Total Quality Management and Lean Manufacturing - Assignment Example

Operations Management Systems Introduction Operations management usually entails activities that are needed in management of materials and development of these materials to ensure quality production of goods and services that satisfy the expectation of the clients. This organ, through the operation managers, is highly vital in management of resources, how they are acquired and used and ensuring that the operation function, which is also within this structure, delivers to the expectations of companies and clients. In ensuring that this works, operations management has several tactics and plans on resource management. These include quality control measures, selecting the best machines for production, maintaining higher levels of security, being potent in project management and proper maintenance of tools and equipments among other strategies. This paper addresses the case evaluation of Toyota and Total quality management by looking at the TQM methodologies and tools, some of the steps that were required in developing TQM at Toyota, how it was implemented at the company, how it worked, TQM criticism and finally how the company responded to the new plan of management. Body Total Quality management (TQM) is a management structure that mainly intends at improving production standards by using the already existing organs, for example, quality control (Besterfield, 2011). It is organized into four levels; Plan, Do, Check and Act, which is commonly abbreviated as PDCA. At the first level, Plan, there is identification of an issue, could be a challenge or a problem with all the relevant information concerning it not leaving out the problem,s main cause. It then develops further to the Do level where possible solutions are looked into. These further progresses into checking where the concerned parties do data comparison before it moves to the final stage where recommendations to the problems are done (Rawlins, 2008). Toyota motors is one of the companies that has successfully implemented Total Quality Management to ensure high quality products that serves their clients with contentment hence leading to success of the company, including the success of the society. Methodologies and Tools These refer to an accurate system used to justify a state of event or situation, which can be used in data analysis and, in turn, lead to accurate decision-making. Some of the tools and methodologies that are employed by TQM are the management tools, quality control tools and the improvement cycle, which is commonly referred to as PDCA (Besterfield, 2011). In ensuring that the production level at Toyota Company has improved, TQM drastically brought about changes in management level, which is totally recommended in ensuring that the company has realized its goals through minimizing wastes and ensuring that every level of production is satisfied (Rawlins, 2008). Steps in the Development of TQM at Toyota The idea was brought about by Toyota and it was previously known as Total productive maintenance (TPM) (Rawlins, 2008). This idea sprawled from one genius known as Edwards Deming who came up with the idea of PDCA. This idea developed to ensure the success of the company by taking into account the needs of the company and responding to the demands of the customers and at the same time motivating the employees to ensure that the customer is ever satisfied, through identification of problems and finding amicable solution to them. In the development of this, one of the problems, which were identified, was wear of the machine parts, which was caused by accumulation of dirt and to counteract this, there, were new strategies on production measures (Nigam, 2005). To begin with, the employees were involved in the machines management process. They were to take care of the machines through documenting information about how the machines operated currently and initially with a precise history about the machines (Suganthi & Samuel, 2006). A regular maintenance process was also put in place to remove the dirt, which was the major cause of wearing of the machine parts, and unlike before. They began taking into consideration maintenance issues with lots of seriousness, for example, replacement of the old parts and in cases of vibrating parts immediate fixing was to be done. By doing all this, the company intended to satisfy their customers, employees, improve standards of their products and generally maintain high standards of manufacturing process, which would then reciprocate to great competency in their production as clearly stated in their vision and mission. The Implementation Process To ensure that the TQM was fully and effectively implemented, Toyota Company first of all formed a quality management system to monitor the effectiveness of this by looking at some of its strengths, in relation to the customers as far as the products requirement is concerned and satisfaction of the employee too. After it was satisfactorily concluded that the new idea was best in meeting the company standards and creating even further improvements. It was given a go ahead and that is when the company started involving its employees in machine management process, which was looked at with great optimism that it would lead the company in realization of its objectives (Besterfield, 2011). How TQM worked at Toyota `TQM primarily focuses on proper management of resources, which results into high standards of production (Nigam, 2005). It involves high concentration on machine maintenance, which entails careful examination of any irregularity in machine operation. Through this, employees are also considered since their labor is also a significant element as far as production is concerned. TQM also looked into dirt and chips, which were the major causes of wearing of machines. This too improved the hygiene, which factored into well being of the employees too. TQM Criticism In as much as the idea seems to be the turning point in most organizations due to great conviction it brings, it can only be fully and effectively implemented if the employees and other concerned parties are ready to work and accept changes in the new system of management. Also unlike other systems, Total quality management only affects a small portion of the organization or company (Suganthi & Samuel, 2006). Response of the Company TQM brought about new changes to the company and this resulted into general improvement of the company as the level of production went up and everyone was satisfied ranging from the employees to the customers due to the new management systems, which were created. The table bellow shows the company response: 2004 July “Three-year program promoting an award from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology started” (Besterfield, 2011). 2007 2008 May Outstanding Clerical Suggestion Award created (Besterfield, 2011). June Creative Idea Guidelines adopted (Besterfield, 2011). November Creative Idea Suggestion Performance Statistics System put into operation December Screening standards reviewed; - Scope of external improvement and suggestion assessment expanded according to TMC investment ratio (Besterfield, 2011). 2009 January Creative Idea Administrative Offices shifted from Production Engineering Planning Division to TQM Promotion Division (Besterfield, 2011). April First Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for most awards won July Annual commendation system reviewed; - Best Effort Award, Income Contribution Award, and others created (Besterfield, 2011). Conclusion As I conclude on this paper, operation management is very important as far as production is concerned in any organization because this will ensure that the products are of high quality and serves their consumers with satisfaction. Some of the key things to look at when dealing with management issues includes the machines, the employees and the consumers. These three elements determine the success of a company or an organization. Recommendation I, therefore, recommend that it is necessary for every organization to have an operation management system to ensure effective and profitable production. References Besterfield, Dale H. (2011). Total quality management. Delhi: Dorking Kindersley. Nigam, S. (2005). Total quality management: An integrated approach. New Delhi: Excel Books. Rawlins, R. A. (2008). Total quality management (TQM). Milton Keynes: AuthorHouse. Suganthi, L., & Samuel, A. A. (2006). Total quality management. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India. Read More