Quality circles tapped by auto sector

Quality Circles were a rage in the Eighties. Any progressive organisation worth its name wanted to have quality circles. There was worldwide interest in the QCs, since they were seen as an important instrument in the Japanese industrial success. All this hype and wave started waning by the late Eighties when total quality management (TQM) took the centre stage. During the Nineties QCs somehow went into the shadows, though one could hear about occasional successes here and there. What is its current status? To an extent, this can be seen from the 11th National Competition of Quality Circles held by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bangalore on April 18.

Quality Circle is a small group of employees in the same work area or doing similar type of work who voluntarily meet regularly for about an hour every week to identify, analyse and resolve work related problems, leading to improvement in their total performance and enrichment of their work life. The impact of these circles has been to reduce defects, improve quality, reduce costs and in an overall way enhance problem solving capability of the frontline personnel. The underlying theme is the promotion of a participative culture right from the grassroots. While the concept has been clear, the practices have varied. Top management commitment and support structures in the form of steering committee are essential for the smooth functioning of QCs. Even in the TQM approach QC forms an important part of employee involvement. But somewhere along the line, the spirit of QCs drifted into the background and management commitment became lukewarm. But those organisations which tasted benefits from the QC approach persisted with it over the years.

The current 11th National Competition witnessed 11 top teams from four regions in action. Drawn from reputed firms such as Sundaram Clayton, Tatat Iron and Steel Co., Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto. The teams addressed quality problems, productivity issues such as reduction of down time, environmental issues and cost reduction. Out of the 11 teams, as many as six were from auto industries and auto parts suppliers. Perhaps, this is due to intense competition in the automobile sector with the firms trying to tap the potential of QCs for competitive advantage. Also the Japanese tie-ups in this sector might have contributed! Incidentally, some of the cases related to problems in new product introduction. The eagerness of the companies to respond quickly to field complaints from customers was very evident!

The toppers

The top prize in the QC competition went to the "Skylark" section of Sundaram Clayton for its presentation on dealing with the vacuum brake valve problem which they solved successfully through application of QC techniques. It is interesting to know that there has been high degree of participation of workers in quality circles at Sundaram Clayton consistently over the years. This has paid off rich dividends for them since the quality circles are not a stand-alone phenomenon but integrated with the total management approach. A professional problem solving approach was adopted and data painstakingly gathered and analysed to come to logical conclusions. They attacked the root cause of improving the process capability and succeeded by suitable measures. They have also standardised the improved methods so that no recurrence of the problems happens in future. An interesting contrast was the case of all ladies team of "Shraddha" of Tata Steel medical department which got the second prize. The problem taken up was to improve the management of solid biomedical wastes from central hospital of West Bokaro. This is in the backdrop of the growing threat of infectious hospital waste and consequently chances of people getting secondary infections. Adopting the QC tools of the cause and effect diagram, they traced the problem to improper segregation of wastes and methods of disposal not according environment management norms. Taking due measures to control these, they could derive a reduction in the number of post- operative infections. What is more, they could even achieve reduction in the average hospital stay of patients. Also better incineration arrangements were made for the biomedical waste thus rendering atmosphere more hygienic. The quality circle here thus achieved a remarkable feet in an area where one would least imagine it to do so!

The third prize was bagged by the "Sunrise" quality circle of Hero Honda. An interesting problem arising out of customer complaint of the field failure of the lock was taken up and solved successfully through application of QC techniques. Solutions included even a changed design of a punch used for making the parts.

Other cases presented included new design of packing cases for transportation of pressure vessels, reduction of assembly time and down time reduction as a part of the total productive maintenance (TPM) approach. A couple of cases related to solving problems related to batteries for the automotive sector. Yet another case was related to shock absorber in an auto parts firm.

Judges' observations

The judges panel which included the author of this article identified four positive features of the presentations as follows:

(1) The technical competence of operators is getting to be more and more sound. This mastery enables them to look at the problems critically and suggest solutions with confidence. This is also a heartening sign for the industry as a whole and the country that the technical capabilities of our personnel are on the rise and will enable us to solve problems with greater effectiveness in future.

(2) There was good evidence of teamwork particularly among the frontline operators with different skills and functions. There is demonstrated capability of multi-skilled teams which can effectively come together for solving problems. There were cases of people from different departments but with a common objective being able to work together for solving common problems. This once again augurs well for the future, particularly since Indians are often accused of being not capable of good team working!

(3) The capacity of the frontline operators to communicate by creation of effective physical models and demonstrating them before large audience was indeed striking. The imaginative ways adopted drew the appreciation of many. This shows the inherent capability in our workforce to express their ideas clearly and utilise fellow workers suggestions for solving problems.

(4) There were also cases where the solutions arrived at were shared with other industries so that they can utilise these instead of reinventing the wheel. This is a remarkable phenomenon which strengthens industry as a whole in the face of international competition. The willingness of technicians to share information on successful practices is indeed a good sign for enabling enhancement of the overall industrial capability of the country.

As contrasted to these strengths, there are also gaps which the judges felt that the quality circles should address themselves to. Four of these were identified as follows:

(1) There is lack of rigour in systematic collection of data and analysing it through appropriate QC tools. Simple tools such as stratification can go a long way in segregating the problems and their causes. The match between data and tools is often missing resulting in assumptions rather than diagnosis based on hard facts in an unbiased manner.

(2) Often the problem selection itself tends to get done more through subjective methods than through objective data analysis. One finds that the exercise often turns out to be a pre-selection and a later justification through arrangement of data to fit it! This temptation has to be avoided and the classical methods to be followed if consistent benefits are to be derived.

(3) There needs to be a lot more of customer focus. In the case of service departments such as maintenance, focus on internal customers like production has to be emphasised. It has to be remembered that problem solving in a particular area should ultimately lead to better services for the customer whether external or internal. This kind of an orientation will help the quality chain to function better enabling overall improvement and better customer service.

(4) It was also observed that suggestions for alternative material to be used or design changes to be effected always do not follow consultations with experts. For example, it would stand to reason that if a design change is suggested that some competent designers should be taken into confidence so that appropriate technical considerations are weighed completely and a proper decision taken. Sometimes it might even be preferable to consult vendors or dealers in their areas of expertise.

For example, if there is a problem with a lubricant, the supplier might have better technical information to be made use of. Such consultations are bound to enhance the quality of solutions. Often ego tends to stand in the way of such consultations.

In the final analysis the ability of quality circles to unleash the potential of the workforce to solve problems and effect work place improvements stands vindicated. It is up to the managements to use this approach to reap further benefits.

Unions back it up too

The Commissioner of Labour of Karnataka who had recently participated in the 36th Labour Conference in Delhi, while inaugurating the QC Convention stated that the pleasant news is that the unions are now in the forefront demanding for better performance measures in companies rather than only talking about emoluments. This means that they recognise that long term solutions for betterment of the lot of employees lie with concomitant measures to improve productivity in the organisations and utilise the creative abilities of the workforce.

The QC approach fits well with this thinking and should prove to be a useful tool for translating the sentiments to fruitful results. It appears that the conference also adopted a resolution for equity participation by employees, which is now becoming a standard practice among leading IT organisations. Such approaches are bound to strengthen the QC movement in ensuring a greater sense of belonging and process ownership for effecting improvements. That QCs can be useful is not in doubt. But the main drawback in the current context is treating it as a standalone approach rather than integrating it into the total management approach. The success of leading organisations has shown the way in doing this effectively. It is up to others to draw suitable lessons so that a useful tool is well utilised. In today's competitive world every such a tool is worth utilising not only in the auto sector but in other sectors as well.

M. S. S. Varadan

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