Implementing SPC in a small organization: a TQM approach

States that total quality management (TQM) is an accompanying philosophy for companies who desire to be competitive in the global market, and the importance of statistical process control (SPC) to TQM is well recognized. Points out that, however, in practice, the implementation of this portion of TQM has not been easy for small companies as many practitioners have experienced. Reviews problems that a small organization encounters when installing or attempting to install an SPC system. Highlights many factors that are important to SPC implementation such as planning for customer satisfaction, identifying tasks to be performed, and empowering workers with responsibility. Suggests a six‐step procedure and several useful devices for implementing an SPC pilot study. The result of the case study demonstrates to managers and workers that SPC has validity in a small company even with batch processes. This successful SPC pilot study should encourage small companies to incorporate SPC in a similar manner within their organizations.