SECTION C (12 marks)

Section C is compulsory.

Read Case Study and answer the question.

C"ase TecSmart Electronis

TecSmart Electronics d gns. manufactures, andomepcai s e ect po e u ies for a variety

o igina e i annen f s in the coinputer. m dic 1 and office roducts fie ld. The

company's focus is summed up by three simplc vrds quality, service. andat The top management team started its qriality journey in the mid-1980S, bRSlilgit on D mng/s1 4 points. They established a Dem ing Steering Committee to get ide the process and champion each of the 14 points, and trained most of the employees by sending them to Deming seminars. Although the Deming philosophy provided the foundation to carry the company into the twenty-first century, the current CEO ecid d to pursue a Baldrige focus and began a process ot self- assessment against the criteria to identify opportunities for mprovement.

As a first preparatory step, the executive team spent a day off site to th ink about its management practice and create an initial list ot its strengths. which are summarized here.

• Senior leaders set company objectives and guide cross-functional teains to review and develop individual plans for presentation to employees. Each departmcnt manager develops a supporting objective tor each company objective, and nearly every employee works on a team to suppo rt thse objectives.
• Senior leaders participate in quarterly communication meetings with all employees to discuss company issues and answer questions. All employes recette full financial information from their managers each month.
• Senior leaders teach courses in TecSmart University on change management, Customer service, quality, and leadership: meet with custoiners, suppliers, and benchmarking prtners; and are activel y engaged in professional and community organizations.
• The company collects operational data in every department and evaluates its information requirements in monthly senior staff meetings and cross-functional task team meetings.
• TecSmart sets Six Sigma goals for most of its processes and converted process measurements to parts per million on all product lines.
• All employees ar traned in a five-step problem-solvinp process based on defining problems, collecting data. analyzing the cause of the problein, developing a solution. and implementing change.
• Inputs to the strategic planning process include customer feedback, mar1et research, and benchmarking information from customers, suppliers, competitors, and industry leaders. Team analyses are evaluated at an off-site planning meeting by all managers, resulting in long-range strategic planning documents. which are disciissed with the rest of the workforce as cell as major suppliers for feasibility. Once agreed upon, department teams develop detailed action plans with measrirable goals. The CEO reviews progress every month.
• TecSmart uses more than a dozen different processes to gather custoiner information. and validates the information by consolidation and cross-referencing.
• All employees receive customer relationship training. C tistomer service employees help define service standards, which are tracked on a routine basis.

• All complaints are handlcd by the vice president ot sales and Resolved within two days. The vice president is rCsponsible for ensuring that any process that generated a complaint is improved.
• C ustoirer satisfaction data is acquired front sales representatives, executive phone calls and visits, and satisfaction surveys. These data are review ed and compared by the executive team during the strategic planning process.
• TecSmart uses self-managed work groups in w hich employees male most day-to-day decisions while managers focus on coaching and process improvement. Hourly workers can make process changes w'ith the agreement of only one other person, and salespeople are authorizcd to travel whenever they feel it necessary for customer service.
• The average employee receives 72 hours ot internal quality/servicc-related training. and quality training is mandatory tor all salespeople, engineers,ofce staff, and managers.

• Employees are surveyed each year to gari3e how effectivel the company implemented Demings 14 points, rating each on a scale o1 I -10.
• Cross functional teams guide product develops ent, which include tour interim review s by executive management. Meetings are held w ith customers to identi fy needs and requirements and to review progress at the end of each phase of the development process.
• New prod uct introduction teams work w ith design engineers and customers to ensure that design requirements are met during manufacturing and testing. All processes are formally documented, using statistical process control to monitor variation and provide a basis for corrective action. Statistical methods are used to optimize processes.
• Quality is assessed through internal arid its, emp loyee opinion surveys and customer feedbacl.
• Supp1 iers are in volvcd in early stages of a product devclopment program. Quality requirements for suppliers have been identified, and certified suppliers' materials are exempt from incom ing inspection.

Question: Discuss how the practices that TecSmart identified support Deming's 14 points