Tqm And At T

Taking the Gemba walk at SRF

Can you retrieve an old file from your office computer in less than 30 seconds? Or pull out a folder, a pen or stapler instantly from your office desk? At SRF, most employees can.

If there is a prize for the tidiest office in India, then SRF should surely be among the front runners for it. Every single employee's desk is ordered with fanatical precision. Right down to the stapler, the pair of scissors and the planner, there is a place for each item and they are always in their right place.

It's all to do with Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke — the 5 S principles of clearing up, arranging, cleaning, maintaining cleanliness and discipline. The Rs 3,267-crore tyrecord-to-fluorospecialities business group run by the Delhi-based Bharat Rams was the first to bring 5 S to India from Japan in the mid-1990s. Fifteen years on, the group still follows the principle rigorously.

I am at the Gurgaon corporate office of SRF and ruing the fact that I have missed the monthly Gemba walk.

In Japan, Gemba stands for the crime scene and detectives walk around the Gemba observing and investigating everything with a magnifying glass. But in business, Gemba is the place where value is created. Manufacturing companies — especially lean manufacturing ones — do the Gemba walk, not just in their plants, but corporate offices as well. The idea is to look for waste and find ways to eliminate it.

So, every month, senior executives take a walk through the office, observing how they can do things the Kaizen way — in other words, the better way. Today, even if it may not be the Gemba exactly, I am on a walkthrough of the aesthetically designed blue, white and grey office with Mukund Trivedy, head of corporate communications at SRF, and J. Ravikant, Associate Vice-President, Corporate Total Quality Management (TQM).

They describe how the office has been divided into 17 zones; each zone is audited at different times by different people. So, Trivedy, for instance, can check on Ravikant's zone and vice-versa .

The Gemba walk usually takes 40 minutes and is done by two people — they go around checking drawers and cupboards and see how common documents are stored in a zone — asking individuals to pull out some files or objects. “Your observation skills are really tested during the Gemba walk,” says Ravikant.

Importance of Variation in Total Quality Management | Business 58

Evaluate variance to gain insights on quality performance.

In business analysis, variation relates to monitoring quantitative deviations. Simple business variances may exist when comparing performance as reported by numerical outputs such as time quantities and monetary returns. In total quality management, or TQM, the assessment of variance can help in identifying decreases and increases in performance. This supports the aim of TQM, which is to reduce waste and invest resources consistent with a firm’s quality strategy.

Without monitoring techniques, problems can develop in an organization and simply go unnoticed. The most effective quality strategy is based on market analysis that provides sound business forecasting information. A quality strategy aims for the optimal level of quality in performance. Using variance analysis, measure TQM goals against actual performance data. Identify which performance areas within an organization is impacted when a business strategy action is implemented, and to what degree.

Without adequate assessment and planning, a business organization can easily misallocate resources in areas that do not provide the best rate of return from the investments. Variance data reporting from business categories can serve decision-makers in determining the best areas to invest resources. For instance, a business category performance may improve with increased funding for marketing. However, business data that reports a consistent decline in performance, say, over the last three to five years may require a different type of assessment, such as a supply quality review. The company may need to look closer at its market research on consumer demands.

Forecasting performance is sometimes a required part of the decision-making process. Forecasting is assisted by variance analysis of past performance. By observing variance, TQM managers may be able identify patterns in quality performance or demand. For instance, cyclical consumer demand patterns may align with seasons, holidays and other external factors.

In statistics, ANOVA is the acronym used for the analysis of variance. ANOVA assessments generally involve observing variance and developing categories for the source or cause of the variances. T-tests are one-way ANOVA statistical tools used to identify the differences between two groups. For instance, reporting an outcome from a control group and treatment group in an experimental study is a t-test.

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