40 Quality Circle

Pragya Dheer

Learning Outcomes:

To give an opportunity to employees to use their wisdom a creativity. To reduce errors & enhance quality of productivity
To encourage team spirit & cohesive culture & create harmonious human relations To promote job involvement & participation
To harness problem solving capability
To build an attitude of ‘problem prevention’
To improve communication
To promote personal & leadership development To improve internal house keeping
To improve quality of customer service
To facilitate achievements of business goals.
To contribute to the improvement & development of the organisation
To respect humanity & build a happy, bright workplace which is meaningful to work in.

40.1. Introduction:

The quality circle is a small group of employees from the same work area who voluntary perform quality improvement activities within the workshop or work area to which they belong to identify, analyse & resolve work related problem in their own work area.

This small group commonly have 10-12 individuals.

Every member Participate in full, carries on continuously as a part of companywide quality improvement within the workshop, or work area utilizing quality management techniques.

40.2. Meaning & Definition:

“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 & resolve work related problems, leading to improvement in their total performance & enrichment of their work life”.

This is the most commonly accepted definition of quality circle which is originated in japan.

This definition has the elements such as (1) small group of employees; (2) in the same workplace or a doing similar type of work ; (3) voluntary participation ; (4) meet regularly for about a hour every week; (5) to identify, analyse & resolve work related problems; (6) leading to improvement in their total performance & (7) Enrichment to their work life.

Poor quality of work life is a disease, the symptoms of which are high absenteeism & turnover, poor quality of products, low productivity, human relations, conflicts, non-involvement & apathy. A good quality of work life must strive for the realization of common goals. It is a system of creative & democratic efforts for raising the economic well being of all the people in an organisation. Quality Circles are instrumental in improving quality.

Although the concept has had some success in white collar operations, the major impact has been among “direct labour” employees in manufacturing where concerns are primarily with quality, cost, specification, productivity & schedules. By their very nature, quality circles were limited to concern of the small group of members & few cross-sectional problems were considered.

The major growth of quality circles occurred in the late 1970’s & early 1980’s as thousands of companies adopted the concept. However, the concept never met expectations & widespread abandonment resulted by the late 1980’s. The major reason for failure was a general lack of commitment to the concept of participation & the lack of interest & participation by the management. From a TOM perspective, quality circles the prerequisites of integration with strategy, company goals & management systems. Organisation can go beyond using quality circles by creating task forces, work teams & cross-functional teams.

40.3. Concept & Philosophy of Quality Circle:

The philosophy of quality circle respects human dignity & motivates employees at gross root levels to use their brain power along with their physical efforts.

In organisation lacking the culture of participative management, it would be difficult for employees to understand the role of quality circles. At the time when quality circles were first organised in Japan, there were 3 basic aims which determined their activities.

They are:

(i) To contribute to the improvement & development of the enterprise.

(ii) To respect humanity & build a happy work place. In the quality circle philosophy, workers are not treated as a part of the machinery or equipment, but are afforded opportunities to explore their full potential & display their true capabilities. The quality circle concept enables employees to utilise their intrinsic wisdom & creativity in the work that they are engaged in.

(iii) To satisfy the higher human needs of recognition & self development.

40.4. Significant Characteristics of Quality Circles:

40.4.1. Small groups of employees: It has been learnt by experience that the optimum number of members (minimum & maximum) recommended are 5 & 15 respectively to avoid a circle becoming inactive (if member are less than 5) or resulting in deprivation of opportunity for active participation by every member(if members are more than 15).

40.4.2. Members are from the same work areas or doing similar type of work: A quality circle is a homogenous group & not an inter – departmental or interdisciplinary group(for example, in an assembly area, welding action, stores department etc)

40.4.3. Membership of the quality circle is voluntary: Employee decide to join the quality circle voluntarily. No coricion or pressure is to be exerted on them to join or not to join. Nor can anyone be barred from joining quality circles by virtue of his being a union leader or for lack of qualification.

40.4.4. Members meet regularly for about an hour every week: The member of quality circles should meet regularly once in a week for an hour after their working hours or during

working hours to discuss the problems related to their work & find solutions to the problems.

40.4.5. Members meet to identify, analyse & resolve work-related problems: Employees who work in a work place, know best what problems are hindering achievement of good quality, productivity & optimum performance & also how those problems could be solved.

40.4.6. Member resolve work related problems leading to improvement in their total performance: As a result of quality circles resolving work related problems relating to quality, productivity, cost reduction safety etc; the total performance of the work unit improves, resulting in both tangible & intangible gains to the whole organisation.

40.4.7. Quality Circles enrich the work life of the employee: Quality circles help in enriching the work life of the employees apart from attitudinal changes, cohensive team culture etc. This is because of avoidance of rework, greater job satisfaction, improved working environment & better human relationship among employees.

40.5. Benefits of Quality Circle:

1. The periodic meeting of the shop floor worker to solve their work-relation problem in the quality circle will develop mutual trust & cooperation between management & workers as well as involve the workers in the decision making process in their work area.

2. Quality circle will lead to improvement in productivity which in turn will lead to increase in employment.

3. The benefit of improved productivity should be evenly distributed between management, labour & customers.

4. Quality circle changes the total attitude to a constant, self renovation force of business enterprise.

5. It develops the ‘knowledge management’ culture in the organisation at the workers level. The peer knowledge is shared & nurtured to solve the workers own work related problem.

6. The quality circle effort improves the quality of the products & services provided by the organisation to customers.

7. Productivity improvement effort in quality circle leads to increase in sales & reduction in cost of production.

8. Quality circle efforts focus on higher safety & reduction in accident.

9. Quality circle ensures better housekeeping.

10. Quality circle movement increase productivity & profitability by reduction in waste.

11. Quality circle creates better motivation & involvement of the employees leading to reduced absenteeism & grievances.

12. Quality circle activities lead to enriched quality of work life.

13. It creates an atmosphere of positive & proactive work force with harmony & mutual trust.

14. Quality circle activities create better communication & effective team work.

15. It creates better human relation & participative culture.

16. The quality circle movement promotes job knowledge.

17. The quality circle creates a greater sense of belonging.

40.6. Structure of Quality Circle:

The elements that constitute the structure of quality circle system are shown in fig 40.2

Ideally the members of a circle should be from the same work area or do similar work so that the problems they select will be familiar to all of them. The ideal size is 6-7 members. It can vary from a low of three members to a high about eight. The size must never be so large that each & every member cannot have sufficient time to participate & contribute at each meeting. Too few members would also make the circle dominant.

There can be more than one circle, depending upon the number of employees who want to be members & the nature of work handled by them.

40.7. Implementation of Quality Circle:

The step by step implementation of the quality circle starts with formation of ‘structure of the quality circle’ which primarily consists of workers numbering about ten to twelve from the same work area. The leader of the group is their departmental supervisor or the foreman to whom they are reporting normally. The quality circle group is helped by a facilitator in their activities. The non-members are specialists in their respective areas. The service of a non-member is sought to solve the technical problem which is beyond the group’s capability. A coordinating agency is formed to coordinate the quality circle activities in the entire organisation. The quality circle activities of each group are periodically reported by the coordinating agency to the steering committee which is normally the quality council formed by the head of the functions as its members & the chief executive officer or the managing director as its chairman. The top management here implies the board of direction who are rarely involved in the quality circle activities directly.

Step1. The section head may call a staff meeting & explain the following:

Quality circle concept
Objectives of quality circle
Advantages of quality circle

The following aspects of quality circle are to be highlighted in the meeting:

Quality circle enables employees to establish meaningful relations with each other & ensure harmony.
Quality circle enables tapping individual potential.
Quality circle is not a management device but only a forum of members to come together & solve problems to them.
Quality circle improves quality of work life. Participation is voluntary.

Step2. After explaining the concept, the managers may call for names of employees who would like to be members of quality circle. The names can be furnished, say within a period of seven days. In the meanwhile, the manager can circulate the available literature on quality circle among the employees.

Step3. When the names are received, the managers may group the members depending upon the function performed. Employees from the same work area are to be grouped together. This will be necessary only when more number of employees have come forward to be members of quality circle a more than one quality circle is to be formed.

Step4. The section head may intimate the employees regarding their grouping, if more than one quality circle is to be formed.

Step5. The section head may call a meeting of the group & declare formation of quality circle.

Step6. The quality circle may be given a name. The name can be novel like lotus circle.

Step7. In the meeting, the action head may facilitate the group to elect a leader. It is important that there is consensus regarding the selection of leaders.

Step8. Thus the formation of quality circle is over. It now consists of the following:

Facilitator: Managers/Section head

Leader/Deputy Leader: Elected by the quality circle members Members themselves

Step9.The details of quality circle to be reported to HR department:

Name of the facilitator
Name of the leader
Name of the deputy leader
Name of the Members
Name of quality circle
Date of formation of quality circle

40.8. Role & Responsibilities of Quality Circle:

40.8.1. Quality Circle Members:

Attend all possible meetings
Offer suggestion & ideas to the circle in good faith Participate actively in the group process
Be accountable for the overall team spirit of the circle. Assist leader/deputy leader in circle activities.
Take part in management presentation.

40.8.2. Facilitators:

Demonstrates in support of the management
Is responsible for successful operation of the circle in his area.
Renders support & assistance to his circle members
Works closely with steering committee
Trains members by assisting leaders whenever required
Arranges management presentations of his circle
Attends circle meetings whenever possible
Coordinates & monitors all activities.
Continuously coaches & trains the circle leader
Counsels quality circle members in case of stress
Maintain circle records
Evaluates circle activities
Encourages, pats or functions as a cheer leader
Arrange meetings with outsiders if necessary
Publicizes the circle activities.

40.8.3. Leader/Deputy Leader:

Makes the necessary facilities available with help of the facilitator & other, for enabling quality circle to perform without constraints.
Assigns tasks to different members from time to time maintain a high degree of individual involvement & participation.
Trains the members in various problem-solving techniques & other facets of quality circle operations & gives them necessary guidance whenever required with the help of the facilitator & other if necessary.
Maintains a high degree of cohesiveness of his team. He does not act as a boss in quality circle activities but as a friend & partner so that conflicts are avoided, & group cohesiveness is maintained all the time.
Ensure that every circle member is involved in circle activity and a high level of enthusiasm & involvement is maintained.
Plans the agenda of meetings carefully & conducts meetings regularly & effectively
Ensures discipline & decorum during the meetings
Chalks out action plans for a progressive solution of problems through data collection, interaction & sets time bound programme for implementation of the circle’s recommendations.
Encourages & involves consensus decision-making processes so that win-lose situations are obviated.
Ensures that record-notes of meetings & progress of problems are maintained in two separate registers regularly & effectively.
Interfaces with other levels of management, the facilitator & different functional agencies, to ensure the effective working of quality circle.
Organizes presentations to departmental & top management at least once in two or three months.
Take necessary steps continuously in conjunction with other members, facilities, executives & the departmental head to ensure that his quality circle maintains a high degree of morale & enthusiasm continuously & there by catalyzes the quality circle movement in the organisation to grows steadily & healthy.
Feeds the information relating to the highlights of the circle activities to the agency concerned for publication in appropriate newsletter & journals.
Reviews progress vis-à-vis goals.
Encourage new members to join.

40.8.4. Steering Committee:

Take an overview of the operation of quality circle in the organisation as a whole. On the basis of reports from the coordinator & the facilitators, indentifies problem areas & suggests remedial actions.
Take decisions on important recommendations of quality circles falling outside the competence of the other levels of management which are hence reported to the steering committee.
Gives major policy & direction for the healthy propagation of the concept.
Sanctions major programmes & financial support to give thrust to the promotion of quality circle.
Attends management presentations & get together.
Meets regularly once in two or three months as convened by the coordinator.

40.8.5. Coordinating Agency:

Organize training programmes for members as and when new circles are formed.
Convenes the steering committee meeting regularly once in two or three months.
Organizes top management presentation regularly once in two or three months.
Centrally registers circles as & when formed & also maintains records of the members, frequency of management representations etc.
Coordinates & evolves a consensus for norms to assess the performance of different quality circles & of different divisions.
Coordinates & ensures availability of common facilities to all quality circles.
Prepare a budget for the functioning of quality circles & submits the same to the steering committee for adoption.
Organizes social get-together, conventions & conference etc, from time to time as decided by the steering committee.
Coordinates the deputing of quality circle leaders & members to other organisation& programmes.
Helps in resolving problems that may be encountered in the implementation of quality circle with the help of the steering committee, if necessary.
Arranges for publication of the activities of quality circles in newsletter & journals.
Arranges for guest speakers to talk on subjects of interest to quality circles.
Maintains a library of publication of quality circles for the benefits of those who are interested.
Assists the steering committee in affording adequate levels of motivation & recognition to quality circles in operation so as to make the movement a self-sustained one & leep it to grow from strength to strength.

40.9. Tools of Quality Circle:

There are seven universal problem solving tools of “Total quality control” or the quality circle as follows:

(i) Stratification

(ii) Check Sheet

(iii) Scatter Diagram

(iv) Histogram

(v) Ishikawa diagram/ cause & effect diagram

(vi) Pareto diagram

(vii) Control chart (X & R chart)

40.9.1. Stratification:-

It is a tool for recording & presentation of the data. It helps in easier analysis of data & observation. Stratification segregates a group of measurements or observations into several subgroups or forms bases of similar features. The appropriate criteria for selection of data are decided. Formation of strata depends on the nature of problem. Once the strata are formed, then analyze them to get a solution to the problem.

40.9.2. Check Sheet:-

It is also method of data collection & data presentation. State a full title of data intended to be collected for the time period covered. Everyone should use the same check sheets to collect comparable data. The check sheets should preferably be closed type i.e; writing should be minimized & ticking in boxes should be there as far as possible.

The dimension measurement of the component is put in a tabular form as shown in figure 40.3

40.9.3. Scatter Diagram:

It is drawn to a scale for collection of data & plotted on a graph. The analysis consists of finding out the relationship between the hypothesis & the result. Two correlated data are plotted on a graphical scale. One is drawn on the horizontal x-axis & the other is drawn on the vertical y-axis. The respective points are drawn which indicate the relationship between the dependant variables & the independent variables. This helps in decision making.

The scatter diagram is illustrated in figure 40.4

40.9.4. Histogram:

It is a visual presentation of the spread on distribution of data to monitor a process to see if it consistently meets the customer’s requirement.

The population is the data is classified on the basis of their similarity into different groups or classes. Each class or group is represented by a rectangle or a bar. Then ‘range’ & ‘distribution of data’ are ascertained. The class interval or the problem or defects are placed on x-axis & frequencies or the number of defects is placed on the y-axis.

The height of each bar is proportional to the number of frequency of its class interval & each bar should be of the same width with all the data points included.

40.9.5. Ishikawa Diagram/Cause & Effect Diagram:

The cause & effect diagram is a problem solving technique which is named after its founder the legendary Japanese management guru Ishikawa. This is also known as ‘fish bone diagram’. This diagram analyses the characteristics of a process or situation & the causative factors for the same.

It also analyses how the deviation from specification is caused & what its remedies are. The process of drawing the Ishikawa diagram starts with defining the problem & writing it in the problem box at the end of the central arrow. A typical cause & effect diagram is shown in figure 40.6

40.9.6. Pareto diagram

Pareto has been a great statistician who proved that 20% of world population held 80% of its wealth. The 20% of land area irrigated provided for 80% of the food grains & so on. He put forth the 80-20 theory & applied it to the industrial situation also & proved it. Similarly, 20% of the employees of an organisation are responsible for 80% of the sales of the organisation. The 20% of problems in an organisation are related to 80% of its results. The Pareto principles is employed to prioritize the problems to be taken up first. These problems if solved will give the quantum jump in the performance of an organisation.

40.9.7. Control Chart

X chart

X is the average of each sub group. R is the average of ranges. The central line of x chart (figure 40.8) is found by adding the averages & dividing the results by the no. of sub groups (p) i.e;

Where,

UCLx = upper control limit of X Chart

LCLx = Lower control limit of X Chart

A2 = is a lowest

X = mean

R = Range

Fig 40.8. X Chart

R chart

The range of each sub group is obtained by

Xmax – Xmin = R1, R2, …………,Rn

The Central line of R chart (figure 40.9) is found by adding the sub-group ranges (R1, R2,…………., , Rn) and

dividing them by the number of sub-groups i.e

For R-Chart

UCLR = D4R

LCLR = D3R

Where D3 & D4 are constant

In a plot of the R chart, the horizontal scale is for the number of sub groups & the vertical scale is the range R. Lack of control is shown outside control limits in the R chart.

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