Human Factors and TQM - Fundamentals and Assessment Tools for Occupational Ergonomics - page 115

6
Human Factors
and TQM

6.1 Introduction: TQM and Human Factors Programs

in Industry . ............................. 6-1

6.2 Fundamentals: The Basic Tenets of TQM and

Human Factors ........................... 6-2

6.3 Applications of TQM and Ergonomics to
Each Other

Colin G. Drury
State University of New York
at Buffalo

. ............................. 6-4

6.4 Summary . . . ............................. 6-6

6.1 Introduction: TQM and Human Factors Programs
in Industry

Over the past decade the pace of change in industry has been remarkable. Whether in manufacturing or
service, industry has moved on an unprecedented scale to new technologies, new forms of organization,
and new programs (Mize, 1992). It has not done this from an innate love of change, but because of stra-
tegic imperatives. The removal of tariff barriers and creation of trading blocs (EU, NAFTA, etc.) in the
1980s and 1990s has exposed even the smaller companies to unprecedented competition. One response in
industrial countries has been to join the competition rather than fight it, for example by using manufac-
turing (and service) facilities in areas of relatively low labor costs. Thus, European and Japanese auto-
mobile plants have appeared in the U.S., while American apparel plants have been built in Central
and South America. Even service operations, such as data entry and computer programming have
been moved “offshore” using modern communication links.
However, many companies have chosen to remain in their traditional locations and compete by appli-
cation of more advanced knowledge to their business. For example, Kleiner and Drury (1996) show how
a number of companies in a rust-belt region chose to remain and expand by exploiting regional knowl-
edge and skills.
One area in which global competition has benefited companies has been the free flow of ideas, match-
ing the freer flow of goods and services. Thus, developments in microprocessor based technology, pro-
ductivity software, organizational change, cellular manufacturing, and quality solutions arising in one
county have been rapidly emulated throughout the developed (and now the developing) world. A
major movement within this has been the quality imperative — the realization that without high
quality, products will not sell, and the simultaneous realization that organizing for quality will
produce benefits in productivity, efficiency, and safety (Crosby, 1979; Dobyns and Crawford-Mason,
1991; Krause, 1993; Deming, 1986).
Through the quality imperative in particular, companies have realized the importance of process
control, i.e., ensuring that the process produces its intended output in a highly reliable manner. As

6-1