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What Is Total Quality Management (TQM)?
Let me explain Total Quality Management, or TQM, directly to you. It's the ongoing process where businesses detect and reduce or eliminate errors in manufacturing. You see it streamlining supply chain management, improving customer experience, and making sure employees stay current with their training.
In essence, TQM holds everyone involved in production accountable for the final product's or service's overall quality. That's the core of it.
Key Takeaways
Here's what you need to know upfront. TQM streamlines your supply chain, boosts customer service, and ensures proper employee training. The main focus is improving your organization's outputs—goods and services—through constant upgrades to internal practices.
It makes all parties in production responsible for the end quality. You'll find eight guiding principles often at play, from customer focus to continuous improvement and sticking to processes. TQM can increase customer satisfaction, cut costs, and improve efficiency in your operations.
Understanding Total Quality Management (TQM)
TQM is a structured way to manage your entire organization. I focus on improving the quality of outputs like goods and services by continually refining internal practices. The standards you set in TQM can come from your internal priorities or existing industry norms.
These industry standards operate at various levels, including laws and regulations for your business. They might also involve producing to a recognized norm, even without official backing. You could use acceptance sampling to track progress toward TQM goals.
Example of TQM
Take Toyota's kanban system as a prime example—it's probably the most famous. A kanban is a physical signal that triggers a chain reaction for a specific action. Toyota applied this to their just-in-time inventory process.
They keep only enough inventory to fill orders as they come in, making the assembly line more efficient. Each part on the line has a card with an inventory number. When a part is about to be installed, the card moves up the supply chain to request another, keeping inventory lean and avoiding overstock. This effective quality management led to better, affordably produced cars.
History of TQM
TQM's history goes back to the early 1900s with Walter A. Shewhart introducing modern quality control. His 1931 book, 'Economic Control of Quality of Manufactured Product,' is a foundational work in manufacturing quality control.
Later, Joseph M. Juran built on this with his 1954 book 'What Is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way,' based on his experiences in Japan. He co-authored another key text, 'Quality Planning and Analysis.'
W. Edwards Deming is another key figure; after World War II in Japan, he worked with the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers. His contributions include Deming's 14 Points, the Seven Deadly Diseases of Management, and the Deming Wheel.
Primary Principles of TQM
TQM is customer-focused and aims to consistently improve business operations. It ensures all employees work toward better product or service quality and refined production procedures. Several principles guide this.
Focus on customers: Your customers decide if products are high quality, so value their input to understand needs and improve processes like raw material sourcing and quality control.
Commitment by employees: For TQM to work, employees must buy in. Communicate goals clearly across departments, provide training and resources, and aim to reduce turnover.
Improve continuously: Evolve gradually with small improvements based on learning about customers, processes, and competition. This builds adaptability and competitive advantage.
Adherence to processes: Rely on flowcharts, diagrams, and workflows. Everyone must know their role, and processes get analyzed for deficiencies.
Strategic and systematic approach: Align processes with your vision and mission, integrating quality as core and investing financially.
Data utilization: Use feedback and metrics like production and efficiency to evaluate processes. Documentation and planning are key.
Integrate systems: Systems should communicate, sharing ERP information across departments to keep everyone aligned.
Communication: Effective communication motivates employees, educates on processes, and prevents errors, especially during changes.
How to Implement TQM
Implementing TQM is unique to each business—no single formula fits all. Create a checklist tailored to your needs and proceed step by step. Identify your company's culture, core values, and systems to build a master plan.
Figure out what customers want and how to meet those expectations. Form a team from management and employees to guide implementation, integrating it into daily management. Gather ongoing feedback from employees and customers to track progress.
Advantages and Disadvantages of TQM
- Pros: Delivers stronger, higher-quality products to customers; results in lower company-wide costs; minimizes waste throughout production and sales; enables adaptability.
- Cons: May require substantial financial investment; often takes a long time to convert; can face resistance to change; needs company-wide buy-in for success.
Industries Using TQM
TQM started in manufacturing but applies to many industries for systemic, long-term change. You'll see it in banking, finance, medicine, and more. It ensures all departments work toward company goals, improving functions in administration, marketing, production, and training.
What Does Total Quality Management Do?
TQM oversees activities to maintain excellence in business operations, including quality policy determination, planning, assurance, control, and improvement.
What Are the Principles of TQM?
TQM principles vary but include good leadership, emphasis on quality, customer priority, ongoing error correction and improvement, and job training.
What Is a TQM Diagram?
A TQM diagram visually depicts business and process layouts, showing steps to analyze weaknesses, risks, and make strategic adjustments.
The Bottom Line
Total Quality Management encourages everyone in your organization to focus on quality improvement. It boosts customer satisfaction through operational excellence by eliminating errors, streamlining processes, and maximizing efficiency.
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