Total Quality Management in Supply Chain
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Supply Chain and Logistics sector has today grown to USD 100 billion and forms the backbone of Indian Economy. This sector contributes immensely in the growth and development of the Indian economy. Today, when country’s economy is undergoing downturn, supply chain and logistics sector has a pivotal role to play in the swift bouncing back of our economy. India spends 13 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on supply chain and logistics while other developing countries spend around 10 percent. India trails behinds China on important indices such as customs procedures, overall infrastructure quality, international shipment, logistics competence and tracking of shipments, but is ahead of the latter on the domestic logistics efficiency front. This is due to their strong logistics infrastructure that has created as ease in managing overall supply chain. But in India the Infrastructure is still to be better. Transportation by rail, rather than by road, is expected to help domestic logistics players offer more cost-effective services to their clients and this in turn is likely to boost industries use of logistics. The effective implementation of TQM in Supply Chain can reduce the costs and maximize the profits by rendering quality services. TQM is an approach to the art of management that originated in Japanese industry in the 1950’s and has become steadily more popular in the West since the early 1980’s. Total Quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that aims to provide, and continue to provide, its customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. TQM refers to continuous profitability improvement. TQM is an organizational strategy with accompanying techniques that deliver quality products and / or services to customers. The Volatile international competition in the Corporate sector has forced the business houses either to shape-up or to ship out, the only promising resolution. Corporate leaders and analysts are in a lookout for new stratagems to endure. They are experimenting with various strategies like Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), managing core competencies, Benchmarking practices and Total Quality Management (TQM) with a sudden sense of urgency. Important aspects of TQM include customer-driven quality, top management leadership and commitment, continuous improvement, fast response, actions based on facts, employee participation, and a TQM culture. This involves the continuous improvement of organisation processes, resulting in high quality products and services.However, in many companies, management has reached the conclusion that optimizing the product flows cannot be accomplished without implementing a process approach to the business. Thus there has been a desperate need of better Logistics and Supply Chain Network within the country so that the additional supply chain cost could be reduced and profits can be maximize. The Indian economy is striving for improvements in the field on supply chain management & logistics to gain a competitive edge in today’s globalised economy. This need can be fulfilled with the implementation of Total Quality Management in Supply Chain Activities.