Total quality management (TQM) evolved from the Japanese after World War II with the inspiration from quality experts like Juran and Deming. As it evolved, it changed from process driven by external controls to a customer oriented process. Quality is achieved through prevention rather than inspection. It shifts the main concept from control to management. No matter how stringent the control there is still a chance to have mistakes or defectives. The concept of management is to have a strategic plan starting from identifying customer requirements to after-sales services to producing product meetings or exceeding the customer requirements. TQM will be discussed in more detail in Unit 5.
From the evolution of quality management, we can also identify some key attributes of quality. We start by producing product in a consistent manner by meeting the necessary requirements. It is important to trace and isolate defective items preventing further usage. If it is found that a certain batch of products has safety problems after being sold in the market, it is important that it can be identified and recalled. Means are developed to control quality at the initial stage. This is primary achieved through inspection. Later, the scope was shifted to quality assurance. That is, mechanisms are developed to ensure the production process conforms to the requirements of producing good products. The concept of control was extended beyond the production department to include all departments of an organization. To deliver quality product, it requires cooperation and integration of all departments. If the logistics department does not ship the products on time, the customer will not be happy. At the final stage, quality should not rely on control only. Quality is built upon by customer focus, defect prevention and so on. This is total quality management.
We cannot omit the importance of quality standards or systems in the discussion on evolution of quality management. Quality standards or systems with the aim for consistent quality and quality improvement have been developed throughout the history of quality management. The most well known quality management system, ISO 9000, will be covered in Unit 4.
In the next section, we will further expand on the details and elements of product quality.
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