Introduction
The purpose of this report is to critically analyse, evaluate and discuss related management issues conducive to the development of a total quality management environment within an organisation. This shall be done by critically analysing the case study of Agrotran Ltd. This report will discuss the role and application of quality management systems in organisations, debate and recommend a suitable way forward for Agrotran Ltd.
The issues concerning Agrotran Ltd
Agrotran is a small engineering company specialising in the manufacture of farming equipment. The four owners have recently sold out to the Nat-truk Group a manufacturer of specialist trucks and transport's. The original owners set up Agrotran when they were made redundant from a large engineering company. They have a good working relationship, working well as a team and intimate knowledge of their business. They also have a laid back style of management.
There are a number of issues that have arisen since the take-over.
Nat-truk are seeking to be included on the Ministry of Defences approved supplier list. This means that they and Agrotran need to achieve ISO 9000 certification although this was argued against by one of the former owners during the take-over negotiations. This has been seen as an imposition of extra cost and bureaucracy on Agrotran by Nat-truk.
Nat-truk has also introduced its own employees to Agrotran. This has resulted in fights breaking out between Agrotran and Nat-truk workers. The bases of these arguments are over communication problems involving processes, standards and specifications. This has resulted in some of Agrotran's best customers complaining about quality. One of the original owners Tom Smith has laid the blame on the extra proced ...