Al-QURAN - NED University

Be proactive in keeping close watch on alloccurrences in your production or manufacturingfacility to make sure that there is no waste, andyou are guaranteed to achieve a greater standardof success and profitability.Total Quality ManagementBy: Aleem-ur-Rehman BaigIM-59/BETotal Quality Management (TQM) is a set ofmanagement practices throughout theorganization, geared to ensure the organizationconsistently meets or exceeds customerrequirements. TQM places strong focus onprocess measurement and controls as means ofcontinuous improvement. It can be viewed as anorganization wide approach that focuses onproducing high quality goods and services. TQM,when properly used, is an integral part of anorganization, not a separate, stand-aloneprogram, and it encompasses all of the functionalareas and levels within the organization, includingsuppliers.TQM requires that the company maintain thisquality standard in all aspects of its business. Thisrequires ensuring that things are done right thefirst time and that defects and waste areeliminated from operations.Elements of TQM:Top management can demonstrate itscommitment to a TQM program in several ways.These include incorporating TQM in to the firm’soverall strategy and demonstrating by actions aswell as by words that quality is the number oneoperating priority of the organization.EmployeeEmployeeinvolvement.involvement isanother critical element in successfullyimplementing a TQM program. By involving allemployees in the decision-making process,management is able to receive inputs from thosenearest the problems and in the best position torecommend viable solutions. Employeeinvolvement, which appears to be prevalent inmost word-class operations, also takes advantageof the skills and knowledge of all employees.A key element in employee involvement is thateach worker assumes the responsibility forinspecting the quality of his or her own work. Thisis referred to as quality at the source and extendsbeyond the worker to include the work group, alldepartments, and the suppliers of parts andservices to the organization. This view changes theoften-adversarial practice of having a QCinspector, typically from the QC department,making decisions about good or bad quality.excellence. Product/processProduct/processexcellent involves the quality of the product’sdesign and analysis of field failures. It also includesstatistical process control (SPC) and otheranalytical tools.23There are four primary elements that are integralto every successful TQM program: leadership,employee involvement, product/processexcellence, and customer focus.The(a) (d) (c) (b) Leadership.leadership provided by anorganization’s management is a majorcornerstone in the development andimplementation of successful TQM program.When properly executed, a TQM program iscompany wide, transcends the traditionalfunctional areas, and involves all of the firm’semployees. It therefore requires vision, planning,and communication, all of which are theresponsibility of top management. Studies haveincluded that total commitment frommanagement is considered to be critical elementin successfully implementing such programs.Process control is concerned with monitoringquality while the product is being produced or theservice is being performed. Typical objectives ofprocess control plans are to provide timelyinformation on whether currently produced itemsmeeting design specifications and to detect shiftsin the process that signal that future products maynot meet the customer’s requirements. The actualcontrol phase of process control occurs whencorrective action is taken.An underlying philosophy in achieving product/process excellence is the concept of continuousimprovement. This has a general meaning as wellas a specific TQM meaning. Its general meaning isan ongoing effort to improve in every part of theorganization and all of its outputs. It’s morespecific meaning focuses on continual