Total Quality Management in Food Industry

TQM In Foodservice

Introduction

One of the most important industries overall is the food industry. The

food industry consists of everything from food processing plants to fast

food restaurants. The food industry affects nearly every living person.

Most people don't realize how important this industry is and how it affects

their everyday lives. That is why it is so critical that the products of

this industry are at their highest quality, are free of bacteria and ensure

that the consumer will not face any detrimental consequences. Total Quality

Management (TQM) plays a big role in promising these results.

Total Quality Management seems to be a confusing term for the layman. TQM

is a philosophy advocated by Dr. Edward Deming, a world renowned quality

guru. It was widely accepted by Japan from 1950 onward. They used this

principle for continuous refinement of an organization-wide quality system.

Since then many organizations around the world have adopted TQM or similar

methodologies. There have been many successes and many reported failures.

Success of the system depends on the total commitment of the people to

quality from top to bottom within the organization. TQM implementation is

based on team work and the philosophy of continuous improvement. Statistics

need to be used extensively to analyze and reduce the variation in the process.

In the food industry, continuous improvement is vital to the survival of a

specific company or restaurant. The customer is constantly purchasing the

products of competitors and any decline in quality will equal a decrease in

gross profits. There are several areas that a restaurant may focus on for

quality improvement such as menu offerings, hospitality, service,

cleanliness, and over all food quality. All of these aspects will be

covered in this paper concerning Total Quality Management.

Summary

Employee & Product Quality

Various well known companies such as Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Taco Bell have

implemented Total Quality Management programs