Project

The project in the course is a comprehensive course-level assessment on TQM. The project comprises two parts, Project Part 1 and Project Part 2. You are required to start with Project Part 1 in Week 2 and submit it by the end of Week 4. Start Project Part 2 in Week 4 and submit it by the end of Week 6.

In Project Part 1, you are required to answer questions to convince the board of a failing company to adopt TQM. In Project Part 2, you are required to answer questions on the finer aspects of introducing TQM in the company.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Project Introduction:

Assume that you have been appointed to turn a failing company around, and you identify TQM as the answer. Your project report submission should comprise answers to the questions that revolve around this situation and are related to TQM.

Course Objectives Tested:

1. Define and compare internal and external customers of any quality project or process.

2. Compare and contrast Total Quality Management to ISO 9000.

3. Apply basic tools for improving the effectiveness of work processes including flowcharting, cause and effect diagrams and the use of root cause analysis methods.

4. Create charts and graphs to explain a statistical analysis of a selected project.

5. Develop a quality management plan including quality metrics, quality checklist, and process improvement plan.

6. Apply quality audit techniques to identify quality management system nonconformities and to apply problem-solving techniques for corrective actions.

7. Delineate the total quality management processes within each phase of the product and project cycle.

Project

PROJECT SUBMISSION PLAN

Description/Requirements of Project Part

Part 1: TQM and a 90-Day Turnaround

Assume that you are to take up the role of the president and CEO of a major corporation in the United States, WonderWash-an electrical appliances manufacturer. You are an experienced senior manager with more than 15 years of varied responsibilities with white goods manufacturing companies. You supervised their manufacturing facilities with a total commitment TQM.

Despite being a longtime manufacturer, WonderWash has been losing sales at an increasing rate. The quality and customer service areas are declining too. The company has been run under the same management style for a long time-a traditional approach that has not taken into account any of the changes adopted by other companies to modernize their facilities or utilize any of the concepts that have made them successful.

You are expected to turn the situation around within 90 days of your hiring. You have identified the need for TQM and, therefore, are determined to adopt the concept. Where do you begin?

What specific steps should you take with respect to the following questions?

1. How would you introduce TQM first to the board and then to the company?

2. In your introduction, what considerations are important for the presentation?

3. How would you characterize quality in a world-class organization, and how can WonderWash become one?

4. Where was TQM first developed and adopted, and what can WonderWash learnt from the experience?

5. What is the role of company ethics in the development of TQM at WonderWash?

6. How would you explain to company personnel how a quality culture differs from a traditional culture?

7. What role does the customer play in the process of TQM? How is this difference communicated to the employees in general?

Submission Requirements:

Submit your project report, in a minimum of 800 words, in a MS Word document, using APA style.

Part 2: Developing and Implementing the Plan

How would you take into consideration the following questions for your plan?

1. How do you see the process of team building fitting into the theory and practice of TQM as it applies to WonderWash?

2. What is the relationship between TQM and ISO 9000? Are they compatible, adoptable, and supportable in the WonderWash environment?

3. What quality tools would you incorporate in your planning process, and what function would each fulfill?

4. Would you incorporate SPC in the development of TQM, and if so, what elements of SPC and why?

5. Would you incorporate Just-in-Time manufacturing in the development of your new processes, and how would it fit within the context of TQM?

Explain how you would summarize the implementation of TQM for the "new" WonderWash.