Organizing for Organizing for QualityQuality

Organizing for Organizing for qualityquality

ISO 9000/QS 9000 Continuous improvement Six sigma TQM Quality circles

Concept of TQMConcept of TQM TQM foundation:

• Any product, process, or service can be improved.• A successful organization is one that consciously

seeks and exploits opportunities for improvement at all levels.

• The load bearing structure is customer satisfaction.• The watchword is continuous improvement.

What must What must organizations do organizations do for quality to for quality to succeedsucceed

“Organizations must adopt a cultural change that appreciates the primary need to meet customer requirements, implements a management philosophy that acknowledges this emphasis, encourages employee involvement, and embraces the ethic of continuous improvement.”

Transition to Transition to quality culture at quality culture at XeroxXerox

TransitionTeam Training

Senior Management

Behavior

XeroxCultureChange

Tools andProcesses Communication Reward and

Recognition

What are some of What are some of the steps the steps organizations must organizations must take?take? Effectively develop and communicate quality

policy, procedures and requirements across all company functions.

Mobilize resources to solve quality-related problems.

Effectively coordinate quality requirements with suppliers. (feed forward)

Maintain direct contact with customers (feedback).

Communicating Communicating quality quality requirementsrequirements

Examples of formal communication:• Quality Policy Statement• Quality Manuals• ISO 9000 quality standards

Examples of informal communication:• Word of mouth• Management actions

Quality - basic Quality - basic beliefsbeliefsFord Quality is job one; there's a Ford in

your future Chrysler "If you find a better car, buy it!"

 (Spoken by Lee Iacocca)Serta “We make the world's best

mattress” Caterpillar Strong dealer support; 24-hour

spare parts support around the worldMcDonalds Fast service, consistent quality

Sprint You can hear a pin drop

Quality policy Quality policy statementstatement

Most companies today have a written quality policy or mission statement • For example, “It is the established policy and

intention of this company to provide its customers with products which conform to customer requirements and are delivered on time. This will be ensured through a defined quality program as detailed in the company quality manual.”

Some companies rely on verbal quality policies. for example, • “our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction and

minimize rejects.”

Other examplesOther examples Goodyear: “our mission is constant improvement in

products and services to meet our customers’ needs. This is the only means to business success for Goodyear and prosperity for its investors and employees.”

Other examplesOther examples Motorola - “all employees at Motorola must

consistently strive for a six sigma target.” Motorola – “Doing the right thing.  Every day.  No

excuses.”

The bottom line:Organizations must demonstratewhat Deming termed “constancy of purpose”.

Identifying and Identifying and resolving quality resolving quality problemsproblems

Quality problems transcend individual and functional boundaries. Companies need multi-discipline problem solving.

Organizational Organizational approaches for approaches for multidiscipline multidiscipline problem solvingproblem solving

Form cross functional teams.• Quality improvement teams• Quality circles

Co-locate engineering resources to open communication channels.• Engineering technical centers/Centers of expertise

Coordinating Coordinating quality quality requirements with requirements with supplierssuppliers Importance of supply chain management

• Many quality problems are caused by defective purchased material (Crosby 50%).

• Suppliers often represent a large % of manufacturing costs.

Strategies for Strategies for supplier supplier relationshipsrelationships

Criteria Traditional Approach

Long Term Partnership

Philosophy "keep suppliers on their toes" "mutual dependence"

Supply base Large supply base Few suppliers - "single sourcing"

Contract length Often short term contracts Often long term contracts

Awarding contracts

Low cost bid Negotiated

Supplier costs Either company or supplier wins

Share cost savings (win-win)

Cooperation Cooperation as needed; company protects knowledge

Frequent joint problem solving

Managing human Managing human resources & TQMresources & TQM

Growing research indicates that TQM has not achieved its objectives due to human resource management (HRM) problems.

Failures occur when management falls short in their efforts to adopt a corporate culture fully embracing TQM.

What makes TQM What makes TQM an HR problem?an HR problem?

TQM requires employee development & employee cooperation.

Thus, the task of top management is to:• provide workers with the necessary skills and

knowledge.• create a quality-minded culture among employees.

A quality culture that:• nurtures high-trust relationships.• has a shared sense of commitment.• believes that continuous improvement is for the

common good.

Establishing a Establishing a quality minded quality minded cultureculture

Formation of a quality minded culture is a human interaction issue.

Therefore, quality management systems must provide:• channels of communication for product-quality

information among all concerned employees. • means of participation for employees so employees

feel they’re part of the system

Some HR Some HR challenges?challenges?

Is company culture a subset of national culture? Should companies encourage TQM participation via

monetary incentives? Do workers want to be involved in the quality

management process - • Actually, some want to have input.• many others do not want any increased

responsibility.

Quality Quality Improvement Improvement TeamsTeams

Roles for QI teamsRoles for QI teams In addition to solving quality problems, QI teams help:

• provide a means of participation for employees in quality decision-making.

• aid employee development: leadership, and problem-solving skills.

• Lead to quality awareness which is essential for organizational culture change.

Types of quality Types of quality improvement teamsimprovement teams

Project teams

Quality circles

Project team Project team characteristicscharacteristics

Teams address key organizational issues• concurrent engineering• ISO 9000 implementation

membership - generally mandatory temporary in nature participation is cross-functional team leaders have varying degrees of authority

Quality circle Quality circle characteristicscharacteristics

Voluntary groups of 6-8 members Quality circle teams are semi-permanent Teams are from single functional department Members have equal status and select their own

project Minimum pressure to solve problems with a set time

frame

Implementing Implementing quality circlesquality circles

Quality circles require top management support Personal characteristics of facilitators are critical Scope of project needs to be small enough to be

capably addressed by the team Success of other teams has positive peer pressure

effect

ImplementationImplementation Japan- highly successful

• Widely publicized quality circles• Product development teams

U.S. - marginal success• Product development teams have succeeded more

so than quality circle teams

Concurrent Concurrent engineering engineering project teamsproject teams

Concurrent engineering teams are having success - examples: Boeing Chrysler• a concurrent process carried out by a multi-

functional product development team.• intended to replace sequential development

process.• they avoid potential quality problems by integrating

upstream and downstream functions in the preliminary design phase.