Total Quality Management - Assignment Example

I. Quality Assurance A. Concepts of quality in terms of degree of excellence, conformance to requirements of fitness for purpose, and meeting and/or exceeding customer needs. Quality Assurance is any systematic process of checking to see whether a product or service being developed is meeting specified requirements. Many companies have a separate department devoted to quality assurance. A quality assurance system is said to increase customer confidence and a company's credibility, to improve work processes and efficiency, and to enable a company to better compete with others (Anon., 2011). Quality assurance, in its broadest sense, is also any action taken to prevent quality problems from occurring. In practice, this means devising systems for carrying out tasks which directly affect product quality (Anon., 2011). B. At least two systems associated with the management of quality. Describe their relationships, limitations and applications. There are two popular systems associated with the management of quality that I am aware of, they are Kaizen and Total Quality Management or TQM. Kaizen is a Japanese Quality Assurance system of continuous improvement in quality, technology, processes, company culture, productivity, safety and leadership. It is a system that involves every employee - from upper management to the cleaning crew. Everyone is encouraged to come up with small improvement suggestions on a regular basis. This is not a once a month or once a year activity. It is continuous. Japanese companies, such as Toyota and Canon, a total of 60 to 70 suggestions per employee per year are written down, shared and implemented (Anon., 2011). TQM on the other hand is a comprehensive and structured approach to organizational management that seeks to improve the quality of products and services through ongoing refinements in response to continuous feedback (Anon., 2011). TQM requirements may be defined separately for a particular organization or may be in adherence to established standards, such as the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 series. TQM can be applied. At its core, Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach to long-term success through customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving processes, products, services and the culture in which they work (Anon., 2011). C. The main principles that should be included in quality management systems. This should include a systematic approach; documentation of procedures, standards and specifications; innovation; review and audit; measurement and evaluation. Since the business is still new, the best quality assurance approach that is applicable to our company is Kaizen as this allows continuous improvement of the system, policies and procedures that would make the company responsive to the customer’s needs. In the implementation of our intended quality assurance system the following steps will be undertaken; 1. Identification of key tasks – this will make us know the key areas of responsibilities that is important to the over- all performance of the business. 2. Documentation of guidelines on how to do those key tasks, its processes and systems – documented tasks are easier to improve, savings us time and resources. 3. Continuously improve the readability of the documented tasks – the purpose for this is continuous improvement of readability is for easier understanding and communication. 4. Make those informations available to each workstations – this way each employee knows the key tasks and how to do them. 5. Create a work flow system considering the key tasks identified and documented – since the company is still new, work process are still to be created for further improvement as the business evolves. II. Choose a business that has an established quality assurance system in place and provide a summary about the business that clearly identifies the sector it operates in (manufacturer, retailer or service), its size, its main operations and its purpose or mission.With reference to the business operation you have selected, identify and describe: The business chosen is Toyota, an automobile company known for its high quality, cost effective cars. This particular company is the biggest threat to US automakers. The cornerstone of Toyota's quality control system is the role of the team members in the production process. The principles on which Toyota was founded are employed at the Georgetown plant. Toyota’s quality assurance principle is encapsulated in their statement “Customer satisfaction is at the heart of all Toyota activities. In order to satisfy customer needs Toyota includes all Members in quality control activities. Everybody from research and development to manufacturing, retailing and servicing contribute to the quality control process. All Members have two roles, their own job and quality assurance. At Toyota we call this “Company wide quality control” (Toyota, 2011). A. Factors impacting on the operation’s quality assurance system in terms of legislation and local government requirements. In New Zealand, the Quality Assurance regulating agency is the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF). It has a comprehensive list of all quality assured qualifications in New Zealand. This includes NCEA(National Certificates of Educational Achievement) which are the national qualifications for senior secondary school students (Anon., 2011). At this point in time, this does not concern us yet because we are still in the process of establishing our quality assurance systems and procedures. B. The way the quality assurance system meets customer needs and expectations. Quality Assurance systems and processes are created with the end of satisfying customer’s needs. C. The way the quality assurance system meets supplier requirements. It should be the other way around. The business should be selective among its suppliers who are consistent with its set standard of quality of products to be retailed. D. The way the quality assurance system meets organisation and stakeholder requirements. Quality assurance system has an end of enhancing the company’s performance that would enhance the company’s reputation through a higher level of service. III. The Business Operation A. Identify the objectives for the quality assurance system. 1. To ensure that all employees performance are consistent according to the set quality standards of the company. 2. To ensure that all work processes are followed whose objective is customer satisfaction. 3. To have a level of quality service that enhances the business reputation with the company. 4. To allow room for continuous improvement as the business continues to thrive. B. Explain how effectively the quality assurance system reflects customer requirements. Quality assurance systems are formulated with the end of customer satisfaction and enhancing the company’s reputation through a level of customer service second to none. Such, all work flows and processes are created to achieve this end and all employees are mandated to follow such work flow and processes to ensure a high quality of service. C. Explain how effectively the quality assurance system reflects organisational requirements. Your answer must cover implementation method, resource constraints, monitoring, and evaluation. It may include ISO 9000, standards and specifications for products and/or services, operational procedures, provisions for contingencies, internal audit system. In the formulation of quality assurance system, the vision and mission of the company must first be articulated and the quality assurance system should be created to achieve those objectives. At this stage where the company is still in a start up phase, it is imperative that such quality assurance system must reinforce a high standard of service to create a favorable reputation among its customers that will enhance its business viability. An internal audit system is more applicable at this stage as the business still starting up. Regular audit must be conducted among employees performance compared to company’s set standard. D. Review the nature and extent of staff responsibilities for quality assurance. Staff responsibilities for quality assurance is to perform according to its set standards. Consistent with Kaizen philosophy, they are also encouraged to suggest on how the system can be improved. E. Include recommendations, where applicable, to improve the business operation’s quality assurance system. Apply Kaizen’s openness to employees suggestion for continuous improvement. References: Anon., (2011). Online. Available at http://www.iso.org/iso/about.htm. Retrieved on September 22, 2011 Anon., (2011). Online. Available at http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/quality-assurance. Retrieved on September 22, 2011 Anon., (2011). Online. Available at http://www.hci.com.au/hcisite3/toolkit/quality.htm. Retrieved on September 22, 2011 Anon., (2011). Online. Available at http://www.graphicproducts.com/tutorials/kaizen/index.php. Retrieved on September 22, 2011 Anon., (2011). Online. Available at http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/total-quality-management/overview/overview.html. Retrieved on September 22, 2011 Anon., (2011). Online. Available at http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/Total-Quality-Management. Retrieved on September 22, 2011 Read More