British Aerospace Before quality assurance was introduced quality was monitored by quality inspectors at the end of the production process

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

Rosemary Pelling

Case 2: British Aerospace

Before quality assurance was introduced quality was monitored by quality inspectors at the end of the production process. Any products that were faulty were scrapped by the inspectors, which led to considerable levels of wastage. Quality assurance is concerned with trying to stop faults from occurring in the first place, so there are zero defects. Products are produced to pre-determined standards, which are maintained by following a set of steps. Although some products will be tested to check they meet the required standard, it reduces the need for lots of quality inspectors, and also reduces wastage. ()

Toyota, a Japanese car manufacturer, has completely embraced the principles of quality assurance. They are very concerned about the reduction of waste, and improving quality in the first place to reduce defects. They aim to exercise quality assurance at all stages, from planning, right through to production. Examples include Toyota designing quality into their cars to make sure they are as defect free as possible. They use computer aided design (CAD) to help designers improve quality and to see where potential problems will be. In production, thousands of rigorous tests are carried out by the Toyota employees, as they are responsible for their own work, and the work of their co-workers. Toyota team members treat the ‘next person on the production line as their customer’. This means no defective parts will be passed on, and if there are any defects, the line will be stopped so the problem can be corrected (http://www.toyotageorgetown.com/qualdex.asp)

However, Toyota’s history has been littered with many difficult challenges, which once solved, has resulted in a competitive advantage for the company. (). One of these challenges would have been gaining total commitment from the employees, in order for them to take on the extra responsibility and take quality seriously. Toyota has introduced a number of reward systems to motivate employees and ensure their commitment, including extra special awards for employees with perfect attendance. These rewards will have motivated employees, and encouraged them to be committed to the firm (http://www.toyotageorgetown.com/qualdex.asp).

Quality assurance is a step towards TQM, as it is a stage most organisations go through before they tackle TQM. It is not about an organisation reaching a final destination, but instead a continual journey, where every employee in the organisation will systematically try to manage the improvement of the company. For this change to be made successfully, ‘many attitudes need changing, thinking developed and perceptions broadened’ (). Employees will need to be responsible for continually improving operations in which they are involved and suggesting more efficient ways of doing things. For this seriousness about quality to come about, British aerospace will have to change the company culture. They have already gone some way to doing that by slowly implementing quality assurance. Their employees are therefore likely to be serious about quality, but may not yet be used to the ideas of continual improvement.

During the early stages of TQM, it is important that there is a strong leader or set of leaders to share the vision of the company with other employees. As employees start to share the vision, the managers should perhaps adopt a more participative leadership style, which emphasises co-ordination rather than controlling. This allows employees as much empowerment as possible, and the motivation to succeed whilst not being controlled. Managers may however need to provide necessary support and will hold people accountable for results (http://www.improve.org/tqm.html#Visionary).

TQM will also cause other areas of the business to change, including the ...