3.7 Conclusion

This chapter examined the concept of quality and highlighted the critical role it plays with lean. While Six Sigma, TQM, and lean are three different approaches to improving customer satisfaction and business processes, they are all crucial parts to the success of an organization. Most companies apply some combination of all three systems to improve both internal operations and external customer satisfaction. It is essential to recognize that none of the three is mutually exclusive of the others. Instead, over time, most companies have developed a hybrid combination employing all three elements.

Finally, the two philosophies of quality, TQM and Six Sigma, have evolved over time.

In the 1960s, TQM was the tool that created a competitive advantage in Japan’s industry. By the 1980s, TQM became a requirement for American companies to remain competitive in the global marketplace. By the 1990s, Six Sigma was the next evolutionary step that organizations applied globally to refine and improve business processes. The current state of quality is the hybrid application of many tools to remain competitive with ever-increasing customer demands in the global marketplace.