Concepts Approach for the Operations Performance Improvement - Dissertation Example

?Research HOW HAVE TQM AND JIT CONCEPTS TRANSFORMED THE AUTO MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY GLOBALLY Introduction In the recent decades, many concepts, practices and approaches have been presented for the operations’ performance improvement. Two in particular have remained the highlight of this discussion: total quality management (TQM) and just-in-time (JIT). The Japanese initiated the idea of TQM in the 1950s where the approach was implemented in repetitive manufacturing industry particularly in automobile where this approach proved to provide a long term productivity and quality improvement (Nakamura et al. 1997). Although this approach was first taught by American thinkers Deming and Juran in 1950s, Americans had not adopted and taken advantage of it (Nakamura et al. 1997). Later in the years, evolution of the JIT principles took place which was integrated in the automobile industry and other manufacturing industries which functioned on the TQM framework (Nakamura et al. 1997). The Western civilization implemented these two approaches in reverse order with JIT preceding TQM. Although these two approaches have been independently implemented very often, they are also used in integration for many operations. Theoretical Framework It is because of the Japanese that the industrial world revolutionized given their two approaches: TQM and JIT. Both these concepts have similar principles and goals which aim to continuous improvement and waste reduction (Flynn et al. 1995). TQM is a set of manufacturing principles that aim to sustain the quality of the products and processes by continuously improving it with the involvement of the management, customers and suppliers (Cua et al. 2001). There are nine TQM practices that are common in its principles: customer involvement, supplier quality management, committed leadership, cross-functional product design, cross-functional training, strategic planning, information, employee involvement and feedback (Cua et al. 2001). In contrast, JIT is a set of principles with aims to continuously reduce and eliminate all waste forms (Kanan and Tan, 2005). Similar to TQM, nine practices are common within JIT: strategic planning, employee involvement, committed leadership, cross-functional training, daily schedule adherence, set-up time reduction, functional equipment layout, delivery by supplier and pull system production (Kanan and Tan, 2005). JIT is an important strategic element in the manufacturing process because of the waste produced in the mass production system such as waiting (in time), processing, transporting, overproducing, unnecessary stock-on-hand, defective goods production and unnecessary motion (Cua et al. 2001). If JIT is implemented, the result would be no excess production without demand. Thus, the element of waste elimination is justification for JIT to be implemented in any process of manufacturing (Nakamura et al. 1997). The strategic importance of both these concepts exists in its usage if integrated with the management and adopted in conjunction with the advanced technology in manufacturing combined with TQM and JIT approaches (Cua et al. 2001). According to Flynn et al. (1995), the benefits of JIT can only be harnessed if the philosophy is part of the TQM philosophy. This is because together TQM and JIT are capable of pushing the problems back to the starting point of the manufacturing process until a point is identified as preventable (Flynn et al. 1995). It is a simple philosophy that every problem has a reason and every reason is therefore avoidable. Therefore, in order words, the philosophy of TQM/JIT rests on the principle that if the problem is detected soon, it can be fixed in the timely manner (Kanan and Tan, 2005). Although the idea of incorporating different elements of different philosophies is not always acceptable as a wise choice as limited empirical research exists on its link with performance, still it is believed and proved by different authors that the TQM and JIT elements can provide positive results in the performance of manufacturing (Flynn et al. 1995). Therefore, the implementation of these two concepts is very commonly seen in many auto manufacturing companies which have proved itself globally such as Toyota and General Motors although both belong to different sides of the world who adopted the TQM and JIT philosophies in different time periods and in different manners. Aims and Objectives This research paper will compare the era before TQM and JIT emerged as concepts and era after its implementation and will also provide recommendations for the problems that are and may rise between the usages of concepts across different manufacturers globally. The paper will explore the Toyota and General Motors implementation of TQM and JIT as sufficient information can be gathered on these two companies. The paper will look into the ways Toyota and General Motors conduct their manufacturing operations and how it is relevant to the TQM and JIT they use. The aims and objectives of this paper are: To identify the characteristics of a TQM and JIT To explore the extent to which these concepts affect the manufacturing process of the auto industry. To explore the extent to which TQM and JIT differ in respect of different countries and companies To identify the principles of TQM and JIT that exceeds the geographical boundaries. Research Questions This theoretical research will aim to answer the following questions in order to achieve its aims and objectives: Which characteristics and practices of TQM and JIT are accepted globally? Are those characteristics and practices only accepted and effective in some companies? To what extent do the geographical boundaries affect the usage of TQM and JIT? Can the TQM and JIT concept in one company be applicable to other companies? Why do the implementation of TQM and JIT differ across companies? Methodology Research Method Since gathering the data directly from the auto-manufacturers will not be possible as it outside the researcher’s limits, the research method will be based on theoretical review of the literature. No qualitative or quantitative method will be deployed. The theoretical research method will use only the secondary sources available. For this research a literature review method along with case study method will be explored so that the theories and literature discussed in the review can be authenticated using the case studies. The case study will be from the Toyota and General Motors. Data Collection Method The data will be collected from secondary resources such as newspapers, articles, journals, books, periodicals and internet search (Skinner et al., 2000). The data collection will constitute data on concepts and theory relating to TQM and JIT and its implications across different auto-manufacturing companies. In order to make the research results specific and generalized two manufacturing companies will be studied namely Toyota and General Motors which are the biggest auto companies in the world. Research Design The research design is being based on the evaluation of diverse academic literatures as well as articles (Skinner et al., 2000). The data will be collected from a wide range of resources such as journals, periodicals, articles, and internet so that views of different authors can be taken into consideration when writing the conclusion and recommendations. The analysis of the research will not take into account the scientific processes as it is not needed in secondary research. Time Scale Activity Time Preparation of the Research Proposal 7 days Data gathering activities 15 days Writing the Literature Review 20 days Analyzing the Literature Review 10 days Writing the report 15 days Research Limitations This is secondary research which opens up many limitations in the research field. These limitations can be analysis ambiguities resulting from human error or understanding (Skinner et al 2000). Since it is a secondary research paper, no scientific research is carried, limiting the scope and analysis of the research which can have an effect on the results of the research as the results can become subjective rather than being objective (Skinner et al 2000). Time constraint is another limitation, as the researcher can only look into minimum of the resources out of thousands of text available on the research topic of ‘TQM and JIT are transforming the auto industry.’ This could give rise to the subjective issues because much time and dedication is required time to collect the required information and then to analyze it. The researcher’s ability to understand and describe the data can also be a limitation. REFERENCES Cua, K., McKone, K. and Schroeder, R. 2001. Relationships between implementation of TQM, JIT, and TPM and manufacturing performance. Journal of Operation Management Vol.19: 675-694 Flynn, B., Sakakibara, S., Schroeder, R. 1995. Relationship between JIT and TQM: practices and performance. Academy of Management Journal Vol.38(3):1325–1360. Kannan, V. and Tan, C. 2005. Just-in-time, total quality management, and supply chain management: understanding their linkages and impact on business performance. Omega Vol. 33(2): 153-162 Nakamura, M., Sakakibara, S., Schroeder, R. 1997. Adoption of just-in-time manufacturing at US and Japanese owned plants: some empirical evidence. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management Vol. 45(3):230–240 Skinner, D., Tagg, C. & Holloway, J. (2000) Managers and Research. Management Learning, Vol. 31 (2) Read More