Strategy for Medium-Size Manufacturing Company to Improve Overall Performance
Introduction
There are many researches showing that total quality management is the predominant factor to remain business organizations’ sustainable competitiveness and generate the best result (e.g., Easton & Jarrell, 1998; Hendricks & Singhal, 1997; Lemak et al., 1997; Samson & Terziovski, 1999; Shetty, 1993). What is quality? How could a good total quality management dedicate to organization? Are they the same in any organizations? Understanding the importance of quality, many organizations have appointed a Quality Manager to manage quality operation as a whole. In order to study the contributions of TQM, take a medium-size manufacturing as an example, what should a quality manager do to improve the overall performance? In this article, playing a role of Quality Manager, I will propose my recommendations based on three main points: understand quality and improvement, understand the system and draw up a total quality management strategy.
1. Understand quality and improvement.
There is no common definition of quality, thus there is no common requirement for quality standard. Each service or product has its own specific features, consequently customer will requires differently over those products or services to satisfy their needs. Building on that point, Juran said: quality is often used to signify ‘excellence’ of a product or service. It then is simply meeting the customer requirement. In other words, Feigenbaum suggested: ‘the total composite product and service characteristics of marketing, engineering, manufacture and maintenance through which the product and service in use will meet the expectation by the customer’.
For quality improvement, Joseph Juran further pointed out: ‘Improvement means the organized creation of beneficial change, the attainment of unprecedented levels of performance’. Any organization wish to reach higher level of performance needs to set up a clear, strategic plan for the organization as a whole.
2. Understand the
There are many researches showing that total quality management is the predominant factor to remain business organizations’ sustainable competitiveness and generate the best result (e.g., Easton & Jarrell, 1998; Hendricks & Singhal, 1997; Lemak et al., 1997; Samson & Terziovski, 1999; Shetty, 1993). What is quality? How could a good total quality management dedicate to organization? Are they the same in any organizations? Understanding the importance of quality, many organizations have appointed a Quality Manager to manage quality operation as a whole. In order to study the contributions of TQM, take a medium-size manufacturing as an example, what should a quality manager do to improve the overall performance? In this article, playing a role of Quality Manager, I will propose my recommendations based on three main points: understand quality and improvement, understand the system and draw up a total quality management strategy.
1. Understand quality and improvement.
There is no common definition of quality, thus there is no common requirement for quality standard. Each service or product has its own specific features, consequently customer will requires differently over those products or services to satisfy their needs. Building on that point, Juran said: quality is often used to signify ‘excellence’ of a product or service. It then is simply meeting the customer requirement. In other words, Feigenbaum suggested: ‘the total composite product and service characteristics of marketing, engineering, manufacture and maintenance through which the product and service in use will meet the expectation by the customer’.
For quality improvement, Joseph Juran further pointed out: ‘Improvement means the organized creation of beneficial change, the attainment of unprecedented levels of performance’. Any organization wish to reach higher level of performance needs to set up a clear, strategic plan for the organization as a whole.
2. Understand the