Total Quality Management

What is Total Quality Management (TQM)

Total Quality management is an organizational method of continuous improvement of quality of all organization processes. TQM is defined as focused on quality, concentrated on customer, based on facts, managed team process. TQM is not a program, it's a systematic, integrated and well organized work style aimed at constant improvement.

Main idea of TQM is that the company should work not only on quality of goods, but as well on quality of work organization in the company including work of the personnel. Constant simultaneous improvement of the following 3 constituents will make business develop faster and more efficient:

• Quality of goods
• Quality of process organization
• Qualification of the personnel

TQM Essentials

Juran, one of the founders of this management technique offered the idea of quality trilogy: quality planning, quality improvement and quality management. Those three aspects of strategic quality planning in organization include:

1. Quality planning:

• Identification of customers
• Definition of their demands
• Translation of their demands to your language
• Development of the product that addresses your customers' demands
• Optimization of product characteristics so that it addresses demands of both you and your customers

2. Quality improvement

• Development of the process that can produce the necessary product
• Optimization of this process

3. Quality management

• Checkup that the process with existing operational requirements is able to produce this product
• Process execution

How Grapholite can help

Grapholite allows you to easier create a TQM diagram by offering the following abilities:

• complete set of TQM elements right under your fingertips, just look at the toolbox;
• Smart drawing tools, automatic connectors and shape library to create flow charts of processes, algorithms and procedures;
• Export to the most commonly used picture and document formats.

A TQM Diagram is used to create a flowchart for Total Quality Management projects. TQM diagrams are useful for drawing improvement plans and quality solutions.

How to improve quality

According to Joseph Juran it is necessary to:

1. Form understanding of the necessity in quality work and create opportunity for quality improvement.

2. Set goals for continuous activity improvement.

3. Make organization that will work on goals achievement by creating conditions for problems definition, selection of projects by forming teams and appointing coordinators.

4. Provide trainings to all company employees. Training must be offered to employees in order to ensure that the individuals can provide the best customer service on products and services offered by the business.

5. Fulfill projects to solve the problems.

6. Inform employees about the achieved improvements.

7. Express recognition to employees who made significant contribution to quality improvement. Employees and customers should be recognized and appreciated for their unique contributions to the business.

8. Inform about the results.

9. Register success.

10. Implement achievements you made in other systems and processes regularly functioning in the company.

There are also some more important principles in implementation of efficient TQM.

Communication is a key element of success. It is necessary to make sure that all levels of communication are open. Show integrity and transparency; all business endeavors should be honest. Organize efficient teamwork by implying to the employees that by working together as a single unit, and making good use of their talents can result in many various benefits in the business. Leadership must be effective, positive, and constructive. Trust must be maintained within all levels of the business — both internal and external.