TQM

1.WHAT IS QUALITY CIRCLE (QC)? Quality Circles are (informal) groups of employees who voluntarily meet together on a regular basis to identify, define, analyze and solve work related problems. Usually the members of a particular team (quality circle) should be from the same work area or who do similar work so that the problems they select will be familiar to all of them. In addition, interdepartmental or cross functional quality circles may also be formed. An ideal size of quality circle is seven to eight members. But the number of members in a quality circle can vary. A quality circle is a volunteer group composed of workers (or even students), usually under the leadership of their supervisor (but they can elect a team leader), who are trained to identify, analyze and solve work-related problems and present their solutions to management in order to improve the performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees. When matured, true quality circles become self-managing, having gained the confidence of management. Quality circles are an alternative to the dehumanizing concept of the division of labor, where workers or individuals are treated like robots. They bring back the concept of craftsmanship, which when operated on an individual basis is uneconomic but when used in group form can be devastatingly powerful. Quality circles enable the enrichment of the lives of the workers or students and creates harmony and high performance. Typical topics are improving occupational safety and health, improving product design, and improvement in the workplace and manufacturing processes.The term quality circles derives from the concept of PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) circles developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Quality circles are not normally paid a share of the cost benefit of any improvements but usually a proportion of the savings made is spent on improvements to the work environment. They are formal groups. They meet at least once a week on company time and are trained by competent persons (usually designated as facilitators) who may be personnel and industrial relations specialists trained in human factors and the basic skills of problem identification, information gathering and analysis, basic statistics, and solution generation. Quality circles are generally free to select any topic they wish (other than those related to salary and terms and conditions of work, as there are other channels through which these issues are usually considered). Quality circles have the advantage of continuity; the circle remains intact from project to project. Quality Circles (QC) or Quality Control Circles (QCC) : History y Pioneered by Japanese.
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Japanese nomenclature: Quality Control Circles (QCC), generally now known as Quality Circles (QC) or some call it as Small Group Activity (SGA). 1962: First QC Circle was registered with QC Circle Head Quarters in Japan. 1974: Lockheed Company, USA started Quality Circle movement. 1977: International Association of Quality Circles (IACC) was formed in USA. 1980: BHEL, Hyderabad first in India to start Quality Circles. 1982: Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI) was founded. 1

TQM Other Names of Quality Circles y Small Groups

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Action Circles Excellence Circles Human Resources Circles Productivity Circles

Objectives of Quality Circles y Promote job involvement

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Create problem solving capability Improve communication Promote leadership qualities Promote personal development Develop a greater awareness for cleanliness Develop greater awareness for safety Improve morale through closer identity of employee objectives with organization's objectives

Benefits of QC y Self-development.
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Promotes leadership qualities among participants. Recognition. Achievement satisfaction. Promotes group/team working. Serves as cementing force between management/non-management groups. Promotes continuous improvement in products and services. Brings about a change in environment of more productivity, better quality, reduced costs, safety and corresponding rewards.

Examples of QC: A theoretical comparison was undertaken between the work of the drug committee and that of the quality circle in order to investigate whether quality circles are suited as methods for organization of ensuring the standard of quality in Danish hospitals. On the basis of an investigation of the pharmaceutical service in hospitals, the work of the drug committees was analyzed and assessed. The authors found that drug committees which worked according to quality circle principles achieved their goal: To rationalize the employment of drugs in routine treatment. The authors consider that formation of quality circles is a suitable method of ensuring quality in Danish hospitals but it would probably be of decisive significance for the result that the hospital direction assumed its responsibility for the results and for coordination of the circles. 2.BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING Business process re-engineering is the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization. According to Davenport (1990) a business process is a set of logically related tasks 2

TQM performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-engineering is the basis for many recent developments in management. The cross-functional team, for example, has become popular because of the desire to re-engineer separate functional tasks into complete cross-functional processes.Also, many recent management information systems developments aim to integrate a wide number of business functions. Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, knowledge management systems, groupwareandcollaborativesystems, Human Resource Management Systems and customer relationship management. Business process re-engineering is also known as business process redesign, business transformation, or business process change management. Business process re-engineering (BPR) began as a private sector technique to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational, and become world-class competitors. A key stimulus for reengineering has been the continuing development and deployment of sophisticated information systems and networks. Leading organizations are becoming bolder in using this technology to support innovative business processes, rather than refining current ways of doing work.[1] Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is basically the fundamental re-thinking and radical re-design, made to an organization's existing resources. It is more than just business improvising. It is an approach for redesigning the way work is done to better support the organization's mission and reduce costs. Reengineering starts with a high-level assessment of the organization's mission, strategic goals, and customer needs. Basic questions are asked, such as "Does our mission need to be redefined? Are our strategic goals aligned with our mission? Who are our customers?" An organization may find that it is operating on questionable assumptions, particularly in terms of the wants and needs of its customers. Only after the organization rethinks what it should be doing, does it go on to decide how best to do it. Within the framework of this basic assessment of mission and goals, re-engineering focuses on the organization's business processesthe steps and procedures that govern how resources are used to create products and services that meet the needs of particular customers or markets. As a structured ordering of work steps across time and place, a business process can be decomposed into specific activities, measured, modeled, and improved. It can also be completely redesigned or eliminated altogether. Re-engineering identifies, analyzes, and re-designs an organization's core business processes with the aim of achieving dramatic improvements in critical performance measures, such as cost, quality, service, and speed. Re-engineering recognizes that an organization's business processes are usually fragmented into sub processes and tasks that are carried out by several specialized functional areas within the organization. Often, no one is responsible for the overall performance of the entire process. Reengineering maintains that optimizing the performance of sub processes can result in some benefits, but cannot yield dramatic improvements if the process itself is fundamentally inefficient and outmoded. For that reason, re-engineering focuses on re-designing the process as a whole in order to achieve the greatest possible benefits to the organization and their customers. This drive for realizing dramatic improvements by fundamentally re-thinking how the organization's work should be done distinguishes re-engineering from process improvement efforts that focus on functional or incremental improvement. CASE STUDY 3

TQM Mahindra & Mahindra: Implementing BPR M&M's Problem Plants In the mid-1990s, India's largest multi utility vehicle (MUV) and tractor manufacturer M&M was facing serious problems at its Igatpuri and Kandivili plants in Maharashtra. The plants were suffering from manufacturing inefficiencies, poor productivity, long production cycle, and sub-optimal output.The reason: highly under-productive, militantly unionized, and bloated workforces. The company had over the years been rather lenient towards running the plants and had frequently crumbled under the pressure of union demands. The work culture was also reportedly very unhealthy and corruption was widespread in various departments.Alarmed at the plant's dismal condition, Chairman Keshub Mahindra tried to address the problem by sacking people who allegedly indulged in corrupt practices. M&M also tried to implement various voluntary retirement schemes (VRS), but the unions refused to cooperate and the company was unable to reduce the labor force.During this period, M&M was in the process of considering the implementation of a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) program throughout the organization including the manufacturing units. Because of the problems at the Igatpuri and Kandivili plants, M&M decided to implement the program speedily at its manufacturing units. The program, developed with the help of the UK-based Lucas Engineering Systems, was first implemented on an experimental basis at the engine plant in Igatpuri. Simultaneously, an exercise was initiated to assess the potential benefits of implementing BPR and its effect on the unions. M&M's management was not surprised to learn that the unions expressed extreme displeasure at the decision to implement BPR and soon went on a strike. However, this time around, the management made it clear that it would not succumb to union demands. Soon, the workers were surprised to see the company's senior staff come down to the plant and work in their place. With both the parties refusing to work out an agreement, observers began casting doubts on the future of the company's grand plans of reaping the benefits of BPR.

3.DEMINGS AWARD IN INDIA How was the Deming Prize Established? The late Dr. W. E. Deming (1900 - 1993), one of the foremost experts of quality control in the United States, was invited to Japan by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) in July 1950.Upon his visit, Dr. Deming lectured day after day his, "Eight-Day Course on Quality Control," at the Auditorium of the Japan Medical Association in Kanda-Surugadai, Tokyo. This was followed by Dr. Deming's "One-Day Course on Quality Control for Top Management," held in Hakone. Through these seminars, Dr. Deming taught the basics of statistical quality control plainly and thoroughly to executives, managers, engineers, and researchers of the Japanese industries. His teachings made a deep impression on the participants' mind and provided great impetus to quality control in Japan, which was in its infancy.

TQM The transcript of the eight-day course, "Dr. Deming's Lectures on Statistical Control of Quality," was compiled from its stenographic records and distributed for a charge. Dr. Deming donated his royalties to JUSE. In appreciation of Dr. Deming's generosity, the late Mr. Kenichi Koyanagi, managing director of JUSE, proposed using it to fund a prize to commemorate Dr. Deming's contribution and friendship in a lasting way and to promote the continued development of quality control in Japan. Upon receiving the proposal, the JUSE's board of directors unanimously made a resolution to establish the Deming Prize. Later, the Japanese translation of Dr. Deming's book Some Theory of Sampling was published. Dr. Deming further contributed to the fund using the royalties from his book. Since then, the Deming Prize has grown considerably, and today JUSE carries the overall administrative costs for the prize. The Deming Prize and Development of Quality Control/Management in India The Deming Prize, especially the Deming Application Prize which is given to companies, has exerted an immeasurable influence directly or indirectly on the development of quality control/management in India Applicant companies and divisions of companies sought after new approaches to quality management that met the needs of their business environment and challenged for the Deming Prize. Those organizations developed effective quality management methods, established the structures for implementation, and put the methods into practice. Commonly, those who have challenged for the Prize share the feeling that they have had a valuable experience and that the management principle of achieving a business success through quality improvement has really worked. Through witnessing the success of these organizations, many other companies have been inspired to begin their own quest for quality management. Learning from those who went before them, the new practitioners are convinced that quality management is an important key to their business success and that the challenge to attain the Prize can provide an excellent opportunity to learn useful quality methodologies. Thus, quality management has spread to many organizations, its methods have evolved over the years, and they contributed to the advancement of these organizations' improvement activities. This mechanism that encourages each organization's self-development comes from the examination process of the Deming Prize, though the very process has invited some criticism that the examination criteria for the Deming Prize is unclear. The Deming Prize examination does not require applicants to conform to a model provided by the Deming Prize Committee. Rather, the applicants are expected to understand their current situation, establish their own themes and objectives, and improve and transform themselves company-wide. Not only the results achieved and the processes used, but also the effectiveness expected in the future are subjects for the examination. To the best of their abilities, the examiners evaluate whether or not the themes established by the applicants were commensurate to their situation; whether or not their activities were suitable to their circumstance; and whether or not their activities are likely to achieve their higher objectives in the future. 5

TQM The Deming Prize Committee views the examination process as an opportunity for "mutualdevelopment," rather than "examination." While in realty the applicants still receive the examination by a third party, the examiners' approach to evaluation and judgment is comprehensive. Every factor such as the applicants' attitude toward executing Total Quality Management (TQM), their implementation status, and the resulting effects is taken into overall consideration. In other words, the Deming Prize Committee does not specify what issues the applicants must address, rather the applicants themselves are responsible for identifying and addressing such issues, thus, this process allows quality methodologies to be further developed. In this revision of the Deming Prize Guide, the previous examination checklist is changed to "the examination viewpoints," which present the activity guides under TQM values. However, as for the examination criteria, the Committee's basic stance remains unchanged. Namely, the criteria should reflect each applicant organization's circumstance. There is no easy success at this time of constant change. No organization can expect to build excellent quality and management systems just by solving problems given by others. They need to think on their own, set lofty goals, and drive themselves to challenge for achieving those goals. For these companies that introduce and implement TQM in this manner, the Deming Application Prize aims to be used as a tool for improving and transforming their business management.