Total Quality Management Analysis of Engineering 401 Implementing the Deming Prize Acceptance Criteria

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TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OFENGINEERING 401

IMPLEMENTING THE DEMING PRIZE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

Jennifer ApplebeeJ.B. Derderian

Julia GreenwaldMark Waschewski

December 18, 1995

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RELEASEDecember 18, 1995

We, the authors of the Deming Application Prize for Engineering 401 for fall, 1995, authorizeGlenn Mazur to reproduce this report in any of his publications.

We understand that he will cite our names as the authors and give our group full credit if ourreport is used in any future publications.

__________________________Jennifer Applebee

__________________________J.B. Derderian

__________________________Julia Greenwald

__________________________Mark Waschewski

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QUALITY IMPROVEMENT STORY FOR TQM, FALL 1995

When our group looked on its own experiences and the experiences that we surveyed

from the class, Engineering 401, Total Quality Management, we found several opportunities for

improvement. Initially we found that there were three things that were reasonable goals for

improvement. The first was to improve the course in terms of the content and structure. The

second was to create a feedback loop that gave us the information needed to study our effects in

industry by graduate response. The third was to branch out to other classes in order to widen our

information base and create links to other related courses. With time and manpower restraints,

we could only tackle the first two issues.

In order to examine the makeup of the class, we surveyed the customer, the students in

this case, and asked what contributed to the good attributes of the class, and what aspects

required improvement The responses varied between the two sections. The Thursday section

seemed to find the class very interesting and informative. The Friday section had some problems

with the classroom aspect, although they found the material to be interesting. This problem has

been associated to the constricting affects of the videotaping by METN (Mechanical Engineering

Television Network). Both sections identified early problems with the virtual coursepack (e.g.,

downloading programs, computer access, printing). Finally, there were a number of minor

changes suggested by the sections in order to give a more comfortable and accessible course.

In the report that follows, we have outlined the suggestions that have been made in order

for Glenn Mazur to implement them to his discretion. We realize that we cannot comment on the

effectiveness of our proposals, but we feel that the next TQM group could easily follow what we’ve

done and make an evaluation of the implemented changes.

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Introduction

Glenn Mazur is currently teaching the course of Total Quality Management (TQM) at theUniversity of Michigan. The course, also know as Engineering 401, hopes to prepare the studentsto use the techniques and applied knowledge of TQM to better themselves and industry.

In order to provide a course that is superior to other electives on all levels, it has been decidedthat the theory and practice of TQM must first be instituted in the preparation and teaching of theclass in order to provide the best instruction.

What follows is the effort, as laid out in the Deming Application Prize format, of our group toimprove Glenn Mazur’s TQM course, Engineering 401.

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1 POLICY AND OBJECTIVES

1.1 Policy with regards to management, quality, and quality control

Vision Statement

The vision of the TQM course is to improve the quality of products and services of industry by

2005 as measured by quality awards, customer satisfaction awards, sales volume, quality of

work life, market share, etc., received by companies employing former students of ENG 401.

Mission Statement

The mission of the TQM course is to promote TQM in industry by improving ENG 401 and

educating the students in TQM thinking, current standards, communication methods and

management practices. The implementation should be completed by 2005, which will be

measured by former students in industry.

1.2 Methods in determining policy and objectives

In determining the vision and mission statements, we began where the last year’s group left off.The TQM group for Winter term, 1995. had the Vision:

The vision of the TQM course is to improve the world-wide quality ofproducts and services of U.S. Industry by 2005 as measured by thenumber of product quality awards won by companies employing formerstudents of Engineering 401.1

The previous mission was

...to educate students by improving the current ENG 401 course in areasof TQM techniques, current industrial standards, communicationmethods, and managemental practices. The implementation should becompleted by 1998, which will be measured by an industry survey. Thesurvey would include questions regarding TQM usage, tools, and specificjob tasks requiring TQM methods. Collecting data from former studentswill allow the TQM group to continuously measure the relevancy of theclass content and format.2

We felt it necessary to evaluate the former vision and mission statements based on the voice ofour major customer, the students. In a survey given at the beginning of the term, students notedseveral objections to the wording of the previous vision and mission statements.

Student comments included concern about how to measure the success of our vision in termsthat it is more broad and subjective than merely the attainment of a quality award.Furthermore, some students felt that entry level engineers will not have the authority to implementthe techniques of TQM in their field.

1 Benner,Hayes,Jonas,Mack,McCreadie, and Shaftacola. “Total Quality Management Analysis ofEngineering 401. 1995. (Not published)2 Benner,Hayes,Jonas,Mack,McCreadie, and Shaftacola.

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PARETO CHART OF STUDENT RESPONSES WHEN ASKED WHAT WAS WRONG WITHTHE FORMER GROUP’S VISION STATEMENT

0

2

4

6

8

10100 %

50 %

0 %

Looking at the two largest groups, we decided to rewrite the vision statement to include otherpossible measurements of success. We realize that with limited industrial feedback so far, itbecomes necessary to include a broad range of success check points in order to leave all bridgesfor the future intact.

We also feel that it is the purpose of the instructor to impress upon the students the importance oftheir personal quality attainment and the assumption that this in itself will improve overall quality.

From the same survey, the students were asked what was wrong with the course. The responsesare summarized as follows:

Coursepack: Since the vast extent of the material covered in this course is only accessiblethrough a “virtual coursepack,” there can be many technical problems withaccessing such information. Students have found it difficult to download files, finda computer to access the coursepack, and just general difficulty in coursepackusage.

Material: Several students felt that the material, in particular, the book Kaizen was outdatedand a bit critical in its generalizations about western industry.

Class: Several students felt that the class was boring and required “No-Doz” to follow tocompletion.

Workload: Students felt that for an elective course, the expanse of material was too great.

From this information and other considerations which will be explained later, we chose threeprimary objectives for our improvement:

1. IMPROVE THE ENG 401 TQM COURSE2. CREATE GRADUATE FEEDBACK LOOP3. INTEGRATE WITH OTHER COURSES INVOLVING SIMILAR CONTENT

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1.3 Appropriateness and consistency of the contents of objectives

IMPROVE THE COURSE

Since the main purpose of any educational institution must be to provide adequate and hopefullyexcellent resources and environments for student learning, this course, by design and by thephilosophy of TQM, must improve itself. Since the greatest response from the customer was theneed of a improved course, we felt this should be a major concern.

CREATE GRADUATE FEEDBACK LOOP

The necessity of measurable feedback inherently exists in TQM. In our vision we propose toanalyze our success by gathering industry data. These two facts prompt the course to create aninformation connection between graduates of the course and the current course in order to bothsuggest further improvements from an industrial view and to give at least qualitative evidence ofthe courses success.

INTEGRATE WITH OTHER COURSES INVOLVING SIMILAR CONTENT

In order to create an interactive course with a broad information base it would be helpful toamalgamate with other course of similar design in order to gain specialization in certain topics andbroader views in others. This seems to have much more of a theoretical significance but one thatcannot be neglected.

1.4 Utilization of statistical methods

The following chart was completed in order to rank the three previously stated objectives.Based on this information, it was determined that improving the course should be the primaryfocus of the TQM Group.

NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE RANKING

Jennifer Mark J.B. Julia Total

IMPROVE COURSE 3 3 3 3 12

CREATE GRADUATE FEEDBACK PROCESS 2 2 1 2 7

INTEGRATE WITH OTHER RELATED COURSES 1 1 2 1 5

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1.5 Deployment, dissemination, and permeation of objectives

A Gantt chart was created to allow for a concise schedule of deployment, dissemination, andpermeation of the designated objectives.

Gantt Chart for TQM 401 improvement

September October November December1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 break 11 12 13 14

IMPROVE COURSE Write Survey Survey Students Analyze Surveys Revamp Mission Statement and Act Re-survey Students

CREATE GRADUATE FEEDBACK PROCESS Write Survey Survey Students Create Database Create drop box in home page for future contact

INTEGRATE WITH OTHER RELATED COURSES Locate other courses Contact other courses Compare content and methods of other courses Implement any changes

1.6 Checking objectives and their implementation

Refer to Gantt Chart for dates of objective implementation. Further analysis of objectiveimplementation will be done by TQM Teams in following semesters.

1.7 Relationships with long-range and short-range plans

The following long-range plan was created to allow for improvement of the TQM course beyondthe limitations of the Fall ‘95 semester.

Long Term Business Strategy / Plan

Time Frame : 4 Semesters (Fall ‘95 - Winter ‘97)

Goals :• have a master survey for the class which allows all groups involved in the class to provide

their input on the final class product

• (#) awards (quality, customer satisfaction, sales volume, quality of work life, market share,etc.) received by companies employing former students of ENG 401 *

• (#) companies in contact with ENG 401 for feedback on industry *

• noticeable improvements in the following : TQM course, graduate communication & follow-up,follow-up with previous ENG 401 hosts, coordination with related courses, increase thenumber of non-engineering students enrolled in ENG 401

* These figures cannot as of yet be determined due to lack of background information andinability to set a reasonable goal at such an early stage of the TQM process.

Implementing Hoshin Management

CheckStep 1 : Meet With Instructor to Discuss Project

Brainstorm & Prepare Tree Then Combine To Create Vision & Mission Statement

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Step 2 : Review Report and Progress From Previous Group

Step 3: Create Survey to Send Out to StudentsBrainstorm & Create Survey Questions

ActStep 4 : Send Survey Out to Students

Send Survey Out Over E-mail, Collect Responses

Step 5 : Create Vision & Mission StatementBrainstorm & Prepare Tree Then Combine To Create Vision & Mission Statement

PlanStep 6 : Decide on Project Focus for This Semester

Pareto Charts, Affinity Diagrams, Rewrite Vision and Mission Statements

Step 7 : Create Long Term Business Strategy / PlanBrainstorm To Find Most Important Goals & Create List Of Goals

Step 8 : Develop Semester Hoshin Prepare Target Means Matrices For CEO and TQM Group

DoStep 9 : Discuss With Instructor Improvements of Course

Hold Weekly Meetings With Instructor, Act on VOTC, Turn in Final Report

Step 10 : Set Up Beginnings of Graduate Feedback SystemSurvey Students of Future Plans and Addresses, Set up Database for Responses

CheckStep 11 : Check on Progress of Group’s Work

To be done by Winter ‘96 TQM Team

ActStep 7 : To Be Continued by Winter ‘96 TQM Team

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2 ORGANIZATION AND ITS OPERATION

2.1 A clear-cut line of responsibilities

In order to initiate the TQM process and pursue the previously designated objectives, a clear-cutdelegation of responsibilities was required. Analysis of the parties involved allowed for twodistinctly accountable levels, the instructor and the TQM group.

2.2 Appropriateness of delegation of power

To determine the appropriateness of the decided delegation of power, target-means matriceswere developed for the instructor and the TQM group. This process enabled the group to focuson the main goals and means of attainment for the highest executive and one level below. Thefollowing matrices were formed:

INSTRUCTORTARGET MEANS MATRIX

Educate students in

TQM thinking

Educate students in

current standards

Educate students in

communication methods

Educate students in

management practices

Control Points Legend

Follow up with previous hosts

Obtain postitive feedback

regarding the projects

Weak Correlation

Contact Professors of

similar classes

Obtain information to

useful to improve the TQM course structure

Medium Correlation

Bring in guest speakers from

industry

Provide a meaningful

experience to the students

Strong Correlation

Check pointsWeekly

presentations / surveys

Weekly presentations

/ surveys

Weekly presentations / surveys /

meetings with sponsor


/ surveys

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TQM GROUPTARGET MEANS MATRIX


SurveysMeetings with

the sponsorControl Points Legend

Improve course pack

Obtain postitive feedback

regarding the projects

Weak Correlation

Create graduate feedback process

Obtain information to

useful to improve the TQM course structure

Medium Correlation

Integrate with other related

courses

Provide a meaningful

experience to the students

Strong Correlation

Check pointsInstructor Feedback

Statistical quality of results

Sponsor Feedback

2.3 Cooperation between divisions

The TQM process requires a strong link between the divisions of power in order for the fullpotential to be utilized. Based on this, a weekly meeting between the instructor and TQM groupwas established, to discuss new processes, developments, and possible setbacks.

2.4 Activities of committees

The primary committee involved for the Engineering 401 class is the TQM group. Activities of thisgroup and its staff focus on the attainment of the three previously stated objectives by means ofTQM techniques applied in class.

2.5 Utilization of the staff

Utilization of the staff, or TQM group members, was determined using task deployment tables forthe various activities performed. The first action to be executed by the group, as shown in theGantt chart, was the creation, distribution, and analyzation of a class survey. In order to fullyutilize the group members, the following task deployment table was created to designateresponsibilities. This table is representative of the task deployment tables used throughout theTQM process.

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Task Deployment TableWho What When Where How How Much

(Plan) 1.) The Team Plan survey Week 4 N.A. Brainstorm

Percent of useful

information returned

(Do) 2.) JBSend surveys and receive responses

Week 4 & 5 N.A. E-MailNumber of responses

(Check) 3.) The TeamAnalyze

responses from survey

Week 5 & 6 N.A.Affinity

Diagram / Pareto Chart

Ability to develop an

"Action" from the charts

(Act) 4.) The Team

Revise current Vision

and Mission Statement

Week 6 N.A.

Break down and revamp

based on survey results

Group concensus based on

survey results

2.6 Utilization of QC Circle activities (Problem Solving)

The following diagrams demonstrate a problem solving technique used by the TQM Group toprepare for possible setbacks. Breaking down the steps involved in implementation of theobjectives provided the group with some potential problems that might be encountered. Thisallowed the group to brainstorm various solutions and sort through them to find the best ones,prior to the actual setback occurring.

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CREATE GRADUATE FEEDBACK PROCESS

WRITE SURVEY SURVEY STUDENTS CREATE CREATE DROP BOX INDATABASE HOMEPAGE

NOT KNOWING PROPER QUESTIONS

LACK OF PARTICIPATIONUNCERTAINTY IN

DATABASE ORGANIZATIONDO NOT KNOW HOW

BRAINSTORM

AND

PRIORITIZE

EMBELLISH

TELL THEM

THE

IMPORTANCE

THREATEN

THEM

USE MJ2

TOOLS TO

ORGANIZE

SURVEY STUDENTS

FOR PROPER ORGANIZATION

RESEARCH UM

COMPUTER

INFO

DELEGATE TO

INSTRUCTOR

O X O X O X O X

UPDATE COURSE

WRITE SURVEY SURVEY STUDENTS ANALYZE REVAMP MISSION STATEMENT RE-SURVEY SURVEYS AND ACT STUDENTS

NOT KNOWING PROPER QUESTIONS

LACK OF PARTICIPATION TOO MUCH VARIATIONNO CONCLUSIONS FROM

SURVEYLACK OF PARTICIPATION

BRAINSTORM AND

PRIORITIZE

EMBELLISHTELL THEM

THE

IMPORTANCE

THREATEN THEM

REWORD SURVEY TO BE

SPECIFIC

TRY TO COVEREVERYTHING

MENTIONED

REPLAN / REDO SURVEY

QUIT TELL THEM

THE

IMPORTANCE

THREATEN THEM

O X O X O X O X O X

INTEGRATE WITH OTHER RELATED COURSES

LOCATE OTHER COURSES CONTACT OTHER COMPARE CONTENT & IMPLEMENT ANY

COURSES METHODS OF OTHER CHANGESCOURSES

COURSE DESCRIPTION INBULLETIN TOO VAGUE

PROF'S INCOOPERATIVE METHODS USED NOT TQM RELATED

CONTACT MADE TOO LATIN YEAR

CONTACT PROF. FOR

CLARIFICATION

DEMAND BETTER

DESCRIPTION

IN FUTURE

CONTACT THE

STUDENTS

REPORT PROF

TO DEAN

ONLY COMPARE

RELATIVE

METHODS

EXAGGERATE METHODS TO

MAKE

RELEVANT

MENTION IT FOR FOLLOW

UP FOR NEXT

YEARS TQM

WORK ON IT THROUGH

WINTER

BREAK

O X O X O X O X2.7 Quality control audit

ENG 401 will be audited by the students at the end of each semester in a survey given by theCollege of Engineering. Results of the survey may be used by TQM Teams for the followingterms.

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3 EDUCATION AND ITS EXTENSION

3.1 Education plan and actual accomplishment

ENG 401 is a college class dedicated to educating students in the methods of Total QualityManagement, in the hopes that these students will use their knowledge of TQM during theiremployment in industry, as well as teach others in industry basic TQM thinking and methodology.This basic definition is in itself an educational plan that cycles every 4 months, or one semester atthe University of Michigan. The following is a week by week list of topics covered during thecourse taken from the Virtual Cousepack.3

Week 1 - Introduction to TQM.Week 2 - 7 Basic QC ToolsWeek 3 - 7 Management and Planning ToolsWeek 4 - 7 Management and Planning Tools (cont.)Week 5 - The Perspectives of TQM: Overview and Daily ManagementWeek 6 - Hoshin ManagementWeek 7 - Quality Function Deployment, Part 1. The Fuzzy Front End.Week 9 - QFD, Part 2. The House of Quality.Week 10 - QFD, Part 3. Beyond the House of Quality: The Design Deployments,

Creativity and Innovation, Different Roadmaps for Different Businesses, QFD for Business Process Reengineering

Week 11 - QFD, Part 4. The Detailed Design and Manufacturing Deployments.Week 12 - Taguchi Methods for Robust Design.Week 13 - TQM and Plant Quality Control

3.2 Consciousness about quality and control, understanding of quality control

The TQM Team exemplifies the efforts made to raise consciousness about quality and control.The basic reason for having a team whose “project” is the ENG 401, is to apply the KAIZENthinking of continuous improvement to the class itself. This helps all students to better understandthe concept of quality control.

3.3 Education concerning statistical concepts and methods, and degree of permeation

Students review basic statistical methods in the first few weeks of class and perform homeworkassignments that help them learn how to interpret the statistical information they find. In thismanner, they are able to see first hand how statistical analysis relates to TQM. Studentscontinued to add to their statistical knowledge throughout the semester.

3.4 Education for subcontractors and outside organizations

As students work on their respective projects, they also share the TQM knowledge they havelearned with their hosts. It is hoped that the hosts will continue to use these TQM methods aftertheir student teams have finished the semester long project.

Also, as mentioned earlier, one goal of the ENG 401 class is for students to take the knowledgeand method of thinking TQM style that they have learned in the classroom out into industry.

3.5 Suggestion system and its implementation

In the ENG 401 Virtual Coursepack, every page has a link at the end through which students andothers browsing the coursepack may input problems, suggestions, or other information

3 Glenn Mazur, 1995

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directly to the instructor. The instructor is also open to suggestions at all times. Studentswho wish to critique the class anonymously may do so through the surveys conducted bythe TQM Team. These surveys are filtered by the team to the instructor, and are used tomake improvements on the class.

4 ASSEMBLING AND DISSEMINATING INFORMATION, AND ITS UTILIZATION

4.1 Assembling outside information

Our first step in assembling outside information was to define who our customers were. It wasquickly determined, from the mission statement, that the TQM class had only one customersegment and that was the students enrolled in the course (according to the mission, industry willbe a customer segment now, but the current influence of the course is mostly towards thestudents). The TQM class is organized by the instructor and part of the university, but its missionis to educate the TQM students. Therefore, it is the voice of the students (the customer of theorganization) from which outside information, to base restructuring upon, should be assembled.

We then went to the Gemba. We went directly to the students to obtain information on theirbackground and to obtain their concerns pertaining to the course.

The medium we chose in assembling outside information was a survey. Keeping the students’busy schedules in mind and not wanting to disturb the students during their valuable class time, asurvey was issued by electronic mail. A copy of that survey is included here to detail thequestions asked to the customer.

Hello folks-

I am writing on behalf of the ENG 401 group whose project involves making theENG 401 experience that much nicer and safer. This, therefore, is your chanceto critique the class. I hope that you will take the time to reply to me with theanswers to the following survey.

Please answer honestly and fully

**********************************************

The vision of the TQM course is to improve the world-wide quality of products andservices of US Industry by 2005 as measured by the number of product qualityawards won by companies employing former students of Engineering 401

When will you graduate?What is your major?What notable job experiences have you had (briefly)?Do you expect lasting effects from this course?

If so, what are these effects?What’s going well with the class?What technical problems have you experienced (i.e. CRISP, the virtualcoursepack, etc.)What problems have you had with the content of this class?

Any suggestionsHow does this class relate to any positions or jobs you have held?What do you see as the future direction for this course?Where do you see yourself in the future?------------------The vision of the TQM course is to improve the world-wide quality of products andservices of US Industry by 2005 as measured by the number of product qualityawards won by companies employing former students of Engineering 401------------------Do you believe in the above vision statement? why? why not?

How would you change it?

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**********************************************Thank you for your time and for responding without deleting this message-

The Uncanny TQM Group

All responses were directed to the same electronic mail address. Once the deadline arrived forthe responses (about one week) the data was collected from that address and was ready to beanalyzed.

The results form this survey can be found in section five in the voice of the customer tablesformed. Section five also discusses these results obtained.

4.2 Disseminating information between divisions

As previously stated, there are only two defined divisions within the TQM course structure. Thosedivisions are the instructor and the students. Since the number and background of these twodivisions differ so greatly, two different actions were taken to disseminate the information (oneaction per division).

For the instructor, a weekly, private consultation is scheduled. This meeting consists of theinstructor and the group responsible for gathering any given set of information. A privateconsultation is scheduled because of the instructor’s broad knowledge and background of TotalQuality Management. It was obvious that the instructor would have plenty of input to offer on theinformation presented, so it was insured that no outside distractions would interfere.

For the students, a weekly presentation is scheduled. Here, the same information is presented tothe students as was presented to the instructor. However, taking the background of the studentsinto consideration, there is not a one-on-one type of interaction for this process. Once thepresentation is complete, there is ample time for questions and answers for the students benefit.Also, some of the suggestions or ideas form the instructor are presented here as well to aid in thedissemination of the information.

4.3 Speed in disseminating information (use of computer)

As previously stated, outside information was gathered using electronic mail, however informationis disseminated through one-on-one interaction and presentations. Because of the size of thisorganization, the use of a computer as a tool to help transmit ideas is not necessary. Allmembers attend weekly meetings with the other members during which information is transferredquickly and proficiently. The time of the meetings ranges from one hour to three hours and one totwo meetings are held each week.

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5 ANALYSIS

5.1 Selection of important problems and themes

Once outside information was gathered (in the form of a survey), it was sorted and organizedusing a Voice of Customer Table (VOCT). The data received from the previously mentionedsurveys contained a multitude of suggestions that were all interwoven around one commontheme: the overall improvement of the TQM course. Based on the reactions of the customers, thegroup decided to focus primarily on the improvement of the TQM course. The framework for agraduate feedback system would be set up at the conclusion of the course to allow for furtherimplementation of that objective in later semesters. Although the integration with other qualitycourses was regarded as very important, due to time and manpower constraints, this objectivewas set aside for later concern. The remaining analysis includes only the two previous objectives.

The first objective of improving the course was to break down the data (the customer’s voice) intophrases. These phrases could contain the exact voice of the customer on an idea, thought, orconcept or they could contain a phrase constructed by the team to represent what the customerwas trying to say. Once enough phrases were developed to adequately convey what the surveyrevealed, they were reworded onto a form that could be acted upon by the TQM team.

The first step in selecting the important themes, from the survey data, was to break down thereplies to the surveys into easy to manage phrases. Based on each response to the survey, ashort phrase was developed that summed up the opinion of the customer on any given topic.After doing this for every survey, similar phrases were combined to eliminate redundancy. Incombining two or more phrases, the explicit voice of the customer, in each phrase, was replacedby an inferred representation. Once the combining of similar phrases was complete, the VOCTbegan to take shape.

The resulting phrases were placed in the first column of the VOCT table, and using the criteria ofwho, what, when, where, why and how, the phrases were reworded into a form that could be actedupon by the TQM team. Ultimately the VOCT table acts like a filter. It takes the explicit andinferred phrases developed from the replies to the surveys, and rewords them into data that canbe manipulated and utilized by the TQM team to better the course (more details of these methodsare within the following sections). The VOCT created from the results of our TQM survey isprovided below.

VOICE OF CUSTOMER TABLE (VOCT) - PART 1USE REWORDED

VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER WHO WHAT WHEN WHY HOW DATACUS ID CUSTOMER CHARACTERISTICSI/E DATA I/E DATA I/E DATA I/E DATA I/E DATA

Class is too STUDENTS IN TQM E Engineering I College Credit E Fall '95 E To graduate E Projects Shorter classlong & boring. FALL 1995 Student times are

I Resume E Thursday E Better I Lectures needed.E Business Building Evening Management

I would like to Student Capabilities I Homework More basicsee more E Gain TQM E Friday examples areexamples of I LSA Knowledge Afternoon E Learn TQM E Coursepack needed inwhat Prof. is Student for Industry class.trying to E Gain TQM I Future Jobdemonstrate. I Off-Campus Experience E Apply TQM inKaizen book Student I With the Host Industry More currentis out of date information is

required.1 Class is a too Project work-

heavy load is too workload. demanding.An actual Virtualcousepack coursepackwouldn't be needs bad. improvement.Late updating Late updatesof coursepack of coursepackis a pain. are a problem.Videotaping Videotapingdetracts from detracts fromProf's lecture Prf's lecture.

As can be seen from the above table, the concerns of the customer were not focused in any oneaspect of the course. There were issues on the class format, course materials and course work.

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The VOCT has helped in organizing the outside data into terms that the course instructor, as wellas the TQM team, can easily understand. This is, however, just the beginning. This data must befurther organized before it can be used to determine the important problems and themes of thecourse. This is where the function of the Voice of Customer Table - Part 2 comes in.

The reworded data, produced by the VOCT, was then organized in the Voice of Customer table -Part 2 (VOCT2). The VOCT provided data, on the customers wants and needs, in terms that aretangible and more focused for the TQM team. The VOCT2 takes this data and sifts out the issueswhich drive the demand for the class mission, the measurables for these demand driving issues,the functions of what is demanded, and the failure modes of these functions. Upon completion ofthe VOCT2, the reworded data is properly organized into a form that can be used to selectimportant problems and themes, of the TQM course, based on the current organization and thevoice of the customer. The VOCT2 created from the results of our TQM survey is provided below.

Voice of the Customer - 2

Demand QualityQuality

AttributesFunctions Reliability Other

I want to keep my attention focused

I want easier understanding.

Number of examples given in

classI want up-to-date

materialsYear book published

Kaizen book is too old.

I want a lower workload.

Number of hours needed for project

Projects too demanding

I want coursepack that is always

accessible.

No. of problems encountered

Difficulty with coursepack

I want a casual instructional environment.

Videotaping a destraction

Analysis of the VOCT2 reveals four issues the students in the TQM class (the customer) believeto be failure modes of the course. The first issue is the text. It is the customer’s opinion that theKaizen book is too outdated. The VOCT2 proceeds to show us that an effort to track the year thetext of the course was published could eliminate this problem in the future. The second issue isthe course project. It is the customer’s opinion that the project is too demanding. The VOCT2proceeds to show us that an effort to measure the number of hours needed (per unit of time) forthe project could help to quantify this problem and determine how much of a reduction (if at all)should be implemented. The third issue is the coursepack. It is the customer’s opinion that thecoursepack is difficult to work with. The VOCT2 proceeds to show us that recording the number ofproblems could help to quantify this failure mode. Finally, the fourth issue is the videotaping. It isthe customer’s opinion that the videotaping is a distraction to the class. While there does notseem to be a way to measure (quantify) this problem, it has been highlighted by the customer anddoes require further attention. The VOCT2 proceeds to show that the videotaping takes awayfrom a casual instructional environment commonly found in similar courses at this particularinstitution. This then alludes to a solution which would make the class environment more casualwhile still keeping the videotaping process a success.

Analysis of the VOCT2 reveals six issues the students in the TQM class (the customer) believe todrive the demand for the class mission. In the first issue, the customer wants to keep theirattention focused. While it is the instructor’s responsibility to convey his knowledge in a clear,concise manner, any attempt made to keep the attention of the class, or to bring back thestudents that may be drifting, will benefit the students and help to implement the mission of thecourse. Examples of such an effort could be interesting digressions or anecdotes. In the second

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issue, the customer wants the class to be easier to understand. Though the instructor knowsexactly what he is trying to convey, the students do not. A suggestion made by the VOCT2 is toincrease the number of examples in class to help the understanding of some of the morecomplicated material. In the third issue, the customer wants the course materials to be up-to-date. As previously discussed, a means to insure this is to track the publishing date for thecourse text. In the fourth issue, the customer wants a smaller workload. As previously discussed,an effort to measure the number of hours demanded by the workload could help quantify theproblem as well as help to size-up a course of action to remedy it. In the fifth issue, the customerwants a coursepack that is always accessible. The problems with accessibility of the virtualcoursepack seem to stem from the need of a computer to read it and the problems with printingthat have occurred. A measurement of the number of problems occurring would aid indetermining if any solution implemented was effective. In the sixth issue, the customer wants acasual instructor environment. The problem with the environment stems from the videotaping ofthe class. While the needs of the outside students are being met by the videotaping, it isoccurring at the sacrifice of the classroom students’ learning. A solution should be gearedtowards making the videotaping a more casual experience for the in-class students.

The results from the VOCT2 discussed here are note prioritized. The will, however, be rewordedand fed into a house of quality table which will weight each of the demand qualities (refer tosection 5.5).

5.2 Appropriateness of the analytical method

The selection of important problems and themes of the TQM course could only be done by onegroup of people: the students (customers) of the TQM course. To make the course effective, theinstructor must rely on the voice of those he is working to educate. The instructor can not guesswhat the needs of the students are. If that were done, then the instructor would create the perfectcourse to teach only people exactly like himself. It is the needs of the students on which theimprovement of the course is based.

Once the results of the surveys were in (the voice of the customer) an analytical method wasneeded to organize them. The results of the survey were disorganized and in many casesredundant. An analytical method to organize those results into something that could be actedupon by the instructor was required, and the VOCT(1&2) tables did just that. By the time theVOCT2 was finished, the large mess of survey results were organized into course failpoints,demand driving issues, and measurables for those issues. Now armed with the Voice of theCustomer, the TQM Group could begin to construct improvements of the course to meet thevision and mission for ENG 401.

5.3 Utilization of statistical methods

No statistical methods were utilized in the analysis of the voice of the customer. Such methodsmay be used in prioritizing the results, from the VOCT tables, based on the number received.

5.4 Tying in with own engineering technology

Once the results of the voice of the customer are received, they are then implemented into thecurrent technology or methods of the class. The following sections describe the process for doingthis.

5.5 Quality analysis, process analysis

VOC Affinity DiagramAnalysis of the quality within the course began with the voice of the customer. It is intended toanalyze the course based upon the wants and needs of the customer pitted against the currentmethods implemented within the course.

20

The first step taken was to break down the VOCT2 into manageable categories. The categorieschosen were class concerns and material concerns. These were organized using an affinitydiagram.

VOC Affinity Diagram

Class Concerns Material Concerns

Remain interested for entire class period

Coursepack always accessible

Easier to understand Up-to-date Materials

Smaller Workload

Cadual Environment

The above affinity diagram has helped to classify the voice of the customer into two majorcategories. It is within these categories that a quality analysis of the course will be performed.

With the voice of the customer broken down into manageable categories, a classificationHierarchy tree is developed.

VOC Classification Hierarchy


I want better instruction Easier to understand

Smaller Workload

I want a better class Casual Environment

Up-to-date MaterialsI want better materials


This tree has established a hierarchy of the demand quality items. Here the demand qualityitems, from the voice of the customer, is now ready to be used in a quality analysis of the coursedone by using a house of quality diagram.

Now that the demand quality items have been organized for a house of quality diagram, the qualityattributes must me tackled. The first step is it to develop single fishbone diagrams. The effect inthe diagrams are demand quality items. The causes for each demand quality items arecontrollable items which can be used to achieve each demand quality. The fishbone diagramsdeveloped for ENG 401 are shown below.

21

Smaller workload

Time given to complete assignment

Repetition of keypoints

Number of pages of reading Number of steps

Complexity of steps

Number of team members

Casual environment

Example freedomNumber of digressions

Level of stage fright

Lag time / interaction with students

Mobility of instructor

Attire of instructor

Up-to-date material

Relevancy of material Publishing date

Topicality of examples

22

Course pack always accessible

Completeness of course pack

Time needed to access

Number of places available

Timeliness of updates


Length allotted to given topic

Size of charts, data, etc.

Number of anecdotesNumber of breaks Class length

Number of examples

Easier to Understand

Clarity of lesson objectives

Number of concepts

Level of conceptsNumber of repetitions of keypoints

Number of examples

Size of display

Once measurables for the quality demand items have been brainstormed and organized intofishbone (cause and effect) diagrams, they need to be grouped into manageable categories. This

23

is done using an affinity diagram. The affinity diagrams, developed for the quality attributes forENG 401, are shown below.

Time



Class lengthLag time / interaction with students

Relevancy of material

Topicality of examples Publishing date


Accuracy

Clarity of lesson objectives

Complexity of steps





Convenience

Interface with team sponsor

Size of charts, data, etc.Size of display

Mobility of instructor Attire of instructor

Aesthetics

Level of stage fright Example freedom

24

Volume

Number of anecdotes

Number of breaks

Number of examples

Number of repetitions of keypoints

Number of conceptsNumber of pages of reading

Number of steps

Number of digressions

Now that the quality attributes have been subdivided into manageable categories, they can beorganized to insert into a house of quality diagram. A tree diagram was used for thisorganizational process. The tree diagram developed for the quality attributes in ENG 401 isshown below.

Time



Class length

Lag time / interaction with students

Relevancy of material

Topicality of examples

Publishing date


AccuracyClarity of lesson objectives

Complexity of steps

25

Size of charts, data, etc.

Size of display

Mobility of instructor

Attire of instructor

Aesthetics

Level of stage fright

Example freedom

Volume

Number of anecdotes

Number of breaks

Number of examples

Number of repetitions of keypoints

Number of concepts

Number of pages of reading

Number of steps

Number of digressions





Convenience

Interface with team sponsor

26

Based on the Classification Hierarchy Tree, a House of Quality Relationships Matrix wasdeveloped. A copy of this matrix is shown below.

HOUSE OF QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS MATRIX

Aes

thet

ics

Mob

ility

of I

nstr

ucto

r

Leve

l of s

tage

frig

ht

Siz

e of

cha

rts,

dat

a, e

tc.

Atti

re o

f Ins

truc

tor

Exa

mpl

e fr

eedo

m

Vol

ume

Num

ber

of a

necd

otes

Num

ber

of p

ages

of r

eadi

ng

Num

ber

of r

epet

ition

s of

key

poin

ts

Num

ber

of b

reak

s

Num

ber

of d

igre

ssio

ns

Num

ber

of c

once

pts

Num

ber

of s

teps

in H

.W.

Num

ber

of e

xam

ples

Tim

e

Tim

e gi

ven

to c

ompl

ete

assi

gnm

ent

Lag

time

Cla

ss le

ngth

Leng

th a

llotte

d to

giv

en to

pic

Acc

urac

y

Com

plet

enes

s of

cou

rse

pack

Pub

lishi

ng d

ate

Com

plex

ity o

f ste

ps in

H.W

.

Cla

rity

of le

sson

Top

ical

ity o

f exa

mpl

es

Rel

avan

cy o

f mat

eria

ls

Con

veni

ence

Num

ber

of p

lace

s av

aila

ble

Inte

rfac

e w

ith te

am s

pons

or

Num

ber

of te

am m

embe

rs

Tim

elin

ess

of u

pdat

es

Tim

e ne

eded

to a

cces

s

I want better instruction Remain interested for entire class period

Easier to understand

Smaller workload

Casual Environment

I want better materials Up-to-date materials


STRONG RELATIONSHIP:MEDIUM RELATIONSHIP:WEAK RELATIONSHIP:

This matrix forces one to quantify relationships between what the customer wants from the TQMcourse and the means of the course to measure those wants. These quantified differences arethe bases for this method of analysis to prioritize the importance of demand qualities and themeasure the accuracy of the Quality attributes. Both of these will be demonstrated in the sectionsto follow.

From here a second questionnaire is formed. This questionnaire asks the customer to rate thepreviously determined demand quality items. It then asks the customer to compare the courseagainst other courses (the competition). A copy of the second questionnaire follows.

O.K. kids. Again it is the time that you get to bash the prof withouthis knowing who said what. How cool! Please fill out the following surveyand forward it back to us at "[email protected]" as soon as you can.This one is easier than the last one and requires less thought andtherefore less time.

Please rate the following items (1-5) in order of how they influencedyour decision to take a class.

1--------------2--------------3--------------4--------------5very unimportant neutral very important

A. Interesting throughout entire class period __B. Easy understanding class material __C. Material up-to-date __D. Material accessible __E. Workload of class reasonable __F. Class environment acceptable __

Please rate the following classes based your knowledge and/or experienceswith respect to the previous statements (A-F).

1--------------2--------------3--------------4--------------5strongly disagree neutral strongly agree

ENG 401 - TQM ENG 452 - Entrepreneurship IOE 425 - Manufacturing Strategies IOE 451 - Engineering Economy IOE 491 - Project Management

27

ME 401 - Manufacturing Statistics

ENG 401 ENG 452 IOE 425 IOE 451 IOE 491 ME 401A. __ __ __ __ __ __B. __ __ __ __ __ __C. __ __ __ __ __ __D. __ __ __ __ __ __E. __ __ __ __ __ __F. __ __ __ __ __ __

If there is another course, dealing with relative materials, be itengineering or not, please include it above and rank it accordingly

Finally, if there are any other comments you'd like to make on anything,this could be your last confidential time to do so.

Thank you for your time, effort, and the fact that you are just you!!

TQM TEAM

Based on this survey, the following results were found.

DEMANDED QUALITY

1 2 3 4 5WEIGHTED AVERAGE

INTERESTING THROUGHOUT ENTIRE CLASS PERIOD2 6 3 4.1

EASY UNDERSTANDING CLASS MATERIAL5 4 3 3.8

MATERIAL UP-TO-DATE2 5 3 4.1

MATERIAL ACCESSIBLE1 4 1 4 3.8

WORKLOAD REASONABLE2 3 6 4.4

CLASS ENVIRONMENT4 2 4 1 3.2

ENG 401


INTERESTING THROUGHOUT ENTIRE CLASS PERIOD1 4 2 1 1 2.7

EASY UNDERSTANDING CLASS MATERIAL1 7 1 3.9

MATERIAL UP-TO-DATE1 1 4 3 4.0

MATERIAL ACCESSIBLE3 5 1 2.8

WORKLOAD REASONABLE1 2 2 3 1 3.1

CLASS ENVIRONMENT1 2 4 2 2.8

28

ENG 452


INTERESTING THROUGHOUT ENTIRE CLASS PERIOD1 5.0

EASY UNDERSTANDING CLASS MATERIAL1 4.0

MATERIAL UP-TO-DATE1 5.0

MATERIAL ACCESSIBLE1 5.0

WORKLOAD REASONABLE1 4.0

CLASS ENVIRONMENT1 5.0

IOE 425








10E 451


INTERESTING THROUGHOUT ENTIRE CLASS PERIOD1 1 2.5

EASY UNDERSTANDING CLASS MATERIAL1 1 2.5

MATERIAL UP-TO-DATE1 1 4.5

MATERIAL ACCESSIBLE1 1 3.5

WORKLOAD REASONABLE1 1 3.0


IOE 491








Now with the House of Quality Relationships matrix and the completed second questionnaire, acompleted house of quality Matrix is formed. This matrix is as follows.

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The house of quality was instrumental in prioritizing the demand qualities spoken by the voice ofthe customer. According to the house of quality, the most important demand qualities to focus onare delivering up to date materials for the customer to focus on and to keep the customerinterested for the entire class period.

There was not data available to rate the competitors on the quality attributes. This TQM grouprecommends that further analysis be done on the competitors. A future TQM group should shoparound the other classes in order to rate them against the quality attributes. With these ratings,targets can be set for the TQM class. For now (without the ratings of the other classes), thetargets set are meaningless.

5.6 Utilization of results of analysis

Given the demand qualities which rank the highest, a strong effort should be made to insure theyare met. For the demand quality of remaining interested, the strongly related quality attributes arenumber of anecdotes, number of breaks, number of examples, and class length. It is thisattributes which should improved significantly to obtain one of the more important goals: improvinga highly ranked quality attribute.

The second highly ranking demand quality was up-to-date materials. Quality attributes whichstrongly related to this demand quality are completeness of coursepack, publishing dated,topicality of examples, and relevancy of materials. It is this attributes which should improvedsignificantly to obtain one of the more important goals: improving a highly ranked quality attribute.

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6 STANDARDIZATION

6.1 System of standardization

Standardization of a course is of the utmost importance when two or more sections of studentsexist. Standardization ensures that all students receive the same information despite potentialvariation in instruction. The main system of standardization for the ENG 401 class is the use ofthe visual coursepack and the World Wide Web. A detailed example of standardization isillustrated in the following course syllabus and objectives statement.

Total Quality Management

Syllabus

University of Michigan College of EngineeringTotal Quality Management 401New for Fall, 1995Thursday 7:15-10:15 1017 Dow, Friday 1:30-4:30 1012 Dow (Video Classroom)

Instructor: Glenn MazurFax: (313) 995-3810Email: [email protected] hours: Fridays, 11:30-1:30 112 Old Aero Bldg. or by appt.Confirm @ 313-763-2952 (campus)Home Tel: 313-995-0847

Objectives of this course

At the end of this course, you will understand the difference between TQM and traditional quality controlapproaches. You will be able to use at least 14 of the most common quality tools, organize a qualityimprovement team, and initiate a TQM system into an organization. You will be able to view the TQMprocess from three perspectives, namely Daily Management, Hoshin Management, and Cross FunctionManagement, and to disseminate your progress in one of three standard quality formats accepted aroundthe world - National Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award, the Deming Prize, or the ISO 9000 and QS 9000.

Books

1. Kaizen by Masaaki Imai, one of Japan's leading TQM experts known in the West. ISBN 0-394-55186-9. This very popular book will serve as the general course book. It explains the majority of TQMtools, techniques, and systems. It contains many good case studies. 2. Memory Jogger II (MJ2). This handy booklet contains most of the tools we will use in TQM. 3. Comprehensive Quality Function Deployment (QFD) by Glenn Mazur is a step by step guide to thefull implementation of QFD for manufactured products. It will be available in class. 4. Comprehensive Quality Function Deployment for Service Organizations (SvQFD) by GlennMazur is a step by step guide to the full implementation of QFD for services and business processes. It willbe available in class. 5. Additional readings: For more in depth study, but not required, other books will be on reserve in theDow Library. <p>

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Class Format

I will try to conduct the class in accordance with TQM principles. All comments and suggestions arewelcome and will be considered for implementation this semester or the next. Please feel free to addressme in class, office, or by email. (In fact, many of the features you will enjoy have come from formerstudents.) Attendance is required.

One of the basic tenets of TQM is Shewhart's Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. It works as follows.

1.Pre-read the assignments per the schedule listed with each week's homepage (Plan). 2. Attend class lecture (Do). 3. Do team assignment (Do) 4. and present next class for class diagnosis (Check). 5. Make corrections (Act).

Teams

One of the strengths of TQM is participation by everyone. Thus, project management, exchangingopinions, helping each other, offering your strengths and bolstering each others weaknesses, and fairdivision of labor are important skills to develop. Each team member will evaluate the semester-longcontributions of the others and submit a scorecard with the final paper. This will help determine individualgrades. Teams should be 5-6 members to assure schedule compatibilityand average work load. You will form your own teams in class on the second week. Start to get toknow each other from the start.

Project

Each team must select a project. Options available are:

• Create your own company, either looking forward to future TQM implementation or looking back after TQM has been established.

+ Create your own data. No real world barriers. You can cover several years of implementation and get the big picture. - Not as hands-on. Not as real a test of your TQM understanding and people skills.• Work with a real organization. Use one of the several University departments who have hosted

previous teams. Or an organization approved by the instructor. + Real barriers make this a real life experience. Gratification from seeing things move forward. Based on previous teams efforts, you must take one step backward and two forward to help this department along a multi-year implementation of TQM. In exchange for the hosts support, you may be asked

to work on a specific project, which becomes the basis for some of your report. - You must integrate your schedule with the host department. Things don't move as quickly or smoothly as in class. Your view of the big TQM picture is constrained.

Reports

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Teams will report their findings and understanding of TQM in one of three formats acknowledged worldwide - The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the ISO9000 or the Deming Prize. The purpose ofthe paper is to demonstrate your understanding of TQM principles and activities. Particularly, ISO9000and Baldrige are not complete from a TQM point of view so you must fill in where necessary. Your paperis like an engineering report in that it must state both your premises and back them up with data. Youshould try to included all the activities from this course: variability, problem solving, PFT and RFT tools,Daily Management, Hoshin Management, Cross-Function Management, QFD, Robust Design, etc. It ishighly recommended that you submit drafts of your paper for review and comment prior to the final date.This will allow me to point out opportunities to improve your final version. Each student must also submitteam member evaluations that identify how the work load was balanced among all members. Reports aredue during finals week. The date will be given in class.

Grades

The purpose of this course is to make you capable of both understanding and implementing TQM in anorganization. Grades are determined by a combination of attendance and class participation, effort investedin weekly assignments, but mostly by the final report. While the report will carry a team grade, individualgrades will be some delta around the team grade. This will be based on the team member evaluations youmust submit with your final paper. For example, an A- paper for which 2 out of 6 team members did mostof the work might yield an A+ for those two and B for the rest.

Copyright © 1995 by Glenn Mazur . All rights reserved. In the spirit of TQM, this page iscontinuously improved. Suggestions are welcome. Please include your return email address in the body ofyour letter. Last update: October 1, 1995.

6.2 Methods of establishing, revising and withdrawing standards

The standards for the ENG 401 course, as written in the visual coursepack, are established by theinstructor, Glenn Mazur. The visual coursepack is updated weekly by Mr. Mazur with revisionsand additions. All updates are enacted prior to scheduled class times, to ensure that all students,despite class section, have access to the weekly lessons.

6.3 Actual records in establishing, revising, and withdrawing standards

All records in establishing, revising, and withdrawing standards, as completed by Mr. Mazur, areavailable through the visual coursepack. At the end of each homepage, weekly lesson, etc. is thefollowing statement (or one similar in nature) which records the last date at which the coursepackwas altered.

Copyright © 1995 by Glenn Mazur . All rights reserved. In the spirit of TQM, this page iscontinuously improved. Suggestions are welcome. Please include your return email address in the body ofyour letter. Last update: October 1, 1995.

6.4 Contents of standards

Refer to the above Syllabus and the Virtual Coursepack for exact contents of standards. TheVirtual Coursepack on the WWW is a strong method for standardization of the course. Theoutline of the coursepack is followed by all students taking the course, including those whoreceive the course over videotape. Also, by videotaping the lectures, the off-campus students arereceiving the same lecture the on-campus students are. This allows for the standardization of thelecture content reaching those students not in the classroom.

6.5 Accumulation of technology

33

The Virtual Coursepack and video classroom are examples of how ENG 401 is staying on thefront edge of technology. The coursepack is continually updated as new links are added. Theselinks offer easy access for students to newly developed software, research of top experts in thefield of TQM, and examples of actual industrial applications of TQM.

6.6 Utilization of standards

Utilization of the standard visual coursepack is left up to the individual students. Potentialmeasurement of this usage may be an aspect of the course which could be researched by futureTQM groups.7 CONTROL (KANRI)

7.1 Control system for quality and in related areas such as cost, delivery, and quantity.

Control systems require a strong link between all necessary parties. These links form a flowthrough cross-functional management. The purpose of cross-functional management is todesignate all necessary tasks to the proper party involved. Each aspect of the control system(cost, delivery, and quality) were be traced through the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle by means of across-functional management flowchart. The following pages display these paths.

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7.2 Control points, and control Items

Control points and check points are instituted to measure progress. Several of these points havebeen previously stated in the report. As described in Section 1.1, the Vision and MissionStatements incorporate points of measurement. Both state dates, check points, by which thegoals should be accomplished. The Long Term Business Strategy (Section 1.7) also sets controlpoints by marking an undetermined number of awards and companies contacted, which must beachieved.

7.3 Utilization of statistical methods such as the control charts and general acceptance of thestatistical way of thinking

Control charts and statistical methods are important in the analyzation of data collected throughsurveys, etc.. Since the majority of the ENG 401 class composition is engineering students, theirmethods of logic and analysis openly accept the statistical way of thinking.

7.4 Contributions of QC Circle activities

QC circles and stories, though not used in the span of our project could be useful in determiningproblems and deciding upon needed solutions, should the control points we set be found invalid.This case can not be determined by our TQM group, due to time constraints of one semester, butshould be a focus of future TQM groups.

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8 QUALITY ASSURANCE

8.1 Procedures for new product development -- quality deployment (breakdown of qualityfunction) and its analysis, reliability, design review, etc.

Quality assurance in the development of the ENG 401 course must be focused around FunctionDeployment and Reliability Deployment. Function Deployment identifies the functions or servicesthat will result in customer satisfaction, while Reliability Deployment assures that the developmentof the course does not fail. This section focuses on Function Deployment, while Section 8.2 willdiscuss Reliability Deployment.

To determine the primary functions of ENG 401, the following function analysis tree was createdbased on student survey responses.

36

Function Analysis

Identify Content

Prepare Lecture Prepare Material

Check Material Relevance

Revise Material

Plan Lecture

Give Lecture Follow Agenda

Check Timing

Revise AgendaTeach TQM

Plan Feedback Mechanism

Correct Lecture Implement Feedback Mechanism

Diagnose Feedback

Correct Feedback Mechanism

Analyze Feedback

Revise Lecture Correct Lecture

Re-give Lecture

Repeat

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8.2 Safety and product liability prevention

Although safety is not a factor in the quality assurance of the TQM course, other reliability issuesdo come into play. Reliability Deployment examines potential problems early in the developmentand was pursued similar to Function Deployment. The following Fault Tree was created to predictfailpoints.

Fault Tree for the TQM Class

Material Outdated

TQM Class Class IntolerableFail Points

Instructor notAvailable

8.3 Current process capabilities

There is currently no graduate feedback system.

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8.4 Process design, control and improvement (KAIZEN)

PROPOSED CONCEPT GRADUATE FEEDBACK

PREPARE STUDENTSURVEY

SENDE-MAILSURVEY

DISTIBUTESTUDENTS NO IN-CLASS

RESOPOND? SURVEY

YES

COLLECTSTUDENT

RESPONSES

FORM DATA BASE

CONTACTFORMER

STUDENTS

39

TASK DEPLYMENT FOR GRADUATE FEEDBACK

WHAT WHO WHEN HOW HOW MUCH WHYPrepare TQM Team Near End Brainstorming NA To find students'Student of Semester future addressesSurveySend e-mail JB Last Week of Over e-mail To all students To reach all Survey Semester in ENG 401 studentsRespond to ENG 401 After Survey Over e-mail NA To help TQMsurvey Students received TeamCollect Instructor After receiving Over e-mail NA Central collectionResponses responses and Excel areaForm Data TQM Team End of Semester Excel NA Organize DataBaseContact Next TQM Next Semester E-mail, As needed Utilize Industry Former Group, letters, Contacts and Students Instructor phone Feedback

8.5 Measurement and inspection

The quality of the class is measured each term by the evaluations filled out by the students forthe College of Engineering, as well as by the surveys conducted by the various TQM Team.Inspection is a continuous processes conducted and acted upon by each TQM Team.

8.6 Control of facilities / equipment, subcontracting, purchasing services, etc.

The College of Engineering at the University of Michigan controls the facilities used to teach thiscourse. Mr. Mazur instructs the university’s customers, the students. All subcontracting ofjanitorial staff, METN staff and services, and class registrations are conducted through theCollege of Engineering. Ordering of course materials and scheduling of guest speakers is doneby Mr. Mazur.

8.7 Quality assurance system and its audit

ENG 401 is audited by students at the end of each semester. Along with the TQM survey,students fill out a standard College of Engineering evaluation. Input is compiled and reviewed bythe college and passed on to Mr. Mazur for his own personal development and for thedevelopment of the course.

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9 EFFECTS

9.1 Measuring effects

Due to the time constraint of one semester, our group is not able to measure the effects of ourwork. This responsibility lies in the hands of the Winter ‘96 TQM group and their successors.

9.2 Visible effects, such as quality, serviceability, date of delivery, cost, profit, safety,environment, etc.

Some visible effects that future groups may wish to consider include class enrollment, studentinterest, variety of students, and coursepack acceptance.

9.3 Invisible effects

Some invisible effects that future groups may wish to consider are the effect that the class has onstudent behavior in other classes, and effects on industry not seen through the graduate feedbacksystem.

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10 FUTURE PLANS

10.1 Understanding of the status-quo and concreteness

Since the status-quo constitutes schooling and the atmosphere therein, it remains relativelyunchanging. This class, as well as many other upper level courses, tries to include outsidecontacts in the course. These must also be considered for complete understanding.

This course is a course of great flexibility and potential. With the incorporation of computers forcommunication, the information base for the course is enormous and only bounded by personalcomputer understanding. The course has the tendency to become gruesomely tedious.Videotaping causes lack of mobility which leads to customer dissatisfaction in the taped section.The students in ENG 401 are screened and therefore more willing to put the necessary time andeffort into the course. Despite this, the course is currently rated below similar courses, in regardsto demanded qualities, by the current students (Refer to Survey 2 results in Section 5.5).

10.2 Policies adopted to solve shortcomings

Several adaptations have been flagged and are yet to be implemented. It will be up to GlennMazur to make the changes we have suggested and for the next TQM group to familiarizethemselves with and analyze the effects of our efforts. This is a drawback of the course, which isdue to the 16 week duration of one semester. Because the customer and the TQM group canonly observe one cycle of their efforts, any shortcomings must be addressed by the TQM groupfor the next semester (Winter ‘95).

10.3 Plans of promotion of TQC for the future

We hope that the next semester’s TQM group will pick up where our project left off. We alsounderstand that the graduate feedback loop will only be effective if the graduating students fromthis course understand the need to improve for others, what they have themselves alreadycompleted. This could be the greatest tool in creating an industry interactive course and webelieve that it should be the second most important issue, after the improvement of the physicalcourse.

10.4 Relations with the company’s long-range plans

We have included the long range plans (see Section 1.7) and current Vision and Missionstatements (see Section 1.1) for the ENG 401 course. We understand that these plans aresusceptible to change as new people, ideas, and challenges are encountered in future semesters.

Documents

Total Quality Management Analysis of Engineering 401 Implementing the Deming Prize Acceptance Criteria