Total Quality Management for Engineering Tooling Company

This article discusses the need for a quality improvement strategy for Engineering Tooling Company (ETC) and suggests the adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) strategy. It covers the implications of Quality Control and Quality Assurance for ETC and highlights the advantages of TQM. The article also emphasizes the need for a cultural change in ETC for successful implementation of the strategy.

RUNNING HEAD: Total Quality Management
Total Quality Management

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Quality Improvement Strategy for Engineering Tooling Company................................................2
Quality Control............................................................................................................................3
Quality Assurance........................................................................................................................4
Total Quality Management..........................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The Engineering Tooling Company (ETC) was set up by a young graduate engineer in the North
East of England in the early 1960’s. The main manufactured items include engineering calipers,
engineers’ rules, scribes (the initial product range) micrometers and a variety of specialist items
which need skills and quality materials for producing long- lasting and accurate items. With the
passage of time, engineering declined in the North East of England and subsequently competition
increased as a result of globalization. ETC realized that the business activity adopted by it was
untenable in the long term and that there is a need for the development of a radical strategy with
the help of which the survival of the business can be ensured.
In the year 2010, North- East Hospital Management Board made an approach for ETC for the
designing and manufacturing of hand held precision medical equipment. Furthermore, in the year
2012, a two- year contract was signed by the Board to manufacture the cutting- edge products on
a large scale. ETC has now realized the need of projecting itself to the suppliers, customers and
investors as a 21st century organization with energy, vision and conscience.
The focus of this assignment is on the introduction of a companywide quality improvement
strategy in Engineering Tooling Company. As the Quality Manager for Engineering Tooling
Company, improvement strategy has been provided including the Total Quality Management,
Quality Control and Quality Assurance implications for ETC.
Quality Improvement Strategy for Engineering Tooling Company
The term quality can be defined as meeting or exceeding the expectations of the customers and is
applicable to products, services, processes, people and environment. The most important point to
be considered is that quality is required to be changed continuously. In other words, it is in an
ever- changing state (the characteristics which are used to define quality of the product today
may change with the passage of time). For maintaining the image in the market, ETC is required
to follow the four essentials of quality. Such essentials include bringing improvement in
customer service, improving productivity, reducing defects and bringing innovation in the
products from time to time. Quality products will bring a number of advantages to the ETC.
Some of the advantages include improved reputation of the company which will further lead to

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the increase in its sales due to which its revenue will increase. Improved image will
automatically reduce the competition in the market. The company will be able to gain the
advantage of the economies of scale. As far as the internal operations of the company is
concerned, improved quality will provide benefits such as reduction of the service costs, scrap
costs and rework along with lower inspection and test costs. Furthermore, the compliant and
warranty costs will come down due to improved quality of the products. Slowly and gradually,
the overall productivity of ETC will increase leading to improvement in profits (Dale & Plunkett,
2017).
The quality improvement strategy of Engineering Tooling Company will be based on three main
areas namely customer satisfaction, shareholder satisfaction and employee satisfaction. The
evolution of quality management is a four step process namely inspection, quality control,
quality assurance and total quality management. The strategy based on these four steps will assist
ETC in the achievement of its aim by ensuring complete quality improvement. Inspection will
assist in sorting, blending, grading, taking corrective actions and identifying the sources leading
to non- conformance. This will help in eliminating the materials which will reduce the quality
standards of the products in the future (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).
Quality Control
Quality control can be defined as the procedures and the tactics employed and used for the
purpose of ensuring the healthy functioning of the quality system of the organization. Quality
control is done with the help of adopting a number of methods. Methods such as data recording
and physical tests from the time when the raw materials are received in the organization, it will
ensure that the quality is maintained from the very first step. Also, inspection goods should be
made at the Factory gates. This will ensure that the goods have been produced by meeting the
predefined standard with respect to quality (Mohammad Mosadeghrad, 2014).
In other words, quality control strategy should be based on development of quality manual,
processing of performance data, product testing, self- inspection, basic quality planning, usage of
statistics, and paperwork control (Schilling & Neubauer, 2017). It is suggested that ETC should
aim at establishing a quality culture in the organization. The quality culture can be established by
way of following the strategies such as identification of the required changes, placing the
scheduled deviations in writing and then formulating plan for considering the changes. The

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process will also involve understanding the emotional transition process so that the employees
can cope up with the changes. ETC also needs to make the identification of the employees and
other people who can effectively lead the plan and ensure its proper implementation. Hearts and
mind approach is suggested for the strategy (Nanda, 2016).
The adoption of guru approach can ensure quality control from the beginning. Crosby has
specified 14 essentials which can assist the management in ensuring quality of the products. This
approach requires the commitment of management towards quality. This will be done with the
help of formulating quality improvement team that have representatives from each and every
department so that they can easily put their requirements forward. Furthermore, this approach
will help assist in the determination of the areas where potential and current quality problems
exist (Ross, 2017). Then the cost of quality can be evaluated along with providing the
explanation of its use as a part of management tool. Next point involves the raising of quality
awareness and consideration of the concerns of every employee. Then the problems identified
will be corrected by taking the required actions and establishing of the committee that can
overview a zero defects programme. Also, the supervisors will require to be trained in order to
enable them to take active part in the quality improvement programme. The change should be
highlighted in the minds of the employees by holding a zero defects day. This day will let the
employees know that the changes have become successful (Valmohammadi & Roshanzamir,
2015). ETC will also need to encourage each and every employee of the organization to establish
their own improvement goals in their groups. The employees should also be encouraged to
properly communicate the hurdles faced by them in performing their obligations to the
management so that the management can consider and resolve them. Furthermore, the most
efficient employee should be recognized and awarded for the efforts. Quality councils should be
established and following up these steps so that the quality improvement becomes a continuous
process.
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance initiates with planning for quality. Quality assurance is considered to be the
infrastructure in which the operation of quality control system takes place. Quality assurance is
the total of all the processes related to quality control and the environment in which such

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operation takes place. With the help of quality assurance, customers will be assured that ETC
will fulfill the promise of offering cost effective products (Mitra, 2016).
For assuring the quality of the products, ETC should follow quality inspection from time to time.
Inspection will include measuring, examining, gauging or testing of the products and then
making comparison of the results with the predefined quality standards for the purpose of
establishing whether the products conform to the quality standards or not (Jimenez- Jimenez,
Martinez- Costa, Martinez- Lorente & Rabeh, 2015).
The company can adopt the ISO 9000 standard which will act as the framework for conducting
the business. The standard will follow the set of rules which will required to be followed by ETC
for the purpose of meeting the needs, wants and requirements of the customers. When ETC will
follow this strategy, it will be capable of remaining competitive in the market. The ultimate goal
of the implementation of this standard is the achievement of customer satisfaction (Ooi, 2015).
Furthermore, the implementation of this standard will ultimately lead to the promotion of
development of standardization for the purpose of facilitating international exchange of products
and services. This standard will also help ETC in the promotion of technological, intellectual,
scientific and economic activity. ETC will be benefited from the implementation of ISO 9000 as
it will assist it in the improvement of its operations and in the creation of a quality management
system. Subsequently, the consistency of quality will improve which, in turn, will lead to the
satisfaction of the customers. When the products of the company will be in conformity with the
requirements of the customers, it will take a competitive posture in the market (Irvine & Irvine,
2018).
The approaches adopted by the three gurus Crosby, Deming and Juran can be characterized as
companywide motivation, statistical process control and project management. The teachings of
these gurus should be kept in mind during the implementation of the strategy. Their teachings
have some common points. All the gurus give importance to the support and participation of the
top management. Also, proper training and education should be given to the workforce such that
they can understand their obligations. Also, according to the gurus, careful planning should be
done and steps should be taken for encouraging companywide involvement for ensuring proper
quality management. Furthermore, quality improvement programmes should be undertaken as
the ongoing activities (Fonseca, 2015).

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In other words, quality assurance strategy should be based on quality systems deployment,
comprehensive quality manuals, advanced quality planning, usage of quality costs, failure and
effects analysis, involving non production operations, etc.
Total Quality Management
Total quality management (TQM) can be defined as the approach used for the purpose of doing
business that make constant attempts for the maximization of the level of competitiveness of the
organization with the help of continuous improvement in the quality of its products, services,
environments, people and processes (Zeng, Phan & Matsui, 2015). However, the basic
requirement of total quality management is to have obsession with quality, making the use of
scientific approach to problem solving and decision making, keeping the customers as the focus
and thinking strategically. Total quality management also requires an organization to have long
term commitment and follow team work (Hietschold, Reinhardt & Gurtner, 2014).
It is suggested that ETC should adopt a total quality management strategy which is based on the
principles such as customer focus, communicating and educating, thinking long term and acting
short term, measuring and recording quality (so that required actions can be taken) and following
team work (by involving each and every employee). The adoption of TQM strategy will provide
a number of advantages to ETC such as it will provide a leading position to the company such
that the company can easily defeat the competitors (Talib & Rahman, 2015). With the help of
TQM, teamwork in the organization will increase which is the biggest advantage as it will bring
an ease in the decision making and will provide a number of suggestions for every problem.
Slowly and gradually, ETC will automatically become sensitive to the needs of the customer
which will help in meeting the requirements of the customers. TQM will help ETC in easily
adapting to change and will enhance teamwork in the organization (Dubey & Gunasekaran,
2015).
The TQM strategy for ETC is suggested to follow the basic objective of bringing continuous
improvement. The path for the strategy will automatically lead ETC towards improved quality
and profit for the organization. Firstly, ETC will aim at reducing the existence of waste and
errors in the organization. When there will be less waste, there will be a great reduction in the
costs. The reduced costs of the products will attract the customers towards the company which,
in turn, will lead to increase in sales (Oakland, 2014). The profit of the company will be the

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ultimate result of this strategy. In order to efficiently follow the TQM strategy, the management
of the company will be needed to create a constant drive for bringing improvement in the
products and to continuously learn the use of new technology which has the capability of
increasing the demands of the company. The strategy is required to result focused. The result
expected in this case is the need for projecting itself to the suppliers, customers and investors as a
21st century organization with energy, visualization and integrity. This result can only be
achieved when the company will have its entire focus on the quality of its products. Therefore,
this strategy demands a passion for delivering customer with value for their money in the form of
excellent products (Kiran, 2016).
Quality improvement also aims at the satisfaction of the employees as it is directly related to the
quality of the products. The employees will work hard for the accomplishment of the aims of the
organization when they will be satisfied with the job. The strategy requires the company to show
active involvement in solving the concerns of the employees while working in the organization.
This will ensure the development of employees and will assist in the achievement of the
objectives. This development will be dependent on the response ability of the organization. The
strategy will become a success only when proper implementation will be made (Gomez,
Martinez Costa & Martinez Lorente, 2017).
Strategy requires the adoption of continuous learning in the organization. When ETC will adopt
the practice of continuous learning in the organization, the processes will automatically improve.
Process improvement will lead ETC to quality improvement and will assist in the fulfillment of
three key objectives namely customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and shareholder
satisfaction (Rani, Reddy & Poongavanam, 2018). The strategy implementation related to total
quality management will require a cultural change in ETC. The requirement of cultural change
arises due to the fact that the occurrence of change cannot take place in a hostile environment.
Also, total quality management cannot take place in a single go and takes time. Moreover,
sometimes overcoming of the pat becomes difficult. Change resistance will also be required to be
managed properly (Calabrese & Corbo, 2015).
In other words, total quality management strategy will be based on policy deployment, process
management, involvement of all operations, customers and suppliers, teamwork, employee
involvement and performance measurement. The strategy can be effectively implemented only

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when the top and middle level management performs their role in the required manner. The role
of top management will be to provide effective leadership to the various departments of the ETC
in ensuring quality management. The top management will also make sure that the resources are
being optimally utilized. Furthermore, the role of middle level management is concerned with
facilitation (Suwandej, 2015). Through facilitation, the middle level management will offer
proper assistance and guidance to the lower level management who are actually responsible for
the implementation of the strategies. The lower level management is then required to show
proper commitment during the implementation of the strategy. The implementation will also
require the creation of a companywide steering committee which will focus on measurement
analysis and results (Attafar, Shahin & Kheradmandnia, 2016).
The senior managers need to realize that the TQM is not the concern of the quality department
only and is required to be undertaken by every department from the beginning to the end. The
senior management of ETC will be required to lead the training and education sessions and
continuous assessments of the improvements made. If there are any deviations from the planned
results, corrective actions can be taken at the initial stages. The implementation of TQM will
follow three stages namely preparation stage, planning stage and execution stage. ETC will get a
good start when it will follow the ISO 9000 steps for the implementation of total quality (Akgun,
Ince, Imamoglu, Keskin & Kocoglu, 2014).
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that quality improvement plays a great role in the success of the
organization. As a Quality Manager for Engineering Tooling Company, improvement strategy
has been provided including the Total Quality Management, Quality Control and Quality
Assurance implications for ETC. The quality improvement strategy of ETC is suggested to be
based on three key areas namely customer satisfaction, shareholder satisfaction and employee
satisfaction. Success in these areas can assist ETC in the achievement of its goal of projecting
itself to the suppliers, customers and investors as a 21st century organization with energy, vision
and conscience. The evolution of quality management is a four step process namely inspection,
quality control, quality assurance and total quality management.

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Quality control strategy should be based on development of quality manual, processing of
performance data, product testing, self- inspection, basic quality planning, usage of statistics, and
paperwork control. The adoption of guru approach can ensure quality control from the
beginning. Quality assurance strategy should be based on quality systems deployment,
comprehensive quality manuals, advanced quality planning, usage of quality costs, failure and
effects analysis, involving non production operations, etc. It is suggested that ETC should adopt
a total quality management strategy which is based on the principles such as customer focus,
communication and education, thinking long term and acting short term, measuring and
recording quality and following team work. Total quality management strategy will be based on
policy deployment, involvement of all operations, suppliers and customers, process management,
teamwork, performance measurement and employee involvement.

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