Apply Quality Control

This learning guide is developed to provide you the necessary information

regarding the following content coverage and topics
 Assess quality of received equipment
 Assess quality of service
 Engage in quality improvement
Introduction
Quality - the quality of something can be determined by comparing a set of inherent
characteristics with a set of requirements. If those inherent characteristics meet all requirements,
high or excellent quality is achieved. If those characteristics do not meet all requirements, a low
or poor level of quality is achieved.
Quality is, therefore, a question of degree. As a result, the central quality question is: How well
does this set of inherent characteristics comply with this set of requirements? In short, the
quality of something depends on a set of inherent characteristics and a set of requirements and
how well the former complies with the latter. According to this definition, quality is a relative
concept. By linking quality to requirements, ISO 9000 argues that the quality of something
cannot be established in a vacuum. Quality is always relative to a set of requirements.
Quality management - quality management includes all the activities that organizations use to
direct, control, and coordinate quality. These activities include formulating a quality policy and
setting quality objectives. They also include quality planning, quality control, quality assurance,
and quality improvement.
Quality management system (QMS) - an organization will benefit from establishing an
effective quality management system. The cornerstone of a quality organization is the concept of
the customer and supplier working together for their mutual benefit. For this to become
effective, the customer-supplier interfaces must extend into, and outside of, the organization,
beyond the immediate customers and suppliers.
A QMS can be defined as: A set of co-ordinated activities to direct and control an organization in
order to continually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its performance.” A good quality
management system in a company can significantly improve the net profit status, high quality
products for clients, less rework and recall which save more money, good work environment and
compliance with local and international regulations.
Quality management is a philosophy. It takes management understanding, commitment and
responsibility before introducing and implementing the concept. Once practiced a good quality
management system slowly develop or reshape a sustainable organization culture that pays off
rapidly.
These activities interact and are affected by being in the system, so the isolation and study of
each one in detail will not necessarily lead to an understanding of the system as a whole. The
main thrust of a QMS is in defining the processes, which will result in the production of quality
products and services, rather than in detecting defective products or services after they have been
produced.
The benefits of a QMS:
A fully documented QMS will ensure that two important requirements are met:
 The customers’ requirements – confidence in the ability of the organization to deliver the
desired product and service consistently meeting their needs and expectations.
 The organization’s requirements – both internally and externally, and at an optimum cost
with efficient use of the available resources – materials, human, technology and
information.
These requirements can only be truly met if objective evidence is provided, in the form of
information and data, to support the system activities, from the ultimate supplier to the ultimate
customer.
A QMS enables an organization to achieve the goals and objectives set out in its policy and
strategy. It provides consistency and satisfaction in terms of methods, materials, equipment, etc,
and interacts with all activities of the organization, beginning with the identification of customer
requirements and ending with their satisfaction, at every transaction interface.
It can be envisaged as a “wedge” that both holds the gains achieved along the quality journey,
and prevents good practices from slipping:

Management systems are needed in all areas of activity, whether large or small businesses,
manufacturing, service or public sector.
A good QMS will:
 Set direction and meet customers’ expectations
 Improve process control
 Reduce wastage
 Lower costs
 Increase market share
 Facilitate training
 Involve staff
 Raise morale
Quality management principles
There are eight quality management principles. These principles were chosen because they can
be used to improve performance and achieve success.
1. Focus on your customers
Organizations rely on customers. Therefore:
 Organizations should understand customer needs.
 Organizations should meet customer requirements.
 Organizations should exceed customer expectations.
2. Provide leadership
Organizations rely on leaders. Therefore:
 Leaders should establish a unity of purpose and set the direction the
organization should take.
 Leaders should create an environment that encourages people to achieve the
organization's objectives.
3. Involve your people
Organizations rely on people. Therefore:
 Organizations should encourage the involvement of people at all levels.
 Organizations should help people to develop and use their abilities.
4. Use a process approach
Organizations are more efficient and effective when they use a process
approach. Therefore:
 Organizations should use a process approach to manage activities and related
resources.
5. Take a systems approach
 Organizations are more efficient and effective when they use a systems approach.
Therefore:
 Organizations should identify interrelated processes and treat them as a system.
 Organizations should use a systems approach to manage their interrelated
processes.
6. Encourage continual improvement
Organizations are more efficient and effective when they continually try to improve.
Therefore:
 Organizations should make a permanent commitment to continually improve their
overall performance.
7. Get the facts before you decide
Organizations perform better when their decisions are based on facts. Therefore:
 Organizations should base decisions on the analysis of factual information and
data.
8. Work with your suppliers
Organizations depend on their suppliers to help them create value. Therefore:
 Organizations should maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with their
suppliers.
QUALITY STANDARDS, POLICIES and PROCEDURES
Standard - A standard is a document. It is a set of rules that control how people develop and
manage materials, products, services, technologies, processes, and systems.
ISO's standards are agreements.
ISO refers to them as agreements because its members must agree on content and give formal
approval before they are published. ISO standards are developed by technical committees.
Members of these committees come from many countries. Therefore, ISO standards tend to have
very broad support.
Strategy -A strategy is a logically structured plan or method for achieving long term goals.
According to ISO 9004, you need to develop a strategy and policies to ensure that your
organization’s mission, vision, and values are accepted and supported by interested parties.
Quality policy - An organization’s quality policy defines top management’s commitment to
quality. A quality policy statement should describe an organization’s general quality orientation
and clarify its basic intentions.
Quality policies should be used to generate quality objectives and should serve as a general
framework for action. Quality policies can be based on the ISO 9000
Quality Management Principles and should be consistent with the organization’s
other policies.
Procedure - A procedure is a way of carrying out a process or activity. According to ISO 9000,
procedures may or may not be documented. However, in most cases, ISO 9001 expects you to
document your procedures.
Documented procedures can be very general or very detailed, or anywhere in between. While a
general procedure could take the form of a simple flow diagram, a detailed procedure could be a
one page form or it could be several pages of text.A detailed procedure defines and controls the
work that should be done, and explains how it should be done, who should do it, and under what
circumstances. In addition, it explains what authority and what responsibility has been allocated,
which inputs should be used, and what outputs should be generated.
Quality Management System Implementation
Once top management has decided to select and implement an appropriate quality management
system for their product realization and customer satisfaction processes an implementation team
must be formed, trained and tasked. The implementation process is facilitated by team building,
development of implementation plans and schedules and performance metrics to monitor
implementation progress. We will conduct or help you conduct a business process gap analysis
against the selected standard.
The initial step of introducing a good quality management into a system is to know the essential
elements of the quality system and clear study from where to start. Company objectives should
be clearly understood. Policies should be prepared. Then comes the design of the process flow,
validating the process, material flow and organization chart. When a good integration between
people, process and material is achieved the next step is to putting the integrated system in a state
of control. Any deviation from the controlled system must be analyzed and corrected.
Why Quality in Service?
Service - According to ISO 9000, a service is a type of product. Service is always the result of an
activity or interaction between a service supplier and a customer and can take many forms.
Service can be provided to support an organization’s own products (e.g. warranty service or the
serving of meals). Conversely, service can be provided for a product supplied by a customer (e.g.
a repair service or a delivery service). Service can also involve the provision of an intangible
thing to a customer (e.g. entertainment, transportation, or advice).
You face a special challenge: Meet customer needs while remaining economically competitive.
Automated processes can make an impact, but services are still labor-intensive. There can be no
substitute for high-quality personal interaction between service employees and customers. Use
quality practices to:
 Understand and improve operational processes.
 Identify problems quickly and systematically.
  Establish valid and reliable service performance measures.
 Measure customer satisfaction and other performance outcomes.
A customer is anyone who receives products or services from a supplier organization.
Customers can be people or organizations and can be either external or internal to the supplier
organization. For example, a factory may supply products or services to another factory
(customer) within the same organization. According to ISO 9000, examples of customers include
clients, consumers, endusers, purchasers, retailers, and beneficiaries. And customer satisfaction
is a perception. It is also a question of degree. It can vary from high satisfaction to low
satisfaction. If customers believe that you've met their requirements, theyexperience high
satisfaction. If they believe that you've not met their requirements, they experience low
satisfaction.
Since satisfaction is a perception, customers may not be satisfied even though you’ve met all
contractual requirements. Just because you haven’t received any complaints doesn’t mean that
customers are satisfied.
There are many ways to monitor and measure customer satisfaction. You can use customer
satisfaction and opinion surveys; you can collect product quality data (post delivery), track
warranty claims, examine dealer reports, study customer compliments and criticisms, and
analyze lost business opportunities.
Quality Management Improvement Process
Quality improvement - Quality improvement refers to anything that enhances an organization's
ability to meet quality requirements. Quality improvement is one part of quality management.
Quality control - Quality control is a set of activities intended to ensure that quality
requirements are actually being met. Quality control is one part of quality management.
Continual improvement - Continual improvement is a set of activities that an organization
carries out in order to enhance its ability to meet requirements. Continual improvements can be
achieved by carrying out audits, selfassessments, management reviews, and benchmarking
projects. Continual improvements can also be realized by collecting data, analyzing information,
setting objectives, and implementing corrective and preventive actions.
Quality assurance (QA) - Quality assurance is a set of activities intended to establish
confidence that quality requirements will be met. QA is one part of quality management.
Some basic but essential elements of Quality Assurance as depicted in ISO 9001 guideline can be
listed as: the Preparation of standard operating procedures of a complete system; Preparation and
maintenance of effective change control of quality and master file documentation; Recording and
management of manufacturing change control; Recording and reporting procedure of Deviations
of your systems; Quality concern investigation process; Customer complaint investigation
procedure; Quality audit procedures; Vendor assessment, evaluation and certification procedure;
Quality control laboratory procedure, Rework procedures for the defective manufactured
products; Procedures on training for manufacturing staffs and recall procedure.
Standard operating procedures and manuals should be written in details and referenced to
relevant other documents, so a new starter within the organization should be trained easily and
expected to perform as per procedure. The result will be a common standard of activities across
the organization, good tractability of work flow, deviations and ease of corrective actions as
necessary.
Standard Operating Procedure
You should prepare SOPs, forms, templates and manuals, which can be used immediately as the
system runs. Forms and templates should be used for record keeping which your people can
follow routinely.

Documentations - Classification, Definition and Approval

Quality and Technical/Master file documents to be created to build up a good quality
management system for your manufacturing sites. Definition of documents, their classification,
approval requirements and retention requirements should be understood. A record is a type of
document. Records provide evidence that activities have been performed or results have been
achieved. They always document the past. Records can, for example, be used to show that
traceability requirements are being met, that verification is being performed, and that preventive
and corrective actions are being carried out.
Quality Documentation Management and Change Control
Procedures to be created on how to generate new quality documents or change control of existing
documents, review of quality documents, satellite file management, role of document author,
approver, document control officer and satellite file administrator. In this procedures you will
also define the numbering systems of different quality documents like audit files, SOPs, forms,
templates, manuals, training files, QA agreements, project files etc and their effective archiving
system.
Preparation, Maintenance and Change Control of Master Documents
Procedures to be created which will particularly focus on the management of master file
documents like specifications, control methods, raw materials, finished goods and packaging
specification and test reports, formulation, stability files etc required to generate during the
product registration in the market.
Deviation Report System
It is a regulatory requirement to capture all sorts of deviations evolves in your systems in order to
maintain the continuous improvement of your processes and systems. Procedures should be
created that describes how to categorize the deviations between production, audit, quality
improvements, technical deviations, customer complaints and environmental, health and safety
deviations. It should also describes the management responsibilities of initiating deviation,
capturing data, analysis, investigation, determination of assignable cause/s, generation of
management report and initiatives to be taken on corrective and preventative actions.
Vendor Selection and Evaluation
Procedures to be followed during the vendor assessment and vendor evaluation for purchasing of
raw materials, critical and non critical packaging components, laboratory supplies, engineering
supplies and imported finished goods from the vendor. These instructions are essential for
approving prospective vendor.
Vendor Certification
This procedure aims to describe the process by which a vendor may be certified to supply
materials or services. This procedure applies to vendors that supply a material or service to be
used at any stage of manufacture by operations. Here you will describe the roles of each
department in the process to certify an approved vendor.
Product Complaint Procedure
You should have strong procedure to cover the receipt, logging, evaluation, investigation and
reporting system of all complaints received from customers for the marketed products. This
procedure should contain step by step instruction to be followed during the customer complaint
management like numbering of complaint, registering the complaint, evaluation, determination
of assignable cause for the complaint deviation, implementation of corrective and preventative
actions, trending of complaints and handling of counterfeit products.
Annual Product Review
Some countries require reports as Annual Product Review to sell your products into their market.
So you have to create instructions on how to do annual product review, to evaluate data, trends
and to identify any preventative or corrective action that would lead to product quality
improvements and report them to management.
Rework Procedure
Procedure should contain the step by step instructions to be followed when the rework of an in-
process or completed finished good is required. Product Identification and Traceability. The
purpose of this procedure is to define the method used for the identification of all contributing
materials that could affect product quality and to ensure their full traceability.
Quality Concern Investigation Process
Procedure should be made that contains instructions to follow when conducting Investigations
collection of data and information, analysis, assigning root cause, determine corrective and
preventive actions.
 Audit - An audit is an evidence gathering process. Audit evidence is used to
evaluate how well audit criteria are being met. Audits must be objective, impartial,
and independent, and the audit process must be both systematic and documented.
  A key performance indicator (KPI) is a metric or measure. KPIs are used to
quantify and evaluate organizational success. They measure how much success
you’ve had and how much progress you’ve made relative to the objectives you
wish to achieve. KPIs are also used to set measurable objectives, evaluate
progress, monitor trends, make improvements, and support decision making. KPIs
should be quantifiable and appropriate and should collect information that is useful
to your organization and relevant to the needs and expectations of interested
parties.Examples of KPIs include the following: average revenue per customer,
customer attrition rate, student failure rate, average response time, average
delivery time, employee retention rate, return on equity, lost time due to accidents,
and energy costs per unit of production. The following analogy might help make
the point: when you go to your doctor he or she might measure blood pressure,
cholesterol levels, heart rate, and your body mass index as key indicators of health.
KPIs try to do the same thing for organizations.
 Inspections - Inspections use observation, measurement, testing and judgment to
evaluate conformity. Inspection results are compared with specified requirements
in order to establish whether conformity has been achieved. Product inspections
compare product characteristics with product requirements in order to evaluate
conformity.
Types of Audits
There are three types of audits: first-party, second-party, and third-party audits. First-party audits
are internal audits. Second and third party audits are external audits.
Organizations use first party (internal) audits to audit themselves for internal purposes. However,
you don’t have to do them yourself. You can ask an external organization to carry out an internal
audit on behalf of your organization. You can also use first party audits to declare that your
organization complies with an ISO standard (this is called a self-declaration).
Second party audits are external audits. They’re usually done by customers or by others on their
behalf. However, they can also be done by any external party that has an interest in your
organization.
Third party audits are external audits as well. However, they’re performed by independent
(disinterested) external organizations. Third party audits are used to determine whether or not an
organization complies with an ISO standard. These auditors are referred to as registrars or
certification bodies.
Audit criteria - Audit criteria include policies, procedures, and requirements. Audit evidence is
used to determine how well such audit criteria are being met. Audit evidence is used to determine
how well policies are being implemented, how well procedures are being applied, and how well
requirements are being met.
Auditee - An auditee is an organization (or part of an organization) that is being audited.
Organizations include companies, corporations, enterprises, firms, charities, associations, and
institutions. Organizations can be either incorporated or unincorporated and can be privately or
publicly owned.
Audit evidence - Audit evidence includes records, factual statements, and otherverifiable
information that is related to the audit criteria being used. Audit criteria include policies,
procedures, and requirements.
Audit evidence can be either qualitative or quantitative. Objective evidence is data that shows or
proves that something exists or is true.
Audit findings - Audit findings result from a process that evaluates audit evidence and compares
it against audit criteria. Audit findings can show that audit criteria are being met (conformity) or
that they are not being met (nonconformity). They can also identify improvement opportunities.
Audit findings are used to assess the effectiveness of the quality management system and to
identify opportunities for improvement.
Audit evidence includes records, factual statements, and other verifiable information that is
related to the audit criteria being used. Audit criteria include policies, procedures, and
requirements.
Auditor - In the context of this quality management standard, an auditor is a person who collects
evidence in order to evaluate how well quality management systems meet requirements.
Auditors are expected to determine whether quality management systems comply with standards
and other planned arrangements. They must also be able to determine whether quality
management systems are properly implemented and maintained. And they must be able to do all
of this while being independent, objective, impartial, and competent.
Audit plan - An audit plan specifies how you intend to conduct a particular audit. It describes
the activities you intend to carry out and the arrangements you intend to make.An audit is an
evidence gathering process. Audit evidence is used to evaluate how well audit criteria are being
met.
Audit scope - The scope of an audit is a statement that specifies the focus, extent,
and boundary of a particular audit. The scope of an audit is generally defined by specifying the
physical location of the audit, the organizational units that will be examined, the processes and
activities that will be included, and the time period that will be covered.
Conformity - To conform means to meet or comply with requirements. There are many types of
requirements. There are quality requirements, customer requirements, product requirements,
management requirements, legal requirements, and so on. Requirements can be explicitly
specified (like the ISO 9001requirements) or implied. A specified requirement is one that has
been stated (in a document, for example). When your organization meets a requirement, you can
say that it conforms to that requirement.
Nonconformity - Nonconformity refers to a failure to comply with requirements. A requirement
is a need, expectation, or obligation. It can be stated or implied by an organization, its customers,
or other interested parties.
There are many types of requirements. Some of these include quality requirements, customer
requirements, management requirements, product requirements, and legal requirements.
Whenever your organization fails to meet one of these requirements, nonconformity occurs. ISO
9001 lists quality management system requirements. When your organization deviates from these
requirements, nonconformity occurs.
Nonconforming product-A product is the output of a process. Products can be tangible or
intangible. ISO 9000 lists four generic product categories: services, software, hardware, and
processed materials. Many products combine several of these categories. For example, an
automobile (a product) combines hardware (e.g. tires), software (e.g. engine control algorithms),
and processed materials (e.g. lubricants).
Service is always the result of an interaction between a service supplier and a customer and can
take many forms. Service can be provided to support an organization’s own products (e.g.
warranty service or the serving of meals). Conversely, service can be provided for a product
supplied by a customer (e.g. a repair service or a delivery service). Service can also involve the
provision of an intangible thing to a customer (e.g. entertainment, transportation, or advice).
While software is intangible, and includes things like approaches and procedures, hardware and
processed materials are tangible and are often referred to as goods.
A product is the output of a process. Products can be tangible or intangible. ISO 9000 lists four
generic product categories: services, software, hardware, and processed materials.
Product realization - A product starts out as an idea. The idea is realized or actualized by
following a set of product realization processes. Product realization refers to all the processes
that are used to bring products into being.
Product inspection is an activity that compares product characteristics with product
requirements in order to evaluate conformity. More precisely, a product inspection compares one
or more characteristics of a product with specified requirements in order to determine if the
product meets these requirements.Product inspections use observation, measurement, testing and
judgment to evaluate conformity.
When one or more characteristics of a product fail to meet specified requirements, it is referred
to as a nonconforming product. When a product deviates from specified product requirements, it
fails to conform. Nonconforming products must be identified and controlled to prevent
unintended use or delivery. A concession is a special approval that is granted to release a
nonconforming product for use or delivery. Concessions are usually limited by time and quantity
and tend to specify that nonconforming characteristics may not violate specified limits.
Correction - A correction is any action that is taken to eliminate nonconformity. However,
corrections do not address causes. When applied to products, corrections can include reworking
products, reprocessing them, regarding them, assigning them to a different use, or simply
destroying them.
Corrective action - Corrective actions are steps that are taken to remove the causes of an
existing nonconformity or undesirable situation. The corrective action process is designed to
prevent the recurrence of nonconformities or undesirable situations. It tries to make sure that
existing nonconformities and situations don’t happen again. It tries to prevent recurrence by
eliminating causes. Corrective actions address actual problems. Because of this, the corrective
action process can be thought of as a problem solving process.
Preventive action - Preventive actions are steps that are taken to remove the causes of potential
nonconformities or potential situations that are undesirable. The preventive action process is
designed to prevent the occurrence of nonconformities or situations that do not yet exist. It tries
to prevent occurrence by eliminating causes.
While corrective actions prevent recurrence, preventive actions prevent occurrence. Both types
of actions are intended to prevent nonconformities.Preventive actions address potential problems,
ones that haven't yet occurred. In general, the preventive action process can be thought of as a
risk analysis process.
Brecker Product / Process Improvement Methodology
Team-based Process Improvement became prominent with the advent Quality Circles, Total
Quality Management, and Lean Manufacturing (Kaizen events). Value Analysis and Six Sigma
provide a quantitative structure for the teams to utilize in improving processes.
The Brecker Product / Process Improvement Methodology integrates techniques from
 Value Analysis (VA),
 Quality Function Deployment (QFD),
 Lean Thinking (Lean Manufacturing)
 Six Sigma, and
The four-phase Brecker Product / Process Improvement Methodology ensures results.
Phase 1: Key problem areas are identified and quantified.
Phase 2: Potential improvements are evaluated and prioritized.
Phase 3: Multi-functional teams improve key products / processes.
Phase 4: Improvements are implemented and monitored.
Most Six Sigma training courses focus on the statistical process improvement techniques used in
phase 3. TQM failures have shown us that it is far more important to identify processes with
financial impact and to commit to implement the necessary improvements. The four phase
Brecker value-based approach ensures Product / Process Improvement teams work on the "right"
problems and that improvement goals are met or exceeded.
One client used this Value and Lean-based improvement methodology to reduce their product
cost by over 50% in 2 years.
They:
 improved product value,
 improved quality,
 increased productivity (reduced waste),
 reduced cycle time,
 increased customer satisfaction
 and saved $ millions.
Quality-Based Problem-Solving / Process Improvement
Many of today's problem solving and quality improvement tools
 ?Control charts
 Lot sampling
 Process capability
 Value Analysis (VA)
were first used extensively in World War II in response to the need for tremendous volumes of
high quality, lower cost materials. More recently, Quality Circles, TQM, and Kaizen have
demonstrated the power of team-base process improvement. Process Capability and Design of
Experiments (DOE) have come to the fore in Six Sigma. Brecker Associates has combined Value
Analysis and QS9000 techniques with Six Sigma in a more powerful Process Improvement
methodology.
Control Charts
Statistical Quality Control (SQC) or Statistical Process Control (SPC) for repetitive, high volume
production began in the 1930's when Shewhart developed control charts. Small production
samples were measured periodically to monitor quality. Sample mean (Xbar) and range (R)
charts were used to detect when a process was going out of "economic control."
The causes of variations that exceed the upper and lower control limits (UCL and LCL
respectively), such as at "A", must be eliminated in order to bring the process back into statistical
control.
Deming PDCA
The Deming / Shewhart Cycle was especially useful in solving these quality problems. The
PDCA Circle denotes continuous improvement by repeating the basic cycle
 Plan
 Get the data
 Analyze the problem
 Plan the solution
 "Do" It
 Check -- Measure the change
 Act -- Modify as needed
as long as significant improvements are obtained. Since 1948, engineers at Carnegie Tech (now
Carnegie Mellon University) have been trained to apply the Carnegie problem solving
methodology in design. This methodology parallels the Deming PDCA cycle with the addition of
an initial step to "Define the Problem."
In the last 20 years, many companies have adopted similar problem-solving models -- often with
8-10 steps or more. Special attention is given to solving process problems -problems that occur
repetitively. Process improvement models add such steps as assigning process owners, forming
teams, and establishing process measures.
Value Analysis Teams
In Value Analysis, developed by Larry Miles at GE during WWII, multi-functional teams
(design, production engineering, purchasing, quality) use a formalized process to identify
alternative materials, manufacturing processes, and designs to improve function while reducing
costs.
The "Job Plan" for a Value Analysis study of a specific product or process has the
following format
 Pre-Study
 Collect customer data
 Collect product and process data
 Build product and process models
 Form the multi-functional team
 Study
 Information Phase -- analyze data
 Function Analysis Phase -- identify and cost functions
 Creative Phase -- brainstorm ideas
 Evaluation Phase -- rank then develop ideas
 Development Phase -- quantify benefits and plan actions
 Presentation -- make oral report and prepare written reports
 Post-Study (added more recently)
 Complete changes
 Implement changes
 Monitor changes

The very structured function diagramming and costing techniques provide data for quantified
(cost and value) decision-making. The whole VA process is a precursor of the MAI -- Measure,
Analyze, Improve -- in the broad based Six Sigma improvement process. Six Sigma adds the C
or Control step.
The brainstorming methodology in VA has been widely emulated in process improvement teams.
Ideas are generated in a non-critical, free-flowing process. Then, ideas are grouped using affinity
diagramming techniques and refined as needed for practicality.
Teams
Japanese Quality Circles demonstrated the effectiveness of worker teams in identifying and
solving process problems in their work area. However, most serious quality problems in non-
manufacturing (as well as manufacturing) organizations arise in activities that involve more than
one department / function.
Quality Circles has evolved into Kaizen, which utilizes multi-functional worker and production
engineering teams to improve quality and productivity in a given process. The teams use TQM
techniques in implementing "Lean" manufacturing methods.
TQM
Total Quality Management (TQM) emphasized using multi-functional teams (professional staff
and workers from all departments involved) to solve problems. The teams were trained to use
basic statistical tools to collect and analyze data.
 Check sheets
 Pareto diagrams
 Histograms
 Run charts
 Flow charts
 Cause and effect diagrams
 Force field analysis
 Scatter diagrams

Flow charts or process maps were used to visualize the flow of product or
documents through a series of process steps. The predominant goal of Process
Improvement Teams was to eliminate the non-value adding steps and to resolve
quality problems in order to reduce the (cycle) time needed to complete the
process.