Every organization needs standards

Transcription

1 Linking integrated management system with Maslow s Pyramid of human needs Thomson s Zyrardów factory in Poland, youngest of four TV manufacturing plants in the Thomson group, has established itself as a leader in Lean Manufacturing. The authors credit this achievement to an innovative systems approach integrating ISO 9001:2000, ISO and OHSAS and linked to needs satisfaction based on the model of Maslow s Pyramid. Every organization needs standards to operate effectively. Initially, standards ensuring minimum quality levels acceptable to the customer, and those required by law, may be sufficient. However, as an organization develops, it becomes necessary to implement voluntary International Standards directly related to product quality, to ethics and to all aspects of the working and natural environment. Such measures aim at improving effectiveness and company image, especially in the eyes of customers, employees, suppliers and competitors. They are directly reflected in the company s market position, and influence its financial results. In practice, there are two approaches to standardization : the traditional SDCA concept (Standardize-Do-Check-Act) ensuring the stability of processes only, without guaranteeing their development and improvement, and the innovative approach involving a cycle transition from SDCA to PDCA (Plan-Do-Check- Act). Only this approach ensures that standards become a key element in development and an appropriate tool of continual improvement. The human element During our QMS, EMS and OHSAS implementations, we realized the importance of human resources as a key element in the process The standards implemented at the Zyrardów Division of Thomson Multimedia Polska Sp. z o. o. are typical of the innovative approach, having evolved as the plant developed. In its pioneer period, semiproducts and finished goods were subject to internal quality standards only. Then, in July 1999, our quality management system (QMS) was certified to ISO 9002:1996 by the Polish Centre for Testing and Certification (PCBC) 1) (we BY GREGORY BOERNER AND ADAM JECZEN Co-author Gregory Boerner (left) is Methods Manager for Thomson Multimedia Polska. Thomson Multimedia Polska Sp. z o. o., Zyrardow Division, Mickiewicza 31/41, Zyrardow, Poland. Tel Fax grzegorz.boerner@thomson.net Co-author Adam Jeczen (right) is Deputy Human Resources Manager for Thomson Multimedia Polska. Tel adam.jeczen@thomson.net 1) Polish Centre for Testing and Certification (PCBC), ul. Klobudzka 23A, Warsaw, Poland. Tel Fax pcbc@pcbc.gov.pl Web ISO Management Systems May-June

2 A worker on the final television assembly area at Thomson Multimedia Polska carries out wire dressing procedures, in accordance with the company s ISO 9001:2000- based quality management system. upgraded to ISO 9001:2000 certification in December 2003). Two years later, the plant s growth dynamics compelled us to undertake measures aimed at defining the direction of further development. Our efforts resulted in implementation of an ISO based environmental management system (EMS) culminating in certification in June 2002, again by PCBC, followed soon after by implementation of an occupational health and safety management system according to OHSAS 18001/PN- N We noticed many common and complementary elements in both, resulting in the creation of an integrated environmental and occupational health and safety management system. During our QMS, EMS and OHSAS implementations, we realized the importance of human resources as a key element in the process. Yet our analysis convinced us that none of the systems currently in operation fully reflect the importance of the human element. In effect, all such The process approach made it possible for us to translate organizational objectives directly into specific processes, and allocate them to particular employees requirements are reduced to clause 6 Resource management of ISO 9001: Even incorporation of ISO 9004: 2000 guidelines, significantly widening the issue, does not guarantee that such resources would be maintained at a satisfactory level. For system optimization, we decided that the most effective solution would be to create a separate organization consisting of auxiliary divisions, then treat resource provision processes as the main process applied to all ISO 9001:2000 requirements. We combined this process with the existing EMS and OHSAS, creating an integrated management system, and achieved typical customer-supplier relations between the organization and the rest of the factory. The new system, certified by PCBC, covers environmental, work and resource management processes. This new approach combined seemingly distant areas of operation such as plant protection, Lean Manufacturing, infrastructure maintenance and human resources. The system is coherent and simple, despite its apparently complicated structure, and was achieved by grading documents in order of rising priority, yet progressively less detailed character, starting with detailed instructions, plans of processes, and system procedures, rising to system manual, decisions of authorities, related standards, with legal requirements as top priority. An important effect of such a structure is the increased power and competence of employees in charge of specific processes, and consequently their greater involvement. The process approach made it possible for us to translate organizational objectives directly into specific processes, and allocate them to particular employees. It has created very clear custom- 32 ISO Management Systems May-June 2004

3 er-supplier relationships between the processes. By analysing how the plant operates, we have defined one common algorithm of service provision for all units in charge of supporting processes (see Figure 1). Figure 1 : The service provision process. Verification of suppliers list Designing service performance Internal service performance Evaluation of customer satisfaction We have distinguished two characteristic processes. The first provides human resources at the required skills level and the second (see Figure 2) Order from customer Determination of needs Selection of service provider Provision of resources for service performance External service performance About Thomson The Thomson company, headquartered in France, is a global multimedia organization manufacturing consumer electronics, video, audio and communication products. The company operates more than 70 sites in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The Zyrardów facility of Thomson Multimedia Polska Sp. z o. o. was established in 1997, and today, with some employees, manufactures approximately two million television sets annually in a range of over 120 models. The Zyrardów factory is the youngest of the four TV manufacturing plants in the Thomson worldwide group, but has already established itself as a leader in Lean Manufacturing Identification of hazard and assessment of professional risk and environmental aspects Identification of legal and other requirements Determination of objectives Figure 2 : Process for environmental, occupational health and safety, and people and property protection management. Planning of actions Implementation of actions Checking Preventive and corrective actions (Top) Television sets on the production line at Thomson Multimedia Polska are burnt-in before alignment on the Final Assembly area. Main TV circuit boards ready for automatic insertion of components. ISO Management Systems May-June

4 Figure 3 : Analogies between human and organizational needs. Transcendance Selfactualization Esteem Belongingness Love Safety Physiological covers preventive measures, such as protection of facilities and the natural environment, and occupational health and safety. Such process diagrams perfectly match the model of a self-educating and self-developing organization. The living organism We soon realized that it was not enough for a large organization such as Thomson to have a system that merely complied with standards. There was the question of further development. So we looked for the motivation to go beyond compliance. We concluded that a company, as a living, maturing organism, must satisfy specific needs at different stages of its development. Indeed, needs satisfaction is a motivation for action. There is an analogy between the psychology of human motivation, and mechanisms inciting an organization to act. Maslow s Pyramid, a model developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow, is based on a hierarchy of needs, where lower level needs must Implementation of each management system standard can be a source of significant savings and benefits Ethics Natural and man-made environment Working conditions and infrastructure Quality be fulfilled before higher level needs can be satisfied. In the organizational model, product quality resides at the base of such a pyramid and is indispensable to the company s presence in the market. Caring about people, their working conditions and the environment are at higher levels, with business ethics on top. In this context, ethics means respecting general human rights, and also avoidance of dishonest practices such as creative accounting or product dumping. Maslow s theory considers the mechanism of providing sufficient resources to satisfy particular needs. Resources are provided only at the f the pyramid. And only he lower levels provides es necessary to realize ds. An organization that certain elements of the without respecting their s likely to collapse finanhe long run. rganization s ability to n market share in unfale market conditions nditional upon its level evelopment. Based on blished standards, expence, and the awareness d involvement of its mployees, it may optimize costs rather than reduce them, thus maintaining its ability to develop continually. Poorly developed organizations soon relinquish the goal of satisfying higher level needs, and instead remain at lower levels of the pyramid, resulting in slower development and reduced competitiveness. The model is compatible with an organization s development process, referred to at the beginning of this article. It is reflected both in the process of needs satisfaction at a certain level of the pyramid, and globally in 34 ISO Management Systems May-June 2004

5 the needs emergence process. See Figure 3 for a comparison of Maslow s Pyramid of human needs with organizational needs. Benefits of management system standards We have to keep in mind that as far as the developmental curve of an organization is concerned, the nearer the ideal, the slower the progress and the higher the costs. On the other hand, implementation of each management system standard can be a source of significant savings and benefits, as follows: Quality management reduction in costs of repairs in process, complaints, scrap. Environmental management more efficient, and less costly utilization of natural resources. Health and safety management reduction in insurance premiums, absenteeism, and costs associated with on-the-job injuries. Management system standards introduce pressure for identification, planning and prevention of risk Social accountability management improvement in the quality and efficiency of work, and of cooperation with business and social partners. Closely connected with the financial benefits of such standardization is the management of business activity risk. Why is this so? because management system standards introduce pressure for identification, planning and prevention of risk. These tools are very useful in reducing potential costs, in the self-development of a management system, and in establishing a state of balance between each step of the Plan-Do-Check-Act process. In conclusion, and drawing on our positive experiences at Thomson Poland, we are convinced that this approach to standardization is a good investment for those companies committed to long-term development. Workers at ISO 9001:2000 and ISO certified Thomson Multimedia Polska insert electronic components into TV main board assemblies. ISO Management Systems May-June