Quality Circles at Wedgwood
DICK FLETCHER*
Chief Facilitator, Wedgwood
(Archive material from the now out of print book 'The Japanese Approach to Product Quality' Edited by Naoto Sasaki and David Hutchins. Published by Pergamon Press. Second hand copies can still be obtained form Amazon Books.)
David Hutchins introduced the concept of Quality Circles to senior management, middle management and Unions at Wedgwood during December 1980. Training of the first 12 leaders started in January 1981, and the first of six Quality Circles started training at the end of that month, followed by six more a month later. David Hutchins then returned to train 12 more leaders in March 1981, and the process has continued at a steady pace since the outset.
Training then spread to all the local firms within the Wedgwood Group. These are all situated within a 5-mile radius in North Staffordshire. Within a year of starting 80 Quality Circles were operating.
In order to organize this operation Wedgwood has so far six fulltime facilitators, all of whom were previously from production or training departments within the group. The next aim is to involve at least half the workforce in Quality Circle activities, which will mean running some 400 Circles.
Circles meet for 1 hour each week during working hours in specially prepared Quality Circle rooms. The main Wedgwood factory is soon to have a new complete Quality Circle Centre with a lecture room, six Quality Circle meeting rooms, office accommodation and a storeroom for records.
Quality Circles usually choose their own problems and spend anything from a month to six months analysing and solving each particular project. When the solution is found, a presentation is made to senior management or board members.
The whole process of problem solving follows strict procedures and stages. Firstly problems are identified, and then one is selected by the Quality Circle voting for it. After this the cause is thoroughly investigated, and the facts are verified by data gathering and double checking. On occasions the actual cause which had been assumed was not the same as that which showed up after the data gathering.
Armed with facts and a solution, a presentation is made to get approval for implementation of the project. Once this has been granted, the whole process of establishing controls and general monitoring begins so that the solution can be standardized.
The whole procedure from the initial cause and effect chart on to the final result is recorded on a composite sheet which takes the reader through all the charts, drawings and graphs to the final results which are constantly checked and audited. So far all projects have been implemented, but it is important that a regular check is made to see that the improvement is maintained.
The types of projects embarked upon and subsequently put into being are:
Improved identification marks on the back of tableware. Redesign of lining brushes.
Planned maintenance scheme for aerograph guns. Complete revision and standardization of fettling tools. Design of automatic gift box opening machine.
Truck redesign. Workshop layout scheme. New storage pen identification scheme.
Improvement to plaster mould resulting in decrease in loss and increase in usability.
Identification and removal of particular dust hazard. Improved work flow.
Elimination of clay wastage. Improved handle application. Complete redesign of casters bench. Co-operative improvement at interface of adjoining processes. Improved security.
Improved quality.
Facilitators are responsible with the Quality Circle leader for the training of each Quality Circle up to its first presentation, after which he will decide if his regular attendance is necessary or not. From then on he will be on hand, if required, to help that Circle and its leader and to help in the organization of its next project and subsequent presentation. After the project has been approved, it is the facilitator's task to see that nothing stands in the way of its immediate implementation, and to this end it must receive maximum priority.
Quality Circle leaders are usually of mid-management or foreman level. However, many hourly paid operatives have made excellent leaders. Some have been Quality Circle members who have, with the approval and support of the original Circle leader, become leaders with that Quality Circle. In some cases the original leader has gone on to form a new Quality Circle in his department.
Some Quality Circles have taken on new members who have been trained in a short "catch-up" course. If subsequently the Quality Circle has grown too big (more than 10), then it has split up into two smaller Quality Circles.
Each factory has its own individual steering committee and no standard has been set as to its constitution or frequency of meeting. Some steering committees are made up solely of senior management, others of a more general cross section. Some meet as often as each month, some every other month. At each of these meetings the facilitator makes a detailed presentation of up-to-date progress and then discusses with the committee current problems and future plans.
Quality Circles are designed to be very much "people building". Members who are often shy and reticent at the outset soon become enthusiastic contributors. For the first time, possibly, they begin to feel genuinely part of the factory operation.
Once this situation has been fostered, the members begin to feel an affinity to other Quality Circles and as the direct result of this condition inter-departmental co-operation begins. Department A presents its part of the process in a form which is much more helpful to department B. Problems common to each of the departments are solved by members of one Circle sitting in with the other Quality Circle. Recently a Quality Circle invited other adjoining Quality Circle leaders to its presentation.
Quality Circle members should be encouraged to visit other Quality Circle areas to begin to understand other processes and what part their particular operation plays in the whole operation.
Quality Circles should never consider themselves the elite of their department but should simply gain the co-operation and respect of it. The process and result of their current project should be made known to all in their department, and where possible everyone should help in the compilation of check sheets when appropriate.
Quality Circles are encouraged to bring in experts to help them in their projects. Chemists, engineers, electricians, designers and suppliers. Circle members have been to suppliers' factories to promote a better understanding between those who make items and those who use them.
A short report is kept of every Quality Circle meeting since day one and this is circulated to management and Quality Circle leaders weekly. The composite sheet of each project leading up to its presentation and implementation is more widely circulated.
One of the most significant contributions and in fact the mainstay of the success of Quality Circles at Wedgwood has been the total involvement from the Chairman downwards. At a time when the industry generally was at a low ebb, the whole concept was inaugurated as fully and unstintingly as possible. It was not a case of giving it a trial or running a pilot scheme. It was a simple case of general acceptance; all weight and enthusiasm behind it getting it off the ground fast.
It is difficult to assess in real terms the return on money spent on Quality Circles in the first year as the training costs to get it off the ground are proportionally at their highest. However in looking through savings as a result of all the projects to date, a figure of a three to one return on costs is easy to show. However, on top of this must come an extraordinary improvement in industrial relations and a general improvement in quality which is so obviously apparent.
Wedgwood make frequent visits to Japan to keep abreast firsthand with all Quality Circle developments, and it is proposed to step up the frequency of these visits.
Those who dismiss out of hand the idea that all Japanese principles would work in the West are burying their heads in the sand. There is a lot we can learn and there is a lot which is not relevant; but in the case of Quality there is a considerable amount of scope for improvement, and the concept of total involvement is an excellent one.
Reprinted from the book ‘The Japanese Approach to Product Quality’ Edited by Naoto Sasaki and David Hutchins. Published by Pergamon Press. It is now out of print but copies are still changing hands on the Amazon website.
*Footnote. Dick Fletcher went on to become the President of the National Society of Quality Circles (NSQC) until his retirement when he then went to travel in France. He died about one year later. His role as Facilitator at Wedgwood was filled by Pat Mason and later by Graham Finney who was also a leading member of the Society of Quality Circles which later became the National Society for Quality Teamwork (NSQT). Unfortunately the change of name might not have been a good idea as the Society failed in the late 1990s.
Related Pages
Quality in Education
Quality Circles Appreciation Training Course
Quality Circles Facilitator Training Course
Article: Quality Circles Society
Article: Ringing the Bell with Quality Circles
Book: The Quality Circles Handbook
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