Lesson-5

5.1. "You don't inspect quality into a product; you have to build it in.” Discuss the implications of this statement.

2. What are the key elements of the TQM approach? What is the driving force behind TQM? Business writer Tom Peters has suggested that in making process changes, we should "Try it, test it, and get on with it.” How does this square with TQM and the DMAIC/continuous process improvement philosophy?

3. In an agreement between supplier and a customer, the supplier must ensure that all parts are within tolerance before shipment to the customer. What is the effect on the cost of quality to the supplier?

4. How important is it for managers to maintain and promote ethical behavior in dealing with quality issues? Does your answer depend on the product or service involved?

5.1 Answer

Inspection is an appraisal activity that compares goods or services to a standard (Stevenson, 2015). When it comes to quality inspection, it doesn’t necessary to inspect quality into a product because product inspection should go hand in hand while converting inputs into outputs.  Ideally, there are three points in which quality inspection can occur-before production, during production and after production. Inspection before and after production often are taken to determine acceptance sampling procedures and process control during production as to check whether the standards are met. Through these three inspection points, product quality should be made in order to meet the given standard. For example, at Apple computer, a technician inspects an Apple Powerbook on the assembly line in California.

When it comes to implication part, it is totally a wastage to inspect a product after its completed for quality, in essence the time and resources have already been unutilized and therefore, wasted, if a defect occurs. By building a product to attain a specific level, you have optimally envisioned any defects which might occur, adapted the manufacturing process to overcome those defect levels, and then used the resources to create the product. This is not to say that there won't be the occasion in which unforeseen defects can't occur, but rather it states, that all foreseen defects have been planned for. In this case, resources are only utilized after making a plan to inspect possible defect correction, which in turn results in a more economical usage of resources.

Once inspection points have been identified, we must address these points to make it more cost-effective as well as quality assurance. Hence, it is not critically important to check quality into a product, but it must be made in such manner.

References

Russell & Taylor. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain. USA: JOHN WILEY & SONS.INC.

Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operation s Management. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw- Hill Education.

5.2 Answer

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a philosophy that involves everyone in an organization in a continual effort to improve quality and achieve satisfaction (Stevenson, 2015). Professor, Edward Deming, once said that "Quality is everyone's responsibility.” The key elements of the TQM approach are discussed as follows:

1.      Customer driven quality: The main purpose of TQM is to satisfy the customers’ needs and demand by delivering the quality products or services.

2.      Continuous improvement: TQM strongly believes that quality can be improved no matter how it looks like so that it emphasizes on continuous improvement.

3.      Leadership: It helps people to do a better job so that quality can be drastically improved.

4.      Employee participation and development: Without having quality workers, it is hard to improve quality and control the scraps and waste. They, thus, should be taken as quality workers, and they need to be updated and trained for emerging quality process and standards.

5.      Quality Control circles (QCC): It refers to a quality circle small group of staffs (6-12) working together to contribute quality. They especially look for quick response, design quality and prevention, management by fact, partnership development and corporate responsibility etc.

The main driving force behind TQM is customer satisfaction that plays a critical role in determining a quality product or service. As suggested by Business writer Tom Peters, “try it, test it, and get on with it” in making process changes; this is certainly true because process change is never ending process and it cannot be determined effectively before we try it, test it and go on with it. The main philosophy of TQM and DMAIC is almost the same, customer satisfaction, so that they square with each other, although ways are somehow different. DMAIC is a process unto itself that can be – and should be – improved in each organization that uses Six Sigma as a critical component of continuous improvement and quality initiatives.

To Sum up, Over the years TQM has become very important for improving a firm's process capabilities in order to achieve fit and sustain competitive advantages. TQM and DMAIC both focus on encouraging a continuous flow of incremental improvements from the bottom of the organization’s hierarchy.

References

Russell & Taylor. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain. USA: JOHN WILEY & SONS.INC.

Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operation s Management. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw- Hill Education.

(n.d.) Retrieved 29 July 2015 from http://www.isixsigma.com/new-to-six-sigma/dmaic/continuous-improvement-dmaic/

5.3 Answer

No businesses can run no longer without making a profit, and profit comes from the customers. To please the customers by delivering the products or services, suppliers must be able to maintain an agreement made between them before. If suppliers couldn’t dispatch the products or services on timely to its customers, customers are more likely to switch the company or products so that there will be much more negative effects when it comes to the cost of quality to suppliers.  The major impacts of not meeting predetermined promises to its customers for suppliers are as follows:

·         Returned goods

·         Reworking costs

·         Warranty costs

·         Loss of goodwill

·         Liability claims, and penalties

It is inevitably true that suppliers have to bear lots of issues as mentioned above when their deliveries are not performed as promised by the customers. In order to ensure that every part is within tolerance, the suppliers need to add extra efforts to inspect each part before conducting shipment to its customers. These costs are related to delivering substandard products or services to customers so sometimes it is also called external failure to the organization. In my view, these costs are to be avoided or reduced in order to gain a competitive advantage in the markets.

References

Russell & Taylor. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain. USA: JOHN WILEY & SONS.INC.

Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operation s Management. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw- Hill Education.

5.4  Answer

Ethical behavior comes into play in many situations that involve quality. Maintaining and promoting ethical behavior in dealing with quality issues could be a critical task for managers. Having performed the organizational activities by a single member cannot produce the quality product so that all members of the organization are obliged to perform their roles and responsibilities in an ethical manner. A manager is primarily responsible to have an ethical behavior in dealing with the quality issues as she/he is bound under the rules of the company and will not be liable to enforce to the customers more than what he is authorized to do so. Maintaining ethical behavior in dealing with quality issues is very important due to given reasons:

•       Enhance productivity
•              Reduce costs
•        Improve employees’ roles/responsibility
•        Motivate and promote the continuous improvement
•          Maintain product quality consistently etc.

 Ethical behaviors are not likely to be totally different as to different products or services. But it is certainly true that they should be designed more importantly to the products or services which are more important to the organization. Personally what I think is that services need more ethical behavior than products because services are directly attached to external customers whereas products are primarily concerned with internal employees.

References

Russell & Taylor. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain. USA: JOHN WILEY & SONS.INC.

Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operation s Management. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw- Hill Education.