Tqm

[alimaui]

I am doing a project for a class, and I am soliciting the help of anyone who can.

The project I am doing is on TQM (Total Quality Management) I am looking for case studies on successful or unsuccessful programs. If anybody has any company websites that address this issue it would be appreciated. Comments on the issue would also be appreciated.

Ali

 

[norskman2]

http://www.improve.org/tqm.html

Read "Nuts" by Herb Kelleher, and anything by Jack Welch. He took TQM to the extreme with their Sigma Six program and it was wildly successful.

Search Google for TQM, and also look for old articles on GE's Six Sigma.

 

[tarp]

Try looking towards Malcomm Baldridge Award winners, who have usually gone to TQM or ISO-9000 to be organized enough to win the award.

A lot of folks toot their own horn about TQM. ISO-9000 is just a crock. It means that a company has filled every last process with some kind of checklist / procedure chart. It is basically a beaurocrat's dream and does nothing to enhance Quality.

Look to companies like 3M (yes the Post-it note people), Corning Glass in Elmira NY, Toyota - they basically are successful at TQM.

IBM, GM, Worldcom, Microsoft may profess to be TQM but they are living in a dream world - they walk the process, but never deliver because of size or bottom line fears. The computer industry and telecommunications is full of cases that are unsuccessful.

TQM is one of those wonderful things they teach in business school (yes, I hold that degree) but never really works due to time and budget constraints in the real world. TQM requires a powerful leader who believes in the principle and then basically orders his/her entire staff to make it happen. It takes great discipline to hold to the "quality" mandate while in a competitive marketplace and selling the shareholders on your conviction that this method will yield the maximum share value over time.

I worked with a company out of Denver, CO just when they were caught up in a huge ISO- (whatever the number was back then) conversion. Oh the paper they burned and the trees that died for that process. Countless forms, checklists, process descriptions, job descriptions and all it did was slow us down and make us less competitive. The company tried to mandate ISO, but never sold us and never committed to the end result. They just wanted to be "standard" enough to sign contracts with companies that also professed to be ISO- compliant. There was never a conviction to quality.

I do remember the old days and some really fine companies. Bendix Aerospace before they were bought by Allied Signal was top notch. Kodak when they were basically the only name in photography. Chrysler in the 50's and 60's. Mobil Oil before there was an Exxon. In the list of "has been's", you will find that the "quality" company was either bought by some other company or changed management and philosophy. The moment a TQM company "sells out", it's over.

Good luck with your paper.

 

[Snakum]

I got into aviation to get away from ISO 9000/Q90, Baldridge Awards, and TQM.

Yukkkkkkkkkk!

Minh Thong - Director of QA and Customer Service
(Former ISO 9000 consultant)

 

[seattle]

Before my time but..... At McDonnell Douglas they got caught up in this TQMS program a number of years ago. I think the added "S" was for stupid. Well, long story short, they braught all of the first level managers (the lowest managers on the totem pole) into a large hanger down in Long Beach. And with one felt swoop fired them all. They were told that each person could interview to get his/her job back. I would have loved to see the looks on those faces.

Ever since then TQMS has stood for Time to Quit and Move to Seattle. This is one of those old company stories that floats around for years, so milage may vary. Talk to any McDonnell Douglas guy that's been in LB for the past 15 to 20 years and I'm sure he will be able to tell you more.

Good luck.

Seattle

 

[alimaui]

They tried it in the Navy for a number of years, calling it TQL for Total Quality Leadership. After Demming died, most realized that while some of it was practical, you can't run the military entirely on TQL/TQM principals.

Do you (or anyone else) know of any good sources for finding out more of the use of TQM in the Navy?

Ali

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

You may want to look into the introduction of TQM in Japan. I believe it was an American that came up with the idea (name might have been mentioned here earlier). However the idea was rejected here in the States and accepted in Japan. This was in maybe the 50's or 60's. Just a guess there. The concept seemed to me to be most efficiently applied in a manufacturing environment. Hence the success the Japanese had in it's implementation in their auto industry.

Tarp gave you some great ideas. I'd only like to tell you the reality of the Malcolm Baldridge award in a services environment is alot like the ISO-9000 program he and a few others speak of. I think a service company is just too dynamic (re. time consuming and costly) for TQM although many of it's principles probably apply. I know because I work for a Malcolm Baldridge award winner.

I can't say I've ever heard of the concept being discussed. My best advice HIT THE LIBRARY for info on the history of TQM and you'll probably get a miilion ideas for your paper. Or maybe just 10 ideas. Good luck.


Mr. I.

 

[alimaui]

I can't say I've ever heard of the concept being discussed. My best advice HIT THE LIBRARY for info on the history of TQM and you'll probably get a miilion ideas for your paper. Or maybe just 10 ideas. Good luck.

Oh I did hit the library, lots of info. The main thing I was having difficulty with were case studies of actual TQM implemtations...stuff that will probably be found on the net.

You may want to look into the introduction of TQM in Japan. I believe it was an American that came up with the idea (name might have been mentioned here earlier).

You are correct. Edward Deming was an american who was originally hired by Ford. (Hence the reason Japan wanted him for manufacuring) Later, during the economic slowdown in the US (during the 80s) the US did start to adopt some of Demings ideas.

I have to say that y'all have given me a great starting point for my case studies. Just names of companies helps ALOT!

For your amusement, I will leave you with a quote I found


"Before we invested in TQM, the rap on our company was that we churn out poorly made products that customers don't want.  Now, after TQM, things have changed.  We now churn out well-made products that customers don't want"

 

[zoom]

TQM in the Air Force

Hey Ali,

I was on a TQM team when I was a Lieutenant in the Air Force. The best part is that we got to implement it at Patrick Air Force Base/Cape Canaveral. Me being a space nut, I was living a dream working out there. It was almost eight years ago, so I'm not sure how current the information you seek should be, but PM me and let me know if you would like to know any details.

Happy flying!

zoom

 

[Chunk]

alimaui,

In the Navy, it's now called Leadership Continuum. Check around for the numbers to Afloat Trainging Groups. If you tell me what area you're in, I can try to get you a number. I have 9 days in the Navy left, I don't have all that much to do!

Chunk

Oh yeah, the classes are full of Situational Leadership and Franklin Covey crap. What a nightmare.