Engineering Properties of Biological Materials and Food Quality 3(2+1)

Lesson 25. Total Quality Management

25.1.1 Quality control is the evaluation of a final product prior to its marketing, i.e. it is based on quality checks at the end of a production chain for maintenance of prescribed standards . Since, at the end of the production chain, there is no way to correct production failures or upgrade the quality of the final product, the non-marketable products have to be discarded. Thus, quality control has only a limited potential to increase the quality and efficiency of a multi-step production procedure.

25.1.2 Quality Assurance: In contrast to quality control, the quality assurance includes the planning and surveillance of everything to do with the quality throughout the company. It is the implementation of quality checks and procedures to immediately correct any failure and mistake that is able to reduce the quality of the interim products at every production step.

25.1.3 Total Quality Management (TQM) The management approach to long-term success through customer satisfaction, based on the participation of all members of an organization (suppliers and distributors included) in improving processes, products, services and the working culture.

25.2 History of Total Quality Management

Quality control had its beginnings in the factory system in the 1850s. At that time, production methods were rudimentary. Products were made from non standardized materials using non standardized processes, resulting in products of varying quality. The only standards used were measures of dimensions, weight, and in some instances, purity.

In 20th century, quality consciousness increased at a tremendous rate, with much interest in the application of statistical quality control. Centralized inspection departments were organized to check for quality. In  the beginning of the century, methods of statistical quality control were added.

Modern quality management was initiated with the works of Walter A. Shewhart, Joseph Juran, and W. Edwards Deming at Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1920s. After World War II, modern quality concepts emerged leading to Total Quality Management.

25.2.1 The Pioneers of Scientific Quality Management

Frederick Taylor: A highly regarded consultant whose name was synonymous with “scientific management,”. He  proposed the reduction of waste through  careful study.

Walter A. Shewhart:   Introduced  production process into a state of statistical control to manage a process economically.

W. Edwards Deming:  Deming defined quality as a predictable degree of uniformity and dependability, at low costs and suited to the market. He produced his 14 Points for management in order to help people understand and implement for  transformation in industry. Joseph M. Juran:  Ddefines quality as “fitness for use” in terms of design, conformance, availability, safety, and field use.,

Philip B. Crosby  Coined the word Quality Is Free He stated that quality is free because the small costs of prevention will always be lower than the costs of detection, correction, and failure. Crosby’s name is perhaps best known in relation to the concepts of “Do It Right the First Time” and “Zero Defects.”

25.3 Total Quality Management

TQM is a management philosophy, a paradigm, a continuous improvement approach to doing business through a new management model.  TQM expands beyond statistical process control to embrace a wider scope of management activities of how we manage people and organizations by focusing on the entire process, not just simple measurements.

TQM is a comprehensive management system which:

• Focuses on meeting customers’ needs by providing quality services at a cost that provides value to the customers

• Is driven by the quest for continuous improvement in all operations

• Recognizes that everyone in the organization has owners/customers who are either internal or external

• Views an organization as an internal system with a common aim rather than as individual departments acting to maximize their own performances

• Focuses on the way tasks are accomplished rather than simply what tasks are accomplished

• Emphasizes teamwork and a high level of participation by all employees

25.3.1 Need of  implementing TQM

Organization Reality

Industrial disputes, climate of distress

Increased competition – domestic / International

Conservative management

Monopoly situation

Organization Self Evaluation

Where are we as an organization

Where do we want to go

How do we get there

How TQM help to get there

How will we know when we get there

Immediate Objectives

Trust and hormany

       Awareness of organization reality

       Waste identification

Team building

Success measures

 Approach Steps

25.4. Implementation Process

1. Obtain CEO Commitment

2. Educate Upper-Level Management

3. Create Steering Committee

4. Outline the Vision Statement, Mission Statement, & Guiding Principles

5. Prepare a Flow Diagram of Company Processes

6. Focus on the Owner/Customer (External) & Surveys

7. Consider the Employee as an Internal Owner/customer

8. Provide a Quality Training Program

9. Establish Quality Improvement Teams

10. Implement Process Improvements

11. Use the Tools of TQM

12. Know the Benefits of TQM

1  Obtain CEO Commitment, and

2  Educate Upper-Level Management

The first step in implementing TQM is to obtain the total commitment, involvement, and leadership of the CEO and upper-level management.

The second step is to teach the CEO and upper-level management how to conduct the following:

• Undergo quality training

• Commit to TQM and provide the necessary resources of time and money to permit improvement

• Assist in the development of the corporate vision statement, mission statement, guiding principles, and objectives

3  Create a Steering Committee

Upon completion of upper management’s commitment and training, a steering committee to be  created to guide the company through the process of implementing TQM.  The role of the steering committee would be .

• Review and evaluate customer surveys.

• Determine processes to be improved, based on customer and employee recommendations, surveys, and a knowledge of existing problems.

• Monitor process improvement.

• Oversee employee recognition for quality improvement.

• Communicate successes and progress.

4  Outline the Vision Statement, Mission Statement, & Guiding Principles

In developing the fourth step, important principles to consider including in the company’s vision statement, mission statement, and guiding principles are

• Reputation as the best in the field

• customer Satisfaction

• Improved Safety

• Elimination of errors and defects Continuous Improvement

• Employee Empowerment

5  Prepare a Flow Diagram of Company Processes

Prepare a TQM flow diagram illustrating in the figure to implement quality processes within the company.

6  Focus on the Customer (External) & Surveys

The best ways of accomplishing quality improvement is by focusing on customers’ concerns, and by learning what those concerns are through customer surveys. Several areas to survey, and to take care to provide  are

Safe operating procedures Accident experience Attitude Professional competence of the project manager, superintendent, and project engineers Technical competence of the work force Overall responsiveness to owner/customer requests

Degree of communications Planning Administrative procedures Appearance and conduct of the work force Condition of equipment Coordination and supervision of subcontractors Appearance of the jobsite Timeliness

7  Consider the Employee as an Internal Owner/Customer

In order to conduct an analysis of the internal processes within the company, the following steps should be applied to the internal processes within a company.

• List several of your internal owners/customers within your company

• Choose one of these owners/customers to focus on for the application of this technique

• Determine the Outputs (products, services, information) that must be provided to this internal owner/customer

• Determine the work Processes your company uses to produce these Outputs

• Learn how your customer’s expectations are met and how satisfaction is measured

8  Provide a Quality Training Program

The training program must begin with upper management, then training must be provided for the remaining management, and the in-house trainers and facilitators. 

• Upper Management

• Remaining Management

• In-House Trainers & Facilitators

• Front-Line Supervisors

• Non-Supervisory Employees

• Team Training

• Training of Subcontractors & Suppliers

9 Establish quality improvement teams

In establishing quality improvement teams, a smaller company might assign one quality improvement team.  Larger firms might assign several, possibly with one quality lead team as a guide for the other teams.  Areas where quality improvement teams could begin investigating for possible improvement are:

• Increased Employee Value

• Technical Training

• Quality Training

• Employee Suggestions

• Employee Participation

• Personal Development

A quality improvement team (QIT) meets on a regular basis, once per week for 3 to 5 hours.  After the TQM implementation plan is complete and underway, the QIT should meet once or twice per month.

10  Implement Process Improvements

• Identification of areas needing improvement

• Cooperative attitude between elements of the company

• Viewing every person who is on the receiving end of a process as a customer

• Fear driven from the company

• A system for selecting processes to be improved

• Training for all employees in quality awareness

• Improved communications outside the company

11  Use the Tools of TQM

Seven classical tools of quality and process improvement, plus one, are presented below.

1.Flowchart 2.Control Chart 3. Cause and Effect Diagram 4. Histogram 5. Check Sheet 6. Pareto Diagram  7.Scatter Diagram

12  What are the benefits of TQM?

• Improve competitiveness

• Reduce Operational costs

• Increase sales

• Enhance customer satisfaction

• Reduce wastes

• Improve efficiency

• Improve human relations

• Improve internal and external customer relation

• Integrates with ISO