. If performance falls short of the standard, plans are put into action to deal quickly with the problem. Quality control puts the system back into a state of "control", i.e., the way it was designed to operate. Quality Improvement occurs when new, previously unobtained, levels of performance ~ Breakthrough Performance ~ are achieved! Juran also proposed the idea of the "Vital Few and the Useful Many" that helps prioritize which QI projects should be undertaken. In any organization, there will be a lengthy list of possible ideas for improvement. Since the resources to actually implement new ideas is limited, however, leaders must choose those vital few projects that will have the greatest impact on improving ability to meet customer needs. The criteria for selecting QI projects include potential impact on meeting customer needs, cutting waste, or marshaling the necessary resources required by the project.

Juran also developed the idea of instituting a leadership group or "Quality Council", consisting of the organization's senior executive staff. The Quality Council is typically charged with the responsibility for designing the overall strategy for quality planning, control and improvement. Senior leadership involvement is a must since QI activities are as important as other management tasks (e.g., budgeting, human resource management, purchasing and training) The Juran Trilogy Quality Planning - initial design of operations based on meeting customer/ consumer needs. Quality Control - continuously monitoring how the system is maintaining its customer/consumer-dictated performance levels, with corrective action when needed. Quality Improvement - creation of special teams to plan, test, and implement new methods to reach unprecedented levels of performance. Total Quality Management What is TQM? Total Quality Management is an approach to the art of management that originated in Japanese industry in the 1950's and has become steadily more popular in the West since the early 1980's. Total Quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that aims to provide, and continue to provide, its customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company's operations, with things being done right first time, and defects and waste eradicated from operations. Important Aspects of TQM customer-driven quality top management leadership and commitment continuous improvement fast response actions based on facts employee participation and a TQM culture

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management strategy aimed at embedding awareness of quality in all organizational processes. TQM has been widely used in manufacturing, education, government, and service industries, as well as NASA space and science programs. Total Quality Management is taken as a fundamental requirement for any organization to compete, let alone lead its market. The quality movement started in Japan with its Deming Prize for quality. First awarded in 1951, it marked the beginning of an effort that has accelerated since then. In the late 1950s the U.S. Department of Defense adopted a series of quality standards that were later adopted by the British Standards Institute and have now evolved into the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 standards. Formal national recognition of quality in the U.S. came about with the first Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1987, and in European countries, with the European Quality Awards in 1991. The quality movement is more than just a series of awards and quality standards -The movement involves a total rethinking of how a business should be run. The term total quality management (TQM) has been coined to describe a philosophy that makes quality values the driving force behind leadership, design, planning, and improvement initiatives.

Definition As defined by ISO: "TQM is a management approach of an organization, centered on quality, based on the participation of all its members and aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all members of the organization and to society." We may also define total quality management (TQM) as managing the entire organization so that it excels on all dimensions of products and services that are important to the customer. Evolution of TQM 1. Inspection: --- Identifying non-conformities, Salvaging, End justifies means etc. It is End of pipe approach. 2. Quality Control: --- Process Conformance, quality Planning, Statistical tools, Control instrumentation etc. 3. Quality Assurance: Quality Manuals, System Certification, Quality costs, Documentation etc. 4. Total quality Management (TQM) --- Customer focus, Employer involvement, Continuous improvement, Performance measurement, Say what you do, and Do what you say (ISO-9000) STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT DURING TQM IMPLEMENTATION The various stages that exist in an organization during TQM implementation are shown in the Fig. below. The first stage is a common situation seen in several organizations. In this stage, there are few people who constantly work (achievers) represented by arrows, while there are several others who relax by doing very minimal work represented by dots. This is not a healthy situation for organizations.

IV

III

II

Stages of Development during TQM Implementation. In the second stage it is noticed that there are no dots meaning that no one is relaxing. But it has been noticed that the arrows are all focused in different directions. This means there is no single focus for the organization. Every achiever performs in his own way. It is definitely better than the first stage as it does not contain any relaxing people. The third stage has all arrows and the arrows are pointing towards the same direction. It indicates that there is a common goal or vision for the institution and every individual is motivated to focus on the same vision. This is the best of the previous three stages. The fourth stage is slightly different. In the entire first three stages one would notice that there are only nine arrows representing nine people. But in the fourth stage the number has been multiplied. There are several representations in the fourth stage. This does not mean that the number of

people has increased but the increase is only because of the effect of nine people working towards a common goal. In this stage all the people are working as a team. When people work as a team, synergic effect sets in and there is always five times greater effect as compared to people working as a group. This is indicated in stage IV. As the number of people remains the same, it can be said that the fourth stage indicates a tremendous increase in productivity, i.e., the input remaining same, the output has increased. Every organization should check where it stands as on date. If an institution is placed in stage I now, they should work towards reaching stage IV through stage II and III. The point to be noted here is that there should be a step by step improvement and by-passing should be avoided. Implementation of total quality management strategies will be effective only when the organization is in stage IV. Hence every organization should aim to reach stage IV at the earliest. The key factors for stage wise improvement are: Stage I Stage II Empowerment Promotion from stage I to stage II will be possible when every individual is motivated to do their best utilizing all their potentials. Empowerment will be the key issue here. When employees are empowered, it can be best assured that stage II can be reached. Stage II Stage III Common Vision If an organization is currently in stage II, for movement t to stage III, it requires a common vision. Generation of a vision statement and popularizing the same will motivate people to have a common focus and reach stage III. Stage III Stage IV Team work In order to reach stage IV from stage III, one has to work towards teaming up the people. This is a difficult job. Unless all the members of the organization work as a team, stage IV cannot be achieved. Elements of TQM The philosophical elements of TQM stress the operation of the firm using quality as the integrating element. The generic tools consist of (1) various statistical process control (SPC) methods that are used for problem solving and continuous improvement by quality teams and (2) quality function deployment, which is typically used by managers to drive the voice of the customer into the organization. Tools of the QC department consist of statistical quality control (SQC) methods that are used by the quality professionals working in this department.

TQM Philosophical Elements Customer driven quality Leadership Continuous improvement Employee Generic Tools Tools of the QC Department Tools of the QC department 1.Sampling plans 2. Process capability 3. Taguchi

SPC tools

1. Process flow charts 2. Check sheets 3. Pareto analysis and

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participation and development Quick response

histogram 4. Cause and effect ( or fishbone ) diagrams 5. Run charts 6. Scatter diagrams 7. Control charts Quality function deployment.

methods

Design quality and prevention Management by fact Partnership development Corporate responsibility and citizenship

The TQMX Model The TQMX Model advocates an integrated approach for managing quality in order to support the transition to systems management. This is an ongoing process of continuous improvement that begins when the company commits itself to managing by quality. The model illuminates the elements that form the basis of understanding the TQM philosophy and its implementation across companies. To have a systematic approach to TQM, it is necessary to develop a conceptual model. The model is a sequence of steps arranged logically to guide the implementation of a process in order to achieve the ultimate goal. The idea was to develop the universally applicable step-by-step guidelines by including the following recognized practices in TQM. Japanese 5-S Practice ( 5-S ) Business Process Re-engineering ( BPR ) Quality Circles ( QCs ) Quality Management System (QMS). Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).

5-S | Operations management | BPR | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| QCs | | Quality management QMS ( ISO ) | | TPM | | TQM

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JAPANESE 5-S PRACTICE (5-S) Introduction to 5-S The 5-S practice is a technique used to establish and maintain quality environment in an organization. The author, Prof. Sam HO (*), has created and established the names since 1993 during his assignment as the first Quality Expert to the Malaysian Government under an Asian Development Bank quality project. 5-S is the key to Total Quality Environment. The 5-Ss stand for five Japanese words --- Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke. The English equivalents, their meanings and typical examples are shown below. Japanese Seiri Seiton Seiso Seiketsu Shitsuke English Structurise Systemize Sanitize Standardize Self-discipline Meaning Organization Neatness Cleaning Standardization Discipline Typical Examples Throw away rubbish 30-second retrieval of document Individual cleaning responsibility Transparency of storage Do 5-S daily

The 5-S technique has been widely practiced by quality organizations world-wide. Most 5-S practitioners consider 5-S useful not just for improving their physical environment, but also for improving their thinking processes too. Apparently the 5-S can help in all strata of life. Many of the everyday problems could be solved through adoption of this practice. Unfortunately, unlike other quality tools and techniques, this basic but powerful technique for quality improvement has not been known to the western world. Workplaces in Japan are well-known for their cleanliness and orderliness. This results from the Japanese emphasis on training and discipline. The logic behind the 5-S practice is that organization, neatness, cleanliness, standardization and discipline at the workplace are basic requirements for producing high quality products and services, with little or no waste, while maintaining high levels of productivity. BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING (BPR) The concept of BPR has been around since about 1990 (with its 'bible' being the 1993 book Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, by Michael Hammer and James Champy). However, it is often misrepresented as a short cut to downsizing, as a new quality methodology or as a lever to new computing systems. If we take a business process to be a set of logically related tasks undertaken in pursuit of a defined and agreed business objective then BPR starts to look fundamentally quite simple. It is about the improvement of productivity by looking at entire processes, rather than at specific activities or functions. The advantage of this wider approach is that a business process incorporates all the work and the non-work (delays, storage, wastage, error-correction, etc) associated with the sequence of tasks involved. It also involves the communication processes between the various departments or functions involved in a process, and the rules, regulations and bureaucracies that surround it. Now, BPR starts to look like a holistic approach to improvement.

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Finally, in these terms, a business process should result in an output/outcome that is 'close to' the customer. (Thus, 'new product designs' is a business process - involving, perhaps, marketing R&D staff, designers, and production engineers.) BPR is therefore customer-focused. The original concept was one of revolutionary redesign (or re-engineering) involving 'breakthrough' improvement. There were a few early successes - but many subsequent failures - of this revolutionary approach. The consensus is now that BPR MAY be revolutionary, but that evolutionary change is often more realistic - and lower risk. At this evolutionary level, BPR can be seen as part of the continuum of productivity improvement techniques - its 'USP' being the concentration on complete processes. Too often, BPR is used to 'sell' new (improved?) technologies. All good productivity professionals know that you improve systems before you automate them - the same is true with business processes. It is true that improving access to SHARED information can have a significant effect on an organization. Technology can thus be a part of (indeed, even an important part of) an improvement solution, but it should not drive it. BPR tends to be (relatively) 'big bang'. Examining entire business processes is often disturbing (to the organization) and is therefore carried out infrequently. However, any success from a BPR project can be short-lived unless there is some form of 'maintenance' program. BPR plus continuous improvement is necessary for ongoing success. TOTAL PRODUCTIVE MAINTENANCE Total productive maintenance (TPM) is the systematic execution of maintenance by all employees through small group activities. The dual goals of TPM are zero breakdowns and zero defects; this obviously improves equipment efficiency rates and reduces costs. It also minimizes inventory costs associated with spare parts. It is claimed that most companies can realize a 15-25 percent increase in equipment operation rates within three years of adopting TPM. Labor productivity also generally increases by a significant margin, sometimes as high as 40-50 percent. The Japanese imported preventive maintenance (PM) from the United States in the 1950s and it remained well established until the 1970s. This consisted mainly of time-based maintenance featuring periodic servicing and overhaul. During the 1980s PM was steadily replaced by predictive maintenance, or condition-based maintenance. TPM is often defined as productive maintenance involving total participation - a kind of marriage between PM and TQM. Many organizations misconstrue this to imply that only shop floor staff need be involved. However, TPM should be implemented on a company-wide basis. TPM aims to establish good maintenance practice through the pursuit of "the five goals of TPM: (1) Improve equipment effectiveness: examine the effectiveness of facilities by identifying and examining all losses which occur - downtime losses, speed losses and defect losses. (2) Achieve autonomous maintenance: allow the people who operate equipment to take responsibility for, at least some, of the maintenance tasks. This can be at: the repair level (where staff carry out instructions as a response to a problem); the prevention level (where staff take pro-active action to prevent foreseen problems); and the improvement level (where staff not only takes corrective action but also propose improvements to prevent recurrence).

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(3) Plan maintenance: have a systematic approach to all maintenance activities. This involves the identification of the nature and level of preventive maintenance required for each piece of equipment, the creation of standards for condition-based maintenance, and the setting of respective responsibilities for operating and maintenance staff. The respective roles of "operating" and "maintenance" staff are seen as being distinct. Maintenance staff are seen as developing preventive actions and general breakdown services, whereas operating staff take on the "ownership" of the facilities and their general care. Maintenance staff typically moves to a more facilitating and supporting role where they are responsible for the training of operators, problem diagnosis, and devising and assessing maintenance practice. (4) Train all staff in relevant maintenance skills: the defined responsibilities of operating and maintenance staff require that each has all the necessary skills to carry out these roles. TPM places a heavy emphasis on appropriate and continuous training. (5) Achieve early equipment management: the aim is to move towards zero maintenance through "maintenance prevention" (MP). MP involves considering failure causes and the maintainability of equipment during its design stage, its manufacture, its installation, and its commissioning. As part of the overall process, TPM attempts to track all potential maintenance problems back to their root cause so that they can be eliminated at the earliest point in the overall design, manufacture and deployment process. TPM works to eliminate losses: Downtime from breakdown and changeover times Speed losses (when equipment fails to operate at its optimum speed) Idling and minor stoppages due to the abnormal operation of sensors, blockage of work on chutes, etc. Process defects due to scrap and quality defects to be repaired Reduced yield in the period from machine start-up to stable production.

Benchmarking Introduction Benchmarking is an ongoing, systematic process for measuring and comparing the work processes of one organization to those of others that exhibit functional best practices. The goal is to provide an external standard for measuring the quality and cost of internal processes, and to help identify where there may be opportunities for improvement. To be effective, benchmarking should be integrated into the operations throughout the organization and should be an ongoing process that analyses data collected over time. It is a learning process that helps institutions discover how they can best improve the direct or indirect services they offer to their customers. Benchmarking An Overview In practice, benchmarking usually encompasses: Regularly comparing aspects of performance (functions or processes) with best practitioners; Identifying gaps in performance; Seeking fresh approaches to bring about improvements in performance; Following through with implementing improvements; and

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Following up by monitoring progress and reviewing the benefits.

There are numerous definitions of benchmarking, but essentially it involves learning, sharing information, and adopting best practices to bring about changes in performance. So, at its simplest, benchmarking means: Improving ourselves by learning from others. Most organizations tailor definitions of benchmarking to suit their own strategies and objectives. Two examples are given below: 1. Benchmarking is simply about making comparisons with other organizations and then learning the lessons that those comparisons throw up. 2. Benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring products, services and practices against the toughest competitors or those companies recognized as industry leaders (best in class). Recent surveys show that benchmarking is the third most used management tool. Interest in benchmarking is continuing to grow across the world. Benchmarking is also being recognized as a valuable tool for external learning strategies. Description Benchmarking is the process of determining, for a given area of activity, which organizations are 'the best' - those who set the standards for performance and quality, and what are those standards. The aim is to compare your own organization to these 'best companies' and then to compare structures, processes, procedures, relationships, levels of investment, etc. Alongside this is the aim to motivate those within the organization to strive to achieve those same high standards. The aim is not to 'copy' the benchmark organizations, but to learn from them and to adopt and adapt elements of their organization only as far as they can fit within your own structure, culture and broad strategy. Thus benchmarking is often a component of a wider improvement process such as business process re-engineering or quality improvement. Simply attempting to analyze what makes a good company good - even when that company is in another industry - is a useful exercise. Benchmarking assists in the setting of what must be 'reasonable' targets - after all, if another organization has achieved them, they must be reasonable; and having external comparators means that internal measurement becomes much more useful. It becomes much easier to establish the difference between competence and excellence. Information which is freely available in the public domain can be useful as a starting point, but the level of detail is probably inappropriate for really effective benchmarking analysis. Thus, the usual approach is to share data with another organization - on a mutual help basis. There is now a number of benchmarking 'clubs' both within and across certain industry sectors where members collectively pool data - derived to a common measurement methodology - to act as collective benchmarks for the group. It is important to choose the right organizations to benchmark against - they should be clearly the same kind of organization (or, if not, the differences and their effect on benchmarked activities identified). It is equally important to identify the right activities to benchmark - those that align with strategic aims and objectives. It is usually best to benchmark against some sub-set of a total system so that causes and effects can be more easily identified and followed. A complete system can thus be addressed in phases with each process being benchmarked and improved in turn.

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Types of Benchmarking Standard benchmarking types include: 1. Strategic Benchmarking is used where organizations seek to improve their overall performance by examining the long term strategies and general approaches that have enabled high-performers to succeed. It involves considering high level aspects such as core competencies, developing new products and services; changing the balance of activities; and improving capabilities for dealing with changes in the background environment. 2. Performance Benchmarking or Competitive Benchmarking is used where organizations consider their positions in relation to performance characteristics of key products and services. Benchmarking partners are drawn from the same sector. 3. Process Benchmarking is used when the focus is on improving specific critical processes and operations. Benchmarking partners are sought from best practice organizations that perform similar work or deliver similar services. 4. Functional Benchmarking or Generic Benchmarking is used when organizations look to benchmark with partners drawn from different business sectors or areas of activity to find ways of improving similar functions or work processes. 5. Internal Benchmarking involves seeking partners from within the same organization, for example, from business units located in different areas. The main advantages of internal benchmarking are: easy access to sensitive data and information, availability of standardized data, and, usually less time and resources. 6. External Benchmarking involves seeking outside organizations that are known to be best in class. External benchmarking provides opportunities of learning from those who are at the leading edge, although it must be remembered that not every best practice solution can be transferred to others. 7. International Benchmarking is used where partners are sought from other countries because best practitioners are located elsewhere in the world and/or there are too few benchmarking partners within the same country to produce valid results. Globalization and advances in information technology are increasing opportunities for international projects. Benchmarking Process Benchmarking process has a procedure, which though not standardized, need to be established for any project. The procedure being different among many organizations has certain common steps. One popular procedure is as follows: Determine what to benchmark Identify customers Identify critical success factors Convert them into measures where possible Form a benchmarking team (4-6 people) Identify type of benchmarking team to organize

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Allocate sufficient resources (time, funding, process support Identify benchmark partners Collect and analyze benchmarking information Check benchmarking information for patterns, misinformation, omissions, etc. Produce summary report of benchmarking investigation Continue to improve the benchmarking process along with improvement in product/process.

Six Sigma The ideas behind the Six Sigma concept arose from a realization that technology changes the way we should think about 'quality' and especially about manufacturing non-conformance rates. When automated processes are responsible for much of current manufacturing, quality levels should be very high. Thus, a change was required in the way organizations think about what is acceptable in terms of non-conformance to agreed quality levels - that change was to move from expressing (and measuring) quality levels in percentages (parts per hundred) to one of adopting parts per million or even parts per billion. Sigma is a letter in the Greek alphabet used to denote the standard deviation of a process and thus 'sigma quality levels' can be used to describe the output of a process (in terms of the deviation of the process from its quality norm). A Six Sigma quality level is said to equate to 3.4 defects per million opportunities. This is actually a little strange since if a normal distribution table is consulted (very few go out to six sigma), one finds that expected nonconformances are 0.002 parts per million (two parts per billion). The difference between this figure and the 'official' six sigma figure of 3.4 defects per million parts is because, when the concept was established, it was assumed that a typical process mean could drift 1.5 sigma in either direction. The area of a normal distribution beyond 4.5 sigma from the mean is indeed 3.4 parts per million. Because control charts will easily detect any process shift of this magnitude in a single sample, the 3.4 parts per million represents a very conservative upper bound on the nonconformance rate. From this concept - and statistical underpinning - Six Sigma has developed into a highly disciplined process used to help an organization focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services. The basic approach is to identify and evaluate a defect, analyze the causes, make improvements, and then control those improvements. Many of the tools of Six Sigma (and the concept of lean manufacturing with which Six Sigma is most closely identified) can be found in statistical process control, total quality management, statistics, process improvement, inventory control and operations management textbooks. However, it is not just the tools that deliver Six Sigma performance - it is the logic, discipline and practical application that drives the search for perfection. Six Sigma has a customer focus The aim is to ensure that all outputs meet customer specifications. This is very intuitive for manufacturing and industrial businesses; but as Six sigma is extended to new sectors, this can potentially be a new concept for transactional businesses. Customer needs must be understood down to the 'tolerance' level. Six Sigma is Data-Driven Data is necessary to identify input, process and output areas for improvement. Quality improvements are not haphazardly implemented. Instead, resources are assigned to projects where it can be shown through data analysis that the customer will feel a difference. With Six Sigma, statistics provide objective evidence on which decisions are based. So a common approach

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is to identify a practical problem, convert it into a statistical problem, derive a statistical solution and then transform that to a practical solution. (This is the basic modeling approach.)

Six Sigma is inclusive and participative The entire company must back the concept to make it work. Often employees have improvement ideas but not the skills to 'sell' their idea or the resources to translate it into production. Those practicing Six Sigma are awarded 'belts' (as in martial arts - to recognize training and experience) and a Six Sigma black belt is highly prized - by its recipient, and by the employer of that recipient. Six Sigma is proactive Six Sigma has moved from the 'problem consideration' to the 'design' phase. The aim of many Six Sigma programs is to design and engineer quality into the process as a proactive approach to defect elimination. Six Sigma is spreading The application of the basic Six Sigma concept now goes beyond its original area of defect reduction to emphasize business process improvement in general. Thus Six Sigma programs may include cost reduction, cycle-time improvement, increased customer satisfaction - and any other metric important to the company. Thus, Six Sigma now implies a whole toolbox and a whole culture of improvement - using a variety of tools and statistical methodologies to improve the bottom line of companies. CONCLUSION TQM is a management approach that tries to achieve and sustain long term organizational success by encouraging employee feedback and participation, satisfying customer needs and expectations, respecting social values and beliefs, and obeying governmental statutes and regulations. Product, process, system, people and leadership form the five pillars of TQM. TQM provides the overall concept that fosters continuous improvement in an organization. The TQM philosophy stresses a systematic, integrated, consistent, organization-wide perspective involving everyone and everything. It focuses primarily on total satisfaction of both internal and external customers within a management environment that seeks continuous improvement of all systems and processes. TQM is a necessity. It is a journey that never ends. It is the way to survive and succeed. It is the totally integrated effort for gaining competitive advantage by continuously improving every facet of an organizations activities. Core Concepts of TQM Quality for Profit. Right First Time. Acceptable Quality Levels Cost of Quality a. Failure costs. b. Appraisal costs. c. Prevention costs.

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A Customer is the Most Important Visitor On our Premises, He is not dependent on us, We are dependent on him, He is not an interruption on our work, He is the purpose of it, He is not an outsider on our business, But is a part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him, He is doing us a favor by giving us An opportunity to do so.

-- Mahatma Gandhi

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