Pages

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Quality values 3,4 and 5 !!

Continuing to my earlier post today we will discuss about remaining quality values 3; 4 and 5.

Quality Value 3: Religiousness towards work – work is worship!


Work is worship is very old saying with which we all have grown-up from our childhood. The approach of religiousness towards work means the same type of madness which fundamentalist person’s shows towards their views. Unless one is fundamental towards quality and quality management systems the improvement will always remain as oasis. We remain very cautious while worshiping but while working? It’s very amazing that we remain very tender and cautious while in temple where in actual we get nothing but at work place? Where we get everything basic for life we remain always in silly approach of “chalta hai”. “Chalta hai” approach is the mindset which is prohibiting India from revolutionary transformation.

If we really care about ourselves, family,

country and world we have to have religious

approach towards all the tasks we perform.

We have to put 100 % of ourselves. Otherwise we

Cannot achieve a state of dreams. Every day when we come for work place we should have no less feeling than going in a temple. Dealing with process should give us the same pleasure like chanting and “dhoop -arti” of god’s statue. How amazing it is that without knowing the meaning of many mantras and prayer songs we keep on chanting. What is that driving force which forces to do this? Of course a desire to improve from current situation or state. Here it never matters whether you know the meaning or not what matters is how religiously you chant and follow the worshiping process. That religious approach brings the confidence. Same is with your work and factory as well. If you have religious approach you will develop your own system, irrelevant to whether you know the ISO, Lean and so called management tools or not. What matters is your religious approach towards change. While doing this you will develop and achieve a process and product which will not only satisfy but delight your customers and stake holders.

Quality Value 4: Customer is God!

The customer is always right, you agree or disagree. He is the only who gives you food cloth and shelter not your boss or your company. If we see the brand valuation in the market, brands who shown the loyalty to customer became the

Popular one. In our Indian tradition saying “Guest is god

(atithi deo bhava)” is also applied same way on “Customer is god”

In both ways in terms of getting livelihood and prosperity both are

dependent of customer satisfaction. If we think deeply the prosperity

and piece only can be achieved through customer satisfaction irrelevant to

to whether it is professional life or social and personal. If every individual adapts this concept and focus on his own customer satisfaction the world will prosper and grow like anything. Mahatma Gandhi has given the most powerful thought on customer satisfaction which is based on the philosophy of guest is god. He says “A customer in our premises is the most valuable and auspicious guest. By serving him we are not doing any help to him, rather he is giving you the honor to serve” what an amazing thought. It is not a debate or bookie principle. It is practicable and real. Entire Indian philosophy is centered towards this concept.

On a customer complaint what is our normal reaction? Believe me our success in business or as a person is very result of that reaction. Customer is always right. He never complaints wrong. It may be in certain cases due to certain situations but still it is awakening sign to rethink on customer satisfaction strategy. What we really need is the approach of customer is god (which he really is). While dealing with customer we need to put ourselves in his position, the moment we do this our attitude and reaction will change. These principles may seem not practicable but in fact they are as practicable as anything else. The companies and persons who understand and adapt this they get success and prosperity in same ratio. When we start thinking this way the organization automatically becomes customer oriented and problems start eliminating, prosperity and growth begins.



Quality Value 5: Products are idols of god

What a powerful concept. Imagine (as Gandhi Ji wrote) a hotel owner should treat the customer as his own relatives, and serve them accordingly as it is done in India. The entire culture of that hotel will change. The customer satisfaction will result in greater way, and business will grow to any scale without limit. Many hotels who have adopted this concept (though very less they were able to digest) has written a remarkable success story. Even many organizations that brought in culture to do “Namaskaram” in Indian style has witness greater customer satisfaction than their competitors. I use to get amazed that many of Indian traditions fit very well in today’s business scenarios if adopted suitably and effectively.

Imagine if every employee treats the services or products of the organization as God, what will happen? Off course I am not indicating about the situation that they will start worshipping and stop the work, instead the entire value system and vision will change. What a greater saving organization will realize by reduced waste generation, handling issues and finally the infusion of Quality and value in the product will bring everything what an organization vision about. Quality and trust are not mechanical things. More than concepts they are values, culture and tradition to be inherited. Why organizations world over suffers? As Shiv Khera somewhere rightly said that “there is no business problem in the world only ATTITUDE problem”. Very true statement! “Either we want to do or we don’t, there is nothing in between”. What is an attitude is all about? a burning desire to perform and contribute creatively. But very important question is from where this belief will come? It can never be bought out or taken from outside it is always germinates from within. The thought that products are idol of god will create that attitude; will empower a performing and contributing culture.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

This model is developed to organize TQM principles in these three boxess. In my opinion If we manage these trhree boxes creativly and efficiantly the business will sustain prosper and grow. Do you agree with me? your opinions is invited to refine it further. I will write in detail about all the components captured in three boxes in my next post.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

How to Create a Quality Management Plan


In today’s competitive global marketplace, a company’s quality management plan can help identify gaps in customer expectations, determine where corrective action is necessary and provide a system for continuous improvement.   While some departments, such as operations or production may have strict controls and inspections, others may operate “on the fly” without any documented procedures or work instructions.  An integrated total management system brings all departments under the same total quality management (TQM) umbrella.

Creating a total quality plan involves everyone in the organization.  TQM is not a function of the Quality Assurance department alone.  Developing a quality management plan begins with the senior management team.   They must be the driving force, providing resources, support and motivation to the quality team.  The following steps will help develop a quality  management system tailored to your organization:

Develop a Quality Baseline

Dust off the policy and procedures manuals and any quality data reports currently in use.  Gather information on returns, rework or lost productivity.  Examine customer feedback, surveys, emails and social network posts to gauge what your customers say about the quality of your product and/or services.  Look at previous audit reports, and the frequency and extent of warranty work or corrective actions.  Get a good picture of where you stand now.

Find Out What Your Customers Want

If you are already gathering customer feedback, take note of what they like.  Why do they buy your products or services over the competition?  Conduct a survey or invite customers and suppliers to participate in focus groups to gather feedback on your current product and service quality.  Look for patterns in customer feedback, sales orders or returns.  Do some benchmarking with competitors or the “best in the business” to determine what best practices could apply to your organization.

Conduct a Gap Analysis

Compare your baseline information to your customers’ needs.  Identify the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.  Create a quality team from a cross section of departments and levels, and have them observe work in progress.  Talk to the people doing the work–in operations, production, customer service, accounting, and logistics—to further understand where quality needs improvement.

Gather All Your Quality Data and Identify Weaknesses

Gather your data and information, and identify the weaknesses in your current quality management system. You can compare your system to an established industry quality system, such as ISO 9001.  Whether or not you adopt those standards, it will help identify any missing or weak elements in your quality system.

Brainstorm with Your Quality Team

Use the quality team to brainstorm ideas for quality improvements based on the gap analysis findings.  You may have discovered the company has outdated procedures and inadequate documentation.  You may not have an internal audit system or adequate training for new production employees.  The findings and recommendations for quality improvement become the quality management plan reported to senior management for implementation.

Total Quality Management


At the core of Total Quality Management (TQM) is customer satisfaction. Sure, there are many other valuable reasons for heading down the TQM path, however, without the improved customer satisfaction, it is difficult to justify a full blown total quality management effort.

TQM has developed over several decades and has evolved into a system of processes and technologies. Yes, there are different approaches but most businesses follow the ISO requirements to achieve the goal of improved customer satisfaction. And, of course, along with customer satisfaction comes improved sales and profitability for the corporation.
The History of Quality Management
The history of quality management can be traced all the way back to The Middle Ages. Work completed by journeymen and apprentices were evaluated and inspected by the skilled worker to ensure that quality standards were met in all aspects of the finished product, ensuring satisfaction of the buyer. And while the history of quality management has gone through a number of changes since that time, the end goal is still the same.
What is Total Quality Management?
The concept of Total Quality Management, or TQM, is single-minded in its purpose:  To improve customer satisfaction.  As simple and as obvious as that may sound, it has taken many decades for the process to evolve to what it is today.  Even now there is not unanimous agreement as to how to achieve this one simple objective, although most businesses follow a similar model that has been fine-tuned over many years.
Benefits of an Integrated Quality System
This article provides a real life story that demonstrates the value of an integrated quality system. In business things go awry and often management takes it out on the employees who run the processes.  Deming said that employees were the cause of problems only 15 percent of the time, while the processes were the true cause the rest of the time.
Designing a Quality Management System
When in comes to creating a quality management system, managers often do not understanding where to begin.  This article covers the basic steps to implementing a quality management system and how to define roles and responsibilities in the process.
How to Create a Quality Management Plan
A company’s quality management plan can help find differences in customer expectations, determine what corrective action is required and provide a system for continuous improvement.   While some departments may have controls and inspections built into their processes, others may operate without any documentation. An integrated total management system gets all areas on the same page.
What is Quality Assurance and How Does it Help Your Business?
If you have no systems in place to control your process or measure customer satisfaction, you are merely guessing at what the customer expects. Every business can benefit from a quality assurance program. The detail to which it is applied is entirely up to the leadership of the company, but the more robust it is, the higher the chances are that a business will survive and even thrive in today’s economy.
The Greatest Quality Management System Failures in History
A quality management system is only as effective as management’s dedication and insistence to adherence and accountability. Here we examine the greatest quality management system failures in history.