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What Makes TQM And Six Sigma Different?

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What is it about your company that you want to see change? Are you struggling with higher costs pertaining to the production line? Do you have a high amount of product waste? How about the way in which the employees are satisfied in their jobs? Do you have high turnover to deal with? There are just so many different issues that companies are facing that it makes it hard to know where to start and what problems you need to pinpoint first. TQM is one of the methods that some businesses find will be able to reduce waste and can give them control over the process. TQM is short for Total Quality Management and for some reason it often tends to get confused with Six Sigma and other processes. Six Sigma is one of the processes that is used to provide for the overall effectiveness of a company through elimination of waste and searching for value-adding activities.

What is the difference between TQM and Six Sigma? It varies based on a number of tools and techniques. The concepts do look pretty similar in some aspects but there are quite different as you begin to research them a little deeper and you find that some elements match up where others do not.

The similarity in the two programs lies in the leadership structure and the important role that management will play in the successful implementation of the program and the overall mindset change. You must be able to see that management does play a critical role because if you are not willing to accept the program and become the example to the staff, they will not feel a tie or a connection to the program and likely will resume old habits that are not value-adding ones for the company.

So the leadership is the same but what is different? The quality line is where many people end up getting confused and have a hard time figuring out the lean process. The two methods both agree that having a quality product and quality employees and machines to create them are necessary for the business to become successful or to have any chance of a future. With Six Sigma you will follow the DMAIC or DMADV method and with TQM you will end up with the PDSA (plan, do, study, act) system of identifying the wastes and then doing something about them.

After analyzing both processes, most companies will usually shift towards the use of Six Sigma over TQM. TQM tends to be an outdated look at doing things and Six Sigma is a complete process change that can be easily implemented and becomes the standard for the company for years to come.

With Six Sigma you have people that are focused on using management for the training and implementation and having several tools that assist in continuous improvement. It is adjustable and adaptable for any industry, making it simple for anyone to pick up on it. The one thing that you want to focus on is being able to have your employees understand it and to send them away to training seminars and other things if that is necessary to have them believe in the program.

TQM doesn't seem to give a clear path of direction on how it works to eliminate waste and how it helps you to get to the end goal of success in every aspect and division in the company. This can often be confusing for the employees as they need to have everything clearly laid out ahead of them to know what they are doing and to see that there is a future of success with the company.

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