Total Quality Management (TQM) Practices in Manufacturing

Total Quality Management (TQM) in manufacturing
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Table of Contents
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Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc411819358 \h
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Practices of TQM  PAGEREF _Toc411819359 \h
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What is Quality?  PAGEREF _Toc411819360 \h
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Essential Components of TQM  PAGEREF _Toc411819361 \h
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Change in Organizational Culture  PAGEREF _Toc411819362 \h
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TQM Philosophy  PAGEREF _Toc411819363 \h
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TQM Quality Tools  PAGEREF _Toc411819364 \h
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Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc411819365 \h
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References  PAGEREF _Toc411819366 \h
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Introduction
Total quality management (TQM) is a management viewpoint in use all over the world; the main objective of improving the operations and business performance of the organizations, providing a logical approach to meet the customers’ requirements (Agus, & Abdullah, 2000). TQM seeks improvement of quality of goods and services through refining responses from incessant feedback. The main focus of the philosophy is quality and offering an improvement in the organizations’ performance. In the early 1990s, a fraction of the largest companies in the United States experienced benefits in the TQM implementation (Ahire et al., 1996). TQM is an integration of the organizational effort that enables the quality enhancement at every level.
TQM is a wide application that assures quality, whilst managing people and business processes ensuring customer satisfaction. Companies that remain competitive value customers. People define quality differently and consumers find difficulty in describing it but can perceive it when they see quality. Performance to standards is a way people view quality while, others view quality as customer satisfaction. Organizations utilize series of management practices and TQM tools in relation with the philosophy in which, are beliefs, and practices they take according to the principles (Boaden, 1997). TQM includes numerous management practices that cluster around values established by the inventors of the idea, such as Deming or Juran at different periods.
The administration practices of TQM are grouped into organizations processes, human resources and methods and tools. The company practices comprise the management, leaderships obligation, and the leader is accountable for the financial and processes in the organization. Resource’s management includes the inputs and focus on its consumers and their achievements. Human resources involve motivation that allows decision making by the employees, and emphasis on training to improve competences to successfully complete their tasks. Tools and methods relay the use and study of facts and to the manufactured article and service design the company undertakes. Leadership effectiveness combined with Total Quality Management, leads to a company undertaking tasks by doing it right first time.
Practices of TQM
The critical success factors for Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation involves executive leadership, responsibility of the quality section, learning, product design, supply quality management, process management, quality data reporting, and employee relations (Sun, 1999). According to other inventors, there are about ten major TQM practices. These include individuals and client management, supplier relations, communication, customer gratification, outside interface management, and teamwork arrangements for enhancement. Others are operational quality design, quality improvement measurement systems, and corporate quality culture (Black & Porter, 1996). The most common seven practices extracted from twenty five TQM practices are management support and commitment, employee involvement, employee empowerment, information and communication, training and education, customer focus, and continuous improvement (Sila and Ebrahimpour, 2002)
What is Quality?
Total Quality Management is a process that improves quality standards in goods and services and its origin is in the manufacturing sector (Woon, 2000). TQM in the manufacturing industry is different from that of the services sector. The goods sector or manufacturing has products that are tangible and measurable. This includes vehicles, electronics, attires, and food products. The main focus in the manufacturing is the tangible aspects of the product.
Several manufacturing companies, for example, General Electric (G.E) and Motorola are successful because of providing excellent quality management in their programs. The reduction of defects to 3.4 parts a million is achievable, in G.E by having all staff trained in implementing quality in all stages (Agus & Abdullah, 2000). The staff in the company receives designation depends on the level of their proficiency in providing quality. “Black Belt” is a name designated for employees whose task is to provide solutions for quality. General Electric and Motorola companies’ main aim are customer satisfaction.
Manufacturing companies need to ensure that implementation of customer satisfaction, elimination of all defects from processes, transactions, and procedures would ensure success. Total Quality Management practices assist in ensuring that customer satisfaction and provision of quality are possible.
Quality is meeting the needs and expectations of a customer of an organization or company. Conformance defines quality in manufacturing and it means the level to which a product meets a set standard. Performance, reliability, features, durability, maintainability, cost and serviceability are other definitions given to quality in manufacturing. The demand for high quality is forcing companies to prioritize quality to remain relevant and ensuring their survival.
Manufacturing companies need to comprehend quality and ways in achieving them. Market research on company requirements on products and needs of the client results in quality. An organization requires its entire staff to embrace quality in all its functions to improve and remain competitive. Total quality in an organization is achievable with quality control at every interface (Flynn et al., 1994). The expenses incurred due to poor quality are high and this is causing companies to rethink quality. The loss of business owing to lack of customer satisfaction is a result of low quality products or services. Quality control costs assist firms to achieve high quality products, and include prevention and appraisal costs. Companies incur prevention costs, to avoid the occurrence of poor quality. The costs in quality planning include development and implementation costs. The price of uncovering faults is appraisal costs include cost of examinations, testing and audits, to ensure quality.
In a manufacturing organization, there are different methods that ensure customer satisfaction. A company can ensure that the products are good, but some defective products end up in the market. Customer complaints require resolutions that end up being expensive and can discredit the company. In some organizations, the inspection team detects faulty products repairing or rejecting them to safeguard the clients’ expectations . This is expensive, causing delays in deliveries. Manufacturers allow the return of defective products, which is costly and causes delays that can tarnish firm’s image. A manufacturing company should ensure that measures are in place, preventing defects. Improvement in processes and ensuring timely deliveries enable companies to remain competitive.
TQM improves companies’ ability to remain competitive in providing strategic advantage to compete internationally. The operating processes, client gratification, staff relations, and economic performance are possible when implementing TQM. In Saudi Arabia, manufacturing companies are growing, while the quality is lacking. The lack of customer satisfaction necessitates the flooding of imports from overseas (Rahman & Attar, 2009). The manufactures need to implement quality controls by implementing TQM techniques.
Essential Components of TQM
In any manufacturing company, the supply of goods or services and its customers is critical. The company needs to understand who is their customer, the needs and expectations, how to identify those needs and meeting the demand. A company’s ability to meet client’s needs, links directly to its success.
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