In the contemporary business world, the concepts of quality management and lean systems are extremely important since they are designed to contribute to the desired effectiveness and efficiency. However, as mentioned by Russel & Taylor (2019), more and more companies fail in implementing these techniques rather succeed in using them. Due to the fact that there are many different elements involved in the process of production of items or delivering services to individuals, it seems crucial to understand quality management and lean systems better, analyze their distinguishing features, and connect them to each other. Therefore, the following paper will develop an informative description of one concept from both quality management and lean systems, such and Six Sigma and JIT and close the discussion with observations from the conducted research.
Six Sigma is a concept of quality management which can be defined as a set of techniques or methods for process improvement. Stamatis (2019) mentioned that this concept was “developed at Motorola and has been adopted by companies, such as General Electric, Allied-Signal, Ford Motor Company and others” (p. 1). Six sigma is composed of several basic elements which are not new to business professionals – “statistical process control, failure mode effects analyses, gage repeatability and reproducibility studies and other tools and methodologies” (Stamatis, 2019, p. 1).
In general, this concept provides a framework which can be used to unite the mentioned quality tools with the best level of quality support (Stamatis, 2019). Based on the description, it can be concluded that the practitioners of six sigma should be able to use the established tools and methods in the way towards constant quality improvement and increased customer satisfaction. Thus, the six sigma program is essential since it can improve the experience of clients and performance of the company by eliminating its defects.
JIT, which is the abbreviation for just in time, is the concept of lean manufacturing that is essential for the production and delivery of services and products to the customers in time. As the name of this system suggests, it is a specific management philosophy that focuses on the production of what the customer desires, needs, and requests, the reasons why they want it, and they place where they want it (“Just in time (JIT) production,” n.d.).
Furthermore, an important point of this system is that the production has to be efficient and without any delays in inventory and delivery (“Just in time (JIT) production,” n.d.). The JIT system is considered to be extremely beneficial for business since it brings a number of advantages to the process. For instance, just in time can lead to the improvement of quality, increases in productivity, ability to manage problems quickly and effectively, and employee empowerment. Therefore, it can be concluded that just in time is a crucial concept for any business or organization that want to achieve positive results while also increasing the satisfaction of clients and motivating its employees.
Judging from the descriptions above, it can be stated that quality management and lean systems are both extremely important since they have the full power to bring positive change to the business. By taking six sigma and just in time as an example, it can be seen that both the first and the second concept encourage constant improvement in terms of increasing the level of product quality, advancing production processes, and improving the level of customer satisfaction and interest (Kelchner, n.d.).
However, in order to implement these two concepts, the organizations have to be prepared since various challenges may arise on the way. For instance, employees need to have specific knowledge regarding six sigma and just in time, all the members have to understand what they want to achieve and how they will achieve that, and the company has to use process mapping and analysis (Kelchner, n.d.). Thus, quality management and lean systems work for the same goal but organizations have to be ready for positive change brought by them.
To summarize, Edward Deming’s research, which first appeared in Japan made a huge contribution to the understanding of operations management and its importance. The researcher provided professionals with foundational tools and concepts that they are now able to implement in their business and; therefore, achieve positive results. The concepts that were described in the presented paper can and should be used in the contemporary environment for the purpose of improving production and increasing the level of customer satisfaction.
Personally, what I can do not to implement the method of six sigma and just in time strategy is educate myself better about them, understand the distinguishing features of each, and learn to implement the in practice. Moreover, I can try to locate various case studies and real-life examples of organizational performance and analyzing it from the perspectives if quality management and lean systems. This strategies can help me to understand the concepts better in order to use them in my professional operation in the future.
References
Just in time (JIT) production. (n.d.). Web.
Kelchner, L. (n.d.). How to improve quality with lean manufacturing. Web.
Russell, R. S., & Taylor, B. W. (2019). Operations and supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.
Stamatis, D. H. (2019). Six Sigma fundamentals: A complete introduction to the system, methods, and tools. CRC Press.