Module 4 - Quality Management: 2 Marks Questions 1. What Is DMAIC?

Krupanidhi School of Management
Module 4 (WCM)
MODULE 4 - QUALITY MANAGEMENT

2 marks questions
1. What is DMAIC?
DMAIC Defining the problem, Measuring important aspects, analyzing the information flow,
Improving and Controlling. The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:
Define high-level project goals and the current process.
Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
Analyze the data to verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what the relationships
are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered.
Improve or optimize the process based upon data analysis using techniques like Design of
experiments.
Control to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects.
Set up pilot runs to establish process capability, move on to production, set up control
mechanisms and continuously monitor the process.
2. Distinguish between Q.A. and Q.C.

The difference between QA and QC are as follows:
Quality Assurance (Q.A.)
Quality Control (Q.C.)
A part of quality management focused on A part of quality management focused on
fulfilling quality requirements
providing
confidence
that
quality
requirements will be fulfilled.
Quality Assurance is defined as All the Quality Control is defined as The
planned
and
systematic
activities operational techniques and activities used to
implemented within the quality system that fulfil requirements for quality.
can be demonstrated to provide confidence
that a product or service will fulfil
requirements for quality.
Quality Assurance is fundamentally focused Quality control on the other hand is the
on planning and documenting those processes physical
to assure quality including things such as verification that the product conforms to
quality plans and inspection and testing plans these planned arrangements by inspection,
measurement
Quality Assurance is a complete system to Quality Control just measures and determines
assure the quality of products or services. It is the quality level of products or services. It is
not only a process, but a complete system a process itself.
including also control. It is a way of
management.
Prof. Raghavendra A.N., BSc, MBA, UGC-NET, (PH.D)
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3. Explain ISO 9000.

ISO 9000 is a Series of standards agreed upon by the International Organization for
Standardization.
Adopted in 1987
More than 100 countries including India
A prerequisite for global competition
ISO 9000 directs to "document what you do and then do as you documented."
ISO is an international organization engaged in developing standards for various management
systems.
ISO Certification can be for many international standards or management systems like for a
Quality Management System (QMS)- ISO 9001:2008, Environment Management
System (EMS)- ISO 14001:2004 , Occupational Health and Safety Management System
or OHSMS, Food Safety Management System (FSMS)- ISO 22000:2005, Information
Security Management System (ISMS)- ISO 27001:2005 so on and so forth.
4. What is a quality circle? State the features of quality circles.
Quality circle (QC) is a small group of people who carry out quality improvement activities within
their work area. The group may consist of 3 to 5 person normally.
Features of Quality circles are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
QC activities performed by operating level employees.

Voluntary participation
Small group of persons in the same work area or doing similar type of work
Identify, define and solve problems related to work area
QC members meet regularly( every week for an hour in normal)
Leads to improved performance I the work area
motivates and enriches work life
Nature of the problems are of such that they can be solved by themselves with little help
from management
9. Good work is recognized by management
5. Distinguish between quality and reliability.

Quality is a snapshot at the start of life and reliability is a motion picture of the
day-by-day operation. Time zero defects are manufacturing mistakes that escaped final test.
The additional defects that appear over time are "reliability defects" or reliability fallout.
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8 Marks Questions:
1. What is quality? Explain how quality and the tools of quality can lead to overall
organizational excellence. (OR)
Define Quality. What are the dimensions of quality? Explain the tools of quality.
Quality is a products or services ability to satisfy the needs and expectations of the customer.
Dimensions of quality:
Performance - basic operating characteristics
Features -extra items added to basic features
Reliability - probability product will operate over time
Conformance - meeting pre-established standards
Durability - life span before replacement
Serviceability - ease of getting repairs, speed & competence of repairs
Aesthetics - look, feel, sound, smell or taste
Safety - freedom from injury or harm
Other perceptions - subjective perceptions based on brand name, advertising, etc
The seven QC tools are the most popular tools, which are being used by quality conscious companies
throughout the world for improvement of quality of products and processes.
A brief description of these tools is presented here:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Cause-and-Effect Diagrams
Flowcharts
Checklists
Control Charts
Scatter Diagrams
Pareto Analysis
Histograms
Cause and Effect Diagram

Called Fishbone Diagram or Ishikawa diagram
Focused on solving identified quality problem
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Flow Charts
Used to document the detailed steps in a process
Often the first step in Process Re-Engineering
Checklists
Simple data check-off sheet designed to identify type of quality problems at each work
station; per shift, per machine, per operator
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Control Charts
Important tool used in Statistical Process Control
The UCL and LCL are calculated limits used to show when process is in or out of control
Scatter Diagrams
A graph that shows how two variables are related to one another
Data can be used in a regression analysis to establish equation for the relationship
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Pareto Analysis
Technique that displays the degree of importance for each element
Named after the 19th century Italian economist
Often called the 80-20 Rule
Principle is that quality problems are the result of only a few problems e.g. 80% of the
problems caused by 20% of causes
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Histograms
A chart that shows the frequency distribution of observed values of a variable like service
time at a bank drive-up window
Displays whether the distribution is symmetrical (normal) or skewed
2. Write short notes on House of Quality.

(July 2011)
House of Quality is a structured format to translate customer requirements into specific product and
service characteristics.
Diagrammatically it is represented as below:
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Building a House of Quality

List Customer Requirements (Whats)
List Technical Descriptors (Hows)
Develop Relationship (Whats & Hows)
Develop Interrelationship (Hows)
Competitive Assessments
Prioritize Customer Requirements
Prioritize Technical Descriptors
3. Briefly explain the Quality Function Deployment
Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
First conceptualized in 1966 as a method or concept for new product development under the
umbrella of Total Quality Control, Hinshitsu tenkai (quality deployment) was developed by
Dr. Shigeru Mizuno and Yoji Akao.
QFD is used to translate customer requirements to engineering specifications.
It is a link between customers - design engineers - competitors - manufacturing.
It provides an insight into the whole design and manufacturing operation from concept to
manufacture and it can dramatically improve the efficiency as production problems are
resolved early in the design phase.
In other words, QFD is
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Understanding Customer Requirements

Quality Systems Thinking + Psychology + Knowledge/Epistemology
Maximizing Positive Quality That Adds Value
Comprehensive Quality System for Customer Satisfaction
Strategy to Stay Ahead of The Game
Importance of QFD
It is very powerful as it incorporates the voice of the customer in the designs - hence it is
likely that the final product will be better designed to satisfy the customer's needs.
Moreover, it provides an insight into the whole design and manufacturing operation (from
concept to manufacture) and it can dramatically improve the efficiency as production
problems are resolved early in the design phase.
As a quality system that implements elements of Systems Thinking with elements of
Psychology and Epistemology (knowledge), QFD provides a system of comprehensive
development process for:
o Understanding 'true' customer needs from the customer's perspective
o What 'value' means to the customer, from the customer's perspective
o Understanding how customers or end users become interested, choose, and are
satisfied
o Analyzing how do we know the needs of the customer
o Deciding what features to include
o Determining what level of performance to deliver
o Intelligently linking the needs of the customer with design, development, engineering,
manufacturing, and service functions
o Intelligently linking Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) with the front end Voice of
Customer analysis and the entire design system
4. What are the various control charts used in quality control?
Control charts were developed by Walter Shewhart in 1920. The chart is based on the principle that
the variability of a process is minimum when the process is running under chance causes (common
causes) only. Trial batches are produced and process variation (6 sigma) is established. Control charts
are prepared with control limits calculated on sample sizes. Sample sizes could be 2 to up to 9 . At
fixed intervals ( eg, 30 min, one hr, 4 hrs based on production quantity) samples are taken and
sample averages are plotted on the chart.
When the process is under control, all the points will be
within the limits
No unnatural patterns will be present
Distribution of points will be denser in the centre and very infrequent at the limits.
Any change in the above indicates presence assignable/ special causes (out of statistical control). The
process is stopped and actions are taken to eliminate the causes of variation.
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UCL
Mean
LCL
Time
Types of control charts

Control Charts for Variables - used when measurements are quantitative, for example, height,
weight, or thickness. One type of Variables Control Chart is the X - R Chart.
Control Charts for Attributes - used when measurements are qualitative, for example,
accept/reject. Attributes control charts include:
np Chart - for measurements which are counted, such as number of parts defective.
p Chart - for percentage measurements, such as percentage of parts defective.
c Chart - for measuring defects in units of constant size, for example, number of
imperfections in panes of glass.
u Chart - for measuring defects in units of varying size, for example, number of
imperfections in pieces of fabric.
5. What are the effects of implementing TQM in a company?

Effects of TQM implementation in a company
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Aspect
Top
management
commitment
Policy clarity
Participation
in
improvements
Involvement of people
Communication
Before
Not visible
After
Highly visible
No policy
Very few persons
Transparent , detailed
All levels
< 10%
No
or
communication
Seldom
low
high
Almost nil
Not focused
>80%
poor Effective communication at
all levels
Always
high
Very low
Continuous, every one
Focused and targeted
Recognition
Customer satisfaction
Cost of poor quality
Training activities
Performance
measurements
11
Business results
Stagnant or declining
Steady improvement
12
Suppliers
Outsiders keep them in Willing
to
work
as
10

dark, squeeze them.
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extension of the company
6. Briefly explain the concept of 5S Housekeeping. (June/July 2010)

5 S is a systematic approach to good housekeeping. The concept of good housekeeping has been
with Japanese for a very long time. It was only in the early 1980s that good housekeeping became a
pertinent issue in Japanese industries, as companies realized its powerful contribution to productivity
and quality improvement.
5S can be briefly described as show in the table:
5 S
Japanese
English
1S
Seiri
Sort out unnecessary items in the workplace and discard them.
2S
Seiton
Arrange necessary items in good order.
3S
Seiso
Clean your workplace thoroughly so that there is no dust on

floors, machines and equipment.
4S
Seiketsu
Maintain high standards of housekeeping at workplace at all

times.
5S
Shitsuke
Train people to follow good housekeeping disciplines.
1) SEIRI - SORT OUT THE ITEMS AND DISCARD THE UNWANTED

Make a list of all the items in the department.
The list should include raw material, wip, finished product, tools, tackles, dust bin,
facilities like chair, table, bins etc. nothing should be left unlisted.
Appropriate authority should decide which items can be disposed off and which items
need to be kept in the department.
Items marked for disposal should be disposed off in a safe manner.
2) SEITON - PLACE FOR EVERY THING
After disposing unwanted material, provide appropriate place for every item that has
to be kept in the department.
While providing the place the ergonomic factors and safety aspects have also to be
considered.
Place for movement of men and material should also be provided.
Place should be distinctly identified and marked.
Place for display of instructions, posters etc. should also be identified.
3) SEISO - CLEAN THE PLACE THOROUGHLY AND KEEP EVERY THING IN ITS
PLACE.
Clean everything including material, floor, containers, walls, windows etc.
If necessary painting also should be done.
While painting follow color codes wherever applicable.
Insist on regular cleaning at the end of the work
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4) SEIKETSU - MAINTAIN HIGH STANDARDS OF HOUSEKEEPING AT WORKPLACE

AT ALL TIMES
Ensure that people keep the items at designated place after its use.
If possible, design the system such that if something is missing from the place, it is
easily highlighted
5) SHITSUKE - TRAIN PEOPLE TO FOLLOW GOOD HOUSEKEEPING DISCIPLINE
Train people in 5 S, housekeeping etc.
Lead by example.
Maintain discipline in every aspect
12 Marks Questions:
1. What is POKAYOKE and Zero Defect Quality? Discuss the seven steps to POKAYOKE
attainment. Explain the nine types of wastes in POKAYOKE achievement.
Poka Yoke is a quality management concept developed by a Matsushita manufacturing engineer
named Shigeo Shingo to prevent human errors from occurring in the production line. Poka yoke
(pronounced poh-kah yoh-kay) comes from two Japanese words yokeru which means to
avoid, and poka which means inadvertent errors. Thus, poka yoke more or less translates to
avoiding inadvertent errors.
The main objective of poke yoke is to achieve zero defects. In fact, it is just one of the many
components of Shingos Zero Quality Control (ZQC) system, the goal of which is to eliminate
defective products.
A quality concept to manufacture ZERO defects & elimination of waste associated with defects is
known as zero defect quality. The goal of ZDQ is zero! Make certain that the required conditions
are in place and controlled to make acceptable product 100% of the time. ZDQ functions by
combining four elementary components:
1. Point of Origin Inspection
2. 100 % Audit Checks
3. Immediate Feedback
4. Poka-Yoke
Seven steps to POKAYOKE attainment:
1.) Quality Processes - Design Robust quality processes to achieve zero defects.
2.) Utilize Team Environment- leverage the teams knowledge, experience to
enhance the
improvement efforts.
3.) Elimination of Errors -Utilize a robust problem solving methodology to drive defects towards
zero.
4.) Eliminate the Root Cause of The Errors-Use the 5 Whys and 2 Hs approach
5.) Do It Right the First Time- Utilizing resources to perform functions correctly the first time
6.) Eliminate Non-Value Added Decisions- Dont make excuses-just do it
7.) Implement an Incremental Continual Improvement Approach - implement improvement actions
immediately and focus on incremental improvements; efforts do not have to result in a 100%
improvement immediately.
The nine types of wastes in POKAYOKE achievement are:
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(i) Overproduction
(ii) Delays (waiting time)
(iii) Transportation
(iv)Process
(v) Inventories
(vi)Motions
(vii) Defective products
(viii) Untapped resources
(ix)Misused resources
(i) Over-production waste
Definition
producing more than what is needed
producing faster than what is needed
Causes
Volume incentives (sales, pay, purchasing)
High capacity equipment
Line imbalance; poor scheduling/shifting
Poor production planning
Cost accounting practices that encourage build up of inventory
Over-production waste occurs when more goods are produced than can be sold, resulting in idle
finished goods inventory. Over-produced goods are often hidden wastes since many think they are
assets with value, when in fact most of them may be obsolete or costing the company unnecessary
expenses just to keep them until they can be sold if ever. The just-in-time, pull system, and kanban
rules prevent over-production wastes. Also, lean systems favor smaller equipment over large ones to
avoid overproduction due to high but unnecessary capacity utilization.
(ii) Waiting time waste
Definition
Man idle or waiting time
Machine idle or waiting time
Causes
Unsynchronized processes; line imbalance
Inflexible work force
Over-staffing
Unscheduled machine downtime
Long set-up
Material shortage or delay
Manpower shortage or delay
When resources like people and equipment are forced to wait unnecessarily because of delays in the
arrival or availability of other resources including information, there is waiting time waste.
Waiting for late attendees in a meeting, waiting for tools to start work, waiting for a signature for a
process to continue, waiting for a late vehicle to transport workers to a project site are examples of
this waste.
(iii) Transport waste
Definition
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Unnecessary material movement

Unnecessary tools or equipment movement
Causes
Poor route planning
Distant suppliers
Complex material flows
Poor layout
Disorganized workplace
Line imbalance
When anything people, equipment, supplies, tools, documents, or materials is moved or
transported unnecessarily from one location to another, transport waste is generated. Examples are
transporting the wrong parts, sending materials to the wrong location or at the wrong time,
transporting defects, and sending documents that should not be sent at all. One way to cut transport
waste is co-location, wherein customers are served by nearby suppliers, usually less than one-hour
driving distance away. Departments working with each other or serving each other are also put near
each other to cut transport waste. For example, materials and tools departments may be moved,
relocated, or pre-positioned beside or nearer the user departments or their internal customers.
(iv) Processing waste
Definition
Non-value added man processing
Non-value added machine processing
Causes
Unclear customer specifications
Frequent engineering changes
Excessive quality (refinements)
Inadequate value analysis/value engineering
Unclear work instructions
Processing waste comes from unnecessary processing that does not add value to the item being
produced or worked on. Examples are additional steps that do not enhance quality or steps that
simply adds excess quality which customers do not require. Unnecessary documentation is also a
form of processing waste. Identify value-adding and non-value adding activities in the process using
techniques such as value stream analysis and the waterfall diagram.
(v) Inventory Waste
Definition
Excessive process (WIP) inventories
Excessive raw material inventories and supplies
Causes
Over-production
Imbalanced line
Big batch sizes
Long lead times
Local optimization (turf mentality)
Large minimum order quantities
High rework rate
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JIT-incapable suppliers
lack of material requisition and issuance standards
Inventory wastes come from the purchasing, issuance, storage of excess or excessive supplies,
materials, and other resources. This waste can also be caused by overproduction as excess materials
and work-in-process are accumulated. Inventory waste is often due to lack of planning and failure to
match purchases with the actual consumption or usage rate of a particular resource.
Another example is the storing of slow-moving and obsolete stocks like tools and materials.
(vi) Motion Waste
Definition
Unnecessary movement and motions of worker
Causes
Poor lay-out and housekeeping
Disorganized work place and storage locations
Unclear, non-standardized work instructions
Unclear process and materials flow
Motion waste happens when unnecessary body movements are made when performing a task.
Examples are searching, reaching, walking, bending, lifting, and other unnecessary bodily
movements. Workers commit this form of waste by searching for tools or documents when their
workplace is cluttered or disorganized. Motion waste often delays the start of work and disrupts
workflow.
(vii) Defects
Definition
Processing due to the production of defects
Processing due to rework or repair of defects
Materials used due to defect and rework
Causes
Unclear customer specifications
Incapable processes
Lack of process control
Unskilled personnel
Departmental rather than total quality
Incapable suppliers
Quality is doing the right thing right the first time. It is about prevention and planning, not correction
and inspection. Bad quality or defects do not only result in customer dissatisfaction and damage to
company image, but also in wastes due to additional costs and time to recall, rework, repair, and
replace the defective items. Continuous quality improvement and preventive measures are the most
effective means to cut defect wastes.
(viii) Untapped resources
Untapped resources restrict employee's authority and responsibility to make routine decisions.
Having highly paid staff do routine tasks that don't require their unique expertise. Not providing the
business tools needed to perform and continuously improve each employee's assigned work. Not
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trusting your people to stop production to stop and fix a problem (jidoka). Not trusting your people to
be responsible for the cleanliness, maintenance, and organization of their own work area. Not
trusting people with a flat organization structure of largely self-directed teams. Not expecting (and
measuring) every person to contribute to continuous improvement.
(ix) Misused resources
Any missing or misinformation regarding the resources leads to error. Any goals or metrics that
cause uncertainty about the right thing to do.
2. Discuss in detail TQM philosophy quoting Demings 14 point management principles.
TQM is a Management philosophy and company practices that aim to harness the human and
material resources in most effective way to achieve objectives of the organization
Total in Total Quality management means
All Interested parties are considered
All requirements are addressed
All activities of the organization are covered
All employees are involved
Demings 14 principles of Quality management
1.
Constancy of purpose: Create constancy of purpose for continual improvement of products and
service to society, allocating resources to provide for long range needs rather than only short term
profitability, with a plan to become competitive, to stay in business, and to provide jobs.
2.
The new philosophy: Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age, created in Japan. We
can no longer live with commonly accepted levels of delays, mistakes, defective materials and
defective workmanship. Transformation of Western management style is necessary to halt the
continued decline of business and industry.
3.
Cease dependence on mass inspection: Eliminate the need for mass inspection as the way of life to
achieve quality by building quality into the product in the first place. Require statistical evidence of
built in quality in both manufacturing and purchasing functions.
4.
End lowest tender contracts: End the practice of awarding business solely on the basis of price tag.
Instead require meaningful measures of quality along with price. Reduce the number of suppliers for
the same item by eliminating those that do not qualify with statistical and other evidence of quality.
The aim is to minimize total cost, not merely initial cost, by minimizing variation. This may be
achieved by moving toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long term relationship of loyalty
and trust. Purchasing managers have a new job, and must learn it.
5.
Improve every process: Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production, and
service. Search continually for problems in order to improve every activity in the company, to
improve quality and productivity, and thus to constantly decrease costs. Institute innovation and
constant improvement of product, service, and process. It is management's job to work continually
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on the system (design, incoming materials, maintenance, improvement of machines, supervision,

training, retraining).
6.
Institute training on the job: Institute modern methods of training on the job for all, including
management, to make better use of every employee. New skills are required to keep up with changes
in materials, methods, product and service design, machinery, techniques, and service.
7.
Institute leadership: Adopt and institute leadership aimed at helping people do a better job. The
responsibility of managers and supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
Improvement of quality will automatically improve productivity. Management must ensure that
immediate action is taken on reports of inherited defects, maintenance requirements, poor tools,
fuzzy operational definitions, and all conditions detrimental to quality.
8.
Drive out fear: Encourage effective two way communication and other means to drive out fear
throughout the organization so that everybody may work effectively and more productively for the
company.
9.
Break down barriers: Break down barriers between departments and staff areas. People in different
areas, such as Leasing, Maintenance, Administration, must work in teams to tackle problems that
may be encountered with products or service.
10. Eliminate exhortations: Eliminate the use of slogans, posters and exhortations for the work force,
demanding Zero Defects and new levels of productivity, without providing methods. Such
exhortations only create adversarial relationships; the bulk of the causes of low quality and low
productivity belong to the system, and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
11. Eliminate arbitrary numerical targets: Eliminate work standards that prescribe quotas for the work
force and numerical goals for people in management. Substitute aids and helpful leadership in order
to achieve continual improvement of quality and productivity.
12. Permit pride of workmanship: Remove the barriers that rob hourly workers, and people in
management, of their right to pride of workmanship. This implies, among other things, abolition of
the annual merit rating (appraisal of performance) and of Management by Objective. Again, the
responsibility of managers, supervisors, foremen must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
13. Encourage education: Institute a vigorous program of education, and encourage self improvement for
everyone. What an organization needs is not just good people; it needs people that are improving
with education. Advances in competitive position will have their roots in knowledge.
14. Top management commitment and action: Clearly define top management's permanent commitment
to ever improving quality and productivity, and their obligation to implement all of these principles.
Indeed, it is not enough that top management commit themselves for life to quality and productivity.
They must know what it is that they are committed to-that is, what they must do. Create a structure in
top management that will push every day on the preceding 13 Points, and take action in order to
accomplish the transformation. Support is not enough: action is required!
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3. Write short notes on Six Sigma.

(June 2009)
Six Sigma: Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola. As of
2009, it enjoys widespread application in many sectors of industry, although its application is not
without controversy. Six Sigma is a fact-based data driven structured methodology that is used to
create breakthrough improvements in business processes with a strong focus on customer needs. It is
used to solve tough business problems when the root cause of the problem or the solution is not
known. Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the
causes of defects (errors) and variability in manufacturing and business processes.
It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special
infrastructure of people within the organization ("Black Belts"," Green Belts", etc.) who are experts
in these methods.
Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and
has quantified financial targets (cost reduction or profit increase).
How six sigma works
The Six Sigma project starts in forming the Six Sigma organization. The roles and responsibilities of
each member should be clearly defined. Here is a sample of defined roles and responsibilities:
Leader/Leadership Council senior-rank management who is accountable for executing

Six Sigma project within the association
Champion performance head in-charge with directing and enlivening the Six Sigma efforts
Finance Representative substantiate projected and concrete savings
Sponsor senior-rank management who funds the Six Sigma projects and has directorial
power to modify changes in the process
Process Owner a certified person accountable for the business course of action that is the
target of Six Sigma project
Coach gives technical help and support to the project group
Team Leader also identified as the Project Head, responsible in organizing the Six Sigma
projects from launch to finish
Master Black Belt a highly practiced Black Belt who has supervised numerous projects
and is a specialist in Six Sigma techniques and methods. Person accountable for training and
mentoring Black Belts and for assisting the Six Sigma Champions and Head.
Black Belt permanent expert who acts as a team lead on Six Sigma assignments. Usually
has four to six weeks of classroom education in methods, numerical tools, and team
proficiency
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Green Belt trained person who plays a part-time role on a Black Belt project team or leads
less significant assignment. Usually has three weeks of classroom education in methods and
basic numerical tools.
Yellow Belt usually has one to two weeks classroom education. Devotes part-time work
while doing the usual work duties
4. Distinguish between ISO 9000 and ISO 14000.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a managing body that was founded to
provide quality and environmental management systems to industries across the world. The ISO
14001 and ISO 9001 standards are accreditations that are issued to organizations that meet or exceed
the criteria set by the ISO. The certifications, which differ in criteria, have been proven to increase
profitability and commercial status for the holding parties.
Some of the core differences between these two standards stem from the criteria covered by each. As
a quality management certification, ISO 9001 is awarded based on set standards being met in the key
areas of quality management systems, management responsibility, resource management, and how
quality performance is measured, analyzed, and improved.
The standard ISO 14001 is an environmental management certification that is designed to assist
organizations as they develop in-house environmental management systems. This standard is based
on a model of continual improvement, which differentiates it from the fixed criteria that must be met
to be awarded ISO 9001 accreditation. For an organization to achieve the certification, it must
develop an ISO 14001-compliant environmental management system through a process of planning
objectives, implementing processes, measuring and monitoring the processes, and improving the
system based on the results of the monitoring stage.
Case Study - Eurocamp Travel

Eurocamp Travel, which provides family camping holidays, has a reputation for the high-quality of
its equipment and services, and has become market leader in this rapidly growing holiday sector. In
recent years, sales offices have been opened in the Netherlands and Germany, and Eurocamps
geographic coverage has been extended from its original French sites to include sites throughout
Europe. As the business has become larger and more complex, the demands placed on the office
systems have also become greater, reinforcing the need for functional specialization of staff, yet
requiring more interdepartmental understanding and cooperation. When it became clear that
Eurocamps service package could be copied by competitors eager to attract premium customers, the
company decided to reinforce quality at every stage in their process. This was, they believed, the
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main criterion that already differentiated Eurocamp, and this was also potentially the most difficult
for lower priced competitors to follow.
A consultant was brought in to facilitate a major quality improvement programme. This was
conceived as a top-down approach, whereby important projects were identified and tackled by
trained teams, But soon it became apparent that these early projects were not achieving the
anticipated sustainable improvements. It also became clear that the failure was largely the result of
only involving senior managers, who could not devote the time required to projects, and did not fully
understand the process concerned. Those employees who did have a very detailed understanding of
the process had been excluded from problem definition, evaluation and implementation of changes.
So, the company launched their quality management system (QMS) initiative. Each department
established a quality steering committee which comprised at least one director, a trained facilitator
and volunteers from every grade of employee. The emphasis at this stage was on the identification
and improvement of internal processes with further emphasis on satisfying the internal customer.
Early success demonstrated the validity of this approach and generated a high level of enthusiasm
throughout the company.
Questions
1
Why are the differences between the first top-downattempt, and the second attempt at
establishing a quality initiative?
What do you think are the main advantages and problems with the more participative approach?
Answers to the case study

1. What are the differences between the first top-down attempt, and the second attempt at
establishing a quality initiative?
There are two important points about this case. Firstly that Eurocamp recognized one of the
important aspects of a TQM approach that all parts of an organisation have a role to play in ensuring
high quality. Second, like many organisations they try differing initiatives to improve quality, some
work and some dont. This in itself can undermine TQM initiatives. TQM has itself to be done right
first time too!
The key differences between the first attempt and second attempt are as follows:
Leadership
Overseen by
Team composition
Team selection
Training
Understanding of processes
Focus
Approach
First attempt
Second attempt
Used a consultant
Senior managers
Senior managers
Selected
Used trained teams
Little
Important projects
top-down
Company-led
Departments
All grades of employees
Voluntary
Used trained facilitators
Great
Internal processes
bottom-up
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Sustainability
Success
Momentum not sustained

unsuccessful
Module 4 (WCM)
High level enthusiasm
successful
2. What do you think are the main advantages and problems with the more participative
approach?
Advantages:
involved all employees
included the people who knew most about the processes
it is in the interest of those employees to have the internal process problems resolved
non-threatening and inclusive
sustainable and successful
Problems:
the problems may not be solvable by low level teams
employees will be demoralized if changes do not take place
spending time on the projects will reduce the time spent on actual jobs
Employees may choose to work on inappropriate or unimportant issues.
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Module 4 - Quality Management: 2 Marks Questions 1. What Is DMAIC?

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Module 4 - Quality Management: 2 Marks Questions 1. What Is DMAIC?

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Krupanidhi School of Management