September 2006
"Quality Focus" - monthly Genesis column
Managing the Program Puzzle
It is commonly thought that programs for managing quality are functionally one and the same, when in fact they are actually complimentary...
The canmaking world today employs several quality “programs,” including ISO 9001-2000, Total Productive Maintenance, Lean Manufacturing, and Six Sigma. There is a pervasive trend toward believing that all such programs are variations of each other, essentially insinuating that if a company is pursuing any one of the four – in this example – that the results will be identical.
But is this actually the case? What exactly are ISO 9001, TPM, Lean, and Six Sigma? Are they indeed just different names for the same system?
To answer this seemingly ambiguous question, let us look at a can line as an example of a “system;” something to which we can all relate. What is the purpose of a can plant? Production and quality, one would hope. A canmaking line – two-piece in this example – is composed of a series of equipment and steps to create a container from a coil (or sheet for you three-piece folks), add further value via basecoating, decoration, overvarnish, and inside spray, a series of steps and equipment to inspect and ship the containers to the customer, and of course a management system to keep everything in place.
Would you say these front end, back end, shipping, and management systems are all the same, but with different names? No, of course not, as they are components of the canmaking system. Likewise, ISO 9001, TPM, Lean, and Six Sigma are all components of the same productivity/quality system.
ISO 9001-2000 often serves as the quality process foundation, ensuring every step flow properly, with documentation of this system a key to certification. The goal is to ensure that every employee at every level in the organization understands the need to meet customer requirements and how their functional area contributes to meet this goal. ISO 9001 provides the system framework for quality manufacturing and a documented method for resolving issues when they occur.
Total Productive Maintenance, on the contrary, is very equipment-focused, hence the “Maintenance” component in TPM. It is focused upon ensuring that machinery and ancillary equipment is always functioning to its highest “effective” level. In fact, the major metric for TPM is named Overall Plant Effectiveness. A few of the major TPM components include Autonomous Maintenance (giving operators “ownership” of equipment), Focused Improvement (teams that address equipment issues, often cited by operators), and Planned Maintenance (a realistically-structured mandate of major overhauls to equipment).
Lean Manufacturing is all about eliminating steps in the production process that do not add value. Put another way, steps may be slated for eradication if the customer does not pay for them. Simple examples include moving materials from one location in the plant to another – this is considered waste in a financial sense.
Six Sigma is focused (almost) entirely upon data, at least with respect to the manufacturing floor. It is mostly concerned with quantifiable data regarding productivity and quality, which are viewed as complimentary rather than mutually exclusive. It elevates the rest of these quality initiatives from words to data; words are easy to dispute versus data, which describes productivity and quality without prejudice.
Just as a can plant functions via a front and back end, inspection and shipping, and a management system, a true quality system does not function via ISO 9001-2000 alone. Or Lean Manufacturing. Or Total Quality Maintenance. Or even Six Sigma, for that matter. All these are different, yet interrelated parts of the same quality system. Ignoring any one of them – or similar systems – makes a plant’s quality system focus on merely a portion of the equation.
