Total Quality Management in Automobile Workshop

The basis of TQM is to reduce the errors produced during the manufacturing or service process, increase customer satisfaction, streamline supply chain management, aim for modernization of equipment and ensure workers have the highest level of training. In any
product or service the quality is more important. TQM is a set of management practices
throughout the organization, geared to ensure the organization consistently meets or exceeds
customer requirements. Quality plays a major role in automobile industry as it deals with the
life. Nowadays customers are ready to afford any amount of money to get the best quality
products and services. So Automobile workshop is keener to provide the best quality to the customers.

The management principles of 5S should be followed:

Sort/ Segregate: Dump the waste such as the damaged accessories, tubes & Tyres, etc in
a place near the shed and will be thrown out once in a week.
Simplify / Straighten: The tools and equipments are placed in racks in an organised manner.
The racks are labelled with the name of the tools. The staffs are advised to place the tools in
the appropriate place after completing their work.
Shine / Sweep: The shed is cleaned twice a day by a cleaner and the staffs are trained to keep
the tools and other equipments clean after using them. The uniform which the staffs are
wearing should be clean, as some customers expect cleanliness.
Standardize: Whenever a car arrives for any kind of service, a standard set of
processes should be followed apart from the service requested by the customer, as a part of customer relationship management.

The standardised service may as follows:
· An employee will fill in the details of the customer and the problem as soon as the
customer enters
· The problem is analysed and the due date is informed to the customer
· After servicing the vehicle as per the customer’s requirement, the following are done
for free of cost:

• Air checking
  
• Brake adjustment
  
• When to refill the oil
  
• Wheel alloying
• Clean the exterior

Sustain / Self discipline: We ensure these processes are at place by asking the staffs to mark the check list immediately after each process. We have never missed any opportunity which helps to gain competitive advantage over others in the market.

Kaizen - Race to the top
Implementing Kaizen in an organisation moves the organisation as well as the employees
to the top. In this practice, the employees are motivated to give their suggestions regardless of
its feasibility. If the management finds the suggestion useful, it will be implemented. Based
on the result of implementation, the employee will be awarded cash or any other form of
monetary benefits. This provides mutual benefit to both the employees and the employer.

SERVQUAL:
The quality can be audited using SERVQUAL of Zeithaml and Parasuraman Berry.