Total Quality Management (TQM)

Total Quality Management is a structured system for managing the quality of products, processes, and resources of an organization in order to satisfy its internal and external customers, as well as its suppliers. Its main objective is sustained (if not progressive) customer satisfaction through continuous improvement, which is accomplished by systematic methods for problem solving, breakthrough achievement, and sustenance of good results (standardization).

There is no standard or hard-line procedure for implementing TQM. Every company can practice TQM in a manner it sees best for its organization. However, a company’s TQM program must always be structured and internally standardized, i.e., everyone within an organization must practice TQM in the structured manner set forth by management.

Most companies today have chosen to adopt a TQM program that’s patterned after an already established TQM model, e.g., the Deming Application Prize, the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, the ISO Series of Standards, etc.

TQM may be considered as a collection of principles and processes that have been proven to be effective in business quality management over time. It goes back to the teachings of Drucker, Juran, Deming, Ishikawa, etc, who each have studied and developed ideas for improving organizational management.

A very simple model of TQM consists of the following steps: 1) the company reviews the needs of its customers and if these are being delivered by the company; 2) the company plans the activities needed (both day-to-day and long-term activities) to meet these customer needs; 3) the company establishes and stabilizes the processes required to deliver the products and services needed by the customer; 4) the company implements systems to further improve its processes, products, and services. Note that Steps 1-4 above constitute a cycle, and may be iterated indefinitely for continuous improvement.

The SDCA Cycle

The Standardize-Do-Check-Act (SDCA) cycle is a popular model for establishing and stabilizing a process. A process needs to be stabilized through standardization to make it more measurable, predictable, and controllable. Improvements can not and must not be made to a process unless it is stable.

As its name indicates, it has 4 distinct steps: 1) standardization, which refers to the definition and documentation of operating procedures, process requirements, and other process specifications to ensure that the process is always executed in a standard and repeatable manner; 2) doing, which refers to conformance to the defined standards; 3) checking, which is the act of verifying if conformance to the standards results in process stability (high process Cpk); and 4) action, which is the response appropriate for the observed effects of the standards.

In step 4, if the process has become stable with implementation of the standards, then the standards are made permanent and even deployed more widely. If the effects on process stability are negligible or even negative, the cycle is repeated using a different set of standard specifications.

The PDCA Cycle

The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, also known as the Shewhart Cycle or the Deming Cycle, is a popular model for continuous improvement. As the name indicates, it consists of 4 distinct steps: 1) planning, which refers to the act of identifying opportunities for improvement and identifying ways of achieving these improvements; 2) doing, which refers to the actual implementation of the actions needed to effect the change; 3) checking, which refers to the act of verifying whether the implemented changes resulted in the desired improvements; and 4) action, which is what one does in response to the effects observed.

In step 4, if the effects observed are the desired improvements, then the actions implemented are made permanent and even deployed more widely. If the effects are negligible or even negative, the cycle is repeated using a different plan of action.

Principles of TQM

1) Quality can and must be managed.

2) Everyone has a customer to delight.

3) Processes, not the people, are the problem.

4) Every employee is responsible for quality.

5) Problems must be prevented, not just fixed.

6) Quality must be measured so it can be controlled.

7) Quality improvements must be continuous.

8) Quality goals must be based on customer requirements.

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