Purpose: Determination of the theoretical and philosophical foundations of quality management, as they have evolved and changed over time. Methodology/Approach: Conceptual and historical. Findings: At the origin of the quality movement, Shewhart defined quality through an account of production (later called value generation theory), and suggested the scientific model (later to be named as Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, PDCA) as the epistemology for improving quality. Somewhat later, Deming recommended ideas falling into process ontology as applicable in the quality context. These prescriptions were not presented in terms of theory, epistemology or ontology but through examples. Perhaps partly for that reason, in subsequent developments these prescriptions were often forgotten or rejected. Especially, the ISO standard for quality management rediscovered the original PDCA epistemology only in 2015. Thus, the degeneration of the original theoretical and philosophical foundation seems to be one of the longstanding problems in the area of quality. On the other hand, it has turned out that the value generation theory of production is a partial theory. As the success of the lean movement indicates, production should also be seen through the flow theory. The achievement of quality can, for its part, also be explained through this flow theory of production. However, there has been very little theoretical work both regarding production and quality, and thus the integration of theories on production has not been achieved. Lacking theoretical evolution is another long-standing problem that arguably has hindered the progress of quality. Research implication: The findings call for a sustained effort to explicate and develop the theoretical and philosophical foundation of quality management. Originality/Value of paper: It is widely perceived that quality as a managerial focus has lost its attraction in the last two decades. In this presentation, the argument that weaknesses of the theoretical and philosophical foundation of quality have contributed to this lack of attraction is forwarded.
To cope with the dynamics of production, construction managers spend a significant amount of time organising the workforce, managing logistics and controlling the flow. Underestimating the process of workforce allocation and management could lead to serious productivity, safety, logistics, and coordination problems. To exacerbate this situation, the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic has created a situation where unorganised workforce allocation and tracking could increase the health and safety risk for the project. The Last Planner® System (LPS) advocates and incorporates processes to sustain flow suggested in Lean Production theory. Hence, the complex job of creating the workforce-flow can potentially be simplified through the LPS proactive planning during lookahead discussions. The paper captures a case study where the same safety and productivity issues were heavily encountered in a project involving multiple trades (15+) and having hundreds of workers struggling in the pandemic situation. Implementing design Science approach, the team has discovered a digital workflow management system that exhibits significant improvement in coordination, control over productivity wastage and safe working environment.This research utilised a digital LPS powered by real-time cloud-based system, capable of actively tracking the agreed workforce boosting productivity whilst keeping the workforce safe and secure.
No abstract
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.