Quality in the 21st

TRIMILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT
Quality in the 21^st

By Suresh Lulla

To look into the future, one has to reflect on the past. What may come as a surprise to many is the fact that India has played a significant role in the history of quality. A reference to India in "History of Managing for Quality" edited by the quality guru, Dr J M Juran, bears testimony to that.

In the days when historians assumed that history began with Greece, the Greek historian Herodotus recorded the first known reference to cotton grown in India. "Certain wild trees there bear wool instead of fruit, which in beauty and quality excels that of sheep; and the Indians make their clothing from these trees." Arab travellers to India in the ninth century reported: "In this country, they make garments of such extraordinary perfection that nowhere else is their like to be seen... sewed and woven to such a degree of fineness, they may be drawn through a ring of moderate size."

But weaving was only one of the many handicrafts of India. Europe looked up to Indian expertise in almost every line of manufacture... wood-work, ivory-work, metal-work, bleaching, dyeing, tanning, soap-making, glass-blowing, gunpowder, fireworks and cement. Much of the gold used in the Persian Empire, in the fifth century before Christ, came from India. The art of tempering and casting of iron was developed in India, long before its known appearance in Europe. In circa 380 AD, Vikramaditya, an iron pillar in Delhi that stands untarnished after 16 centuries. And the quality of metal, or manner of treatment which has preserved it from rust or decay, is still a mystery to modern science.

For the uninitiated, let me demystify TQM (total quality management). Simply stated, the icon for TQM is the craftsman. What attributes does one associate with the craftsman? Customer knowledge; the ability to translate customer needs to product features; the skill to produce the features, economically; the survival of the family (and generations) dependant on customer satisfaction/loyalty; the ownership of the entire process from understanding customer needs, to order execution, and to support services; and, of course, word of mouth recommendations, etc. This is TQM.

The industrial revolution impacted quality of work significantly. The aim of the revolution was to produce more. In the process, work got divided into functions. Production goals were met at any cost. However, quality suffered. Then came the Second World War. Japan, a shattered nation, with no buying power, decided to redefine the rules of manufacturing for survival and success. Their aim was economic aggression, with no capital investment. Simply translated, the objective was high quality and low cost in order to be globally competitive. They, consequently, demonstrated how craftsman-like skills can be used in manufacturing to deliver perfect quality, at the lowest cost and just-in-time. TQM was born as an avatar of the craftsman, in an industrial environment.

The future will redefine the term quality (or, for that matter, TQM). From the original product quality and contemporary process quality, to quality of management performance. What exactly is quality of management performance? It entails a complex combination of factors and processes sandwiched between an input of leadership, and an output of customer satisfaction. The sandwich will need multilayers of spice and nourishment that the bland ISO 9000, is incapable of providing. In addition to ISO 9000 requirements, the basic system will envelop human resources, communication, information technology, costing, marketing, distribution, quality/business indicators, problem solving, customer relations, etc. Each element of the upgraded system will need to be creatively innovated and improved, continually.

Through the force of international competition, viability will be established by high quality and low cost. However, to achieve high quality and low cost will require a 'high-trust' culture. High trust does, and will, give one the ability to develop mutually beneficial partnerships inside and outside the organisation... with customers, with suppliers and with employees. In turn, one cannot achieve a high-trust culture - based on absolute trustworthiness throughout the organisation-without being principle centered. Trust evolves from principles. These principles are universally accepted and pertain to human relationships: for example, honesty, integrity and justice. They are self-evident. These principles are like natural laws that operate regardless of whether one decides to obey them or not.

In the future, people will be the most valuable organisational asset and leaders will be seeking huge gains from human performance. As a result, leaders will need to help their people believe in their super-potential. After all, human resources will be the only 'appreciating' asset of the organisation. A major factor for extraordinary human performance will be creativity. The incremented process improvement methods learned from the Japanese will give way to dramatic breakthroughs. New tools, namely, creativity tools, will offer the cutting edge. Creativity is the ability of people to generate new designs, products, or ideas that, until the moment of generation are completely unknown to the creator. These ideas may be an outcome of imaginative thinking, or the combination of thinking and forming new patterns.

The next decade will belong to service providers. One of the key service-quality challenges in the future will be service design. Service design is a form of architecture that involves processes rather than brick and mortar. The aim will be to factor in high quality into the service system from the outset. In other words, to consider and respond to customers' expectations in designing each element of the service along the QFD (Quality Function Deployment) path. Technology will be the foundation for enhancing the quality of service. The dimensions of service-quality will be tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.

I believe excellent service will be a genuine key to a better future-for those who give service, as well as for those who receive it; for companies that make things, as well as for companies traditionally labelled as service businesses; for our country's national pride, as well as its economic competitiveness. This is the new age of the service economy in India. What kind of future is in store for our citizens, our communities, our industries, our economy, and our national self-respect if our service is slovenly, uncaring and incompetent?

To address the above issue, organisations must invest enormous sums in education and training. The focus will be on professional certification and periodic re-certification on the following specialisations: quality management, reliability management, software quality engineering, quality auditing, human potential, creativity tools, and measurement of management performance. Each certification course will have the customer as its fulcrum. Education will be the singular capital intensive quality activity of world-class organizations.

This Pareto of the future of TQM is almost certain.

But I do have a few stray thoughts. Backend software quality will be the primary focus of quality professionals. Global Indian companies will concentrate on quality of packaging design, mainly for product protection. Reliability engineering will be the driver for the automotive and engineering sectors. The Prime Minister's office will have a quality council. Systems for quality, safety and the environment, will be integrated.
Are these really stray thoughts?

Mr Suresh Lulla, Managing Director, Qimpro Consultants Private Limited.
You can reach him at qimpro@vsnl.com.

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