THE TQMEX MODEL

TQMEX  model advocates an integrated approach for managing quality in order to support the transition to systems management. This is an ongoing process of continuous improvement that begins when the company commits itself to managing by quality

 

Japanese 5 –S Practice

Business Process Reengineering

Quality Control Circles (QCCs)

Quality Management System

Total Productive Maintenance

Total Quality Management (TQM)

 

1. Japanese 5-S Practice

The 5-S practice is a technique used to establish and maintain quality environment in an organization. The 5-S stands for five Japanese words –Seiri (structurise), Seiton (systemize), Seiso (sanitise), Seiktsu (standardize), and Shitsuke (self-discipline). The 5-S practice is not only in improving their physical environment, but also their thinking processes.

The “5-S” practice is a well-recognized methodology used by the Japanese to improve the work environment. A well-recognized methodology to improve work environment, the concept is fast catching up in many western countries. It has now evolved into a formal technique, which the Japanese believe is useful not just for improving the physical environment, but also for improving Total Quality Management (TQM) processes as well. Many everyday problems could be solved through adoption of this practice. It is also seen that many companies have included a few aspects of the “5-S” in their routine processes without being aware of its existence as a formal technique. In fact, the “5-S” can be applied to activities in all walks of life.

The term “5-S” represents five words in Japanese namely, Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke. The English equivalents for these are Structurise, Systemize, Sanitise, Standardize and Self-Discipline. In other words, these “5-S” terms mean Organization, Neatness, Cleaning, Standardization and Discipline.

Organization (Seiri)

Organization is about sorting items (like tools, parts and materials), which are essential for a job from those that are not. Efforts should be made to select only the vital few and place them at convenient locations. The essence of organization is defined by:

• Discard unwanted things
• Organize the storage of parts, files and other items
• Deal with the causes of defects, noise and leaks
• Treat defects, leaks and breakages
• Aim for the policy of “one is best” ---one-location file, one-stop service for customers etc.

Neatness (Seiton)

Neatness determines the rate at which things can be located or placed. It eliminates the time wasted in locating and placing things in an organisation. In simple terms, it emphasizes on:

• Clearly designated names and places
• Functional placement of parts, tools and materials
• Quick (30-second) and easy retrieval of documents, parts and tools
• Neat and easy-to-read notice boards (with special attention to removal of old and obsolete boards)
• Filing standards and controls
• Zoning and placement marks
• Arrangement for first-in, first out

Cleaning (Seiko)

In any organisation, cleaning involves delegating individual areas of responsibility. Every individual should be thoroughly aware of his duties and responsibilities. In doing this, it is important that all assignments be absolutely clear and that there are no undefined, unallocated, or grey areas. This can be done by:

• Assigning individual cleaning responsibilities

• Adopting simple methods for cleaning and inspection
• Regular cleaning activities
• Cleaning even the less-noticed places

Standardization (Seiketsu)

• This emphasizes strict and continual maintenance of organisation, cleanliness and neatness. It includes personal and environmental cleanliness. It also implies standardizing the principles of “5-S” practice. By maintaining standardized conditions using visual management, employees are motivated to act fast in any circumstance. This necessitates:

• Certification of inspections using labels, tags, etc.
• “Danger” warning marks and signs
• Colour coding of files, pipes and containers
• Responsibility labels
• Preventing noise and vibrations
• Directional markings on pipes and gangways

Discipline (Shitsuke)

Discipline involves instilling the ability of doing things as per the defined rules and regulations. This helps in building good habits like framing and following rules. Discipline, an integral part of industrial safety emphasizes on:

• Following safety rules

• Wearing safety helmets, gloves, shoes while at work
• Executing individual responsibilities
• Good communication practices
• Practicing dealing with emergencies
• Checking and following “5-S” practices always

Many successful organisations found that by developing a high quality work environment and instilling discipline in the form of procedures and work instructions, the employees devoted more energy and time to achieve results. The ‘5-S practice’ has now become a highly appreciated technique in business, which not only helps to impress the customers but also to establish effective quality processes for good services and products.

2. Business Process Reengineering

Business process reengineering (BPR) is a management approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the processes that exist within and across organizations. The key to BPR is for organizations to look at their business processes from a "clean slate" perspective and determine how they can best construct these processes to improve how they conduct business. Business process reengineering is also known as BPR, Business Process Redesign, Business Transformation, or Business Process Change Management.

Definition

Hammer and Champy (1993) define BPR as," the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed."

3. Quality Control Circles

To involve employees in productivity and efficiency improvement activities, a team-based environment must be developed in which they can participate actively in improving their process, product, or service performance. One such employee participation program is quality control circles (QCCs). QC-circle activities are usually directed towards improvements in the workplace. They focus on such areas as:

• Cost
• Safety
• Productivity

The Seven Quality Control Tools

Prof. Karou Ishikawa, known as the father of QCCs, developed seven QC tools. Based on his experience, he identified a set of tools, which can be used by teams and individuals to interpret data and deriver maximum information from it. These seven effective tools, which can offer any organization the means to collect, present, and analyze most of its data and problems. They are:

• Process flowcharts
• Check sheet
• Histogram
• Pareto analysis
• Cause and effect analysis
• Scatter diagram
• Control charts

4. Quality Management Systems

Implementing a Quality Management System (QMS) within an organisation needs to be a decision by top management.  The objective of the quality system needs to be clearly defined so that the system can be effective.

The design and implementation of a quality management system will vary depending on the type, size and products of the organisation.  Each company will have its own objective, however most companies’ objective is to increase profitability.  A Quality Management System will assist by:

• managing costs and risks
• increasing effectiveness and productivity
• identifying improvement opportunities
• increasing customer satisfaction

A well managed quality system will have an impact on:

• customer loyalty and repeat business
• market share
• operational efficiencies
• flexibility and ability to respond to market opportunities
• effective and efficient use of resources
• cost reductions
• competitive advantages
• participation and motivation of human resources
• industry reputation
• control on all processes

The objectives of your Quality Management System should mirror the above in some form.

Requirements:

• ISO 9001:2000 requires a quality system to be documented, tested, measured and assessed.  

• Management commitment is essential for the implementation and ongoing success of the Quality Management System.
• QMS objectives must be measurable and reflect the overall company objectives.
• The QMS must be able to be managed properly, adequate resources must be allocated.
• The system must be reviewed regularly and measured for effectiveness, adjustments must be made to reflect major changes to the organisation and business practices.  
• The system must be practical and accessible to all employees within the organisation. 

Accreditation:

• It is not essential to gain accreditation for a Quality Management System to work effectively.  It depends on the organisation if they wish to gain accreditation, however the benefits should be considered:
• Your company will be recognized as an organisation that is committed to providing quality products, improvement and customer satisfaction.
• You will gain respect through the industry as a fully accredited quality company.

5. Total Productive Maintenance

TPM is a Japanese idea that can be traced back to 1951 when preventive maintenance was introduced into Japan from the USA. Nippondenso, part of Toyota, was the first company in Japan to introduce plant wide preventive maintenance in 1960. In preventive maintenance operators produced goods using machines and the maintenance group was dedicated to the work of maintaining those machines. However with the high level of automation of Nippondenso maintenance became a problem as so many more maintenance personnel were now required. So the management decided that the routine maintenance of equipment would now be carried out by the operators themselves. (This is Autonomous maintenance, one of the features of TPM). The maintenance group then focused only on 'maintenance' works for upgrades.

The maintenance group performed equipment modification that would improve its reliability. These modifications were then made or incorporated into new equipment. The work of the maintenance group is then to make changes that lead to maintenance prevention. Thus preventive maintenance along with Maintenance prevention and Maintainability Improvement were grouped as Productive maintenance. The aim of productive maintenance was to maximize plant and equipment effectiveness to achieve the optimum life cycle cost of production equipment.

Nippondenso already had quality circles which involved the employees in changes. Therefore, now, all employees took part in implementing Productive maintenance. Based on these developments Nippondenso was awarded the distinguished plant prize for developing and implementing TPM, by the Japanese Institute of Plant Engineers (JIPE). This Nippondenso of the Toyota group became the first company to obtain the TPM certifications.

TPM has five goals:

1. Maximize equipment effectiveness.
2. Develop a system of productive maintenance for the life of the equipment,
3. Involve all departments that plan, design, use, or maintain equipment in implementing TPM.
4. Actively involve all employees.
5. Promote TPM through motivational management.

TPM identifies the 16 types of waste and then works systematically to eliminate them by making improvements. TPM has 8 pillars of activity, each being set to achieve a “zero” target. These pillars are:

1. Focused improvement (Kobetsu-Kaizen): for eliminating waste
2. Autonomous maintenance (Jishu-Hozen): in autonomous maintenance, the operator is the key player. It involves daily maintenance activities carried out by the operators themselves that prevent the deterioration of the equipment.
3. Planned maintenance: for achieving zero breakdowns
4. Education and training: for increasing productivity
5. Early equipment/product management: to reduce waste occurring during the implementation of a new machine or the production of a new product
6. Quality maintenance (Hinshitsu-Hozen): This is actually “maintenance for quality”. It includes the most effective quality tool of TPM: “poka-yoke”, which aims to achieve zero loss by taking necessary measures to prevent loss.
7. Safety, hygiene, and environment: for achieving zero work-related accidents and for protecting the environment.
8. Office TPM: for involvement of all parties to TPM since office processes can be improved in a similar manner as well.

TPM Success Measurement - A set of performance metrics which is considered to fit well in a Lean/TPM environment is Overall Equipment Effectiveness, or OEE.

6. Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a business management strategy aimed at embedding awareness of quality in all organizational processes. TQM has been widely used in manufacturing, education, call centers, government, and service industries, as well as NASA space and science programs.

TQM is composed of three paradigms:

• Total: Involving the entire organization, supply chain, and/or product life cycle
• Quality: With its usual definitions, with all its complexities
• Management: The system of managing with steps like Plan, Organize, Control, Lead, Staff, provisioning and organizing.

As defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO):

"TQM is a management approach for an organization, centered on quality, based on the participation of all its members and aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all members of the organization and to society." ISO 8402:1994

One major aim is to reduce variation from every process so that greater consistency of effort is obtained.

In Japan, TQM comprises four process steps, namely:

1. Kaizen – Focuses on "Continuous Process Improvement", to make processes visible, repeatable and measurable.
2. Atarimae Hinshitsu – The idea that "things will work as they are supposed to" (for example, a pen will write).
3. Kansei – Examining the way the user applies the product leads to improvement in the product itself.
4. Miryokuteki Hinshitsu – The idea that "things should have an aesthetic quality" (for example, a pen will write in a way that is pleasing to the writer).

TQM requires that the company maintain this quality standard in all aspects of its business. This requires ensuring that things are done right the first time and that defects and waste are eliminated from operations.