What is TQM ?
- TQM is an approach to management that seeks continual improvement in everything we do.
- It is concerned with the performance of all the processes in the organisation and the products and services that are the outcomes of those processes.
- TQM stresses the creative involvement of everyone from the Chief Executive Officer down, in the quest for quality.
- It emphasises team activity, brings pride in performance to all levels of the organisation, develops more informed and supportive managers and supervisors, and so leads to an improved climate in the workplace.
- It offers lower costs and improved productivity, leading to greater effectiveness, long-term competitive advantage, and improved job prospects.
Principles of TQM
Quality Pays
- Improved quality means greater customer satisfaction, lower costs, increased productivity and long-term competitive advantage. Quality pays.
Focus on the Customer
- Ultimately the customer determines the quality of a product and service.
- Good quality is quality that consistently pleases the customer, at low cost to us.
- We all serve customers inside, as well as outside, our organisation. The next person in a process is a customer.
- We must aim to please customers at each stage of the process, though external customers are especially important.
- Our customers are not all the customers. We should not confine our attention to our customers although existing customers are particularly valuable.
Involving and Empowering People
- Quality is everyone’s responsibility – not just the concern of managers or quality control specialists.
- People doing the work know it best. We need their knowledge and creative input to improve that work.
- People are our key resource. We should invest in them through education and training, and then empower them to put their knowledge to work.
- Supervisors should help people to do a good job, as ‘coaches’, not ‘policemen’ or ‘referees.
- Encourage teamwork at all levels to improve work.
- Aim to work smarter, rather than harder. Work becomes easier when waste and error are removed.
Continual Improvement of Process, Product and Service
- Continual Improvement
- There is always a better way. We must constantly work at improving what we do.
- Process Thinking
- All work is a process. We improve the work by improving performance at each stage in the process.
- Focus on the process rather than the outcome. If we get the process right we get the outcome right.
- Don’t just ‘fix the problem’ – improve the process.
- Remove barriers between departments to allow people to work together more effectively and reduce waste.
- Seek to understand the complex interrelationship of processes. If you optimise the sub-process, you cannot optimise the process as a whole.
- Seek long-term improvement, not the short-term fix.
- Understanding Variation and Waste
- The inputs and outcomes of a process always vary.
- Variation creates waste. As a general rule, the more the variation the more the waste.
- Most variation comes from process design. The process is generally the problem, not the operator.
- 30% or more of the cost of goods and services is waste.
- Much of the waste in our work will never surface as a ‘problem’. It lies hidden in the accepted way of doing things.
- Standardisation
- Standardise on the optimum (best, everything considered) way of doing things, minimising variation to reduce waste.
- Reducing Inspection
- Cease depending on inspection to achieve quality. Instead ‘build-in’ quality at every step in the process.
- Much inspection is costly and counter-productive. Eliminate inspection that does not add value.
f . Information and Analysis
- Measurement facts and data should replace gutfeel, hearsay and subjective assessment whenever possible.
- Charting should be used widely to help people better understand, present, interpret and take action on data.
- Working with Suppliers.
- Work closely with suppliers to help them provide products and services that meet our requirements.
- Each supplier is an independent source of variation. Reduce the number of suppliers to reduce variation and cost, and build long-term relationships with those we retain.
- Purchasing policy should be based on quality and lowest total cost – not lowest price.
- Responsibilities of Leadership
- Management’s understanding of, and commitment to, the new approach are essential for its success.
- Create constancy of purpose, and consistency in pursuing that purpose.
- Develop a commitment to knowledge and learning throughout the organisation, and provide the resources to back it up.
- Break down barriers between departments.
- Drive out fear and replace it with trust, so that people can work more effectively together.
- Remove barriers that rob people of their right to pride in what they do.
- Review reward and appraisal systems in the light of variation and its impact on performance.
