Cessna and TQM Case Study

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Quality Management

The situation, involving Cessna is showing how an older firm had become a victim of its own success. This occurred with the company failing to understand, the challenges they were facing inside the marketplace or how to adapt. In 1998, the management decided that a new strategy needed to be utilized to change the mindset and focus of the company (i.e. Total Quality Management). This process involves streamlining operations and reducing waste throughout the entire organization. To fully understand how this works requires carefully examining how Cessna enacted these changes, their results and how this helps to improve logistics / supply chain management. These different elements will illustrate the lasting impacts of the strategy on the firm. ("Our History," 2014) (Plunkett, 2009)

Discuss why Cessna took on this initiative?

Cessna took on this program in order to change the culture and attitudes within the firm. From the 1960s until the late 1990s, the company became known as one the most prominent aircraft and aerospace companies. This resulted in the firm receiving large government and private contracts. At the same time, their airplanes were very popular among civilian aviation. These factors resulted in Cessna experiencing tremendous amounts of demand. This helped company to realize growth rates that were averaging 15% a year during this time. ("Our History," 2014) (Plunkett, 2009)

However, the organization began to experience a slowdown in sales by the mid 1990s. This is because other manufacturers began to compete aggressively against them and the government contracts disappeared. After this happened, is when the firm had trouble adjusting with these changes and started experiencing a dramatic slowdown in earnings. To prevent the company from losing its customers to rivals, a new management team was brought in. Their job was to turn the company around and redefine the organization going forward.

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To achieve these objectives, the management began to aggressively looking for new strategies that will change the attitude and work environment inside the organization. Total quality management (TQM) was selected based upon the tremendous success other firms had with it. ("Our History," 2014) (Plunkett, 2009)

What were the results?

The results, is that Cessna was able to redefine the way its supply chain helped the organization to achieve critical objectives. This is because it focused on these relationships and improving the quality of the secondary products used in manufacturing the final merchandise. The result is that the firm redefined how they interact with the organizations and the impact it had on the finished product that was sold to customers. This led directly to a 30% reduction in costs and it improved productivity by 14%. ("Cessna Quality Requirements," 2013) (Plunkett, 2009)

To ensure that everyone was following these guidelines, the company has a review process that reevaluates these relationships every 5 years. Evidence of this can be seen with them saying, "The Cessna quality control requirements for supplier applies to Manufacturers, Distributors, and Special Processors providing parts or services for Cessna Aircraft Company when this document is specified by inclusion on a purchase order (PO) or contract issued by Cessna Aircraft Company. Suppliers' quality systems shall comply with the latest revision of the appropriate quality systems standard along with the Cessna specific quality requirements within this document. Documented evidence of compliance to the appropriate quality management system (QMS) standard along with a successful onsite Cessna Aircraft or Textron Aerospace Company supplier quality audit is required prior to production. Approval shall be re-evaluated at least….....

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