Assignment 6

Name: Abhiram Sridhara, UCID: as2488, Course: TQM

1. Explain why continual quality improvement is
important.
Continual quality improvement is important for the following
reasons:
Look upstream: Look for causes, not symptoms. This is a
difficult point to make with people who are used to taking a
cursory glance at a situation and putting out the fire as quickly as
possible without taking the time to determine what caused it.
Document problems and progress: Take the time to write it
down. It is not uncommon for an organization to continue solving
the same problem over and over again because nobody took the
time to document the problems that have been dealt with and
how they were solved. A fundamental rule for any improvement
project team is document, document, and document.
Monitor changes: Regardless of how well studied a problem is,
the solution eventually put in place may not solve it or may only
partially solve it, or it may produce unintended consequences. For
this reason, it is important to monitor the performance of a
process after changes have been implemented. It is also
important to ensure that pride of ownership on the part of those
who recommended the changes do not interfere with objective
monitoring of the changes. These activities are essential
regardless of how the improvement effort is structured.
2. What is managements role in continual
quality improvement?
Management can play the necessary leadership role and that
essentially is its rolein continual improvement by doing the
following:

 Scheduling periodic progress reviews and giving recognition

where it is deserved.
Building continual quality improvement into the regular
reward system, including promotions and pay increases.
Establishing an organization-wide quality council and serving
on it.
Working with the quality council to establish specific quality
improvement goals with timetables and target dates.
Providing the necessary moral and physical support. Moral
support manifests itself as commitment.
Physical support comes in the form of the resources needed
to accomplish the quality improvement objectives.
3. Discuss the Kaizen approach
Kaizen is the name given by the Japanese to the concept of
continual incremental improvement. Kai means change and
Zen means good. Kaizen, therefore, means making changes for
the better on a continual, never-ending basis. The improvement
aspect of Kaizen refers to people, processes, and products.
Role of middle managers: Middle managers are responsible for
implementing the Kaizen policies established by executive
management; establishing, maintaining, and improving work
standards; ensuring that employees receive the training
necessary to understand and implement Kaizen; and ensuring
that employees learn how to use all applicable problem solving
tools.
Role of supervisors: Supervisors are responsible for applying the
Kaizen approach in their functional roles, developing plans for
carrying out the Kaizen approach at the functional level,
improving communication in the workplace, maintaining morale,
providing coaching for teamwork activities, soliciting Kaizen
suggestions from employees, and making Kaizen suggestions.
Role of employees: Employees are responsible for participating in

Kaizen by taking part in teamwork activities, making Kaizen

suggestions, engaging in continual self-improvement activities,
continually enhancing job skills through education and training,
and continually broadening job skills through cross functional
training.
Kaizen and quality: In a total quality setting, quality is defined by
customers. Regardless of how customers define quality, it can
always be improved and it should be, continually. Kaizen is a
broad concept that promotes quality from the all-encompassing
Big Q perspective.
4. How would you describe a lean system?
Lean was originally developed as a manufacturing concept and,
as such, is often referred to as lean manufacturing. However, as
has happened with so many quality managementrelated
concepts, the service sectorimpressed with the results enjoyed
by practitioners of lean manufacturingbegan to adopt and adapt
the concept to this sector. Consequently, we use the term Lean
in this text to convey the message that the concept can be
applied with good results in the manufacturing and service
sectors. The purpose of adopting Lean as a business improvement
method is to produce better products or deliver better services
using fewer resources. If the concept had a motto, it would be
this: doing more with less and doing it better.
The reduction of waste approach to Lean implementation grew
out of Toyotas desire to eliminate waste in manufacturing
processes. Lean focuses on reducing and, ideally, eliminating the
following types of waste:
Overproduction waste: This amounts to making more of a
product or delivering more of a service than is needed or more
than is needed at the moment. In a manufacturing setting, this
might mean producing 100 parts when only 50 are needed. In a
service setting, it might mean pumping 20 gallons of gas for a

customer who wanted only 15.

Inventory waste: This amounts to carrying more inventory than

is needed at a given time. The concept of just in-time delivery has
the reduction of inventory as part of its broader purpose. In a
manufacturing setting, this might mean having more parts stack
up at an assembly station than can be used for a given production
run. In a service setting, this could mean a bookstore carrying
more copies of a given book than it is likely to sell.
Motion waste: This amounts to incorporating unnecessary
movement into the production process or into the delivery of
services. This was one of the targets of the time and motion
studies conducted by Frederick Taylor, who, in 1911, published
the classic book The Principles of Scientific Management. In a
manufacturing setting, this might mean programming too many
motions into a CNC milling machine. In a service setting, it might
mean having to move around the office several times to obtain
everything needed to complete paperwork.
Transportation waste: This amounts to excess movement of
parts in a manufacturing setting. In a service setting, it typically
means excess movement of people. In a manufacturing setting,
this might mean that a part is machined at one side of the shop
and must be transported all the way to the other side in order to
be finished or incorporated as part of an assembly. In a service
setting, it might mean having to transport patients to one end of
a hospital for a given test and all the way to the other for another
type of test. .
Over processing waste: This amounts to going beyond
customer requirements in ways that create no additional value
when producing a product or doing more than the customer wants
in a service setting. A manufacturing example would be holding a
given part to tighter tolerances than required in the specifications
when the application of the part will not be improved by tighter

tolerances. The classic service example is the sales

representative who holds up a customer by continuing to talk
after already making the sale.
Defects waste: This amounts to creating rejected work or
causing rework as the result of production or processing errors. In
manufacturing, an example of a defect would be a part that is
faulty because it does not meet customer specifications. In a
service setting, it might mean having to rewrite an insurance
policy because of calculation errors in writing the original
policy.
Waiting waste: This amounts to people, machines, or processes
idling because something that is needed is not yet available. In a
manufacturing setting, it might involve an expensive machine and
its operator sitting idly because the parts they are to work on
have not been delivered. In a service setting, the classic example
is the airliner idling on the taxiway waiting for clearance to take
off.
Underutilization waste: This amounts to underuse of the talent,
skills, and creativity of people and the capabilities of technology.
In a manufacturing setting, it might involve failing to include the
people who operate processes in brainstorming sessions aimed at
improving the performance of those processes. In a service
setting, it might mean using a sophisticated word processing
system like it is just a typewriter with a visual display monitor.
5. What is lean six-sigma and how would you apply it to a
quality management system?
Six Sigma is one of the most innovative developments to emerge
out of the total quality movement. Its purpose is to improve
processes to the point where the defect rate is 3.4 per million or
less, thereby making the company more competitive, profitable,
and successful. Originally designed for use in high-volume

production settings, it has nonetheless been found equally suited

to service organizations, including the military, hospitality
industry, supermarkets, and so on. Its benefits include the
following:

Cost reduction
Productivity improvement
Market-share growth
Customer retention
Cycle-time reduction
Culture change
Product/service development

Modern products and services have many built-in opportunities for

defects. In manufacturing, for example, most good companies try
to operate in the 3-sigma to 4-sigma region. The number of
defects from such a company will range between 63 and 2,700
defects per million. The Six Sigma companies expect just 3.4
defects per million.
Motorola won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in
1988 for its pioneering efforts in the development of the Six
Sigma concept. The central core of the Six Sigma concept is a sixstep protocol for process improvement. The six steps are as
follows:
a) Identify the product characteristics wanted by customers.
b) Classify the characteristics in terms of their criticality.
c) Determine if the classified characteristics are controlled by
part and/or process.
d) Determine the maximum allowable tolerance for each
classified characteristic.
e) Determine the process variation for each classified
characteristic.
f) Change the design of the product, process, or both to
achieve a Six Sigma process performance.
It is important to note that the Six Sigma concept is a subset of
the broader concept of total quality. Six Sigma is a strategy within

the context of total quality that moves the target to a much

higher level of quality than organizations have achieved in the
past. It is not a concept that supplants or replaces total quality.
Rather, it is an innovative way to pursue a higher level of quality
under the broad umbrella of total quality.
6. Define benchmarking
Benchmarking is the process of comparing and measuring an
organizations operations or its internal processes against those of
a best-in-class performer from inside or outside its industry.
Benchmarking is finding the secrets of success of any given
function or process so that a company can learn from the
informationand improve on it. It is a process to help a company
close the gap with the best-in-class performer without having to
reinvent the wheel.
Finally, and most important, benchmarking is a tool to help
establish where improvement resources should be allocated. Key
points to remember about benchmarking are as follows:
Benchmarking is an increasingly popular improvement tool.
Benchmarking concerns processes and practices.
Benchmarking is a respected means of identifying processes
that require major change.
Benchmarking is done between consenting companies that
may or may not be competitors.
7. How can you apply benchmarking data?
The benchmarking process is relatively straightforward, but steps
must flow in a sequence. A number of variations are possible, but
the process should follow this general sequence:
a) Obtain management commitment.
b) Baseline your own processes.
c) Identify your strong and weak processes and document
them.

d) Select processes to be benchmarked.

e) Form benchmarking teams.
f) Research the best-in-class.
g) Select candidate best-in-class benchmarking partners.
h) Form agreements with benchmarking partners.
i) Collect data.
j) Analyze data and establish the gap.
k) Plan action to close the gap or surpass.
l) Implement change to the process.
m)
Monitor results.
n) Update benchmarks: continue the cycle.
8. What is a JIT system?
Just-in time/Lean manufacturing, by any of its names, has become
a management philosophy that seeks to eliminate all forms of
waste in manufacturing processes and their support activities.
JIT/Lean permits the production of only what is needed, only when
it is needed, and only in the quantity needed. This must apply not
only to the just-in-time/Lean manufacturer, but also to its
suppliers if the system is to eliminate all possible waste. Those
companies that have required their suppliers to do their
warehousing clearly have not gotten the point. The supplier
should not produce the material until the JIT/ Lean manufacturer
needs it. In that mode, there is no warehousing and, therefore, no
wasted resources for buildings, maintenance, people to care for
the material, spoilage, obsolescence, or other related problems.
9. What are the benefits of JIT/lean?
The benefits of Just in Time/ Lean approach re as follows:
Inventory and Work-in-Process:
Just-in-time/Lean attempts to drive inventory to zero. But
remember that this is a philosophical objectivean aiming point,
if you will. In reality, zero inventory makes no sense. Without
some inventory, you have nothing from which to produce your

goods. The real objective is to minimize the inventory to the

maximum possible extent without shutting down production.
The ability of the JIT/Lean line to respond quickly to customer
requirements means that it is no longer necessary to store
finished goods. The only stored goods should be those in the
distribution system, and that level will typically be far less than
has been the case under mass production. JIT/Lean strives for
zero inventory of any kind. Achieving zero inventory is not a
realistic intent, but by aiming at zero and continually reducing
inventories, not only do manufacturers cut costs by significant
numbers, but also the whole continual improvement process
comes to life, resulting in even more savings and improved
product quality.
Cycle Time:
Production cycle time is defined as the period bounded by the
time materials are sent to the manufacturing floor for the making
of a product and the time the finished goods are dispatched from
the manufacturing floor to a customer or to finished goods
storage. Generally speaking, the shorter the production cycle
time, the lower the production cost. That may be reason enough
to pay attention to cycle time, but there are other benefits. Short
cycles improve a factorys ability to respond quickly to changing
customer demands. The less time a product spends in the
production cycle, the less chance there is for damage.
Continuous Improvement:
Continual improvement seeks to eliminate waste in all forms,
improve quality of products and services, and improve customer
responsiveness and do all of this while at the same time
reducing costs. Maintenance is restoring a capability that
previously existed. On the other hand, if a process was capable of
95 good parts out of 100 produced and a team developed a way
to change the process to produce 99 good partsthat would be

improvement. It is important to differentiate between

maintenance and improvement. Maintenance is important, and it
must go on, but in the final analysis, you end up where you
started. Improvement means becoming better than when you
started. Continual improvement is to repeat that improvement
cycle
10. Discuss automation system ideas for JIT/lean
JIT/Lean was originally designed for an auto producer, and as
automation has been integrated, and as automation capabilities
have evolved, JIT/Lean has been there doing its job. In these
plants, JIT/Lean is at least as valuable as it is in plants with less
automation. Its pull system prevents overproduction of any
manufacturing element, and supplies materials at the front end of
the process when needed, and does it without the massive
inventories of the pre-JIT/Lean era. Whether the processes are
operated by humans or robots makes no difference in this regard.
We had learned that world class manufacturing equates to
JIT/Lean in a total quality environment, not to a factory full of
robots and automatic guided vehicles. JIT/Lean and automation
are compatible, but one should look long and hard at the need,
and the companys readiness for it, before automating processes.

Automation may be advantageous in many applications, but if

you have not solved the problems in the human operated versions
of those same applications, you are not ready to automate them
effectively. If you try, you will automate your problems and will
find the robots far less adept at working around them than the
humans they replaced.
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Grade your own Assignment: I give myself an A for this

assignment as I have covered everything.