Total Quality Management and Quality Management Systems

Total Quality Management refers to the modern quality management concept which was popularized in the 1980s and 1990s. TQM is an organization-wide effort to establish the systems, techniques, tools, skills, and mindset permanently required to develop a quality assurance system and continuous growth that is responsive to emerging market needs. “Total quality management (TQM) is the management of an entire organization so that it excels in all aspects of products and services that are important to the customer”.

Deming’s 14 Principles for Implementing Quality Improvement

1. Establish clarity of purpose.

2. Act as a change agent.

3. Ensure product quality; stop relying on inspections to find issues.

4. Create long-term partnerships based on performance rather than pricing.

5. Constantly enhance the product, the quality, and the service.

6. Begin the activity.

7. Put a focus on leadership.

8. Eliminate fear.

9. Dismantle departmental borders.

10. Stop harassing employees.

11. Encourage, assist, and enhance.

12. Remove obstacles to work satisfaction.

13. Implement a robust education and self-improvement program.

14. Delegate all employees to work on the transformation.

The Principles of TQM:

• Produce the products or services which meet quality standards the first time.
• Focus on the needs of the customer
• Develop strategically approach for organization-wide improvement
• Focus on continuous improvement
• Ensure Integrity, Ethics, Trust, Training, Teamwork, Proper Leadership, Recognition, and Communication.

Seven concepts for an effective TQM program:

(1) Continuous improvement: A never-ending cycle of continuous improvement that takes into account personnel, tools, suppliers, supplies, materials, and processes is necessary for total quality management. The philosophy's guiding principle is that every part of an activity may be made better. Perfection is the ultimate aim, which is constantly sought but never attained.

(2) Six Sigma

(3) Employee empowerment: Enlarging employee roles in order to transfer further authority and responsibility to the lowest level of the organization.

(4) Benchmarking: Setting a performance standard that has been proven to be the best possible for a process or activity.

(5) just-in-time (JIT): Just-in-time (JIT) is a problem-solving methodology that emphasizes continuous improvement. JIT systems are made to manufacture or deliver goods as needed.

JIT and quality are linked in three ways:

JIT reduces the cost of quality: This happens as a result of the direct relationship between inventory on hand and the expenses of scrap, rework, inventory investment, and damage. JIT has reduced expenses because there is less inventory on hand. Additionally, while JIT immediately identifies poor quality, inventory hides it.

JIT increases quality: JIT reduces lead time while maintaining fresh evidence of errors and reducing the number of potential error sources. JIT effectively establishes a mechanism for early detection of quality issues, both inside the company and with vendors.

Less inventory and a better, more user-friendly JIT system result in greater quality: Keeping inventory acts frequently as insurance against manufacturing failure caused on by inconsistent quality. JIT enables businesses to cut all costs related to inventory if there is constant quality.

(6) Taguchi concepts: Genichi Taguchi developed three ideas with the intention of enhancing the quality of both products and processes; they are quality robustness, target-oriented quality, and the quality loss function.

Quality robust products: Goods that can be reliably and uniformly manufactured under challenging environmental and manufacturing conditions.

Target-oriented quality: A philosophy of constant improvement to bring the product perfectly on target is called target-oriented quality. Even when the item is manufactured within the parameters of the specification, it is expected that the quality variation will drive up costs as the production of the item deviates from the desired value.

QLF (Quality Loss Function): A mathematical formula that lists all costs associated with low quality and illustrates how these costs rise as output deviates from the desired value.

(7) Knowledge of TQM tools: Tools for QM

A) Tools for Idea Generation

Check Sheet: A methodical way to record data

A scatter diagram is a graph that compares the values of two variables.

Diagram of causes and effects: A tool that identifies process components (causes) that could have an impact on an output

B) Tools for Data Organization

Pareto Diagram: A diagram that shows flaws or issues in descending order of frequency

Flowchart: A diagram outlining the steps in a process

C) Tools for Problem Identification:

A distribution that displays how frequently a variable occurs

Chart for statistical process control: A graph for plotting the values of a statistic

Quality management system (QMS)

A quality management system (QMS) is a group of business processes intended for constantly fulfilling customer needs and ensuring their satisfaction, aligned with an organization's purpose and strategic direction. A quality management system (QMS) is expressed as the organizational goals and aspirations, policies, processes, documented information, and resources needed to implement and maintain it.

The following are the details of various industries and concerned general management system standards:

• Any Industry:  ISO 9001
• Automotive: IATF 16949
• Medical device: ISO 13485
• Food: ISO 22000
• Services: ISO 20000
• IT: ISO 27001
• Aerospace: AS 9100D

ISO and ISO 9000 Family

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is an international organization with a membership of 164 national standards bodies. ISO has released 22825 International Standards which cover almost every industry.  ISO International Standards have a worldwide impact and acceptance. 

ISO 9000 family is related to quality management and addresses different dimensions of quality management and includes some of ISO’s popular standards. The standards give guidance and tools to organizations to ensure their products and services constantly fulfill customers’ requirements, and that quality is constantly improved.

Major Quality Awards:

• The Deming Prize is an annual award is given by Japan to an organization that has established TQM appropriate for its management philosophy and environment.
• The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is given for performance excellence in U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and non-profit sectors.
• The CII-EXIM Business Excellence award is given for enhancing the Competitiveness of India Inc. by CII and Export-Import Bank of India based on the internationally recognized EFQM Excellence Model.
• The Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award is the national quality award given to Indian organizations that show excellence in their performance by the Bureau of Indian Standards.