Bordey, Jansen A.

BSMA 2-2
Leopoldo Francisco Turqueza Bragas, Ph. D
Motorolas Tools And Techniques Of Tqm Information Technology
This research paper is made about Motorola Inc. America, and describes how Motorola started its
operation like an ordinary firm and reached to the zenith of excellence by developing and implementing
new quality control techniques. Six Sigma (6σ) is the core technique of continuous improvement
program of TQM which was first developed and implemented by Motorola inc. Further more, it tells
about how and why firm ought to adopt the Six Sigma (6σ) techniques for their success. The data
integrated in this research is exclusively presented by the help of various informative sources. Other than
focusing the Six Sigma (6σ) program the research also tells about why and how the organizations
continuously strive to capture largest market share in tight completive environment by using different
tools of total quality management. Overall the research embeds the importance of total quality
management, its significance to gain a competitive edge and remarkable breakthroughs in the history of
organizations.
Motorola is a well known American multinational telecommunication company based in Schaumburg,
Illinois. It is the manufacturer of wireless telephone handsets, and also designs and sells wireless
network infrastructure equipment such as cellular transmission base stations and signal amplifiers. They
have achieved a high level of success throughout the world by being innovative and promoting creativity
among their employees. This companys prosperity is dependent upon developing cutting edge
technology and in new product design. To accomplish these goals, Motorola actively encourages
employees to generate creative ideas, challenge conventional thinking, and look towards the future.
Motorolas home and broadcast network products include set-top boxes, digital video recorders, and
network equipment used to enable video broadcasting, computer telephony, and high-definition
television.
Motorola uses TQM techniques to be successful and improve employee creativity within the
organization. Some of these methods include employee empowerment and risk taking, training and
education techniques, participative management, and team collaboration. The innovation of TQM
technique is one of the fundamental stand of Motorola Inc.
Motorolas business and government customers consist mainly of wireless voice and broadband systems
used to build private networks and public safety communications systems like Astro and Dimetra.
Motorolas handset division is now focusing on smartphones using Googles open-source Android mobile
operating system.
Motorola Vision Statement:
Our history is rich. Our future is dynamic. We are Motorola and the spirit of invention is what drives us.
Motorola Mission Statement:
We are a global communications leader powered by a passion to invent and an unceasing commitment
to advance the way the world connects. Our communication solutions allow people, businesses and
governments to be more connected and more mobile.
Motorola Slogan:
Hello Moto
Motorola has a successfully working TQM process. Motorolas fundamental objective is Total Customer
Satisfaction. They have won the Baldrige award and are corporate leaders in TQM.
HISTORY
Motorola started in Chicago, Illinois as Galvin Manufacturing Corporationin 1928 with its first product
being a battery eliminator. The name Motorola was adopted in 1930, and the word has been used as a
trademark since the 1930s. Founders Paul Galvin and Joseph Galvin came up with the name Motorola
when the company started manufacturing car radios in 1930; the name is a combination of motorand
the suffix ola.
Many of Motorolas Products have been radio-related, starting with a battery eliminator for radios,
through the first walkie-talkie in the world in 1940, defense electronics, cellular infrastructure
equipment, and mobile phone manufacturing. In 1943, Motorola went public and in 1947, the name
changed to its present name. The present logo was introduced in 1955. In 1952, Motorola opened its
first international subsidiary in Toronto, Canada to produce radios and televisions. In 1953, Motorola
established the Motorola Foundation to support leading universities in the United States.
In 1955, years after Motorola started its research and development laboratory in Phoenix, Arizona to
research new solid-state technology, Motorola introduced the worlds first commercial high-power
germanium-based transistor.
Beginning in 1958 with Explorer 1, Motorola provided radio equipment for most NASA space-flights for
decades including during the 1969 moon landing. In 1960, Motorola introduced the worlds first large-
screen(19-inch), transistorized, cordless portable television. In 1963, Motorola, which had very
successfully begun making televisions in 1947 introduced the worlds first truly rectangular color TV
picture tube which quickly became the industry standard.
In 1974, Motorola sold its television business to the Japan-based parent company of Panasonic.
In 1976, Motorola moved to its present headquarters in Schaumburg.
In September 1983, the firm made history when the FCC approved the DynaTAC 8000X telephone, the
worlds first-only commercial cellular device. By 1998, cell phones accounted for two-thirds of Motorolas
gross revenue. The company was also strong in semiconductor technology, including integrated circuits
used in computers. Motorola has been the main supplier for the microprocessors used in Atari ST,
Commodore Amiga, Color Computer, and Apple Macintosh personal computers. The PowerPC family was
developed with IBM and in a partnership with Apple (known as the AIM alliance). Motorola also has a
diverse line of communication products, including satellite systems, digital cable boxes and modems.
In 1986, Motorola invented the Six Sigma (6σ) quality improvement process. This became a global
standard, in 1990. In June 2000, Motorola and Cisco supplied the worlds first commercial GPRS cellular
network. In 2002 Motorola introduced the worlds first wireless cable modem gateway which combined a
high-speed cable modem router with an Ethernet switch and wireless home gateway. In 2003, Motorola
introduced the worlds first handset to combine a Linux operating system and Java technology with full
PDA functionality.
MOTOROLAS SIX SIGMA PROGRAM
Motorola invented the Six Sigma (6σ) quality improvement process in 1986 and in 1988, Motorola Corp.
became one of the first companies to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The award
strives to identify those excellent firms that are worthy role models for other businesses. One of
Motorolas innovations that attracted a great deal of attention was its Six Sigma (6σ) program.
Motorola Saved $22 Billion from 1986 to 2009, reflecting hundreds of individual successes in all
Motorola business areas including:
Sales and Marketing
Product design
Manufacturing
Customer service
Transactional processes
Supply chain management.
To quantitatively measure the performances Six Sigma (6σ) uses statistical analysis. That process can
involve manufacturing, business practices, products, or service. To be defined as Six Sigma (6σ) means
that the process does not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO) – which
translates to 99.9997% efficiency. A Six Sigma (6σ) defect is considered anything that can cause customer
dissatisfaction, such as being outside of customer specifications. A Six Sigma (6σ) opportunity is the total
number of chances for a defect to occur.
Six Sigma (6σ) Concept
The Six Sigma (6σ) concept was developed by Motorola in 1986 with the stated goal of improving
manufacturing processes and reducing product defects and variation.
Building on earlier quality improvement methods, Six Sigma (6σ) assumes the following:
Ongoing efforts to achieve stable, predictable process results are essential for business success
Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured, analyzed, improved,
and controlled
Sustained quality improvement requires commitment from the entire organization
Six Sigma (6σ) Implementation
In order to achieve Six Sigma (6σ) performance, the causes of manufacturing and business process
defects and variation must be identified and eliminated. Two Six Sigma (6σ) sub-methodologies were
developed for this purpose: DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and DMADV (Define,
Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify).
DMAIC is used to improve existing processes that are below specification; DMADV is used to develop
new processes or products at Six Sigma (6σ) levels.
Borrowing martial arts terminology, a key innovation of Six Sigma (6σ) was the creation of a professional
quality management hierarchy. This structure works to involve all levels of the organization in the
success of Six Sigma (6σ) projects:
Executive Leadership includes the CEO and other top management
Champions, drawn from upper management, are responsible for Six Sigma (6σ) implementation across
the organization
Master Black Belts, identified by champions or by executive leadership, function as in-house coaches,
mentors, and trainers; 100% of their time is devoted to Six Sigma (6σ) to ensure business and leadership
alignment
Black Belts focus on the application of Six Sigma (6σ) methodology to specific projects; 100% of their
time is devoted to Six Sigma (6σ)
Green Belts are involved with Six Sigma (6σ) implementation along with other job responsibilities
Lean Sigma is a current industry trend in which a process is made lean through efficiency improvements
before Six Sigma (6σ) is applied to reduce variation.
Six Sigma (6σ) Calculation
In order to calculate Six Sigma (6σ), the engineers at Motorola set up a scale to evaluate the quality of a
process based on these defect calculations. At the top of the scale is Six Sigma (6σ), which equates to 3.4
DPMO, or 99.9997% defect-free. In other words, if you have a process running at Six Sigma (6σ), youve
almost eliminated all defects — its nearly perfect. Of course, most processes dont run at Six Sigma (6σ).
They run at Five Sigma, Four Sigma or worse. Heres the full scale to get an appreciation of the numbers
involved. The calculation of a sigma level is based on the number of defects per million opportunities
(DPMO). The formula to calculate DPMO is:
DPMO =
If, for example, there are 38 defects, 10,000 units and one defect opportunity/unit, the results would be:
DPMO 3,800
Defects (%) 0.38
Yield (%) 99.62
Process sigma 4.17
Motorola and other software have devices several soft wares that easily calculate sigma of a process or
activity.
The table given below maps the Sigma and %accuracy.
Sigma
Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO)
% Accuracy
One Sigma
691,500
30.85%
Two Sigma
308,500
69.15%
Three Sigma
66,810
93.32%
Four Sigma
6,210
99.38%
Five Sigma
233
99.977%
Six Sigma (6σ)
3.4
99.9997%
Seven Sigma
0.020
99.999998%
LSL lower sigma level
USL: upper sigma level
Six Sigma (6σ) Benefits
Achieving measurable and quantifiable financial goals (cost reduction/profit increase) with Six Sigma (6σ)
projects sets this methodology apart from other quality improvement tactics. Financial benefits of
potential process improvement projects are used to help prioritize the projects; these benefits are then
reassessed during the analyze phase of both DMAIC and DMADV and verified in the control phase of
DMAIC and the verify phase of DMADV. Closely linking Six Sigma (6σ) projects to a companys bottom line
gives everyone in the organization a stake in the success of these projects. It also helps identify projects
that involve critical-to-quality aspects of the process and will provide substantial process improvement.
Scores of organizations continue to improve their performance by taking advantage of their Six Sigma
(6σ) process. Since Motorola implemented its Six Sigma (6σ) process in 1987, their results have included:
• Sales growth of greater than 300 percent.
• Employee productivity growth of more than 12.3 percent per year.
• Elimination of more than 99.7 percent of in-process defects.
• Reduction by 84 percent of costs associated with poor quality.
• Savings of $11 billion in manufacturing costs.
By the late 1990s, approximately two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies had started Six Sigma (6σ)
projects; as of 2009, Motorola had reported more than $19 billion in savings as a result of Six Sigma (6σ).
In addition to significant financial gain, Six Sigma (6σ) provides organizations with the methodology and
structure to make decisions based on verifiable data and statistical analysis and thereby to achieve
measurable quality improvements in manufacturing and business processes. Six Sigma (6σ) projects are
truly a win-win situation as product quality is greatly improved while product defects and variation are
reduced, employees are meaningfully involved in the outcome of the projects, company profitability is
measurably increased, and customer loyalty and satisfaction are significantly enhanced.
PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT (PDCA)
Motorolas PDCA is a problem solving process and consist of a Plan to identify and analyze the problem,
Do, to develop and implement solutions, Check to evaluate the results, and Act to standardize the
solution, capitalizing on opportunities.
Demings Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle
Plan – select and analyze the problem
Do – implement the solution
Check – check the results of the change
Act – act to standardize the solution for the long-term
PARETO CHART
The Pareto chart is a very useful tool which Motorola uses to separate the important from the trivia. The
chart, first promoted by Dr. Joseph Juran, is named after Italian economist/sociologist Vilfredo Pareto
(1848-1923). He had the insight to recognize that in the real world a minority of causes lead to the
majority of problems. This is known as the Pareto principle. Pick a category, and the Pareto principle will
usually hold. For example, Motorola has found that all the kinds of problems that can be named are only
about 20% of them who produce 80% of the product defects; 80% of the cost associated with the
defects will be assignable to only about 20% of the total number of defect types occurring. By Examining
the elements of this cost it is revealed that once again 80% of the total defect costs spring from only
about 20% of the cost elements. A Pareto chart became very handful for Motorola by the discovery of
these ratios and has helped in the segmentation of the customers on the bases of imperative problems
and opportunities.
CAUSE-AND-EFFECT DIAGRAMS
Motorola Cause-And-Effect team typically uses a cause-and-effect diagram to identify and isolate causes
of a problem. The technique was developed by the late Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a noted Japanese quality
expert, so sometimes the diagram is called an Ishikawa diagram.
Motorola has developed the software of cause-and-effect diagram which tells about how internal or
external event affects the organizational processes. It is the only tool that is not based on statistics. This
chart is simply a means of visualizing how the various factors associated with a process affect the
processesoutput.
HISTOGRAM
Histograms are used by most of the companies including Motorola to chart frequency of occurrence.
How often does something happen? Any discussion of histograms must begin with an understanding of
the two kinds of data commonly associated with processes: attributes and variables data. An attribute is
something that the output product of the process either has or does not have. An electronic assembly
either had wiring errors or it did not. For Example, in a process used in making Motorola electrical
resistors would use the scale of electrical resistance in ohms; another process might use a weight scale,
and so on. Variables data are something that results from measurement
EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT
The history of Motorola reflects that it has strived to ensure continuous improvement and lasting
success by following fundamental principles that emphasize change. One principle is known as
leadership of renewal, which stresses the need for change to stay ahead of the advancing technology
market. Motorola has tried to create a corporate structure that can anticipate and manage change in
order to gain a competitive advantage. A key aspect of accomplishing this is to teach managers and lower
level employees to take a proactive approach toward change (Winston).
Another standard they adhere to is called renewal of leadership. At Motorola it is important that
employees have freedom to take risks and utilize creativity. Therefore, Motorola looks for managers who
can inspire and empower subordinates rather than inhibit their creative freedom through rigid authority
or control. Their renewal of leadership system uses an intricate 360-degree feedback program for all
divisions of the company. This allows every worker to get opinions about their strengths and areas
needing improvement from peers, managers, subordinates, and customers. Motorola also has a
structure that encourages the rotation of managers from all levels of the organization. This is done to
reenergize managers and ensure that problems will continually be looked at from a fresh perspective
(Winston).
An essential concept the Motorola Corporation advocates to their employees is to think the unthinkable.
The notion here is to think differently and find innovative solutions to any type of problem encountered.
To encourage this initiative, Motorola passes power on to their employees to make critical decisions and
tells them it is okay to make mistakes. Open to new ideas, devoted to nurturing, and encouraging those
who question the oldest assumptions and propose the boldest changes–these are enduring
characteristics of Motorola(High Performance Working Research Project).
Motorola also encourages their employees to exhibit desired performance through rewards and positive
reinforcement. Counter-intuitive thinking–the thought process of standing against the crowd and
challenging conventional wisdom–is prized, encouraged, and rewarded. In fact, it is the basis on which
Motorolas success is founded(Winston). Motorola is very good about giving their employees a high level
of autonomy and encouraging independent thinking. This results in a greater sense of confidence and
creative freedom while on the job.
In order for workers to consistently apply the values that Motorola preaches, they must be properly
motivated. Thus, Motorola offers many extrinsic rewards to employees that can make them feel
appreciated and motivate them to be successful. The company provides extensive training each year for
all employees, tuition reimbursement for attending school, sports and recreation facilities, and
promotions based on achievement rather than tenure (Inside Motorola: Benefits). These incentives,
along with competitive salaries, can help workers feel a greater sense of commitment and purpose for
their jobs. It is also common for people to be more productive and creative when they are valued and
feel comfortable in their surroundings. The preceding examples illustrate why so many employees view
Motorola as a first class organization and are passionate about their careers.
BENCHMARKING
Benchmarking is often applied to such business practices as payroll, payables, customer billing,
receivables, information technology, purchasing, and inventory management. Despite the various
definitions of benchmarking, the goal is always the same: to identify best practices. The benchmarking
allowed Motorola to climb the learning curve quickly by benefiting from the experience of other
companies. According to Greg Hackett, founder and president of The Hackett Group,
…you get to steal the learning curve of others….[i]
Ultimately, benchmarking results in more efficient processes which, in turn, can generate substantial cost
savings. According to Mark Krueger, managing director of AnswerThink Consulting, cost reductions can
range from 15% to 45%.
The basic premise behind benchmarking is that to deliver quality, you need to compare your business
against the best in classbusiness and then make changes to your operation so that quality is enhanced.
Benchmarking is the process of determining who is the very best, who sets the standard, and what that
standard is.
JUST-IN-TIME (JIT)
Just-in-Time is method of fast response to customers used my Motorola. The Just-in-time (JIT)
manufacturing is, to a large extent, based upon a system of total quality management, as well as strong
emphasis upon training and involvement of workers in all phases of manufacturing in Motorolas
workshops. JIT is particularly conducive for some areas of manufacturing and viable for other
manufacturing control systems too. JIT utilizes a full involvement and method of manufacturing,
emphasizing such aspects as order to delivery, eliminating waste, enforcing problem-solving and
continuous improvement, total quality management, parallel processing, purchasing, and others.The
essential philosophy behind JIT manufacturing has largely to do with competitive effectiveness.
TAGUCHI CONCEPTS
Pioneered by Dr. Genichi Taguchi whose fundamental thinking was to develop products that hold up to
adverse conditions (i.e, Motorola telephones are designed to be dropped because this commonly
happens). Motorola apples this quality principle to service, they know that they should plan for the
worst when designing our service. When the adverse condition occurs, they should maintain the quality
in service.
CONCLUSION
TQM is frequently touted as the necessary next step in the evolution of modern business management.
In theory, it is often hard to argue with the logic of the quality focus advocated by the TQM approach.
Unfortunately, TQM initiatives often fail when implementation begins. The failure of TQM is largely due
to the fact that all the philosophical, strategic, and measurement dimensions of the TQM concept are
not adequately addressed. These three dimensions of TQM should be stressed at different levels of the
management hierarchy to varying degrees. The responsibility for establishing the philosophical
dimension of TQM falls mostly on top management so that the emphasis of quality can be fully
integrated into an organizations missions. The essential elements of TQM are then incorporated into
strategic decisions for various functions of the organization. Functional management teams within the
same organization should be allowed to define quality that is most appropriate for their functional areas.
Based on the specific functional, working definitions of quality, it is possible to develop a comprehensive
quality measurement system capable of capturing the vital information relating to quality. Data can then
be analyzed and aggregated when reported to the upper level management for decision making and
continuous improvement.