TQM - Deming's 14 Points
Deming's 14 points
by Phil Cohen
W Edwards Deming was an American statistician who was credited with the rise of Japan as a manufacturing nation, and with the invention of Total Quality Management (TQM). Deming went to Japan just after the War to help set up a census of the Japanese population. While he was there, he taught 'statistical process control' to Japanese engineers - a set of techniques which allowed them to manufacture high-quality goods without expensive machinery. In 1960 he was awarded a medal by the Japanese Emperor for his services to that country's industry.
Deming returned to the US and spent some years in obscurity before the publication of his book "Out of the crisis" in 1982. In this book, Deming set out 14 points which, if applied to US manufacturing industry, would he believed, save the US from industrial doom at the hands of the Japanese.
Although Deming does not use the term Total Quality Management in his book, it is credited with launching the movement. Most of the central ideas of TQM are contained in "Out of the crisis".
The 14 points seem at first sight to be a rag-bag of radical ideas, but the key to understanding a number of them lies in Deming's thoughts about variation. Variation was seen by Deming as the disease that threatened US manufacturing. The more variation - in the length of parts supposed to be uniform, in delivery times, in prices, in work practices - the more waste, he reasoned.
From this premise, he set out his 14 points for management, which we have paraphrased here:
1."Create constancy of purpose towards improvement". Replace short-term reaction with long-term planning.
2."Adopt the new philosophy". The implication is that management should actually adopt his philosophy, rather than merely expect the workforce to do so.
3."Cease dependence on inspection". If variation is reduced, there is no need to inspect manufactured items for defects, because there won't be any.
4."Move towards a single supplier for any one item." Multiple suppliers mean variation between feedstocks.
5."Improve constantly and forever". Constantly strive to reduce variation.
6."Institute training on the job". If people are inadequately trained, they will not all work the same way, and this will introduce variation.
7."Institute leadership". Deming makes a distinction between leadership and mere supervision. The latter is quota- and target-based.
8."Drive out fear". Deming sees management by fear as counter- productive in the long term, because it prevents workers from acting in the organisation's best interests.
9."Break down barriers between departments". Another idea central to TQM is the concept of the 'internal customer', that each department serves not the management, but the other departments that use its outputs.
10."Eliminate slogans". Another central TQM idea is that it's not people who make most mistakes - it's the process they are working within. Harassing the workforce without improving the processes they use is counter-productive.
11."Eliminate management by objectives". Deming saw production targets as encouraging the delivery of poor-quality goods.
12."Remove barriers to pride of workmanship". Many of the other problems outlined reduce worker satisfaction.
13."Institute education and self-improvement".
14."The transformation is everyone's job".
Deming has been criticised for putting forward a set of goals without providing any tools for managers to use to reach those goals (just the problem he identified in point 10). His inevitable response to this question was: "You're the manager, you figure it out."
"Out of the crisis" is over 500 pages long, and it is not possible to do full justice to it in a 600 word article. If the above points interest you, we recommend the book for further information.
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HISTORY OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Quality in project management is not a new concept. Quality assurance is evident in the construction of the pyramids. in the Egyptian wall paintings dating as far back as 1450 BC inspection and measurement is evident. Quality assurance and quality control concepts and procedures were practiced in the Middle Ages through the training of masters apprentices and journeymen in the guild system.
Modern quality concepts were developed from work done by two American consultants – Deming and Juran who taught in Japan in the 1950s.
From this base developed the concept and practice of Total Quality management (TQM) This strategy is based on the observation that quality can not be ‘inspected in’.
Instead an organisation wide focus on quality was required including:
• executive commitment
• the primacy of client needs
• design for quality
• shop floor training and involvement
• continual improvement
These TQM concepts are important and relevant to project quality management. In the late 1980s Total Quality Service (TQS) was introduced to service industries.
TQS emphasises:
• service strategies
• client oriented front line people
• client friendly services
The principles of TQS definitely apply to project quality management. The important concept which developed along side TQS was the internationally recognised ISO 9000 series of international standards which are based on three steps.
• say what you will do
• do it
• prove that you do it
QUALITY MANAGEMENT CONTEXT
The key aspects of the role of the project manager regarding quality management are:
• link the project to the company’s quality system
• develop a project Quality Plan
• manage project deliverables quality
• motivate the project team towards quality
Project quality management needs to be aligned to the client’s needs and is an important
project management responsibility.
The responsibility covers products, processes and people.
QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE PROJECT PHASES
Concept Phase
The concept phase sets up the management and technical direction of the project.
Quality activities should include:
• develop the quality plan
• develop key procedures
• pre qualify the organisation for undertaking the project
• develop the project strategy
• undertake HRM forward planning
Planning Phase
During the planning phase the project manager oversees and co ordinates the planning activities to ensure the project services and products meet all the client’s
needs. There should be an unbroken trail from the client’s needs to the agreed scope of the project reflected in specifications, work packages and contractual agreements. Quality aspects are integrated with the normal project mangement functions. Each of the client’s needs shouldbe traceable to a design feature in the planned products and services. This is done by following the work breakdown and specification breakdown processes. Analysis and design progressiveley break complex needs into easily understood elements. design decisions and detailed assumptions and constraints need to be recorded to form the baseline for project implementation.
Project Quality Plan
The project Quality Plan is defined as:
A document setting out the specific quality practices, resources and sequence of activities relevant to a particular project. It is the main vehicle to communicate the project quality aspects and is developed by the project manager in this phase. The Quality Plan is usually based on a set of documented procedures. A procedure is defined as a specified way to perform an activity.
The headings in International Standard ISO 9001 provide a good indicator of what the project quality plan should include.
• document management details
• management responsibilities
• quality system
• contract review
• design control
• purchasing
• document control
• customer – supplied products
• product identification and traceability
• process control
• inspection measuring and test equipment
• inspection and test status
• control of non conforming product
• corrective and preventative action
• handling, storage, packaging and delivery
• quality records
• quality audits
• servicing statistical techniques
This comprehensive list makes it appear that developing a Quality Plan is an intimidating job. In reality the plan should only be as detailed as needed to ensure
project quality.
Guidance Points
• Use generic procedures and documents where possible
• Show how generic procedures relate within the specific project
• Choose appropriate format and level of detail
• Do not duplicate the information in the Project Management Plan (PMP)
• Make the Quality Plan a stand alone document or annex to the PMP
• Consider splitting the Quality Plan into parts
• The Quality Plan should be the subject of an assurance review and acceptance
• The Quality Plan should be maintained and kept current by formal change management
The Quality Management Plan is the main vehicle to communicate project quality aspects and specifies quality control and assurance for the project.
The Plan should cover all aspects of project quality management but it is the role of the project manager to choose the appropriate contents, detail and format.
Implementation Phase
During the implementation phase the project’s deliverables are produced and delivered to the client. In this phase the project manager manages the
implementation of the Quality Plan including:
• Quality control
• Quality assurance
• Quality improvement
• HRM aspects
Finalisation Phase
This phase involves not only closing out the project from the client’s perspective but
undertaking internal activities to feed the lessons learned into the corporate
knowledge base.
Specific quality related activities include:
• Summarising quality results
• Conducting a final customer satisfaction review
• Communicating the corporate knowledge base
• Revising the corporate knowledge base
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Quality & Deming
