Timmerhus UK Ltd - Quality and Environmental Management Systems - Report Example

Quality and Environmental Management Systems Report Introduction The report is based on the Timmerhus UK Ltd; a company that deals with the manufacturing of high specifications fabricated timber houses. Despite the company having a wide range of production capacities that entail different designs tailored towards individual requirements, the company recently faces the challenge of increment in the number of defects among the finished products. This has led to an increment of costs related to rectification of the problem and recycling units of the products spoilt. The company also faces the challenge of keeping track of all units produced, as there are instances in which components have been missing, leading to delays on the site, hence extension of delays in completion of other projects. Despite being a large and recognized company, it lacks a team that would ensure quality management, an indication that there is no quality management system in place. The matter has been of concern to the management team and the company’s board of directors believes that an efficient quality management system can help eliminate various challenges that the company is facing. There have also been suggestions to setting up an Environmental Management System (EMS) that if possible, shall be integrated with the Quality Management System (QMS) to form a single but complete management system. This paper shall handle various concepts in relation to quality management in order to assist the company come up with an appropriate management system that shall suite their needs. Total Quality Management In the world full of competition in the field of business, it is crucial for organizations to organize their activities regarding total quality management in a careful way. Currently, most organizations have adopted the concept of total quality management to ensure success in solving various quality challenges facing an organization in relation to its products. Companies should be in a position to supply their customers with quality products to the customer’s satisfaction. Researchers have established that total quality management concerns the optimization and integration of all necessary functions and processes in the production of goods and services (WILEY). In order for the Timmerhus UK Ltd to implement a successful total quality management system, several measures have to be implemented. They can include manufacture of products in accordance to the requirements stipulated by customers. A disciplined approach to management of employees will be required in order for them to manage the quality of output. This will be a crucial move towards reduction if not complete elimination of defective products. The company will be required to come up with a methodology that will be used to solve problems in order to ensure continued improvement process. While total quality management focuses on the primary cause of the problem and correction measures at the source, it stresses that quality is customer driven (WILEY). The concept of total quality management is compounded by various philosophies making up TQM. The first philosophy is focus on customers, the sole focus of all companies. According to customer’s perceptions, quality of a product is defined as meeting or exceeding his or her expectations. In order for a company to meet this requirement, it needs to identify the needs of its customers then implement necessary measures to meet them. According to the stipulations of TQM, a product of lesser value does not meet the customer’s requirements. Although quality tends to be customer driven, it is difficult to identify customer needs due to changes in tastes and preferences (Allotey 2008). The philosophy of continuous improvement (Kaizen) focuses on continued product development. As opposed to traditional assumption that there would be no need for further improvements once a firm attained a certain level of quality, continuous improvements would be beneficial to a company. Although the company of study is faced with the challenge of defective finished goods, it would not be wise for it to employ traditional methods of managing quality (Rawlins 2008). Continuous improvement commonly referred to as kaizen by the Japanese aims at encouraging companies to strive continually for perfection through learning and problem solving. Evaluation is a crucial tool, towards improving the performance since perfection can hardly be achieved. The philosophy advocates for plan-do- study- act cycle and benchmarking as tool of evaluation (WILEY). Employee empowerment entails empowering the company’s employees to speak out quality problems and initiate measures to correct them (Macdougall 2009). Following the traditional TQM, employees were afraid to point out quality problems, hence being passed to someone else. The new concepts of TQM advocate for the provision of incentives to employees to enable them uncover quality problems, and such should be rewarded as a form of motivation (Macdougall 2009). In addition, workers are crucial efforts through which an organization can achieve high quality output since they are empowered to make crucial decisions on what to be implemented during the production process. Just the way a defective product cannot be passed to an external customer, the same case should apply to internal ones (Tennant 2011). A great emphasis should be laid on teamwork since many people come up with different ideas and work together to correct prevailing problems. Utilization of quality tools is a philosophy that lays emphasis on proper training of employees to identify the right quality problems. Quality control tools help in identification and assessment of quality, interpret findings, and provide ways through which the problem can be solved. The cause and effect diagram is a chart that identifies potential and other causes of quality problems (Rawlins2008). A flow chart allows the company to stipulate a systematic sequence of steps to be involved in an operation or the production process. Through this, every worker is able to develop a clear picture of how the operation works and easily identify areas that a problem could arise. Pareto analysis is a tool that a company should employ in identification of quality problems based on the product’s level of importance. The analysis stipulates that only a small number of quality problems are important whereas others are not. Control charts stipulate whether a given process operates within the expectations set or not. On the other hand, the checklist shows the number of common defects and their frequency in occurring. Timmerhus UK Ltd should employ various tools of quality management to solve the problem that the company is facing. Checklist for instance, can be used to record the number of defectives and their frequencies. This enables the workers responsible gather the information regarding the actual number of defects. Where the number is quite high, a careful evaluation of the production plant is necessary to establish the hitch and correct it. The company should also come up with a production flowchart that stipulates the steps to be followed during production. The flowchart is also quite vital as it helps workers detect where a problem is likely to occur and can be corrected even before undertaking the actual production process. However, this cannot be successful without knowledgeable employees. To ensure successful execution of this step, the company can put up a program to train all people as a way of empowering them (Bower 2006). On the issue of missing components, employees from the purchasing department should be careful, enough not to receive input and other material that do not meet the requirements of ordered quantity. ISO 9001 ISO 9001 is a quality management system standard that gives stipulations of how a company should manage its activities efficiently and ensure requirements by customers are met consistently (Blokdijk 2008). The standard provides a set of requirements that a company, regardless of size or industry of venture should meet on setting up and running an efficient quality management system. In additional, the standard is acceptable in that it provides internationally recognized standards that provide the best practice for managing quality. However, the standard does not have provisions of how it should meet the requirements stipulated. The responsibility of a particular company is to come up with measures that work best for them to achieve the stipulations (BSI Group). Timmerhus UK Ltd should come up with a quality management system that incorporates most of the principles stipulated by the ISO 9001. The company should strive towards meeting customer expectations. It is through this that the company gets to a position to eliminate the number of defective units produced. In addition, there is need by the company to carry out a market research in order for it to understand the prevailing and future trends concerning customer needs. There is also the need to involve all people with the operation of the company (BSI Group). Employees can provide crucial information regarding disappearance of materials and technical or other hitches that contribute to defective products (Jackson, Schuler & Werner 2012). Ideas generated by employees when implemented can lead to better quality, hence cost saving due decreased number of defective products. Timmerhus’ leadership should be geared towards unity of purpose in which all employees should be guided towards working for a common goal. The management should maintain an environment in which people are involved in achieving overall objectives of the organization. The management should be concerned with disappearance of some raw materials within the company. This is an indication that the fault could be attributed to employees’ morality, which is not aligned towards the company’s common goals and objectives. Defective products could be because of a defective production process. The management should embrace the fact that desired products could only be because of a well-managed production process. Measures such as regular inspection of raw materials and production plants among others should be implemented to ensure elimination of defective products and continuous improvement. On the other hand, the company can gather information from various customers and come up with an effective and quality policy relevant to serve the purpose of the company (Rawlins2008). In planning for the system, the company should also allocate responsibilities and establish effective processes that will enable it reduce the defective products and reduce costs incurred by the company. Timmerhus should plan for ways to manage its resources, a move that will help reduce costs related to loss of raw materials and defective products. The company should ensure implementation and improvement of the quality management system to provide competent resources. The company should decide on the favorable competencies and skills that their employees should possess. Gaps and weaknesses depicted by various employees can be sealed through training and coaching. The company should evaluate the existing infrastructure and provide facilities and equipment needed for effective and efficient performance. A regular evaluation of the infrastructure is crucial in ensuring production of quality products. Independent third party certification and ISO 9001 Following third party certification, there is an independent assessment that declares the achievement of certain specifications in relation to a product, company’s resources and management system. A third party is an organization that certifies a certain company on the quality of its products (Charterd Quality Institute). This serves as a source of confidence to customers towards what they are purchasing due to inspection by an independent body (UNITE FOR SITE). The third party can withhold certification if a company fails to meet expected standards. In addition, it can serve the role of advisor on what measures to be implemented. In order for an organization to acquire the ISO certification, it has to register with the relevant body of registrars that vary from one state to another. The company seeking the certification, which is then filed and sent to the registrar (Charterd Quality Institute), fills an online questionnaire. The registrar reviews the information provided, then issue a quotation for a maximum of three-year cycle. During this time, a body of registered auditors conducts several accredited audits within the company. On acceptance of the quotation, the company submits a signed application to the registrar, who issues a confirmation receipt of first year’s fee. Company’s procedures, manuals, and other system documents are reviewed in comparison to the requirements of the ISO standards (Phillips 2009). On completion of the first audit, the auditor discusses and confirms the audit registration date. Another and complex audit on the firm begins with a meeting between the auditor and the company in question. A closing meeting is convened on completion of the audit that gives details of findings and recommendations of the audit (Phillips 2009). A report is then submitted to the registrar who issues the company with an ISO certificate after rectification of all loopholes pointed out in the audit report (AJA REGISTRARS LTD (UK). Relevant legislation and regulations to be adhered to by Timmerhus UK Ltd In the management of quality, an organization should adhere to criminal and civil law, product recall and CE marking as the major legislations and regulations of concern. Criminal law entails protecting customers and the entire society against harm because of utilizing defective or poor quality products. Civil law ensures compensations to those who suffer harm or loss (Allotey 2008). All these processes of justice can be achieved through the involvement of court system depending on the type of case, civil or criminal. However, Timmerhus UK Ltd is most likely to face charges based on the civil law due to its defective products. First, it depicts non-fulfillment of the contract between the company and the customer as the company fails to meet customer specifications. How ISO 9001 can effectively be managed on an ongoing basis The Plan Do Check Act is the operating principle governing all ISO standards of management systems. Through this cycle, companies are able to manage their quality and continually improve the organization’s effectiveness. Planning entails establishment of objectives, setting interim targets and developing plans of achieving them. Plans established are then implemented, followed by a close monitor of the actual results in comparison to planned objectives. Where there are deviations, the management should take the initiative to correct and improve plans to yield better results (Johnson & Kazense 2008). References AJA REGISTRARS LTD (UK). The Certification and Registration Process. N.d. 14th March, 2013. http://www.ajaregistrars.co.uk/certprocess.html Allotey, A. 2008. Implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) - The Issue of National Culture. München, GRIN Verlag GmbH. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1- 201009099315. Blokdijk, G. 2008.ISO 9000, ISO 9001 100 success secrets: the missing ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9001 2000, ISO 9000 2000, checklist, certification, quality, audit and training guide. S.l: Gerard Blokdijk. Bower, J. L. 2006. Managing the resource allocation process: a study of corporate planning and investment. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press. BSI Group. ISO 9001 Quality Management: How it Works. N.d. accessed 13th March, 2013. http://www.bsigroup.com/Documents/iso-9001/resources/iso-9001-product-guide.pdf Charterd Quality Institute. The CQI Policy on Third Party Certification to ISO 9001. N.d. Accessed 13th March, 2013. http://www.thecqi.org/The-CQI/Policy/CQI-policy-third- party-certification-to-ISO-9001/ Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Werner, S. 2012. Managing human resources. Mason, Ohio: South Western cengage learning. Johnson, R. S., & Kazense, L. E. 2008. TQM: the mechanics of quality processes. Milwaukee: ASQC Quality Press. Macdougall, R. 2009. Resource management. Palo Alto Calif: Sun Microsystems. Phillips, A. W. 2009. ISO 9001:2008 Internal Audits Made Easy: Tools, Techniques, And Step-By-Step Guidelines For Successful Internal Audits. Milwaukee: Asq Quality Press. Rawlins, R. A. 2008. Total Quality Management (Tqm). Milton Keynes: Authorhouse Tennant, G. 2011. Six Sigma: Spc And Tqm In Manufacturing And Services. Aldershot [U.A.]: Gower. UNITE FOR SITE. Third Party Certification and Quality Standards. N.d 14th March, 2013. http://www.uniteforsight.org/innovation-certificate/certifications WILEY. Total Quality Management. N.d. Accessed 13th March,2013. http://www.wiley.com/college/sc/reid/chap5.pdf Read More