Module 11 Lecture: W. Edwards Deming and Total Quality Management (TQM)

W. Edwards Deming

Here is a reflection about W. Edwards Deming from our subject matter expert for the course, Marie O'Brien:

I had the distinct pleasure and honor to have spent a day with W. Edwards Deming very close to his death at 93 years old. I think I met him when he was about 90. He was on stage for part of the day lecturing to a packed auditorium and then he spent the rest of his visit with a small group of faculty and students. This man is the father of Total Quality Management. For me, it was the same as spending a day with a rock star or legend.

 A little background...After WWII Professor Deming developed TQM and some strong theories of how the United States titans of Industry needed to change and grow. He couldn’t get them into the same place to meet. He was told to get out. Large U.S. corporations were vertical and based on the military structure of WWII-Top down Management.

Japan was in the middle of reconstruction trying to rebuild after WWII. Deming was invited to Japan. He asked to meet with all the business leaders and they all showed up. Back then “made in Japan” had a bad reputation. By the time I was a kid, "made in Japan" meant quality and craftsmanship. The leaders of industry in Japan wanted to be leaders in Steel Manufacturing, Automotive, and technology.

You may have heard the process for continuous improvement in the Toyota Company as “The Toyota Way”. They built a culture of getting quality right the first time where quality takes precedence and continuous improvement and respect for people exist. Toyota had a problem with airbags and the leadership resigned because they were not following “The Toyota Way”.

Also, Toyota is a pretty flat company as opposed to GM which has about 18 levels of management from the bottom to the CEO. US companies are often still operating under chain of command rules. This is probably why our companies are growing and thriving with Small Business Entrepreneur business team models.

Many US companies in the 1990s adopted TQM and World Class Manufacturing. Total quality management (TQM) is an integrative approach to management that supports the attainment of customer satisfaction through a wide variety of tools and techniques that result in high-quality goods and services.

Dr. Deming shared an example/story about how to improve our work. If you manufacture metal tables, everyone in the company needs to know the project in full and the ultimate use of the metal table. No matter your part, if you know that these tables are headed to a hospital surgical unit, you will treat the table with the utmost care, right down to the cleaning before its final packaging to the hospital. If you know that these tables are destined for a cafeteria or part of an assembly line of another manufacturing company, it is a different process to prepare the table.

Never use the words, “this is on a need to know basis and you don’t need to know”. WRONG! Everyone needs to know the scope of the project for optimum results.

I don’t know about you, but I have been on the receiving of that rude statement. If someone says this to you at your workplace, do you want to do your best and make sure if you see a flaw that you make it known? Didn't think so. Yet, if you know that your company rewards and supports everyone contributing to the success of the project, you will be part of that culture of continuous improvement.

Thank you for the opportunity to reminisce and share with you a very important memory to me.

Marie A. O'Brien

W. Edwards Deming’s 14 TQM Principles

Let's review Deming's 14 TQM Principles

  1. Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services.
  2. Adopt the new philosophy.
  3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.
  4. End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by working with a single supplier.
  5. Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production and service.
  6. Institute training on the job.
  7. Adopt and institute leadership.
  8. Drive out fear.
  9. Break down barriers between staff areas.
  10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets for the workforce.
  11. Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management.
  12. Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship, and eliminate the annual rating or merit system.
  13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone.
  14. Put everybody in the company to work accomplishing the transformation.

These total quality management principles can be put into place by any organization to more effectively implement total quality management. As a total quality management philosophy, Dr. Deming’s work is foundational to TQM and its successor, quality management systems Links to an external site.. If you'd like to learn more, check out this article about The "Father of Quality Management" W. Edwards Deming. Links to an external site.