Quality Circles

A Quality Circle is a small voluntary cell of operators sharing a common work situation. Moreover, in this, they meet as they find necessary for the reduction of the countless number of problems that stop the effectiveness of their work. And, each circle member is an equal partner in the venture and meetings take place in company time. Moreover, the frequency and duration of meetings are set by the group, but it will be regular and often on a weekly basis. For example,  a foundry circle may have two moulders,  one pattern-maker,  one furnace man,  one foreman moulder,  one sand technician,  one fettler and one inspector.  The term operator is for describing people working at the same level,  usually at the producing end of the enterprise.

 

Five Fundamentals of Quality Circles

There are five fundamental benefits expected from the operation of Quality Circles. They are as follows,

Direct Pay-off (cost/benefits):

The actions of quality circles save money, by working on problems. And, waste they generate a direct payback to the company for the time and effort invested.

Operator to Manager Dialogue (involvement, participation, communication):

• The formal organisation structure evident in the majority of companies can often be counter-productive to communication, causing the organisation to operate at a level of effectiveness.
• Moreover, messages are difficult to transmit through more than one control level. And, even when coming down they seem frequently to become irregular unless they originate from the very top.
• Additionally, this same directness keeps its shop floor peer group well informed of management ideas and intentions and keeps management well informed of shop floor opinion.

Manager To Manager Dialogue (awareness):

• The complacency of many managers, believing they are doing their job well, often receives a severe jolt when they become involved in a circle.
• Moreover, they get in shock to find their desired intention to communicate does not necessarily require an actual ability to communicate.

An Operator To Operator Dialogue (attitudes):

• Membership of a quality circle is likely to be the first time that operators work together to solve work-related problems.
• Moreover, after the formation of the circle the initial doubt and reluctance to believe that circles a positive attitude towards the workplace.

A Quality Mindedness (product quality and reliability, prevention of non-conformance):

• Following the positive change in operator attitude to the workplace and management, a shift in attitude towards improvement will occur.
• And, this change is significant because the organisation will then have teams of people proactively seeking change for the better.
• Moreover, people realise that together with supportive management, they can improve their processes a quality mindedness will develop.

The Personal Development of Participants:

• For many people, the education and training process ends when they finish school, apart from informal on-the-job training.
• Moreover, the successful operation of quality circles is based on training ranging from problem-solving techniques. In addition, it includes report writing and development of interpersonal skills.

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