Total Quality Control

from the Perspective of Competitive Advantage

by
Edwin B. Dean

Total Quality Control is the system which Japan has developed to implement Kaizen or continuing improvement. Total Quality Control is a forty year plus improvement on the teachings of Deming, Juran, Feigenbaum, and others who brought the concept of quality to Japan. Total Quality Control is where the rubber meets the road in terms of putting quality into place, both within the product and within the system to bring forth, sustain, and retire the product.

The seven basic (old) tools, the seven management (new) tools, the seven product planning tools, quality function deployment, and Taguchi methods enhance the implementation of quality within the Total Quality Control process. In fact, the unconscious every day use of these tools is a primary factor in the increased competitive power of TQC over Total Quality Management, the American perception of implementing quality. This should not be surprising if you reflect on the ascendance of man over other species of the earth because of the ability to develop and use tools, including language. Upon examining these tools a fundamental truth emerges. Tools do not have to be limited to the physical, they can enhance the way we think as well. The tools of TQC are tools to enhance the power of thought. I thus submit that two primary measures or quality characteristics for TQM are the degree of use of these tools and the degree of development and use of new tools for implementing quality. Where is your organization on a larger the better scale of 0 to 10 with respect to these quality characteristics?

In support of the above theory Asaka and Ozeki (1990) note that the

Japanese Industrial Standard JIS Z 8101-1981, Glossary of Terms Used in Quality Control, defines quality control (QC) as a system of techniques for economically producing goods and services that meet the customers requirement.

Any integrated set of the tools mentioned above is such a technique. This book does an excellent job of describing graphs, Pareto diagrams, cause and effect diagrams, check sheets, histograms, stratification, descriptive statistics, process capability, control charts, scatter diagrams and correlation, affinity diagrams, relations diagrams, systematic diagrams, matrix diagrams, and arrow diagrams as they should be used by "the foreman, group leaders, supervisiors, QC circle leaders, trainers, quality managers, and other quality leaders ...."

In the foreword to Uchimaru, Okamoto, and Kurahara (1993), David Walden notes that "TQ[C] phase-in typically progresses through three phases: awareness (recognizing the need for TQ[C] and learning its basic principles); empowerment (learning the methods of TQ[C] and developing skill in practicing them); and allignment (harmonizing the business and TQ[C] goals and practices of the company)." For those skeptics of the applicability of TQM in technical fields, this excellent case history should remove that skepticism. For those intent on following the quality path, it will show you the way.

The Total Quality Control Bibliography below is a guide to where we need to go. The Founders of Quality Bibliography are the thoughts of those who started it all.

Bibliographies

Total Quality Control Bibliography
Founders of Quality Bibliography

References

Asaka, T. and K. Ozeki, ed. (1990). Handbook of Quality Tools: The Japanese Approach, Productivity Press, Portland OR.
Uchimaru, K., S. Okamoto, and B. Kurahara (1993). TQM for Technical Groups: Total Quality Principles for Production Development, Productivity Press, Portland OR.

Table of Contents | Quality Technologies | Use