Quality Management: Principles and Implementation

Posted on Dec 22, 2024 in Other subjects

Ishikawa highlighted the importance of seven quality tools: histograms, cause-and-effect diagrams, review sheets, Pareto diagrams, control charts, and scatterplot graphs.

Evolution of the Concept of Quality

The concept of quality has evolved from an obsession with sales to a passion for the customer, through the following stages:

  1. Product Quality: Based on inspection, which leads to: Craft + Inspect + Reject = Higher Costs
  2. Process Quality: Grounded in process control through statistical quality control. It is used on representative samples of batches of products and is the foundation of all quality systems.
  3. Quality Assurance: Based on considering quality as something that all departments are responsible for.
  4. Total Quality Management or Quality Management Strategy: Current trends that consider quality as an integral part of the overall company strategy.

Concepts and Terminology of Quality

  • Quality: The set of characteristics of an entity that confer the ability to meet established and implicit needs.
  • Quality Control: Techniques and activities used to meet operational requirements for quality.
  • Quality Assurance: A set of planned and systematic actions implemented within the quality system to provide adequate confidence that an entity will fulfill requirements for quality.
  • Quality System: The organizational structure, procedures, processes, and resources needed to implement quality management.
  • Quality Management: The set of activities of the general function of the address that determine the quality policy, objectives, and responsibilities, and are implemented by means such as quality planning, quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement within the framework of the quality system.
  • Total Quality Management (TQM): A method of managing an organization focused on quality, based on the participation of all its members and directed toward long-term success through customer satisfaction and benefits for all members of the organization and society.

Total Quality Objectives

The strategy of Total Quality Management aims to:

Commercial

  • Know and satisfy customer needs.
  • Achieve and keep customers and attract new ones.
  • Improve the company image and increase its deployment.

Economic

  • Reduce costs.
  • Increase profits.
  • Increase competitiveness.

Technical

  • Optimize processes.
  • Focus on prevention and continuous improvement.
  • Research and implement new technologies.

Human

  • Increase and channel information and training.
  • Promote initiative and responsibility.
  • Achieve the participation and involvement of all departments.

Basic Principles of Total Quality

It is impossible to work in Total Quality without some basic principles:

  1. Achieving customer satisfaction.
  2. Involvement and unconditional support of the Directorate.
  3. Personal involvement and cooperation.
  4. Continuous improvement and innovation.
  5. Continuing education.

Barriers to Total Quality

Total Quality Management is primarily a cultural shift of enormous significance and importance, encountering obstacles such as:

  1. Management
  2. Organization
  3. Staff
  4. Strategy and Tactics

Implementation Process of Total Quality

A Total Quality program is a sequence of activities that aims to increase the overall quality of all actions carried out in an organization:

  1. Leadership Commitment
  2. Project Organization
  3. Campaign Disclosure
  4. Training Plan and Execution
  5. Analysis of Quality Status
  6. Quality System Implementation
  7. Plan Evaluation and Quality Measurement
  8. Continuous Improvement

Definition of Standards and Quality Standards

Standardization is the activity that aims to establish a process by which criteria are unified in certain fields and allows the use of a common language in a particular field of activity.

Objectives of Standards

Through standardization, the following objectives are achieved:

  1. Simplification, control, and standardization of products and processes.
  2. Increased relationship and exchange of ideas.
  3. Greater economy in manufacturing.
  4. Promotion of safety, health, and defense of life.

Benefits of Standardization

The advantages of standardization are:

Beneficial for Producers

  • Reduces the diversity of products.
  • Facilitates trade by reducing technical barriers.
  • Increases customer confidence.

Affecting Consumers

  • Brands and product safety levels are defined and established.
  • Reduced costs and delivery time.

Referred to the Administration

  • Documentation that makes it possible to legislate.
  • The user benefits from the advantages of standards and specifications.