Total Quality Management: A Critical Analysis Of Total Quality Management

The article concludes with the commonality that despite the varying criticism of different improvement methodologies, the ultimate objective of using these methodologies separately, or in tandem, is the same, which is to solve the problem.

While Total Quality Management (TQM) was reviewed earlier as a quality initiative that centers more on the actual product than the process, the TOC centers more on the process than the product. Michel Baudin (2013), professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, submits in his article that TQM is essentially dead in the manufacturing world, which has increasingly shifted toward Total Quality Control (TQC), which has more to do with controlling the factors that go into manufacturing a quality product

The TOC, says Baudin, is predicated on the fallacy that the physical arrangement of machines and workstations on the production floor is immaterial. Baudin does contend that the TOC is a useful tool for the need of the organization to focus on what is preventing or limiting its ability to reach its goals, but the obvious issue with the TOC is missing in its application to the constraint. Baudin also says that the TOC still has a level of generality that is not markedly different from many performance improvement imperatives that are about removing waste and redundancy or focusing on the “value adding” activities. Considering specific applications in production operations, the TOC ignores the “elephants in the room,” including the design of factories, the layout of production lines and engineer work stations, and the application of human resources (Baudin, M. 2013).

Joseph Quetsch (2007) authors an article comparing Six Sigma, Lean Thinking, and the Theory of Constraints starting with common methods of improvement that are utilized by

Software exists for processing these often complex formulas to help managers formulate and integrate a plan for performance improvement. nMetric (2012) is a supporting software manufacturer that supports multiple manufacturing and quality improvement programs. Through explaining their product’s capabilities and how their product can be implemented, nMetric identifies the process improvements of Lean Thinking, The Theory of Constraints, Six Sigma, and Total Quality Management, and how they can support them in their company’s propaganda. The article goes on to briefly explain each process improvement and how nMetric can interface and integrate with each. Though each improvement methodology has been explained previously in this review, it is of interest to discover how new improvement software like nMetric can be utilized to be of assistance in today’s process improvement issues. In Lean Thinking (Manufacturing), nMetric assists in value stream mapping by tracking and virtually replicating specific boundaries of production scheduling and the production environment. For Six Sigma and Total Quality Management that uses statistical data to analyze the effectiveness, efficiency, repeatability and accuracy of workflow and processes, nMetric touts their ability, through integrated real-time charting, to allow