Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Quality Control
Re: continuous Improvement vs. quality control
Your last email asked me to define the management philosophy of continuous improvement, versus the engineering concept of quality control, and asked what concept would better support the goals of our organization. In a nutshell, continuous improvement focuses on making changes in the methods of production by constantly eliminating the most wasteful processes of a production line, and building upon the process that generate the highest levels of productivity. Change is constant, quality is never a destination, and improvement is a gradual and methodical process rather than something that requires seismic changes in corporate leadership or methods. "It involves making the work environment more efficient and effective by creating a team atmosphere, improving everyday procedures, ensuring employee satisfaction and making a job more fulfilling, less tiring and safer." ("Kaizen, Answers.com, 2006) In short, fix things constantly, before they break.
Quality control stresses the need for products to meet exact consumer specifications. If a particular mechanism or part is continually sub-par, the processes for producing that mechanism must be improved. However, the problem with quality control is that it can encourage an organization to rest on its laurels, if current production methods are meeting quality goals. This can cause the organization to fall behind as competitor discovers a way to do things better, faster, and more efficiently, essentially raising the bar or standards of the industry, much as Toyota, the originator of the continuous improvement philosophy, did for the car industry. Even when quality control mandates that the least wasteful processes always be eliminated, by creating a mechanism with the continual improvement philosophy where change is an accepted part of the company atmosphere, the organizational actors tend to be more responsive to the need of sweeping changes in the modes of production, and also tend to find more creative solutions to potential problems that lie outside of current corporate methodology. In short, what organization would you wish to emulate -- Toyota, with its constant innovation, or the tried-and-true model of GM? The answer, in light of recent business history, seems clear.
Works Cited
Kaizen." Answers.com. Retrieved 30 Oct 2006 at http://www.answers.com/topic/kaizen
(1993). The critical organizational departments involved in any TQM effort include the procurement and sourcing, manufacturing and production, fulfillment, marketing, sales, and service, all of which form the value chain of how organizations produce, sell and service products. The major actors or participants in the process are first and foremost the purchasing and procurement, and supply chain departments of an organization, which must have a specific set of quality
Quality Circles ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: ARE QUALITY CIRCLES EFFECTIVE Quality Circles became popular during the mid 1980s, when buzzwords such as Total Quality Management and efficiency teams became popularized in U.S. companies seeking to gain a competitive advantage over international production giants including Japanese manufacturers. A great deal of controversy exists however, as to whether or not quality circles truly accomplish what they are set out to do: improve organizational efficiency, worker productivity
Checking the solution to the problem works as a check and balance system to the health care industry. An example may be problems with staffing. The plan could be developed to allow nurses to handle their own scheduling as long as all needed shifts and duties are covered. The plan could allow nurses to sign up for schedules and then submit their schedules to management for approval. The do
Improvement in an Organization That Can Benefit a Customer An improvement to the organization, which will benefit the customer The best porter's generic strategy is the distinction strategy; this will help the business to differentiate its service delivery in some way that will help to attract customers. This will overcome the wave of supernumerary services and challenger access. This strategy is the best because it will allow the company to institute changes
Quality of Life Among Tawau Hospital Sufering From Knee Osteoarthritis With Physiotherapy Qualitative study of How Quality of Life of Tawau Hospital Staff Suffering from Knee Osteoarthritis have been improved at Physiotherapy Unit. To investigate how the Quality of Life among Tawau Hospital staff suffering from Osteoarthritis (knees) have been improved using Physiotherapy intervention. The study employs qualitative techniques to collect data. The sample population is selected from people and Tawau Hospital staff visiting the
Normally, the designer's direct involvement into the user-research process is noted to be limited. There is however a need for a close collaboration between the researchers and the designers so that the quality attributes that are desired by the clients are adequately included into the final product (Donnelly, 2000). It is therefore clear that for the user's perceptions of quality to be adequately captured and incorporated into the design and production