CBME
What is ‘Quality’?
According to Market Business News, quality refers to how good something is compared to other
similar things. In business, especially manufacturing, it is a measure of excellence. In this context, it can
also refer to a state of being defect-free.
It has a practical explanation – in business, manufacturing and engineering - as the supremacy or
the highest standard of a certain product or service. Products are also referred to as ‘fit for purpose’
while it satisfies the consumers’ expectations as well.
The words ‘quantity’ and ‘quality’ both have distinct differences. Quantity asks and/or answers
the question ‘how much’. For quality the question being asked and/or answered is ‘how good’.
The ISO - International Organization for Standardization, an international standard-setting body
– 8402-1986 defines quality as:
“The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy
stated or implied needs.”
Quality is the degree to which a commodity meets the requirements of the customer at the start
of its life. (ISO 9000)
Quality is delivered when you achieve the minimum requirement of a specified performance
standard. It is a specified performance range and is mostly a subjective and perceptual attribute.
Different people may not have the same understanding of the meaning of the term. (Lifetime Reliability)
“Consumers may focus on the specification quality of a product/service, or how it compares to
competitors in the marketplace.”
“Producers might measure the conformance quality, or degree to which the product/service was
produced correctly. Support personnel may measure quality in the degree that a product is reliable,
maintainable, or sustainable.”
History of Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total quality management (TQM) is the recurring procedure of detecting and reducing or
removing slipups in production, reformation of supply chain management, improving the customer
experience, and making sure that the employees are well-trained. Total quality management aims to
hold all parties involved in the production process accountable for the overall quality of the final product
or service. (Adam Barone - Investopedia, 2019)
It was developed by William Deming, who is a management consultant. His works left an
enormous impact in Japanese manufacturing.
It is a controlled approach to overall organizational management. The process’ focal point is the
improvement of the quality of an organization’s outputs through continuous development – kaizen - of
internal practices.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management framework based on the belief that an
organization can build long-term success by having all its members, from low-level workers to its highest
ranking executives, focus on improving quality and, thus, delivering customer satisfaction. (Rouse et. al,
2019)
The history of total quality management (TQM) began initially as a term coined by the Naval Air
Systems Command to describe its Japanese-style management approach to quality improvement. An
umbrella methodology for continually improving the quality of all processes, it draws on the knowledge
of the principles and practices of:
The behavioral sciences
The analysis of quantitative and non-quantitative data
Economics theories
Process analysis
Total Quality Management (TQM) Timeline
1920s
Some of the first seeds of quality management were planted as the principles of scientific management
swept through U.S. industry.
Businesses clearly separated the processes of planning and carrying out the plan, and union opposition
arose as workers were deprived of a voice in the conditions and functions of their work.
The Hawthorne experiments in the late 1920s showed how worker productivity could be impacted by
participation.
1930s
Walter Shewhart developed the methods for statistical analysis and control of quality.
1950s
W. Edwards Deming taught methods for statistical analysis and control of quality to Japanese engineers
and executives. This can be considered the origin of TQM.
Joseph M. Juran taught the concepts of controlling quality and managerial breakthrough.
Armand V. Feigenbaum’s book Total Quality Control, a forerunner for the present understanding of
TQM, was published.
Philip B. Crosby’s promotion of zero defects paved the way for quality improvement in many companies.
1968
The Japanese named their approach to total quality “companywide quality control.” It is around this
time that the term quality management systems arise.
Kaoru Ishikawa’s synthesis of the philosophy contributed to Japan’s ascendancy as a quality leader.
Today
TQM is the name for the philosophy of a broad and systemic approach to managing organizational
quality.
Quality standards such as the ISO 9000 series and quality award programs such as the Deming Prize and
the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award specify principles and processes that comprise TQM.
(The Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Handbook, Fourth Edition)
