The three key management techniques for effective quality management

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Overview by Huatianmou Lean Production Management Expert: The purpose of quality management is to ensure, through organization and processes, that products or services meet the expectations of both internal and external customers； Ensure that the company achieves this goal at the lowest possible cost ； Ensure that the processes of product development, manufacturing, and service are reasonable and correct. The inability to improve quality management is ultimately due to many issues in practice that have not been properly addressed, a insufficient theoretical foundation, a lack of systematic and comprehensive thinking, and a lack of summarization. To improve the level of quality management, we first need to understand what the purpose and significance of quality management are. To understand what quality management is about, one must first understand what quality is Quality is an inherent attribute contained within a product or service. It includes: the practicality, cost-effectiveness, safety, reliability, convenience, etc., of the product or service provided. So what is good product quality? Modern quality management theory holds that quality is the degree to which customer expectations are met. By \"good,\" it means fully meeting the customer’s expectations. Generally speaking, customers expect fast service, high quality, low prices, and convenience. Product quality is determined by the processes, which include: work quality, and the accuracy of inputs and outputs at various stages of research, development, and production ； In particular, the foresight and accuracy of product planning and project initiation efforts ； Design quality, design maturity ； Coverage rate of standardization and generalization, compliance rate ； Component quality, component reliability, defect rate ； Process quality, the level of manufacturing craftsmanship, and first-pass yield. The goals of quality management are more, faster, better, and cheaper. Specific quantitative indicators can be referenced against benchmarks or through vertical comparisons to set the goals for the current year. An important principle of quality management is action, guided by the principles of process management, closed-loop management, and seeing things through to the end. There are inspections, implementations, follow-ups, feedback, results, and a complete process from start to finish. There is no one-size-fits-all organization, process, or method for quality management; it depends on the specific circumstances of each company. The drive and effectiveness of quality management stem from the requirements of the company’s strategy. What are the specific methods? Here are some commonly used quality management organizations and approaches. I. Total Quality Management – The best practices of total quality management, namely TQM, involve the interaction among the four key supply chain functions: research and development, procurement, manufacturing, and customer service, thereby forming a TQM organizational framework. Each unit has its own internal quality assurance system, and the interaction between units constitutes the daily activities of TQM. Within the unit, secondary and tertiary activities are formed. This is the cornerstone of carrying out quality work. TQM aims to achieve the organization’s strategies and objectives: establishing a first-level and second-level organizational structure ； Establish a quality system/protocol ； 　　 　　Define quality objectives and conduct KPI assessments. The secondary organizational structure includes: QA, system maintenance, auditing, issue follow-up, tracking, and monthly/weekly/daily reports ； QC, execution standards, inspection, testing, recording ； QE, problem analysis, countermeasures, standard maintenance ； QA, QC, and QE can be three separate teams or they can be handled by one team working in a part-time capacity; in this case, it is simply referred to as QA. Everyone is a QA. II. 6sigma: 6sigma is an excellent method and tool that provides a systematic set of theories and approaches for continuous improvement. Its adoption in the industry represents an important milestone in quality management. In addition, there is also the ISO9001 quality assurance system, which is the result of important management practices developed by predecessors. III. R&D Quality Management: There are many methods and tools that can be used during the R&D phase, such as QFD, DFMEA, TRIZ, BRAINSTORMING, concurrent engineering, DOE, Taguchi methods, and so on. Practical and commonly used methods include: QFD, DFMEA, BRAINSTORM, and concurrent engineering. To assess the effectiveness of quality management, to measure the success of its efforts, and to ensure the effectiveness and stability of quality work, regular evaluations are necessary. The principle for evaluating the effectiveness of quality management is to rely on data, ensure comprehensiveness and objectivity, with effectiveness = process quality × execution capability ； Process quality = Corporate strategy × Organizational structure ； Execution ability = Staff quality × Rules and regulations. The evaluation method is generally through management review, on a quarterly/monthly/weekly/daily basis ； The tools commonly used are the seven QC tools: check sheets, fishbone diagrams, histograms, stratified scatter plots, Pareto charts, scatter plots, and control charts.