Total Quality Management in Jordan Co. Leather Production

Introduction: 2

Company background: 2

Tannery structure: 3

The tannery’s main products are: 3

Market challenges: 4

Operational challenges: 4

What is TQM? 5

The principles and concepts of TQM 5

Applications of TQM 6

The future development of the TQM concepts 7

The benefits of implementing TQM 8

Obstacles to overcome before implementing TQM 10

Implementation plan of TQM 11

Conclusion 14

References 15

Introduction:

Leather production is based on the by-product of the meat industry. Annually the revenue from sales is equivalent to the trades of coffee and tea combined, leather application has exceeded the shoes and garment use and is now applied in many applications, even with severe competition from textile or man made material leathers natural appeal and high specifications with the latest technology guarantees a large consumer slice. Just like any other manufacturing industry, leather production has been dramatically improved since the industrial revolution.

Company background:

The company I was employed in was the tannery of Jordan co. Established back in the early 70’s, the company was first located in Zarka�s industrial park, and equipped to process all types of leather production. That, and the surplus of raw material available in Jordan, directly contributed to the immense success that this company experienced for two decades, as it was considered the largest leather manufacturer in the Middle East region. By the early 80’, the leather industry experienced several innovations, mainly in mass production machines and application techniques. At that time, the Middle East region had undergone several political changes that led into an industrial bloom in turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and other neighboring countries, raw material was smuggled through the Jordanian borders, and large extent of the region’s demand was supplied by European producers .the real damage however, was a result of fatal management errors within the board of directors, that neglected machine upgrading and maintenance, and failed to forecast the impacts of the changes previously mentioned. As a result, the company was under severe competition from neighboring countries, and foreign leather flooded the Jordanian market , if I may add, at better price and higher quality. Leather production, as the case in many other manufacturing, depend greatly on up to date machines, and technical methods, to compete in established markets, as standard leather specifications are constantly raised. To save the company, the management directed the production into alternative process, like exporting semi-processed leather (in the form of chrome and pickled leather,).the tannery also invested in shoe manufacturing , and started to supply the local market of medium-low grade shoes. From the mid 90’s, and into the present time, the tannery operates at half its capacity, and the local supply of raw materials is redirected to other established tanneries in the Middle East region. A further threat is greatly expected from the tremendous growth of the Chinese and Indian leather manufacturers that are now competing with quality and quantity through out the globe. So far impacts of that growth has already destroyed the entire European and Turkish tanneries, and in my belief it is only a matter of time, months rather than years, the tannery of Jordan will seize to exist.

Tannery structure:

The tannery consists of three departments:

The pre-tanning department: where raw materials brought in and prepared for the tanning step.

The tanning department: where raw materials are tanned (chrome or vegetable) and prepared to finishing .

The finishing department: where the leather is finished through spraying and plating (ironing).

The tannery’s main products are:

1) Half processes hides and skins exported to: Europe and the Far East. (After passing through the pre-tanning department and the tanning department). 40,000 hides per month

2) Leather for shoes, (shoe upper) for the local market and for the army boots factories. 20,000 hide per month

3) Sole leather for the local market. 5,000 hide per month

The company has 150 employees.

Although the tannery is very well known in the Middle East and Europe, recently the tanner has been facing a lot of challenges some are market challenges and some are operational challenges.

Market challenges:

• Price: the price is very important for customers, the problem with price is the skin or hide prices are not constant, they are variable so the end product price is not fixed. This forms a big challenge for the company, competition from other tanneries offering lower prices.

• Source of raw materials: local raw materials are not of a very high quality comparing to the raw materials imported from Iraq or Syria, the quality of the raw materials highly affects the quality of the end product.

• Government regulations and tax: imported and exported materials or products have 16% tax on them.

• Environmental regulations: The leather industry uses many obnoxious and harmful chemicals to the environment and people. Environmental regulations are very strict in Jordan comparing to other Middle East countries, so the need for an effluent treatment plant is very important,