Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management is a management philosophy concerned with broad-based, continuous quality management throughout an organization. TQM is also difficult to define, which is typical of an emerging subdiscipline. Quality has been increasingly popular stated objective of organizations during the past half-century.
Inspection came first and then quality control (QC), quality assurance (QA), product assurance (PA), total quality control (TQC), and finally total quality management (TQM).

Statistical Process Control (SPC)-the application of statistics to quality control.

Quality Assurance-quality control, but including sufficient process analysis and administrations are met.

Product Assurance-quality assurance that recognizes the need for and extends the search for quality solution is production the product design, which is the primary source of most quality problems.

Total Quality Control-product assurance, including a commitment to continuous improvement employing participative management, and making the line organization and supplier primaliry responsible for quality performance.

Total Quality Management-total quality control, including continuous review ad assessment of all operational and management policies, procedures, and practices, to perfect quality performance in meeting customer needs.

In each progression, the role of quality control was broadened to take on a greater responsibility. TQM includes any aspect of the product, process, product design, and the management and control systems that has any potential effect on product quality. TQM in fact has only modestly extended the technology of quality control. what it has done is stressed the need to examine how we do business and how we manage our operations. TQM is more revolution in management than a revolution in quality control.
Most of the original QC statistical techniques still apply, but they are employed in a more rational management context. Quality control is now a management practice of inclusion, whereas in years past it was a plant activity of restricted inclusion-only quality control personnel were permitted to do quality control. A few f the TQM concept are summarized below :

1. Adoption of kaizen (improvement) within our industrial culture.
2. Do it right the first time
3. Recognition that management is the problem and needs to be addressed.
4. Quality control is a production responsibility.
5. Discipline
6. Recognition that for the last decade in particular, while American management has been chasing "quality" as an end in itself, the Japanese industrial culture has been addressing quality and productivity improvement, and more recently, responsiveness.

There reason to believe that TQM is not just a passing "silver bullet" and will, in fact, become a continuous improvement element of our future industrial and government culture.