Today, TQM has evolved greatly from those initial days, and every day, some or other innovation is added to the term.
TQM is defined in several ways: ‘TQM is a
management system and philosophy that strives towards constant organizational
improvement to achieve excellence and ensure customer satisfaction and
loyalty.’
‘TQM is the continued process of
detecting/reducing/eliminating errors in manufacturing, streamlining the
process of supply chain management, improving customer experience, and ensuring
employees are well-trained.’
‘TQM is a structured approach to organizational management
with a process focused on improving the quality of outputs of an organization,
including services and goods, by constantly improving its internal
practices.’
‘TQM is an organizational management philosophy seeking to
continuously improve the quality of processes and products.’
Using management and quality tools, the TQM approach seeks to increase business while reducing loss due to improper practices. A highly adaptable concept, it has been widely applied in several industries, including the production and service sectors.
The main components of TQM include:
• Focus on consumer
• Analysis of process
• Work in quality teams
• Systematic analysis of problems
• Implement planned changes and evaluate results
• Use data to identify problems and solutions
• Implement changes
TQM focuses on continuous improvement at all levels, from planning to execution on the shop floor. The main concern is to avoid
mistakes and thus, prevent defects in the products. By regular improvement of
personnel, equipment, processes, and capabilities, it seeks to ensure consistent
quality. TQM is also based on the main principle that mistakes are often a
result of faulty processes and systems and not of individuals per se. By
identifying the causes of such mistakes, it is possible to eliminate them
through three mechanisms:
• Prevent errors from occurring.
• Where prevention is not possible, early detection to
prevent the mistake causing damage down the chain.
• Immediate correction of process if mistakes recur.