Transportation Industry

Deming’s 14 Points Applied To Transportation Industry

1. Create Constancy of Purpose

The customer is the most important part of transport service. Customer demands are always changing.  The transport company must create a constancy of purpose by putting the customer first. The transportation company must provide the best transportation services to its customers at the lowest cost possible. The company must aim to maximize efficiency and effectiveness through constant improvement. They need to evolve as customer demand grows and changes. They should be flexible which will permit innovation, which can be achieved by putting resources into research, education, and maintenance of the transport system. Innovation generates new and improved services.

1. Adopt New Philosophy

Quality of services provided by any company suffers due to defects and poor work performance of employees and management.  Everyone working in a transport company can find ways to promote quality and efficiency and to improve all aspects of the transportation system. Employees, with the support of top management, should adopt a new work philosophy by meeting in cross-functional teams or quality circles. The major benefit of the new philosophy is the creation of a continuous learning environment so that customers get maximum satisfaction from the services they receive.

1. Cease Dependence on Mass Inspection

In order to achieve highest level of quality it is necessary to adopt a system that is not entirely dependent on inspection. To achieve best economy and productivity, transport agencies should know what quality they are delivering. The organization’s managers must be knowledgeable in statistical control of quality. They must proceed under the new philosophy: the right service quality characteristics must be built in without dependence on inspection. The statistical control of helps transport companies to build quality service and  help managers ensure uniform  quality and cost of service.

1. End the Practice of Awarding Business on Price Tag Alone

Transport service suppliers need to ensure uniformity and reliability. Price has no meaning without quality. Without good quality, business drifts to the lowest bidders leading to low quality and high cost . Instead, the organization should seek the best quality in a long-term relationship with a single supplier for only one item. The will lead to longer lasting items and greater quality service at no additional cost. Transport companies should select suppliers after due consideration for quality. They can involve suppliers joint planning for improvement and joint improvement activities to serve customers better than their competitors.

1. Improve the System of Transport Service

Quality can be built into all transportation activities and services and can be assured by continuous improvements. This requires close cooperation between those who provide the services and those who consume them. Management should look continually for ways to reduce waste and improve quality. Every worker and every department must commit to constant improvement.

 For example, which faults are local and which ones belong to the system? The responsibilities should be given where this fault belongs. The use of statistical quality tools helps to identify trouble spots and their sources.

1. Institute Training

Human resource division of the transportation company must select training programs that increase the job skills of both main and support staff. Training must be totally reconstructed. Statistical methods must be used to learn when training is finished and when further training would be beneficial. Results of training should be measured in terma of improvement in performance of employees. On-the-job quality improvement training ensures that every employee has a thorough understanding of customer needs for transport services.

1. Institute Leadership

The leader creates opportunities for all to interact and identify opportunities for improvement. The job of supervisor is not to tell employees what to do or to punish but to lead them toward better job performance. Leading consists of helping workers do a better job and of using learning by objective methods for those employees in need of individual help. Supervisors should be trained continually. They should receive training in synergetic or cooperative supervision and work in supportive teams to improve instructions and learning. Leadership training will help to introduce new best practices in transportation services to satisfy customer needs.

1. Drive Out Fear

Employees in the transport organization must feel comfortable to speak truthfully and feel confident that their suggestions will be taken seriously. Most workers are afraid to ask questions or to report trouble. Suggesting new ideas is risky; people fear punitive assignments or other forms of discrimination or harassment. To counter this fear, total quality encourages applying new methods, creating new solutions, and implementing innovative experiments. To ensure better quality and productivity, employees must feel secure. In a secure environment, workers are not afraid to express ideas not afraid to ask questions. Employees should not afraid to ask for further instructions, and not afraid to report vehicles out of order, poor lighting, or other working conditions that impair quality service in transportation.

1. Breakdown Barriers Between Departments

 When departmental goals conflict, the company could faces big problems. Lack of coordination or disintegration between departments can lead to costly rework, unnecessary duplication of effort, and a heavy loss in resources. There should be effective cross-communication between all department and brainstorming among members of the transport organization must be encouraged. All departments should share a common goal and direction to improve the transport organization’s services.

1. Eliminate Slogans, Exhortations, and Targets for the Workforce

 Slogans, like those encouraging zero accidents or zero defects do not help workers do a better job. Management should provide employees the means to achieve desired results If the transport organization’s focus is on improving its work processes, service quality will increase, efficiency and effectiveness will rise, and non value-added activities will diminish.