NAME: Arlyn L.
Ramirez SUBJECT: Total Quality Management
SECTION: FREESEC DATE: June 19, 2019
Definitions of Total Quality Management (TQM)
According to Adam Barone, Total quality management (TQM) is the continual
process of detecting and reducing or eliminating errors in manufacturing,
streamlining supply chain management, improving the customer experience, and
ensuring that employees are up to speed with training. Total quality management aims
to hold all parties involved in the production process accountable for the overall quality
of the final product or service.
As stated by Quin Harris, Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach that
organizations use to improve their internal processes and increase customer
satisfaction. When it is properly implemented, this style of management can lead to
decreased costs related to corrective or preventative maintenance, better overall
performance, and an increased number of happy and loyal customers.
According to Bob Napierala, Total Quality Management (TQM) is a participative,
systematic approach to planning and implementing a constant organizational
improvement process. Its approach is focused on exceeding customers’ expectations,
identifying problems, building commitment, and promoting open decision-making among
workers.
Importance of Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a participative, systematic approach to
planning and implementing a constant organizational improvement process. Its
approach is focused on exceeding customers’ expectations, identifying problems,
building commitment, and promoting open decision-making among workers. There are
five major steps to TQM, and each are essential to successful implementation.
1. COMMITMENT AND UNDERSTANDING FROM EMPLOYEES
It is key to ensure that all employees within your organization know about
the Total Quality Management (TQM) policies and make them an fundamental
part of their work. Your employees should know your corporate goals and
recognize the importance of these goals to the overall success of your
organization. Employees need to know what is expected from them and why. It
may sound like a no-brainer but too often this is not driven home by
management. When employees understand and share the same vision as
management a world of potential is unleashed. If they are in the dark,
commitment is lacking and policies will not be successfully deployed.
2. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT CULTURE
The organizational culture needs to be modernized on a continuous basis to
encourage employee feedback. Your employees are full of valuable knowledge -
embrace it! Listen to those executing the processes that keep your business
moving daily. If employees have an idea on how to improve operations, they
need to know management respects their ideas or they will not share.
3. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN PROCESS
There is no standing still. If you are not moving forward, you are moving
backwards. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a continuous process and not
a program. This requires constant improvement in all the related policies,
procedures and controls established by management. Do your research. Keep
your ear to the market and make an effort to routinely revise all aspects of your
operation. There should be a constant effort to improve proficiency – which will
result in constant scopes for improvement (even if some improvements are
small).
4. FOCUS ON CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS
In today’s market, customers require and expect perfect goods and services
with zero defects. Focusing on customer requirements is significant to long
term survival and essential in order to build relationships with customers.
People do business based on emotion. Competitors will always be a risk. Keep
your customers close and happy. Make sure precise requirements of all
customers are documented and understood by everyone that touches the
account.
5. EFFECTIVE CONTROL
It is essential to monitor and measure the performance of the business. It’s
easy to forget how many times in a year an employee does not conform to a
controlled procedure or how many times a piece of equipment was down due to
unplanned maintenance. If strict documentation is maintained, you wi ll be able
to objectively quantify areas for improvement and focus your efforts where they
will provide the greatest return of both your time and financial resources.
Always remember that TQM is an amalgamation of many steps. Today’s ever-
changing economic market requires organizations to consistently exceed
expectations, and workers demand being more than an observer in decision
making.
https://aboutthree.com/blog/five-important-factors-in-total-quality-management/
Purpose of Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total quality management (TQM) is the continual process of detecting and
reducing or eliminating errors in manufacturing, streamlining supply chain
management, improving the customer experience, and ensuring that
employees are up to speed with training.
The focus of the process is to improve the quality of an organization's
outputs, including goods and services, through continual improvement of
internal practices.
Total quality management aims to hold all parties involved in the
production process accountable for the overall quality of the final product
or service.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/total-quality-management-tqm.asp
Specific meaning of Quality
Quality is the ongoing process of building and sustaining relationships by
assessing, anticipating, and fulfilling stated and implied needs.
https://www.qualitydigest.com/magazine/2001/nov/article/definition-quality.html
Basic Concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM)
1. Top level support for TQM: Support for total quality management must be at
the highest level of management.
2. Focus on the customer/client: Customer/client requirements should be
considered as the top priority, and it is important to always remember that it is
the customer who defines what quality is. Keep the customer satisfied at all
time.
3. Involve all the employees in the organization in the quality process:
While you work is centric to the application of TQM, it is very important to make
your employees understand how the quality process works, for they are the ones
who will create/sustain quality, and not you.
4. Continuously improve the quality process: A very critical concept in TQM is
to continuously enhance and refine your quality process.
5. Have a close relationship with your suppliers: Treat them as if they were
partners to your company, this will better involve them in your quality process,
and they will start appreciating and respecting your work on TQM, and they will
work with you towards achieving your goals when it comes to enhancing quality.
6. Measure the performance of your quality process: Use tools to track your
quality process and measure its performance to see if there is any improvement
needed.
https://www.projectmanagementquestions.com/2499/what-are-the-6-basic-concepts-of-tqm
