Quality Improvement Safari Flashcards
What is the key phenomena that we seek to understand in OM?
Why one operation (factory or service) is more productive than another.
What are the 4 quality improvement approaches in OM 9?
TQM, Lean, Six Sigma and BPR
Set out the chronological evolution of QI tools and principles
Scientific Management (Taylor - 1911): every action of the worker is preplanned and directed by the manager. Studies of time/motion to identify the most efficient way of completing a task. Was succ in improving productivity and impact on industry. Was monotonous and dehumanising.
Control Charts (Shewhart - 1939): Every process displays variation. Orgs monitored quality. Common causes and special causes of variation. The latter was considered not in control and required attention.
Deming Cycle (1950): means of achieving a never ending cycle of learning. PDCA cycles.
Quality Circles (Munchus 1983): The QCs were inspired by Deming. Quality control should be in the 85% of people who did the work and not the 15 % of managers. Design quality into the process. QCs were extremely popular - accounted for the diff in quality b/w American and Jap production. Depended on teams of volunteers. Weren’t able to drive improvements.
Lean/Six Sigma/TQM and BPR - 1990s: JIT and the Toyota production system linked to Lean. Denote a distinct departure from quality control towards a more philosophical approach to principles (rather than tools). Requires a culture change across the organisation. In practice, the spirit tends to be overlooked and orgs balance back towards viewing them as tools rather than as a way of thinking.
Hybrid approaches in late 1990s and 2000s. Companies are raiding the quality tool box. Their approach is one of operations excellence.
Principles + Tools = ?
Solutions. Tools need to be adapted to the context and the context will be dependent on the circumstances
What are the four essential core properties of successful improvement work?
A) Leadership at all levels. All levels need to be engaged and involved. Involvement needs understanding the spirit and philosophy and empowering staff to think about quality and quality improvements.
B) Must see a pervasive culture that supports all learning throughout the org.
C) Emphasis on the development of effective teams
D) Greater use of information technology for both continuous improvement work and external accountabilities.
What are the barriers to QI?
a) Lack of worker involvement
b) Lack of consistent external force or driver for continuous improvement (i.e. the lack of urgency)
c) Inadequate information systems
d) Insufficient senior management leadership and support
e) Problems in adapting the principles/practices to the context
f) Misunderstanding and misuse
What is critical to achieving and maintaining competitive advantage?
Quality improvements. Organisations need to continuously realign operations capabilities to match the dynamic requirements of customers or they will fall behind the pack. The red queen effect - the ones to prevail will the ones that adapt the fastest to changing conditions.
What is the QI quote of McNary 95
Survival is not compulsory. Improvement is not compulsory. But improvement is necessary for survival - McNary 1995
What is important in ensuring highest levels of quality at the lowest possible cost?
Standardisation - leading to standard work or standard operating processes. Standardisation is a core method associated with Lean. If you standardise work - you not only reduce variation but you also improve the quality of the product or service. Use the example of standardisation in certain aspects of medical care as an demonstration of the QI impact of standardisation.
SPC is a key tool in which two QI approaches?
Six Sigma and TQM
When a process displays special cause variation, it is said to be…
…not in control
When a process displays common cause variation, it is said to be…
…in control
Who developed the SPC tool and when?
Shewhart 1939.
What is the other tool (developed by Shewhart) that is central to the implementation of TQM, Six Sigma and Lean?
PDCA:
Plan - what is the problem you want to address and how might we improve it?
Do - carry out the change
Check - check that the change has delivered the required improvement
Act - standardise the change so that it becomes the way how work is delivered though out the organisation.
Draw the PDCA diagram
Draw the diagram
What is PDCA?
Plan - Do - Check and Act: means of achieving a never ending cycle of continual improvement of a process or product
What is Crosby’s famous quote about quality?
Poor quality costs 20% of all revenue. A cost that can be avoided by using good quality approaches. Crosby pushed for zero defects.
What is Deming’s philosophy?
When quality increases, variability (the unpredictability of a process) decreases. He emphasised the need for SPC methods, participation, education and openness.
Who developed the concept of TQM?
Feigenbaum developed the concept of TQM. His contribution includes the concept of a hidden plant - i.e. the work performed in correcting mistakes. Emphasised the importance of accountability and he devised the concept of total quality control.
What diagram is commonly used in Six Sigma and Lean to diagnose an affect or problem?
Fishbone or Ishikawa Cause and Effect Diagram.
What is the philosophy of TQM?
Stresses the total of improvement. Puts quality and improvement at the heart of everything that is done by the operation. All members of the organisation participate in improving processes, products, services and the culture in which they work.
What are the three principles of TQM?
The 3 principles are MIC:
a) Meet the needs/expectations of the customer: involve the whole organisation in understanding the central importance of customers to its success
b) Include every person in the organisation: Empowerment is a central principle of TQM. Everyone has to be involved
c) Covering all parts of the organisation: TQM sees customers as internal as well as external. Errors produced internally will eventually affect the external customer. Need to manage the internal customer-supplier relationships.
What are the 5 methods of TQM?
1) Kaizen - small step/continuous improvement. Constantly introduce small incremental changes to improve performance. Individuals have a key role in identifying improvements
2) Use scientific methods - places heavy emphasis on use of SPC/cost of quality analysis and fishbone diagrams
3) Examine all costs related to quality, especially failure costs. Main costs of quality are a sum of internal failure costs (costs linked with errors inside the company), external costs of failure (costs linked with loss of customer good will), prevention costs (identifying and preventing potential problems, improving designs, training etc), and appraisal costs (quality checking). Increasing costs of prevention will bring greater reduction in other cost categories.
4) Getting things right first time. Designing in quality rather than inspecting in quality. Shift from reactive to proactive.
5) Systems and procedures that support improvement - for example ISO 9000 series. Global standard requirement for quality management systems.
Outline 2 critiques of TQM
1) Change might be so ambitious and involve such fundamental alterations of the social system that the organisation can not accommodate them.
2) Changes may be more window dressing than real. Implementation is easy but the underlying organisation structures and systems remain untouched and continue to generate the same behaviours as before.
