No abstract

For the last decade, American companies have beenplayingcatch-up in the area of quality andproductivity. Japanese companies and other foreign competitors have moved into markets that were once dominated by American companies, by producing higher quality products. The problem to date in the U S has obviously not been the lack of resources or documentation on quality and improvement programmes, but the misdirection of these programmes and the lack of total management commitment. Total Quality Management ( T Q M ) isseen as an effective method that wilIaccomplish the task of higher quality levels, andincreased productivity. The purpose of Total Quality Management is to implement a process that is long term and continuous improvement initiatives throughout the organization, beginning with their own function in the organization. T Q M integrates the fundamental techniques and principles of Quality Function Deployment, Taguchi Methods, Staristical Process control, Just-ln-Time, and existing management tools into a structured approach. The primary objective of this approach is to incorporate quality and integrity into all functions at all levels of the organization.This paper examines the TQMprocess, philosophy, concepts, attributes and how it can be used to develop a 'quality-bared' culture in which everyone in the organization is involved.