TQM IN FORD Ford Motor Company total quality management or TQM practices started in the 1980s when ―Quality Is Job 1‖ was their slogan. How did TQM work at Ford and are they still standing behind this process? Jean Scheid, a Ford Dealer talks with Ford management along with some insights of her own. TQM at Ford Motor Company
Today at Ford Motor Company, their most popular slogan is ―Ford Has a Better Idea.‖ Back in the 1980s when Ford Motor Company total quality management practices were vast, the slogan of ―Quality Is Job 1‖ made more sense. In a conversation with Dan Dobbs, a Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Ford, it was noted that TQM may have worked in the 1980s, but Six Sigma is the project management methodology of choice these days. When TQM, a process improvement methodology based on a customer satisfaction qualitydriven process with guidelines set by management was first utilized, it started through a joint venture. Through a partnership with ChemFil, a division of PPG Industries, Ford wanted to produce better quality products, a stable work environment for the workforce, effective management, and profitability; all all by the 1990s, ―Quality is Job 1‖ became ―Quality People, Quality Products.‖ Products.‖ Through this partnership with paint supplier ChemFil, paint process were developed to ensure that a ―quality product that meets customer’s needs translates into financial success,‖ according to an insider press release obtained from the Ford Media Room. TQM was forefront in their painting design as the process of preparation (based on customer quality standards) was implemented by ChemFil with Ford management and workers informed of all steps needed to follow the application of paint to a quality outcome.
Gone were the days of guessing, and TQM meant processes at all levels of production were strictly followed, constantly developed upon, and improved mostly through customer quality satisfaction surveys. TQM is Revisited
In 1999, Terry Chenault joined Ford, a risk management specialist who along with Phong Vu, helped to further the TQM methodology through a Consumer Driven Six Sigma Process. Says Dan Dobbs today of TQM and Ford, ―It may have been newsworthy in the 1980s but Ford Motor Company Total Quality Management practices really began with Henry Fo rd.‖ That’s true if you look at Toyota’s 5S Best Practices in the production of their vehicles, a methodology decided upon after visiting Henry Ford’s assembly lines. While TQM at the Ford assembly lines looked good to Toyota, they found too much waste and went on to develop their own quality process or 5S. What Changed TQM at Ford?
According to Dan Dobbs, the Six Sigma Master Black Belt who runs Six Sigma practices at Ford, ―Waste and lack of quality on many levels.‖ This is true especially when you look at the far superior Ford Warranty claim system. As of 2008, the warranty repair rate for Ford by utilizing Six Sigma decreased by 60%. Ford Chief Engineer Art Hyde takes the now implemented Six Sigma a step further saying, ―The design and engineering analysis process makes it possible for problems, that previously may not have surfaced until (product) launch, to be caught and corrected in the virtual world through the DMAIC process.‖ The DMAIC process, or define, measure, analyze, improve, and control has ―built an overall strategy for consistency in our teams,‖ continues Hyde. Of their Six Sigma implementation for 2010 product launches, Dobbs told me, ―The Company’s Quality Operating System or (QOS) is crucial for identifying and correcting problems within the manufacturing facilities.‖ He goes on to say, ―Six Sigma and QOS implemented in each plant
includes cross-functional groups of engineers, plant management, and production specialists — all skilled problem solvers who’ve been trained through Six Sigma.‖ Ford seems to be sticking with Six Sigma roles and has 60,000 Six Sigma Green Belts, over 7,000 Black Belts and 400 Master Black Belts worldwide. To make the process work even better, Ford is working with Wayne State University in Detroit to aid all UAW Ford reps in becoming Six Sigma Black Belts. Six Sigma and Ford’s Future
Perhaps the newest slogan, ―Ford Has a Better Idea,‖ is on its way according to Louise Goeser, VP of Quality, ―In fact, one and a half points of customer satisfaction drives about one point more in loyalty and our data shows that customers who are highly satisfied remain loyal.‖ Upon obtaining our new Ford dealership, last year, my husband and I traveled to Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn Michigan to ―drink the Ford Kool-aid‖ and Six Sigma was everywhere from production to teams to management to consumer suggestions. Whether switching methodologies from TQM to Six Sigma will work for Ford remains to be seen, especially in a tough economy. However, way back when, as a Chrysler dealer, I do remember Lee Iaccoca telling us dealers that ―Ford was richer and GM was bigger,‖ but both needed to ―Lead, follow, or get out of the way.‖ Perhaps this is a way for Ford Motor Company Total Quality Management to improve to a process such as Six Sigma that will involve everyone from the consumer to top management. As ―Quality is Job 1‖ fades to the background at Ford, don’t be fooled, they still want that as any automaker, but through Six Sigma practices, they feel they’ve got a grand hold on the industry's market share. In fact, upon the end of our Ford Dealer Conference, we were handed a book, Ford Racing Century: A Photographic History of Ford Motorsports, by Larry Edsall and Mike Teske. The inside inscription? ―Welcome to the Ford Family,‖ signed by CEO Bill Ford. No more ―Quality
is Job 1‖ but instead, through Six Sigma and what we were shown, it really is more like a family with a bunch of kids to satisfy. TQM: Ford Uses CT Scans To Weed Out “Acceptable” Parts, Replace Them With “Optimal” Variants:
What may appear to be an innocuous speck of sand to one person can be a substantial bother for a new car owner. That’s exactly why engineers at Ford Motor Company are working with an advanced scanning technology to improve vehicle quality. Ford uses CT scans to detect problems with parts before assembling them into a finished vehicle - such as this microscopic view of a brake hose. The sophisticated technology in question is the same computer tomography (CT) scanner used by the police and hospitals. Ford engineers use the scanner – a Skyscan Micro-CT unit that fits on a table-top – to help check for internal and structural deficiencies of vehicle parts, including gears, latches, welds, nuts, bolts, fasteners, and sensors – before they are assembled into a finished car. Imperfections such as air pockets, indentations, and blemishes – all of which could mean the difference between acceptable and optimal quality – can be detected. If a supplier makes a change to the way it manufactures or assembles a part, Ford’s ―forensic investigators‖ – as they’re known internally – can create a short, three-dimensional video from the data collected by the CT scanner and check whether the change has lead to an improvement in the quality and performance of the part. The scanner is capable of detecting defects down to 17 microns – smaller than a single particle of sand – or one-fifth the diameter of a human hair. This means that problems not visible to the naked eye can now be seen on the computer screen. The goal of the procedure is to find problems before they turn into customer-reported issues. Before implementing the scanning practice, each component needed to be taken apart by hand in order to be studied – a process that’s not only extremely time consuming, but also very tedious:
―We’d spend hours sanding it a little, polishing it a little, examining it under a microscope and then take a picture of it, repeating this process several times,‖ said Vlad Beltran – a Ford analyst. ―Even then it was possible that we could go right through a defect and not even know it.‖ With the scanner, many issues can be found and solved within a few short hours. What happens when an issue is found and identified by the scanning procedure? The findings are given to the proper people to fix the problem… in this case, it’s the materials engineering group that works with designers and a supplier base to resolve the issue and/or correct the situation. The Ford Authority Take
Needless to say, this is awesome… on many levels. Ford is driving quality to a point that has been unheard-of in the mainstream automotive space – and the numbers are living proof that it’s working. How’s that for Total Quality Management (TQM)? Manufacturing geeks, feel free to chime in! Advantages of TQM in FORD:
The major thrust of Total Quality Management (TQM) is to achieve productivity and process efficiency by identifying and eliminating problems in work processes and systems. TQM addresses key problem areas such as mistakes in work processes, redundant processes, unnecessary tasks, and duplicate efforts. TQM interventions also help with predicting and preempting such mistakes and unproductive activities. Improving process efficiency brings about many benefits to the organizations in terms of costs and time. The major benefits of TQM in terms of cost savings include:
elimination of non-confirmation and repetitive work
elimination of waste costs and reject products
elimination of repairs and reworks
reduced warranty and customer support costs
process efficiency leading to improved profit per product or service
fiscal discipline through elimination of unnecessary steps and wasteful expenditure TQM frees up management time from redressing problems and directs management time and effort to:
increase production
extend the range of products
improve existing products TQM and Customer Satisfaction
A major long-term benefit of Total Quality Management relates to customer satisfaction. TQM aims at improving quality, and identifies the best measure of quality as matching customer expectations in terms of service, product, and experience. TQM interventions quantify problems and aim to achieve the best state defined in terms of such customer expectations. Some examples of the application of Total Quality Management to improve customer satisfaction include:
Reduction of waiting time by changing the method of appointment scheduling or client handling
Making changes to the delivery process so that the product reaches the customer faster
Better quality products requiring no repairs improving customer loyalty TQM and Organizational Development
Among the major benefits of Total Quality Management is improvement in Organizational Development. TQM heralds a change in the work culture by educating all employees on quality and making quality the concern of everybody, not just the Quality Control department. The focus on quality leads to a proactive work culture aimed at preventing mistakes rather than correcting mistakes.
Total Quality Management’s focus on teamwork leads to the formation of cross-departmental teams and cross-functional knowledge sharing. Such interventions lead to many benefits such as:
Improvement in communication skills of individual employees and overall organizational communication
Knowledge sharing, resulting in deepening and broadening of knowledge and skill-set of team members, and the making of a Learning Organization
Flexibility for the organization in deploying personnel, contributing to rightsizing, and ensuring cost competitiveness. Another benefit of Total Quality Management is that TQM promotes the concept of internal customer/supplier satisfaction. For instance, the HR department considers employees as internal customers and processes their queries or requests within the specified time limit. The lab technician in a hospital processes the clinical tests required by the doctor, an internal customer in a timely and efficient manner, according to the laid down customer satisfaction norms. TQM and Human Resources
A major application of benefits of Total Quality Management relate to Human Resource Management. Application of TQM in an organization brings about the following benefits to the Human Resources of an organization: 1. TQM extends the ownership of the business process to each employee involved in the process by empowering them to rectify mistakes on the spot without supervisor review or action. This generates intrinsic motivation and creates an atmosphere of enthusiasm and satisfaction among the workforce. 2. TQM’s thrust on eliminating mistakes and improving productivity contr ibutes to accomplishment of targets faster. The resultant free time allows employees to enhance their knowledge and apply their creativity to improve existing products and develop new products. 3. TQM’s thrust on quality leads to identifying skill-deficiencies in employees and providing training and other interventions to bridge such deficiencies. Cross-functional and cross-
departmental teams allow employees to share their experience and solve issues jointly, leading to benefits such as broadening skill-sets, and improvement of existing skills. 4. TQM’s focus on eliminating mistakes and bringing about process efficiency heralds a direct approach such as counseling and other remedial actions to solve issues such as absenteeism. 5. The enhanced productivity brought about by TQM translates to better profits for the organization, and consequently better wages. TQM and Competitive Advantage
The application of Total Quality Management brings forth all-round benefits and makes the organization more competitive. In the new business environment marked by demolition of barriers and free flow of information and products, organizations retain their competitive advantage by reducing prices, improving existing products and innovating new products. TQM is a business strategy that allows organizations to achieve all this and much more. Total Quality Management demolishes the myth that increased quality results in increased costs and decreased productivity. TQM proves that quality is actually the key to decreased costs, and better productivity and positions quality as a critical component of strategic business advantage
