Having a limited experience of Total Quality Management (TQM), I was forced to review some of the articles written on the topic and involving some of the largest companies. I reviewed companies such as Ford, BP, and organizations such as NASA and some of the experiences they have had in the past. Based on the NASA's case, it is evident that one of the recurring quality programs was mistake proofing. This was also evident in all the other organizations that have had quality management disasters in the recent past. NASA had been warned of a defect in design, as well as, a defect in the material used by the organization in the making of the 1986 spacecraft. The organization ignored calls by the manufacturing engineer that launching the spacecraft would lead to disasters (Miranda, 2013). The mistakes were ignored, and launching took place leading to an explosion that killed all the crewmembers.
The benefits of mistake-proofing would have allowed the organization a chance to prevent the errors that would lead to the defects ( Dale, 2015) . NASA would have also been able to detect defects in the design of the craft. Mistake proofing would have called for a delay in the launching of the spacecraft allowing for a redesign of the faulty sections thereby reducing the severity of the defect ( Dale, Dehe, & Bamford, 2016) . Mistake proofing would also have been helpful in the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although BP was working with many contractors at the offshore well, inspections would have prevented any mistakes leading to the explosion (Miranda, 2013). The cement supply would have inspected the quality of the cement and realized it was not strong enough to provide the necessary support at the base of the well. Consequently, BP should have conducted safety checks on a regular basis to ensure the well was safe from any gas leaks.
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References
Dale, B. (2015). Total quality management . John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dale, B., Dehe, B., & Bamford, D. (2016). Quality Management Tools. Managing Quality 6e: An Essential Guide and Resource Gateway , 181-213.
Miranda, S. (2013). "5 Quality Failures That Shook The World". BPM, Lean Six Sigma & Continuous Process Improvement | Process Excellence Network. https://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/lean-six-sigma-business-transformation/articles/5-quality-failures-that-shook-the-world/ .
