Management of Processes and People - 2019 entry

Quality is vital for every business organisation, especially manufacturing organisations, as it does not affect the product/service competitiveness of a company in the marketplace, but also exert influence on the company’s operations performance and efficiency. In 1980s from the typical success example of Japanese manufacturing industry, especially the success of Toyota case, business managers realised that quality issue was related to all aspects of a company, while not just depended on the production and inspection process. A ‘total’ perspective has therefore been emphasised for quality improvement and hence the Total Quality Management (TQM) concept.

TQM is always graphically described by a three-leg stool where the legs refer to the major aspects defining the quality of the product/service of a company, including process, people and measures. Therefore, this module will cover three parts of knowledge, including TQM theory and principles, Human Resource Management (HRM) and Statistical Process Control (SPC).

• In TQM part, you will understand the whole development history of quality management, principles of TQM concept, approaches and tools of TQM, and ISO9000 framework and implementation.
• In HRM part, you will acquire knowledge package of how to recruit, reward and motivate human resources in line with a company’s total quality strategy. You will also look at employment law as legislation so that your strategy can be achieved in the context of an operational culture under the legal framework.
• In the SPC part, you will be introduced to control charts and process capability ratios and understand how these tools can be used to monitor and evaluate the quality of a production process by the end of this module.
   

The purpose of this module is to systematically introduce you to the principles, methods and tools of TQM theory. By the end of this module, you are expected to be equipped with enhanced engineering management skills and the attributes of continuous improvement thinking, be able to look at the quality of a company from a global perspective with the simultaneous consideration of process, human and statistical measurement factors and quality culture, be competent to apply the appropriate methods and tools to identify the root causes of quality problems and solve these problems.

This is a constituent module of one or more degree programmes (i.e., Bachelors/MEng) which are accredited by a professional engineering institution under licence from the Engineering Council. The learning outcomes for this module have been mapped to the output standards required for an accredited programme, as listed in the current version of the Engineering Council’s ‘Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes’ document (AHEP-V3).

This module contributes to learning outcomes: SM1p, SM1m, SM2p, SM2m, SM6m, EA6m, ET1p, ET1m, ET2p, ET2m, ET3p, ET3m, ET5p, ET5m, ET7m, EP1p, EP1m, EP4p, EP4m, EP5p, EP5m, EP7p, EP7m, EP9p,  EP11m, G1p, G1m

A full list of the referenced outcomes is provided online: http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/emps/subjects/engineering/accreditation/

The AHEP document can be viewed in full on the Engineering Council’s website, at http://www.engc.org.uk/.

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge: SM1p, SM1m, SM2p, SM2m, SM6m, EA6m, ET1p, ET1m, ET2p, ET2m, ET3p, ET3m, ET7m, EP1p, EP1m, EP7p, EP7m, EP9p, EP11m

1. Understand the principles, methods and tools of Total Quality Management (TQM).

2. Apply the TQM methods and tools to detect, locate and solve the existing and potential quality problems in a company.

3. Understand the concept of ISO9000, its relationship with TQM (i.e., difference and similarities), and the procedure of implementation of ISO9000

4. Apply Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods, e.g., control charts and process capability ratio, to monitor and evaluate a business process

5. Understand the principles of Human Resource Management (HRM) and know the procedures of labour recruitment, selection, reward and motivation.

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge: ET5p, ET5m, EP4p, EP4m, EP5p, EP5m

6. Have a thorough understanding about employment law matters and know where to find further information.

Personal and Key Transferable/ Employment Skills and Knowledge: G1p, G1m

7. Enhance problem solving ability

8. Enhance report writing skills and presentation skills

• Introduction to TQM
• TQM principles and Toyota case
• TQM approaches and tools
• ISO9000
• Introduction to SPC, control charts and process capability
• Introduction to HRM
• Recruitment, selection, contracts and motivation in HRM
• Employment laws and discrimination
• Performance management in HRM

If a module is normally assessed entirely by coursework, all referred/deferred assessments will normally be by assignment.

If a module is normally assessed by examination or examination plus coursework, referred and deferred assessment will normally be by examination. For referrals, only the examination will count, a mark of 40% being awarded if the examination is passed. For deferrals, candidates will be awarded the higher of the deferred examination mark or the deferred examination mark combined with the original coursework mark.

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk

Reading list for this module: