The main objective of this paper is to investigate how a group of 23 companies, which are committed to process improvement by means of Total Quality Management (TQM) Lean Production, Six Sigma and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001, have developed an audit pattern for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of shop-floor processes. This research has been conducted by the means of semi-structured interviews with 23 worldwide manufacturing companies that have their headquarters or their overseas headquarters in Europe. Interesting findings show a precise audit pattern based on elements coded with seven categories. This pattern is used by the 23 companies for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their processes. The seven categories describe the processes that should be audited and key elements related to Lean and Six Sigma systems. Furthermore, the categories are related to auditors’ skills, management of check-lists and scheduling, internal communication and reporting to management. This pattern is also compared with the more formal audit pattern used for evaluating compliance with the ISO 9001 standard. The found pattern is particularly suitable for production consultants and managers who want to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes as well as audit managers who want to lead audit for assessing TQM, Lean Production and Six Sigma implementation. In this way this research proposes an original and novel way for improving business performances through shop-floor audits related to TQM, Lean Production and Six Sigma implementation.
A proposed audit pattern for the shop-floor processes in TQM, Lean Six Sigma and ISO 9001 environments
VAGNONI, Emidia
2014
Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to investigate how a group of 23 companies, which are committed to process improvement by means of Total Quality Management (TQM) Lean Production, Six Sigma and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001, have developed an audit pattern for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of shop-floor processes. This research has been conducted by the means of semi-structured interviews with 23 worldwide manufacturing companies that have their headquarters or their overseas headquarters in Europe. Interesting findings show a precise audit pattern based on elements coded with seven categories. This pattern is used by the 23 companies for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their processes. The seven categories describe the processes that should be audited and key elements related to Lean and Six Sigma systems. Furthermore, the categories are related to auditors’ skills, management of check-lists and scheduling, internal communication and reporting to management. This pattern is also compared with the more formal audit pattern used for evaluating compliance with the ISO 9001 standard. The found pattern is particularly suitable for production consultants and managers who want to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes as well as audit managers who want to lead audit for assessing TQM, Lean Production and Six Sigma implementation. In this way this research proposes an original and novel way for improving business performances through shop-floor audits related to TQM, Lean Production and Six Sigma implementation.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
