Just-in-time (JIT) is a revolutionary production system developed by Taiichi Ohno, a Toyota vice-president. He examined and challenged a known manufacturing principle, and developed a disciplined system that placed Toyota a quantum step ahead of their rivals in the Western countries. This system, now known as, “the Toyota Production System,” has set the standard for world-class manufacturing. The concept may be adopted within IT.
The ultimate goal of JIT production is to supply each process with exactly the required items, in exactly the required quantity, at exactly the required time. There are two conditions necessary to reach this situation: large amounts of production flexibility, and very short lead times.
The basic difference between the old method of supply and the new system is that the concept of a one-process department is eliminated. The same work tasks are no longer all performed in the same work area.
These highly specialized departments are replaced with mixed lines of processing capabilities laid out in the sequence required to make the part or groups of parts. Parts having similar size, shape, material, and processing sequence are allocated to those lines by a system known as “group technology.” Parts are processed over these lines one at a time in very small batches.
The key to JIT production is the ability of the production area to quickly switch from job to job within a few moments. The manufacturing technique for doing this is known as SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies). This technique of quickly changing work capabilities can significantly reduce the cost of doing work.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
QUALITY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES & APPROACHES
The organizational climate is the workers’ attitude toward their organization. It is a composite of human behaviors, perception of events, responses of employees to one another, expectations, interpersonal conflicts, and the opportunities for growth in the organization. The climate is crucial in creating and maintaining an effective organization, and, therefore, should be periodically evaluated to discover whether the satisfaction level of the employees is positive or negative. An evaluator can use the six steps below to assess the climate of a specific organization, group, committee, task force, etc.
1. Look at the organization (group, committee, task force, etc.) - Assess the mission and goals of the organization, what it is supposed to produce, and the overriding principles by which it operates.
1. Examine the jobs - Examine each job in the organization. Ask whether the job is necessary, whether it makes full use of the employee’s capabilities, and whether it is important in accomplishing the mission and goals of the organization.
2. Assess employees’ performance - Evaluate each employee’s performance in relation to the organization’s mission and goals. For each job being performed, ask if the employee is doing what should be done, is using his or her skills effectively, likes his or her job, and has enthusiasm and interest in performing the job.
3. Evaluate how employees feel about their manager or leader - Good organizational climate requires good leadership. Determine whether each employee within the group likes his or her manager, whether they follow or ignore the requests of their manager, and whether they attempt to protect their manager (i.e., make their manager look good).
4. Create a dialog with the members of the group - Interact with each employee asking a series of hypothetical questions to identify the employee’s true feelings toward the organization. Questions such as, “do you feel the organization supports your suggestions”, can help draw out the true feeling of each employee.
1. Look at the organization (group, committee, task force, etc.) - Assess the mission and goals of the organization, what it is supposed to produce, and the overriding principles by which it operates.
1. Examine the jobs - Examine each job in the organization. Ask whether the job is necessary, whether it makes full use of the employee’s capabilities, and whether it is important in accomplishing the mission and goals of the organization.
2. Assess employees’ performance - Evaluate each employee’s performance in relation to the organization’s mission and goals. For each job being performed, ask if the employee is doing what should be done, is using his or her skills effectively, likes his or her job, and has enthusiasm and interest in performing the job.
3. Evaluate how employees feel about their manager or leader - Good organizational climate requires good leadership. Determine whether each employee within the group likes his or her manager, whether they follow or ignore the requests of their manager, and whether they attempt to protect their manager (i.e., make their manager look good).
4. Create a dialog with the members of the group - Interact with each employee asking a series of hypothetical questions to identify the employee’s true feelings toward the organization. Questions such as, “do you feel the organization supports your suggestions”, can help draw out the true feeling of each employee.
Quality Council
A Quality Council is composed of the organization’s top executive and his or her direct reports. It may also be referred to as an Executive Council. The Quality Council acts as the steering group to develop the organization’s mission, vision, goals, values, and quality policy.
These serve as critical input to process mapping, planning, measurement, etc. Some large companies opt for more than one level of Quality Council. When multiple levels exist, each organization’s mission and vision tie into that specified by the top council. Specifically, the Quality Council: Initiates and personally commits to the quality management philosophies and practices. Incorporates this decision into the strategic planning process, allocating resources in the budget for the deployment of quality management and ensuring resources are available for both ongoing and upcoming IT projects and internal process improvement projects.
Establishes committees at lower levels to focus on functional and cross-functional improvement efforts, develop or revise processes, and to oversee and manage the quality management process on a daily basis. They may develop charters to serve as job descriptions for the committees, or approve the committees’ charters.
These serve as critical input to process mapping, planning, measurement, etc. Some large companies opt for more than one level of Quality Council. When multiple levels exist, each organization’s mission and vision tie into that specified by the top council. Specifically, the Quality Council: Initiates and personally commits to the quality management philosophies and practices. Incorporates this decision into the strategic planning process, allocating resources in the budget for the deployment of quality management and ensuring resources are available for both ongoing and upcoming IT projects and internal process improvement projects.
Establishes committees at lower levels to focus on functional and cross-functional improvement efforts, develop or revise processes, and to oversee and manage the quality management process on a daily basis. They may develop charters to serve as job descriptions for the committees, or approve the committees’ charters.
QUALITY MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE
The reason a quality management environment is established is to assure constancy of purpose in promoting quality as a major IT goal. There are two components to that environment: belief and commitment from management and staff, and the organizational structure and quality initiatives to support that environment. Part 1 focused on the belief and commitment of the management team. This part focuses on the infrastructure and initiatives.
No organization has a perfect quality management environment. All are striving to achieve the optimum management philosophy, and organizations can be anywhere along the quality management continuum. By forming a quality function, some level of commitment and organizational structure exists that could be called quality management.
In some organizations there is no choice but to begin implementation from the middle or the bottom. In these cases, demonstrated success will be required to get management’s attention. While all three approaches have been used and have been successful, the top-down approach is recommended, and is used for the remainder of this discussion.
For a top-down implementation of the infrastructure in a quality management environment, begin the process with executive management. Then facilitate the downward flow of the goals, values, structure, and training established at upper levels, to succeeding levels. Each level is linked to the other by the common objective of making people capable of combined performance.
No organization has a perfect quality management environment. All are striving to achieve the optimum management philosophy, and organizations can be anywhere along the quality management continuum. By forming a quality function, some level of commitment and organizational structure exists that could be called quality management.
In some organizations there is no choice but to begin implementation from the middle or the bottom. In these cases, demonstrated success will be required to get management’s attention. While all three approaches have been used and have been successful, the top-down approach is recommended, and is used for the remainder of this discussion.
For a top-down implementation of the infrastructure in a quality management environment, begin the process with executive management. Then facilitate the downward flow of the goals, values, structure, and training established at upper levels, to succeeding levels. Each level is linked to the other by the common objective of making people capable of combined performance.
Quality Management Champion
There is a need for one or more people to champion the cause of quality management. Ideally a champion will emerge during the planning for quality management implementation. This is the person who accepts personal responsibility for the success of quality management without being assigned the responsibility. The champion will be emotionally committed to quality management and will see it as a cause.
The champion should be respected in the organization, have high quality standards and believe that the organization needs to improve. This “can do” attitude may be the most important consideration. A management champion may assume the day-to-day management responsibility for successfully implementing quality management.
Champions happen naturally; they are not appointed. The enthusiasm and energy of champions are important factors in the success of an organization. Ideally the initial champion would be the top executive, but several managers may assume this role at different times. The need for a champion lasts a minimum of two to three years.
Implementing quality management requires a culture change. Learning new types of behavior leads to that change. Following are some new behavior modes:
Most managers practice traditional management. They have been taught to control their organization and employees, using an “I’ll tell you what to do, and you’ll do it” mentality. Many mangers look at the short-term because their commitment to the organization is short range.
The champion should be respected in the organization, have high quality standards and believe that the organization needs to improve. This “can do” attitude may be the most important consideration. A management champion may assume the day-to-day management responsibility for successfully implementing quality management.
Champions happen naturally; they are not appointed. The enthusiasm and energy of champions are important factors in the success of an organization. Ideally the initial champion would be the top executive, but several managers may assume this role at different times. The need for a champion lasts a minimum of two to three years.
Implementing quality management requires a culture change. Learning new types of behavior leads to that change. Following are some new behavior modes:
Most managers practice traditional management. They have been taught to control their organization and employees, using an “I’ll tell you what to do, and you’ll do it” mentality. Many mangers look at the short-term because their commitment to the organization is short range.
Middle Management Commitment
As the slowest group to accept the process, middle management is the weakest link in most quality management efforts. Special effort is required to assure them they have a role as important players.
They should have input to the statements that executive management prepare, and be included in all aspects of quality management planning and implementation. One way to assure their support is to assign them the task of determining their own role.
How to include middle management is an important consideration for executive management, because obtaining quality management support from first-line managers and employees is relatively easy.
The standard must be applied to management before it is deployed to the rest of the organization. Executive management must personally strive for perfection, measure progress, and recognize those who contribute to error-free performance. Employees strive to meet expectations established for them, and model their behavior after management’s actions.
They should have input to the statements that executive management prepare, and be included in all aspects of quality management planning and implementation. One way to assure their support is to assign them the task of determining their own role.
How to include middle management is an important consideration for executive management, because obtaining quality management support from first-line managers and employees is relatively easy.
The standard must be applied to management before it is deployed to the rest of the organization. Executive management must personally strive for perfection, measure progress, and recognize those who contribute to error-free performance. Employees strive to meet expectations established for them, and model their behavior after management’s actions.
Executive Management Commitment
While overall management commitment is necessary to the success of quality management, commitment from the organization’s executives is vital. Executive management sets the tone for the whole effort by visibly supporting quality management.
Every employee, including other managers, will wait to see where executives prioritize quality management. If quality improvement is not “number one” with executive management, it will not be with anyone else.
After receiving their initial quality management training, executive managers should operate as a Process Improvement Team (PIT) to improve at least one management process before moving quality management down the organization.
This is a visible sign of commitment and the best way for management to understand what quality management means. Ideally, each layer of management will do the same thing. A challenging process to study is the preparation of the annual budget, but starting with a simpler process may be more appropriate.
Executive management should develop a quality policy and mission, vision, goals, and values statements. They also show commitment to quality management by establishing new quality standards calling for error-free performance. This goal will not be pursued or achieved, if executive management does not establish the need.
Every employee, including other managers, will wait to see where executives prioritize quality management. If quality improvement is not “number one” with executive management, it will not be with anyone else.
After receiving their initial quality management training, executive managers should operate as a Process Improvement Team (PIT) to improve at least one management process before moving quality management down the organization.
This is a visible sign of commitment and the best way for management to understand what quality management means. Ideally, each layer of management will do the same thing. A challenging process to study is the preparation of the annual budget, but starting with a simpler process may be more appropriate.
Executive management should develop a quality policy and mission, vision, goals, and values statements. They also show commitment to quality management by establishing new quality standards calling for error-free performance. This goal will not be pursued or achieved, if executive management does not establish the need.
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