Elements of Total Quality Management
Total Quality Management
TQM, is a method by
which management and
employees can become involved in the continuous improvement of the production
of goods and services. It is a combination of quality and management tools
aimed at increasing business and reducing losses due to wasteful practices.
Total quality management is a management’s approach towards
the quality; it can be in regard to products, customer satisfaction and
employee’s satisfaction.
Elements of Total Quality Management
Some of the important elements of total
quality management are: (i) Management’s commitment to quality (ii) Customer satisfaction
(iii) Preventing rather than detecting defects (iv) Measurement of Quality (v)
Continuous improvement (vi) Corrective action for root cause (vii) Training
(viii) Recognition of high quality (ix) Involvement of Employees and (x)
Benchmarking.
(i) Management’s commitment
to quality:
If an organisation is serious about
implementing TQM, the lead has to be taken by the top management with full
commitment.
It must initiate quality improvement
programmes. The top management should continue all the efforts and provide the
resources to continue quality improvement programmes. This is provided by
collecting, reporting and use of quality related cost information.
(ii) Customer
satisfaction:
TQM is designed in such a manner so as to
meet the expectations of customers. In the present era, customer is the king.
It must be recognised that customers are the most important persons for any
business. The very existence of an organisation depends on them. They are the
life blood of a business and deserve the most courteous and affectionate
treatment.
(iii) Preventing rather
than detecting defects:
TQM checks the poor-quality products or
services rather than simply to detect and sort out defects. “Prevention
rather than detection” is the main characteristic of TQM. Some of the
important techniques of TQM which aim at the prevention of defects rather than
the detection of the defects are statistical process control, continuous
process improvement and problem solving and system failure analysis etc.
(iv) Measurement of Quality:
Quality is a measurable entity and we
must know what current quality levels are i.e. Where we are or where we stand
in respect of the quality and what quality levels we are aspiring for or where
we are going
(v) Continuous
improvement:
TQM comprises of a continuous process of
improvement covering people, equipment, suppliers, materials and procedures. It
includes every aspect of an operation in an organisation. In Japan the word
“Kaizen” is used to describe the continuous process of improvement. In USA, TQM
zero defects and six-sigma are used to describe such efforts.
(vi) Corrective action
for root cause:
TQM aims at preventing repetition of
problems by identifying the root causes for their occurrence and developing
means and corrective actions to solve the problems of the root level. Failure
analysis and problem-solving skills are very useful techniques in this regard.
(vii) Training:
Proper training programmes have to be
undertaken to train the employees for the use of TQM concepts and techniques.
Employees have to be provided regular training for continuous improvement.
(viii) Recognition of
high quality:
TQM aims at developing long term
relationships with a few high quality suppliers rather than those suppliers who
supply the inferior goods at the low cost.
(ix) Involvement of
Employees:
Involvement of employees means that every
employee is completely involved at every step of production process which plays
an active role in helping the organisation to meet its targets. Employee
involvement and empowerment can be assured by enlarging the employee’s job so
that responsibility and authority is moved to the lowest level possible in the
organisation.
(x) Benchmarking:
Benchmarking is a systematic method by
which organisations can measure themselves against the best industry practices.
Benchmarking aims at developing best practices that will lead to better
performance. It helps a company to learn and incorporate the best practices
into its own operations. Benchmarking is a technique of distinguishing an
organization’s efforts with the best performance in the field and also to
suggest how the gap between the two performances can be removed. Thus,
benchmarking is a technique of continuous improvement.
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