EMERGING TRENDS IN TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
“We do not act rightly because we have virtues or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly, so therefore, excellence is not an act, but a habit!”
For any business to excel in today’s hyper-competitive world, it has to act “right” in every activity it does. To thrive in the business and stay on top, it has to consider every field in its purview, make it right, better, and transcend. A business that focuses only on customer satisfaction, ignoring its employee satisfaction may not sustain longer because the disgruntled employees, who may be stressed working day and night in making customers satisfied, may leave the organization increasing the cost of recruiting and training new ones. When these imbalances in quality across all the fields are identified and calibrated, total quality management, TQM is achieved!
Total Quality Management can broadly be described as achieving top quality in every activity a business does, which contributes to the overall excellence of the business. Businesses around the world have recognized that quality is no longer a requirement of just clients and customers, but is an integral part of every activity a business does in order for it to flourish and prosper. Previously, quality issues were mostly controlled by the top management, and the floor workers, who actually have first-hand information about the quality issues, were kept aside. Back then, technology was also limited and the various processes within the business were mostly isolated. All these factors acted as hindrances to achieving TQM. But with the advancement in technology and various innovations it brought along, businesses are now able to integrate and streamline their process systems and this has helped them to achieve total quality management. Moreover, several international organizations have created international standards for various industries to help them achieve total quality management. Having accreditations from organizations like ISO, six sigma, and lean operations for a business means that it is following certain standards set by these organizations in conducting their business. But businesses shouldn’t limit their quality management to compliance-related activities like certificates and accreditations alone but should focus on incorporating a broad range of qualitative methods in each of their business processes. Because, with the advancement in technology, the complexity of today’s business models, and ever-changing customer expectations, the quality standards have to continuously evolve in line with today’s world. The following are the few emerging trends that help businesses of today’s world achieve total quality management.
Supply chain management, SCM:
The management of the flow of various goods and services between various entities in a business is called supply chain management. This includes various raw materials acquired from another business entity, storage of the same, inventory of the work in process or assembly, finished products, and even end-to-end order fulfillment from origin to consumption. SCM centrally controls the production, shipment, and distribution process and hence a play key role in achieving total quality control. Any disruption in the SCM can result in every process within the business going haywire. The supplier should be able to provide goods and raw materials according to the market demands and business needs. Unless you have a strong, flexible SCM in place, it is very difficult to achieve TQM. A business should demand certain quality standards that are required for its business processes to run smoothly from its supply chain vendors or recruit someone who follows those standards in order for it to achieve total quality management. These standards help eliminate the risk of uncertainties in the supply chain management and to cope with any eventualities if any. Even though SCM existed before, more focus and attention are being paid to it post COVID, and plays a crucial role in achieving total quality control.

AI in TQM:
Artificial Intelligence is regarded as the most important invention in human history since the wheel. It is impossible to think of a field where the services of artificial intelligence cannot be utilized. The benefits of AI can be reaped in every sphere of our lives. AI can play a significant role in quality management by streamlining and optimizing processes and identifying potential problems in the production through intelligent analysis which can hinder quality management. Through the aid of AI, businesses can now identify quality issues beforehand and can get them rectified/modified for a better output. AI can also help reduce the cycle times of certain processes, identify areas of improvement, and make decision-making faster and smarter. In manufacturing units, AI can help inspect the finished products for quality control which saves a lot of time when compared to the same task done by humans. AI is one trend to look out for in every field and quality management is no different!
Integrated approach for quality:
The rapidly increasing customer demand for quality services in every business has forced businesses all over to adopt quality management into more processes and products which were previously limited to only manufacturing units. In today’s business world, TQM is required in every aspect of every business, and instead of viewing quality as a separate entity, businesses have now learned to integrate quality into every business process and incorporated quality management as a continuous, daily process. This integrated approach for TQM has helped businesses with better coordination, communication, transparency, knowledge sharing, and innovative new ideas for their quality maintenance and to stay on top. Businesses who fail to see thru this trend of an integrated approach to total quality management will suffer eventually and lose their business to their competitors who are resilient to adopt this trend.
Strategic quality plan:
Excellence and quality are never accidents, they are achieved through regular strategic practices. This is the area that is often overlooked and when TQM is approached without a proper strategic plan, it will result in disastrous outcomes. Every process for quality management should be planned strategically and the management who carries out these processes should be able to identify the outcome of their quality systems, and how they are going to affect the other processes. Quality strategies should result in the improvement of existing processes, quality of the output produced, ease of effort, and reduced costs. Once the outcome of the strategic quality plan is as desired for a particular process in the business, the same can be applied to all the other processes and a TQM can be achieved, thus!
Accountability:
Previously, there is a notion that quality management is a separate section in an organization or a business and they are the ones who are responsible for quality management. That trend in today’s world has become redundant and the present trend demands everyone, right from the office assistant to the Chairman of an organization are held accountable for total quality management. Everyone in the organization should not only be well aware of his / her role, responsibilities, expectations but also should actively put in their efforts in bringing quality to their duties. By using various tools the technology is offering nowadays, the management can now assess the performance of the employees involved in various processes and accordingly reward or punish them. Also, this approach of accountability to everyone in the organization will help make employees more responsible in their duties as they become more vigilant, agile, and time-bound which will result in getting closer to TQM.
Environmental sustainability:
Environmental sustainability can be defined as making responsible life choices that do not hinder the global ecosystems, conserve natural resources, and make the planet better for future generations. But how is it related to the total quality management of an organization? There are many benefits that environmental sustainability practices can bring to the quality of an organization. The first and foremost is the reduction of wastage and increased efficiency. Environmental sustainability practices call for a reduction or recycling of material use and encourage the use of alternate, environment-friendly energies like solar and hydropower which in turn helps simplify processes and cut costs. The effect of implementing these green business practices goes way beyond just helping the businesses with decreased costs and efficient output. Green innovation practices such as greenhouse gas reduction, energy-efficient practices, efficient water management, and waste management help not only the organizations that practice them but also helps in sustaining the environment and ecological balance.