Quality Improvement - The Juran Way

On Monday, 11th January 1988, the Dimna Management Development Centre opened its doors to 25 senior executives of the Company, in an inaugural programme, designed to propagate the philosophy of ‘Quality Improvement’ throughout Tata Steel.

The three-day programme based on the renowned Juran method of ‘quality improvement’, was conducted by Mr Suresh Lulla of the Resources Development Institute, Bombay, who are the accredited representatives of the Juran Institute, USA, in India.

Participants on the first day included the Chairman, Mr Russi Mody, the President Dr J J Irani, Vice-Presidents, Mr K C Mehra, Mr A Kashyap, Mr S N Pandy, and Mr R K Bhasin and several top executives from the Mines, Collieries, Marketing Division and the Jamshedpur Works.

The Juran method is a structured process for annual quality improvement and annual cost reduction, aided by a video cassette series designed for in house management development, Dr J M Juran, and under him the Juran Institute have done pioneering work in the area of quality management and since 1982 over 500 organisations all over the world have been using the Juran video cassettes on quality improvement, with significant results. The programme stresses the need for annual improvements in quality to keep costs competitive. It is geared towards all managers, and participating managers who undertake actual projects on improvement.

The Dimna Programme focussed on two broad groups. The first group was called the ‘Quality Council’ and comprised senior executives who attended on the first day. They were given training inputs to formulate quality policies, screen various projects and apportion responsibilities for carrying out the projects.

As a result of the discussions that followed, it was decided to form some experimental ‘Quality Improvement Councils’, in the Works and the Raw Materials Divisions. These would be entrusted with the responsibility of initiating quality improvement projects.

Members of the second group were designated ‘Quality Facilitators’. This group consisted of 14 middle level executives who attended the next two days of the programme and were given more comprehensive training in the Juran method. They in turn are expected to train others in this methodology.