The introduction of total quality control to a manufacture company --a case study

This MBA project was concerned with the implementation of Total Quality Control (TQC) into a manufacturing organisation. TQC is a philosophy which directs a Company's efforts to improving quality to achieve improved productivity based on the fact it is not quality which costs but lack of quality. This is diametrically opposed to the commonly held belief that quality control is a cost. TQC also involves staff at all levels in an organisation, and as such, is a form of industrial democracy. These two aspects, more than any others, are so different to the norm in Australian industry that their introduction requires significant changes in the workplace. The literature has been reviewed to define the principles of TQC that must be implemented in any environment. In addition, the main statistical tools are listed.The methodology begins with a brief background of the Company, followed by a discussion of the management approach necessary to encompass the philosophies of TQC. The structure necessary within the organisation to enable the implementation of the programme is discussed in detail. The results indicate that to date, the project has successfully improved quality of production and services. The improvements have been related to either direct productivity increases or dollar values. The project has shown how the extra workload from the introduction of TQC has stretched managerial resources and how this was overcome by sequentially introducing the scheme. Two years after the beginning of the project, the implementation of Levels 1, 2 and 3 are still occurring for various Groups and results continue to be encouraging. The time scale for the full implementation shows that the benefits will not come immediately and that the major benefits will not accrue until the scheme is fully implemented throughout the organisation.