Process And Product Quality example essay topic

- In a sharp contrast to the HDS, my former company failed in many of the areas stated in the article. The division's Plant Manager formed a "leadership committee" which consisted of all department managers and a select group of lead supervisors. Unfortunately, many of the key committee members only approved opportunities which would benefit their departments. These "hidden agenda items" played a major role in undermining any beneficial process improvement programs. Rarely were issues documented on action plans adequately resolved. Usually, they were postponed due to "urgent business matters" which needed to be resolved immediately (no accountability).

Additionally, there were serious issues with Customer and Market focus since the Plant, Sales, and Production Managers failed to agree on the issues which were important to the customer (Re: the "hidden agenda items"). As for Information and Analysis, much of the SPC data gathered by the quality and process engineering departments was never thoroughly utilized to improve the process and product quality. Any process changes had to" be approved by the Sales and Plant managers prior to implementation. Human resource issues probably posed the most significant problem, since 97% of the production workforce consisted of untrained non English speaking temporary employees.

The Plant manager's philosophy was that "Anyone off the street can inspect a plastic bucket". In other words, the product quality which the customer received was that of product inspected by minimally trained temporary workers. Hence the reoccurring issues with significantly high scrap rates, customer complaints, missed delivery dates and a warehouse packed to the rafters with product slated for rework or disposal. 2. Critique your company's performance against the TQM model.

- Planning - Cosmetically attempted to embrace the TQM concept but unfortunately fell far short in many key areas. Although there existed a defined vision and business statement, strategic and quality planning never achieved satisfactory levels due to the lack of sponsorship and support from site management. A department would only agree to a change or improvement process if it directly benefited their area. - Measures - SPC data rarely utilized to drive process or product improvement efforts. The philosophy of inspecting quality into the product is widely utilized by key management personnel. There were no efforts to implement quality tools or benchmark product or process quality in order to establish a continuous improvement program.

- People - Organization practiced cosmetic compliance to quality and teamwork. No evidence of supporting a continuous education program or training. Empowerment of workforce was minimal or non existent. - Processes - SPC data was collected but not analyzed for improvement trends. Management retained ownership of processes and defined improvement measures. 3.

Select a few areas of the model that the HDS does particularly well. - HDS excels in the following areas: strategic and quality planning, leadership, communication, and process management. The company places a significant emphasis on the deployment of strategic objectives and action plans to all levels of the organization. Conducting monthly action plan meetings is a key aspect of quality planning and accountability helping to ensure progress is made towards completing the assigned objectives. An additional key aspect is the communication feedback process illustrated in Fig. 2. Through input gained from customers, teams, suppliers, the community, and operator owners, the organization analyzes critical data, benchmarks key processes, and disseminates the information to the organization.

This allows the organization to take a more proactive approach to implementing improvement programs and value added processes. The Business Excellence Process, illustrated in Fig. 1 of the article, is another example of how HDS integrates strategic and quality planning into their leadership philosophy. Utilizing benchmarking in many aspects of their business assists the company in accessing the competition, as well as, driving their continual improvement and new product development processes. Finally, Pal's approach to process management utilizing visual compliance standards is one method to standardize both training and operations.

Additionally, maintaining a consistent training and coaching program, for all work procedures and process standards, helps to ensure that all employees will be trained similarly and reduce deviations.