Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and Total Quality Management (TQM)

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Business process can be defined as a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. It is a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specified output for a particular customer or market. Improving business processes is important for businesses to stay ahead of competition in today’s marketplace. Over the last 10 to 15 years, companies have been forced to improve their business processes because customers are demanding better products and services. Many companies begin business process improvement with a continuous improvement model. The Business Process Reengineering (BPR) methodology comprises of developing business processes are simplified rather than being made more complex. Job descriptions expand and become multi-dimensional – people perform a broader range of tasks. People within the organization become empowered as opposed to being controlled. The emphasis moves away from the individual and towards the team’s achievements. The Continue reading

Quality Circles – Definition, Structure and Implimentation

It is now an accepted fact that in today’s fiercely competitive world, individual efforts, however brilliant, cannot be a substitute for teamwork. Modern organizations have to heavily depend on various types of teams to be effective and efficient. Japan is a pioneer in this team concept and has shown the world how an innovative concept like “Quality Circles” draws involvement of employees at all levels in solving work related problems and achieve continuous improvement in every area of work. Japanese organizations give a very large credit to this concept for their undisputed world leadership in quality and productivity. What is “Quality Circle”? Quality Circle  is a voluntary association of a group of persons working in same or similar type of job at the same work area who meet   regularly one hour a week during their normal working time to discuss about their work related problems and arrive at a Continue reading

Role and Importance of Operations Management in an Organization

Operations Management is very important for managing large firms and running them successfully. Operation management is mainly related to production of goods and services in an organisation. The main purpose of the operations management is to run the business operations successfully, smoothly and effectively by using the minimum resources and meeting customer expectations. Thus we can say that operations management is the process of converting minimum input like raw materials, labour to produce maximum output like products, goods and services. Operations Management is very crucial factor in order to increase company’s profit. Operations management is not only responsible for producing goods but also take control of distribution of services. Operations management plays a very crucial role in organisations as they produce professional managers which are capable of achieving organisation’s strategic goals in a defined period of time. Operations management is the heart of any organization as it controls the whole Continue reading

7 Important Quality Control Tools

Quality Control (QC) is a system of routine technical activities, to measure and control the quality of the inventory as it is being developed. The  Quality Control system is designed to: Provide routine and consistent checks to ensure data integrity, correctness, and completeness; Identify and address errors and omissions; Document and archive inventory material and record all QC activities. Seven Quality Control Tools An organization can be made better by applying proper quality management and quality management tools and techniques. The following seven quality control tools are considered basic tools for achieving quality. Tools Techniques Checksheet Departmental purpose analysis Pareto diagram Poka-yoke Histogram Fault tree analysis Control chart Design of experiments Scatter diagram Quality function deployment Statistical process control Flowchart Failure mode and effects analysis Cause and effect diagram Benchmarking The above basic tools are classified under 2 categories “Data Acquisitions” and “Data Analysis”. Check sheet, Histogram and Control chart Continue reading

Inventory Management Techniques

The term inventory derives from the French word inventaire and the Latin word inventariom which simply means a list of things which are found. The term inventory includes materials which are in raw form, or are in process, in the finished packaging, spares and the others which are stocked in order to meet all the unexpected demands or distribution in the future. This term usually refers to the stock at hand at a particular period of time of all those materials which are in raw form, those goods which are in progress of manufacture, all the finished products, merchandise purchased products for resale of those products, tangible products which can be seen, touched, measured or are countable. In a connection with the financial statements and records of accounting, the reference may be to the amount assigned to the stock or the pile of goods owned by an enterprise at a Continue reading

Purchase Management and Methods of Buying

Purchasing is a function of procuring goods and services from sources external to the organization. In the words of Alford and Beaty,”Purchasing is the procuring of materials, supplies, machine tools and services required for the equipment, maintenance, and operation of a manufacturing plant.” According to yet another authority,” Purchasing is the procuring of materials, tools, stores and services required for the manufacture of a product, maintenance of the machines, and un-interrupted running of the manufacturing plant in a manner that guarantees the marketing of the company’s products in the quantities desired, at the time promised and at the competitive price consistent with quality desired.” Purchasing in essence is the task of buying goods of right quality, in the right quantities, at the right time and at a right price. Since raw materials, components and services account for a significant as much as 50 to 70% proportion of the company’s total Continue reading