6. THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS When Total Quality program is introduced intoan organization, all the factors discussed in previous chapters must be brought together,and an implementation that deals first with people, then with systems and then withtechnology, or some other such sequence, is viable.

There are six main steps during Total Qualityimplementation process : 1.Understanding, 2.Top management commitment,3.Company-wide awareness, 4.Planning, 5.Implementation, and6.Review (leading to increased understanding and continuous improvement).

Without top management commitment any attempt to introduce Total Quality is awaste of time and effort.

Top Management Commitment

Whatever the level of awareness shown by the preliminary study, there will be some need to explain Total Quality throughout the organization. A top-to-bottom briefing exercise is often the best way to get this message across. A typical briefing session should explain :what quality is, why it is important, and what the company is going to do about it. Company-Wide Awareness

Planning is what you do before you do anythingso that you dont get mixed up when you do it.From the initial outline plan, there will be a series of projects, which have to be identified at company level. Planning

ContFor each project, there should be: A time-phased plan identifying targets and milestones,Resources required, Costs, and Projected benefits.

The benefits should be reconciled with theoriginal cost of quality estimates.

ContOnce the plans are prepared, it is the task of the steering committee to prioritize them and to allocate resources. In our experience, it is a good idea to put into effect some projects,

To execute the plans, there are certain keypoints to remember: i. Total Quality is not a once and for all exercise. ii. Total Quality begins and ends with educationiii. Total Quality is about business improvement. Implementation

In order to build Total Quality into a continuous improvement process,each functional manager should have a realistic quality objectives that are set annually.

As every project reaches completion it must be reviewed to see if the objectives have been achieved. In addition, because Total Quality is a continuous process, it is essential that the organizations quality performance be regularly reviewed, using the form of diagnostic analysis. Review

ContThe review will lead to increased understandingof the opportunities for further improvement.There will be:a new set of issues for senior management to deal with,a need for renewed commitment,fresh priorities, and further resource allocations