من طرف امير الحب الأحد نوفمبر 29, 2009 1:08 amA FEW WORDS ABOUT
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.
Many companies have difficulties in implementing TQM. Surveys by
consulting firms have found that only 20-36% of companies that have
undertaken TQM have achieved either significant or even tangible
improvements in quality, productivity, competitiveness or financial
return. As a result many people are sceptical about TQM. However, when
you look at successful companies you find a much higher percentage of
successful TQM implementation.
Some useful messages from results of TQM implementations:
Important aspects of TQM include customer-driven
quality, top management leadership and commitment, continuous
improvement, fast response, actions based on facts, employee
participation, and a TQM culture.
Customer-driven quality
TQM has a customer-first orientation. The customer, not internal
activities and constraints, comes first. Customer satisfaction is seen
as the company's highest priority. The company believes it will only be
successful if customers are satisfied. The TQM company is sensitive to
customer requirements and responds rapidly to them. In the TQM context,
`being sensitive to customer requirements' goes beyond defect and error
reduction, and merely meeting specifications or reducing customer
complaints. The concept of requirements is expanded to take in not only
product and service attributes that meet basic requirements, but also
those that enhance and differentiate them for competitive advantage.
Each part of the company is involved in Total Quality, operating as
a customer to some functions and as a supplier to others. The
Engineering Department is a supplier to downstream functions such as
Manufacturing and Field Service, and has to treat these internal
customers with the same sensitivity and responsiveness as it would
external customers.
TQM leadership from top management
TQM is a way of life for a company. It has to be introduced and led
by top management. This is a key point. Attempts to implement TQM often
fail because top management doesn't lead and get committed - instead it
delegates and pays lip service. Commitment and personal involvement is
required from top management in creating and deploying clear quality
values and goals consistent with the objectives of the company, and in
creating and deploying well defined systems, methods and performance
measures for achieving those goals. These systems and methods guide all
quality activities and encourage participation by all employees. The
development and use of performance indicators is linked, directly or
indirectly, to customer requirements and satisfaction, and to
management and employee remuneration.
Continuous improvement
Continuous improvement of all operations and activities is at the
heart of TQM. Once it is recognized that customer satisfaction can only
be obtained by providing a high-quality product, continuous improvement
of the quality of the product is seen as the only way to maintain a
high level of customer satisfaction. As well as recognizing the link
between product quality and customer satisfaction, TQM also recognizes
that product quality is the result of process quality. As a result,
there is a focus on continuous improvement of the company's processes.
This will lead to an improvement in process quality. In turn this will
lead to an improvement in product quality, and to an increase in
customer satisfaction. Improvement cycles are encouraged for all the
company's activities such as product development, use of EDM/PDM, and
the way customer relationships are managed. This implies that all
activities include measurement and monitoring of cycle time and
responsiveness as a basis for seeking opportunities for improvement.
Elimination of waste is a major component of the continuous
improvement approach. There is also a strong emphasis on prevention
rather than detection, and an emphasis on quality at the design stage.
The customer-driven approach helps to prevent errors and achieve
defect-free production. When problems do occur within the product
development process, they are generally discovered and resolved before
they can get to the next internal customer.
Fast response
To achieve customer satisfaction, the company has to respond
rapidly to customer needs. This implies short product and service
introduction cycles. These can be achieved with customer-driven and
process-oriented product development because the resulting simplicity
and efficiency greatly reduce the time involved. Simplicity is gained
through concurrent product and process development. Efficiencies are
realized from the elimination of non-value-adding effort such as
re-design. The result is a dramatic improvement in the elapsed time
from product concept to first shipment.
Actions based on facts
The statistical analysis of engineering and manufacturing facts is
an important part of TQM. Facts and analysis provide the basis for
planning, review and performance tracking, improvement of operations,
and comparison of performance with competitors. The TQM approach is
based on the use of objective data, and provides a rational rather than
an emotional basis for decision making. The statistical approach to
process management in both engineering and manufacturing recognizes
that most problems are system-related, and are not caused by particular
employees. In practice, data is collected and put in the hands of the
people who are in the best position to analyze it and then take the
appropriate action to reduce costs and prevent non-conformance. Usually
these people are not managers but workers in the process. If the right
information is not available, then the analysis, whether it be of shop
floor data, or engineering test results, can't take place, errors can't
be identified, and so errors can't be corrected.
Employee participation
A successful TQM environment requires a committed and well-trained
work force that participates fully in quality improvement activities.
Such participation is reinforced by reward and recognition systems
which emphasize the achievement of quality objectives. On-going
education and training of all employees supports the drive for quality.
Employees are encouraged to take more responsibility, communicate more
effectively, act creatively, and innovate. As people behave the way
they are measured and remunerated, TQM links remuneration to customer
satisfaction metrics.
A TQM culture
It's not easy to introduce TQM. An open, cooperative culture has to
be created by management. Employees have to be made to feel that they
are responsible for customer satisfaction. They are not going to feel
this if they are excluded from the development of visions, strategies,
and plans. It's important they participate in these activities. They
are unlikely to behave in a responsible way if they see management
behaving irresponsibly - saying one thing and doing the opposite.
Product development in a TQM environment
Product development in a TQM environment is very different to
product development in a non-TQM environment. Without a TQM approach,
product development is usually carried on in a conflictual atmosphere
where each department acts independently. Short-term results drive
behavior so scrap, changes, work-arounds, waste, and rework are normal
practice. Management focuses on supervising individuals, and
fire-fighting is necessary and rewarded.
Product development in a TQM environment is customer-driven and
focused on quality. Teams are process-oriented, and interact with their
internal customers to deliver the required results. Management's focus
is on controlling the overall process, and rewarding teamwork.
Awards for Quality achievement
The Deming Prize has been awarded annually since 1951 by the
Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers in recognition of
outstanding achievement in quality strategy, management and execution.
Since 1988 a similar award (the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award) has been awarded in the US. Early winners of the Baldrige Award
include AT&T (1992), IBM (1990), Milliken (1989), Motorola (1988),
Texas Instruments (1992) and Xerox (1989).
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.
Many companies have difficulties in implementing TQM. Surveys by
consulting firms have found that only 20-36% of companies that have
undertaken TQM have achieved either significant or even tangible
improvements in quality, productivity, competitiveness or financial
return. As a result many people are sceptical about TQM. However, when
you look at successful companies you find a much higher percentage of
successful TQM implementation.
Some useful messages from results of TQM implementations:
- if you want to be a first-rate
company, don't focus on the second-rate companies who can't handle TQM,
look at the world-class companies that have adopted it - the most effective way to spend TQM
introduction funds is by training top management, people involved in
new product development, and people involved with customers - it's much easier to introduce EDM/PDM
in a company with a TQM culture than in one without TQM. People in
companies that have implemented TQM are more likely to have the basic
understanding necessary for implementing EDM/PDM. For example, they are
more likely to view EDM/PDM as an information and workflow management
system supporting the entire product life cycle then as a departmental
solution for the management of CAD data
Important aspects of TQM include customer-driven
quality, top management leadership and commitment, continuous
improvement, fast response, actions based on facts, employee
participation, and a TQM culture.
Customer-driven quality
TQM has a customer-first orientation. The customer, not internal
activities and constraints, comes first. Customer satisfaction is seen
as the company's highest priority. The company believes it will only be
successful if customers are satisfied. The TQM company is sensitive to
customer requirements and responds rapidly to them. In the TQM context,
`being sensitive to customer requirements' goes beyond defect and error
reduction, and merely meeting specifications or reducing customer
complaints. The concept of requirements is expanded to take in not only
product and service attributes that meet basic requirements, but also
those that enhance and differentiate them for competitive advantage.
Each part of the company is involved in Total Quality, operating as
a customer to some functions and as a supplier to others. The
Engineering Department is a supplier to downstream functions such as
Manufacturing and Field Service, and has to treat these internal
customers with the same sensitivity and responsiveness as it would
external customers.
TQM leadership from top management
TQM is a way of life for a company. It has to be introduced and led
by top management. This is a key point. Attempts to implement TQM often
fail because top management doesn't lead and get committed - instead it
delegates and pays lip service. Commitment and personal involvement is
required from top management in creating and deploying clear quality
values and goals consistent with the objectives of the company, and in
creating and deploying well defined systems, methods and performance
measures for achieving those goals. These systems and methods guide all
quality activities and encourage participation by all employees. The
development and use of performance indicators is linked, directly or
indirectly, to customer requirements and satisfaction, and to
management and employee remuneration.
Continuous improvement
Continuous improvement of all operations and activities is at the
heart of TQM. Once it is recognized that customer satisfaction can only
be obtained by providing a high-quality product, continuous improvement
of the quality of the product is seen as the only way to maintain a
high level of customer satisfaction. As well as recognizing the link
between product quality and customer satisfaction, TQM also recognizes
that product quality is the result of process quality. As a result,
there is a focus on continuous improvement of the company's processes.
This will lead to an improvement in process quality. In turn this will
lead to an improvement in product quality, and to an increase in
customer satisfaction. Improvement cycles are encouraged for all the
company's activities such as product development, use of EDM/PDM, and
the way customer relationships are managed. This implies that all
activities include measurement and monitoring of cycle time and
responsiveness as a basis for seeking opportunities for improvement.
Elimination of waste is a major component of the continuous
improvement approach. There is also a strong emphasis on prevention
rather than detection, and an emphasis on quality at the design stage.
The customer-driven approach helps to prevent errors and achieve
defect-free production. When problems do occur within the product
development process, they are generally discovered and resolved before
they can get to the next internal customer.
Fast response
To achieve customer satisfaction, the company has to respond
rapidly to customer needs. This implies short product and service
introduction cycles. These can be achieved with customer-driven and
process-oriented product development because the resulting simplicity
and efficiency greatly reduce the time involved. Simplicity is gained
through concurrent product and process development. Efficiencies are
realized from the elimination of non-value-adding effort such as
re-design. The result is a dramatic improvement in the elapsed time
from product concept to first shipment.
Actions based on facts
The statistical analysis of engineering and manufacturing facts is
an important part of TQM. Facts and analysis provide the basis for
planning, review and performance tracking, improvement of operations,
and comparison of performance with competitors. The TQM approach is
based on the use of objective data, and provides a rational rather than
an emotional basis for decision making. The statistical approach to
process management in both engineering and manufacturing recognizes
that most problems are system-related, and are not caused by particular
employees. In practice, data is collected and put in the hands of the
people who are in the best position to analyze it and then take the
appropriate action to reduce costs and prevent non-conformance. Usually
these people are not managers but workers in the process. If the right
information is not available, then the analysis, whether it be of shop
floor data, or engineering test results, can't take place, errors can't
be identified, and so errors can't be corrected.
Employee participation
A successful TQM environment requires a committed and well-trained
work force that participates fully in quality improvement activities.
Such participation is reinforced by reward and recognition systems
which emphasize the achievement of quality objectives. On-going
education and training of all employees supports the drive for quality.
Employees are encouraged to take more responsibility, communicate more
effectively, act creatively, and innovate. As people behave the way
they are measured and remunerated, TQM links remuneration to customer
satisfaction metrics.
A TQM culture
It's not easy to introduce TQM. An open, cooperative culture has to
be created by management. Employees have to be made to feel that they
are responsible for customer satisfaction. They are not going to feel
this if they are excluded from the development of visions, strategies,
and plans. It's important they participate in these activities. They
are unlikely to behave in a responsible way if they see management
behaving irresponsibly - saying one thing and doing the opposite.
Product development in a TQM environment
Product development in a TQM environment is very different to
product development in a non-TQM environment. Without a TQM approach,
product development is usually carried on in a conflictual atmosphere
where each department acts independently. Short-term results drive
behavior so scrap, changes, work-arounds, waste, and rework are normal
practice. Management focuses on supervising individuals, and
fire-fighting is necessary and rewarded.
Product development in a TQM environment is customer-driven and
focused on quality. Teams are process-oriented, and interact with their
internal customers to deliver the required results. Management's focus
is on controlling the overall process, and rewarding teamwork.
Awards for Quality achievement
The Deming Prize has been awarded annually since 1951 by the
Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers in recognition of
outstanding achievement in quality strategy, management and execution.
Since 1988 a similar award (the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award) has been awarded in the US. Early winners of the Baldrige Award
include AT&T (1992), IBM (1990), Milliken (1989), Motorola (1988),
Texas Instruments (1992) and Xerox (1989).
