In the business world, the realization of business excellence is pivotal towards fostering the success of an enterprise. In this respect, business organizations need to engage in actions that facilitate performance excellence. The areas of business operations that need a considerable extent of excellence include customer satisfaction, workforce fulfillment, operations efficiency, and business growth. The need for continuous improvement influences business managers to adopt the suitable performance excellence models. The Baldrige Excellence Framework is one of the most sought-after performance excellence models that drive the success of businesses in different sectors. The model mainly focuses on bolstering performance excellence by improving the business aspects of leadership, strategic planning, customer supervision, workforce administration, knowledge management, and operations focus. Business organizations need to focus on improving the performance of the mentioned aspects to realize significant excellence in their respective industries. Background In the mid-1980s, leaders in the United States saw the need Continue reading
Operations Management
Comparing Six Sigma and Total Quality Management (TQM)
Six Sigma Six Sigma is the management technique based on project development and improving critical services and products of a firm. Therefore, Six Sigma aims to reduce product defects, reduce maintenance costs, and increase production effectiveness and efficiency to achieve these improvements. The techniques also aim at improving the understanding and satisfaction of clients’ needs and corporate governance by enhancing the competitive advantage of firms. The mechanism improves productivity and a company’s financial performance by establishing measures of correcting an organization’s internal controls. The primary aim of the Six Sigma mechanism is to improve the firm’s process capabilities by using various statistical tools. It reduces waste and eliminates costs that do not add value to the firm’s performance. The main objective of this technique is to improve service delivery and enhance customer satisfaction after correcting the critical business process which would cause delays in their performance. When the importance of Continue reading
Concurrent Engineering Vs Traditional (Sequential) Engineering Methods
Traditionally, products were designed and manufactured following the sequential engineering methods, where people from different departments work one after the other on successive phases of development. This method of production is in a linear format. The different steps are done one after another, with all attention and resources focused on that one task. After it is completed it is left alone and everything is concentrated on the next task. The product is first completely defined by the engineering design department, and then the manufacturing department take over and define the manufacturing process, etc. This was a lengthy process, and often led to a lot of design changes as the prototype testing began, due to production problems, delays or design flaws. This is therefore a slow and costly approach, often leading to a low-quality and less competitive product. Concurrent Engineering, sometimes called Simultaneous Engineering or Integrated Product Development (IPD), can be Continue reading
Concurrent Engineering (CE) – Definition, Approaches and Requirements
Introduction to Concurrent Engineering Concurrent engineering (CE) is a method that is used in the product development process. Concurrent Engineering, sometimes called Simultaneous Engineering or Integrated Product Development (IPD), can be defined as a systematic approach to the integrated, concurrent design of products and their related processes, including manufacture and support. It is different than the traditional approach from the product development in which it uses simultaneous, something that sequential, processes. By finishing the tasks in paralelamente, the product development can be obtained more efficiently and in substantial saving in costs. In the traditional approach finishing all the physical manufacture of a prototype before realizing any test, but In the concurrent engineering it allows to design and multiple analyses to happen at the same time, and at different times, before the real unfolding. This multidisciplinary approach accentuates work in equipment with the use of cross-functional equipment, and allows so that Continue reading
Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge – 14 Principles
William Edwards Deming (1900-1993) was a renowned American quality management consultant, professor, and statistician, and wrote several books on product quality and management and gave lectures on the same. He is attributed for helping to advancement in production in corporate America but his greatest achievements were in Japan. He made a major contribution to Japan’s a trade and industry development, and also the advancement of their high-quality products. Deming (1990) noted that “by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs (by reducing waste, rework, staff attrition and litigation while increasing customer loyalty).” Deming recommended that organizations should focus on quality which leads to reduction of costs, instead of concentrating on costs that decrease the quality gradually. He mostly advocated for proper management as he argued that it was responsible for 85% of the problems that companies face. He argued that good management of an Continue reading
Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) – Meaning, Principles, Benefits, and Drawbacks
Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) is a strategy which needs to applied throughout the company and whose primary goal is the reduction of lead-time in each and every operation of the company while simultaneously reducing costs and improving quality. QRM can be defined in two contexts: (i) Externally (Customers point of view): QRM means quickly responding to customer needs by designing and producing goods customized to cater those needs. (ii) Internally, QRM stresses on reducing the lead times throughout the organization, leading to lower inventory, better quality, reduced cost, and greater responsiveness. Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) uses Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT) as the metric for measuring the success of QRM processes. MCT is an extension of the concept of lead-time, which is the time from the receipt of order from the customer till the product is delivered to the customer. There are 2 ways of implementing QRM: one is using large Continue reading