Facilitate Continuous Improvement - Assignment Example

Maintaining the customers is very important to a business since they determine its progress. Through product improvement, the business retains and wins more customers. TQM promotes consistency since the business will be motivated to improve it product. That is, the rate at which a business product varies from its substitute is reduced by TQM. The manufacturing industry provides quality products at a price which is acceptable to the consumers thus increasing the value of the business. Therefore, total quality management plays a major role in maintain and improving business position.

(Chase, 1991) Lean manufacturing aims at reducing and eliminating wastage and improving overall performance of the company. Companies tend to use the “Five S” aiming at maximizing output and overall performance. In manufacturing environment, incidents rates, machine breakdown/downtime, stored parts inventory, and call time and training cycles. (Feld, 2011) “Five S” consist of five disciplines that forms the method of organizing and managing a work place. The five disciplines are; sort, set in order, shine, standardize and systemize.

Sort means separating those needed in the workplace from who are not required. For example, separating working photocopying machines from damaged ones and dispose them to create space. Set in order refers to arranging every particular need in the workplace in a logical manner which will reduce movements, over processing and transportation of items within the organization. An example include arranging the photocopying machines in a manner that they reduce commotion in the office. Also distributing the work to all workers to eliminate over-tasking.

Shine means that the workplace is at its best condition since it is clean and every item is well arranged. Measurement of system is done at this discipline to allow better comprehension of variation. Example is testing the speed at which the different printers are operating in a