1) TQM is the conformance to the requirements which customers expect.
2) TQM is about building quality rather than merely inspecting defects out.
3) Ron Collard and Gill Sivyer : TQM is the cost effective system for integrating the continuous quality improvement efforts of people at all levels in the organisation to deliver products and services which ensure customer satisfaction.
Features of TQM.
TQM is an essential approach for achieving superior performance to satisfy customers with high quality, quick delivery and low costs.
TENETS OF TQM.
the tenets of Quality movement find their roots in the concern for survival. The entire quality movement is based on the tenets given by three quality 'gurus'.
1) Dr. Joseph Juran : According to Juran, there are no shortcuts to quality. It does not happen overnight instead it needs to be planned. He believes that 80% of the quality problems originate from poor management.
To overcome the quality problems, he prescribes the following measures:.
(a) establish specific goals to be reached.
(b) establish plans for reaching the goals.
(c) assign clear responsibility for meeting the goals.
(d) base the rewards on results achieved.
2) Dr. Edwards Deming : Dr. Deming believed that quality management should be pervasive and should not focus on merely sorting good products from bad. He believed that responsibility for quality should be shared by everyone in the organisation. He recognised that most quality problems were system-induced and therefore not related to workmanship.
He outlines 14 points of action to be taken on the road to total quality :.
(a) Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service.
(b) Adopt the new philosophy transformation in the style of management.
(c) Cease dependence on mass inspection.
(d) End the practice of awarding business on price-tag alone.
(e) Constantly and forever improve the system of production and service.
(f) Institute modern methods of training on-the-job.