INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF PRODUCTION PROCESS USING TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF CONCRETE BLOCK

Abstract

The purposes of this research are 1) to find the solutions and ways to improve the production of concrete block using compressor machine, 2) to reduce the cost of the concrete block production using compressor machine and 3) to compare the performance of concrete block production before and after implementing a performance enhancement program.

This research started by analyzing information on causes and problems using a fish bone diagram. The analysis results showed 4 main factors that affecting process efficiency, which are 1) Raw materials 2) Staff members 3) Processes and procedures and 4) Machines. To improve the efficiency of production processes, researcher implemented concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM) and  PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) as tools for this experiment.

The data of concrete block production were collected in November 2016, before implementing TQM and PDCA. The data showed that the factory could produce 29,136 pieces of concrete block within 19 days.  There were 100 low quality concrete blocks out of 1,000 blocks; therefore, there were total of 2,913 low quality concrete blocks which equals to 10% of the total production volume. During TQM and PDCA implementation phase, data were collected again in December 2016, the factory could make 43,350 concrete blocks within 24 days and there were only 10 low quality blocks out of 1,000. That means there were 433 low quality blocks or only 1% of the total production volume. In January 2017 which is the last month of the experiment, the factory could produce more concrete blocks up to 48,200 blocks in 23 days and the percentage of low quality concrete blocks was still 1 % which is equal to 482 blocks.  In conclusion, the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) and  PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) can be applied to this concrete block production to increase the production efficiency. These concepts can efficaciously solve the problems and enhance the processes of concrete block production. Moreover, they can also reduce the production cost and develop the potential of staff members. Not only these created a new organizational culture, but also helped to obviously increase the volume of production.