Current Approach to Quality in EuroCab - Essay Example

?According to Schultz (2005, p.12), “the ability to provide products and services at a price, time and standard which s expect is a product of the combined efforts of the individuals, teams and management in an organisation.” To obtain a competitive advantage, that is to outperform organisations that supply similar products and services, organisations need to create a culture that reinforces both effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness is related to the ability to satisfy the needs of the customers while efficiency implies doing it in the most cost and time efficient way (Schultz, 2005). Organisations compete for customers and the customers not only consider the quality of the product but service offered as well. One way of achieving both efficiency and effectiveness is through quality management which can be done using the total quality management (TQM) model. TQM is an organisational culture devoted to customer satisfaction through an integrated system of tools, techniques and training aimed at the continuous improvement of the products and services offered (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004). As such, this essay seeks to carry out a critique of EuroCab’s current approach to quality and how this compares with Crosby's fourteen point plans. The analysis will highlight the aspects of the plan being implemented as well as outline the points missed. The second part of the essay will look at the extent to which the six sigma methodology can be implemented within the organisation. 1. EuroCab is one of the leading European manufacturers of customised metal cabinets of various sizes and designs. These are sold to different customers to contain, support and securely protect electrical and electronic control systems from damage. However, the operations of this organisation are geared towards productivity and there are quality concerns since some of the products manufactured do not conform to the expected standards. Quality of a product or service is based on the judgement by the individual or organisation of a particular product with regards to benefits, value or satisfaction that can be derived from using it (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004). Organisations that are concerned about their viability should prioritise the aspect of quality in order to gain a competitive advantage. As noted, the aspect of quality is of concern to Eurocab and this section of the essay seeks to critique the company's current approach to quality and how this compares with Crosby's fourteen point plan. Philip B Crosby is a quality guru and is known for the concepts of “Quality is Free” and “Zero Defects. There are four absolutes of quality in his quality improvement process which are: Quality is conformance to requirements, the system of quality is prevention, the performance standard is zero defect and the measurement of quality is the price of non-conformance. Details of quality gurus can be viewed at the Department of Trade and Industry’s website at < www.dti.gov.uk/quality/gurus>. His model is comprised of fourteen steps and these are going to be used to analyse the company’s current approach to quality. He suggests that the first step is that management should be committed to a formalised quality policy but in this case, it seems there is no such coordination between the management and the other members of the organisation in other departments. The management is primarily concerned with productivity while at the same time quality related issues are neglected. The blame for any faulty cab is given to the Quality, Manufacturing as well as the Electrical assembly departments. The management does not make follow up on its quality policies to ensure that that there is conformity in the operations of the organisation as a whole to satisfy the quality needs of the customers as well as the company. The second aspect of Cosby’s 14 steps is the formation of a management level quality improvement team (QIT) with responsibility for quality improvement process planning and administration. As such, it can be noted that EuroCab has structures meant to improve quality from the human resource and physical aspects of the process. Sarah is responsible for the human resources while Jean is responsible for the physical process. However, they have encountered particular problems in implementing the (QIT). Jean’s experience showed that the main problem was that the members of the assembly department lacked common understanding of quality related issues and the major problem encountered was of scratching of the material used. On the other hand, Sarah discovered that while the general management and supervisors were emphasising the importance of quality, they had a tendency of laying all the blame on shop floor workers. However, through Sarah’s efforts, it can be seen that building QIT is essential for the viability of the organisation. Essentially, quality circles in this case are groups of people that consist of a number of workers who meet regularly to with their superiors to discuss quality problems and to find joint solutions through the process of group problem solving (Swanepoel, 1998). In this case, team work is being implemented but what is missing is coordination between the management and the subordinates. The third factor is concerned with determining where current and potential quality problems lie. In this case, scratching is the biggest problem and measures have been put in place to establish the source of this problem through monitoring various check points. This greatly helped the company to improve on the saw and pierce activities where scratching has been the greatest problem. According to the details of the case study, this improved the downstream operations. The fourth step is concerned with the evaluation of the cost of quality and explaining its use as a management tool to measure waste. In this case, the cost for scrap over the two month period was ff103 400 and ff81 680 for the posts and X members respectively. This helped the organisation to put measures to check the levels of waste to desired levels. Step number five is concerned with raising quality awareness and personal concern for quality amongst all employees. However, it seems that this step is still far from being met at EuroCab as there are no structures to involve all the members of the organisation in the decision making process concerned with quality issues. It seems that the operations of the organisation are geared towards productivity which entails that the aspect of quality is often overlooked. The sixth step involves taking corrective actions, using established formal systems to remove the root causes of problems. Whilst efforts are being made by Jean in particular, it can be seen that there is no proper coordination between the influential members of the organisation and the other departments. Step number seven is concerned with establishing a zero defects committee and programme. Currently, primary concern for EuroCab is productivity which hampers on its efforts to establish this particular committee. The employees as well as the responsible authorities are primarily concerned with meeting the highest volume of the products manufactured. Little efforts are thus being made as noted in the case study of EuroCab. Training the supervisors and managers is the eighth step and its focus is on achieving understanding by all managers and supervisors of the steps in the quality improvement programme such that they can explain it in turn. However, this is not the case given that Tripont Fabrice, the Electrical Assembly team leader states that it is difficult in practice to meet the quality standard expectations given that they have been told to produce 25 % more cabinets each week and they have to use everything in sight to meet the target. He aptly states that they have no time to focus on the Improvement team which is a draw back on this step. Step 9 is about holding a zero defects day to establish the attitude and expectation within the company. In this case, there is no such event and this important point is missed along the way. On the other hand, step 10 encourages the setting of goals for improvement. While efforts are being made, the problem is that there are no concerted efforts put in order to achieve this feat by the management. Obstacle reporting is absent in the operations of EuroCab which forms Cosby’s 11th step in his fourteen point plan. Employees encounter defective supplies but they are compelled to use what is available since their goal is target driven. Cosby’s 12th step suggests the need to give formal recognition to all participants so as to ensure the successful implementation of quality programmes but it seems that Pierre who is a member of senior management is of the view that everything must be directed to lower level employees. This is problematic given that there will be no mutual understanding among the members of the organisation. Recognising all the members is not an end in itself given that Cosby also suggested the 13th factor which highlights the need to establish quality councils for quality management information sharing. Measures are being put in place at EuroCab through the efforts of Sarah and Jean to establish membership of improvement teams though they are facing some challenges especially in the initial stages. The fourteenth step is concerned with repeating the process again then forming a new quality improvement team. Whilst strides have been made towards the formation of quality improvement teams, the major obstacle still affecting EuroCab is that there is need for reorientation of all the workers to share the same goals and vision of the organisation. 2. It has been noted that EuroCab has decided to appoint a new Operations Director, Marianne Martin six months later. Having been recruited from Motorola, she announces plans to implement Six Sigma within the company. As such, this part of the essay seeks to critically analyse the extent to which the methodology can be implemented within the company, including any changes which will need to be made. Basically, six sigma was developed at Motorola as a method to improve performance and process quality. It was first used to improve the manufacturing process and was later developed to improve the business capabilities. It mainly relies on using statistical techniques to solve problems. Basically, this methodology is based on the notion that for a company to improve its performance, there is need for continuous improvement of the existing product, processes and organisational performance. As noted in the case study, EuroCab has experienced rapid growth in sales and profits mainly for three reasons. Firstly, the market grew rapidly as a result of the rapid development of infrastructure in Europe, secondly, it provided excellent technical support designing sophisticated products and thirdly, it has been willing to do more value added work to improve its products. As such, this method is ideal given that EuroCab ought to improve its already existing product given that it has been popular with the customers. The only thing that is required is to improve the products to reach high performance standards since the aspect of quality has been of concern to the organisation. In order for EuroCab to successfully implement the six sigma methodology, it ought to set statistical as well as other quality tools that are applied in a particular way so as to establish the current position and the desired state of performance. Thus, in order to effectively implement this strategy, the organisation ought to acquire and analyse data then act upon the results of the analysis. The problem bedeviling this organisation is that there are no measures in place to establish the cause of the problem hence collection of statistical data is effective in solving this problem. The term sigma in this particular case is a reference to the distribution of measures around the performance process of the organisation. Thus, major changes will be needed in the area of team performance. There is need for synergy of the efforts of all members of the organisation to pull their efforts towards the attainment of the set goals. In order to fully implement the six sigma methodology, the following tools illustrated in the diagram below can be followed. As shown in the diagram above, there is need for the organisation to first identify and define things that are important to the customer. This is followed by collecting relevant data that can be used in measuring the performance. This is followed by analysing the defects in order to improve them. Controlling is the last stage. In order to fully implement the six sigma methodology, every member of the organisation has a part to play and the tasks are divided according to the level of responsibility. In this regard, there is need to ensure that the team members actively participate and this is the first stage comprised of the yellow belts. The green belts in this case will focus on delivering focused projects using the six sigma tools mentioned above. The leader of the team, black belts implements the six sigma methodology and the mentor coaches the others in the organisation. Basically, if carefully implemented, this methodology is effective in turning around the fortunes of the organisation with regards to its performance. Over and above, it can be noted that quality related issues play a pivotal role in giving the organisation a competitive advantage. As discussed in the case of EuroCab, it can be seen that the major problem affecting the organisation is related to its quality concerns since it does not fully meet all of Crosby’s fourteen point plans that are widely regarded as effective in as far as quality issues are concerned. As discussed in the second part of the essay, the six sigma methodology can be effective in implementing changes in the way the company operates. References Department of Trade and Industry, 2011, The original quality gurus, viewed 31 March, 2011, Kotler, P & Armstrong G 2004, Principles of Marketing, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River: NJ. Porter ME 1985, Competitive Advantage; Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, The Free Press: New York. Schultz, H et al 2003, Organisational behaviour, Van Schaik Publishers: CT. Slack, N, Chambers, S & Johnston, R 2007, Managing improvement - the TQM approach in Operations Management, 5th Ed, Prentice Hall: NY. Swanepoel, BJ 1998, Human resources management: Theory and practice, Juta: CT. Read More