As part of my internship for my 1st year Master of Project Management, I worked for the French Manufacturer of Tyres, Michelin.
During this internship, I developed solutions to reduce waste materials in a sector of workshops and procedures of production of machines. The missions have included an analytic phase, to identify key areas of work and a phase of implementation.
These two projects allowed me to discover the quality management at the Michelin Group. I discovered this management through interviews with quality managers, technicians and operators. I also conducted personal research to better understand the quality in this large French company and the impact it induces.
But the discussions I have had and my own research led me to observe a significant commitment to involve everyone at all levels in the quality process. That's why I wanted to go further in my research, namely to study the different modes of involvement in a quality approach and compare them to what is applied in Michelin.
Thus we will first consider several methods on the subject before seeing the approach within the Michelin Group. Then we will draw a comparison of different methods and what I saw at Roanne.
The four pioneers of TQM work for the quality control of the Western Electric plant near Chicago. It operates on the management principles of Taylor and was made famous by the experiments conducted by Elton Mayo between 1927 and 1932, to demonstrate possible relationships between the work environment, worker motivation and productivity.
The purpose of quality is meeting the needs of customers. The concept of "customers" has a broad meaning: These are people who receive and use the result of the work of a company. Thus, the final consumer is a key customer, the reseller is a customer, and also within each department of the organization is both the client and the provider of other services. The needs of all of these customers must be known and this is what is important to the quality process. Moreover, satisfaction, needs and customer expectations, are two categories of benefits of the business, equally important as the other products and basic services provided by the company.
For true effectiveness, quality must be everybody's business. The framework is more particularly responsible for providing the impetus to create the quality. The quality development is developing self-control and promoting the participation of all people to quality initiatives and actions.
The productions are manifested through many processes: The process of manufacturing, purchasing, storage, mail processing, etc. The identification and clarification of the processes to bring the effectiveness of the work organization and effectiveness of the actors.
That which says "quality" necessarily says "measure." The measurement of quality must be primarily for measuring customer satisfaction through surveys and investigations. But it also is also the measure of non-quality, appreciating the importance of defects and malfunctions in the company. Finally, this measure mastery of production processes has well identified control points.
[...] The Muda Another Japanese word, Muda appeared in Western industries. Muda means waste, but the word carries different connotations. Muda exists in many forms that must be eliminated: - Overproduction and inventory accumulations of things not needed immediately - Defective products requiring repair or destruction - Unnecessary changes - Procedures requiring inefficient or unnecessary tasks - Logistics: Inappropriate timing, excessive change of location or poor delivery. All categories of muda cause direct loss of money or at least the loss of opportunities to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. [...]
[...] Shewart (1891-1967) The main concern of this research was to understand the control of product quality manufactured in series. Indeed, for him, if variations in product characteristics are important too, the user will be satisfied. We must therefore seek the causes of variation and maximize them. This research requires the collaboration of many people and many services within the company. Shewart has developed a complete description of all phases of what is now called total quality management. William Edward Deming (1900-1993) Shewart's successor, he adopted the principles. [...]
[...] So Michelin employs methods known for the involvement of personnel passing through accountability, suggestions and integration of people of all ranks in groups of work within a continuous improvement approach. Conclusion So we have seen various methods of employee involvement in quality management. All these methods are within the Total Quality Management which aims to achieve the cooperation of all members of the company to improve the quality of its products and services, activities and objectives. The first of these methods, which is the Hoshin method, can quickly reach a goal through the establishment of a working group involving staff at all levels. [...]
[...] We just saw different methods of involvement of staff in quality control among which the best known is the Kaizen method. We'll explore different methods and tools developed within the Michelin group and compare them with the steps mentioned above. Part 2 The involvement of players within the Michelin Group 1-Michelin's Quality System The Michelin Group must comply with the norm ISO TS 16949, applicable to the automotive sector. This standard includes the requirements of customers of the groups Chrysler, Ford, Fiat, Renault and Volkswagen. [...]
[...] It defines total quality as a system that effectively integrates the efforts of various groups in an organization to develop, maintain and improve quality. For him, the four components of total quality (technical, administrative, economic, metric) must be taken into account to achieve it. The origin of TQM can be traced back to the early twentieth century. However, it is now necessary that this mode is implemented by most companies, particularly because of the competitive environment. Here is the time path of achieving this need: - Phase Technology push - Phase Globalization (proliferation media) - Phase Changes in attitudes 1945-1975: Thirty Glorious Years 1973: Crisis of wage freeze: slower growth and emergence of new competition (Japan and Korea) Reversal of the supply/demand balance DUTY OF TOTAL QUALITY 1-2 - Principles Customer focus The purpose of quality is meeting the needs of customers. [...]
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