An award journey for business excellence: The case study of a public sector unit

摘要

Purpose:To present total quality management (TQM) implementation effort for about a decade of a major power generation equipment manufacturing public sector units (PSU) in India, Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL), to secure the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model-based CII-EXIM Award for Business Excellence.Summary:BHEL's Haridwar unit, with more than 6,500 employees, started its TQM implementation effort in 1997 and received the prestigious Confederation of Indian Industry (Cll)'s Business Excellence Award in 2006. The company adopted the TQM model similar to EFQM model of quality management. In the initial stage itself the organization could assess its strengths and weaknesses and worked out a path forward to reach the goal within reasonable period. Before the launching of TQM, the company started its quality management activities and was a forerunner in quality improvement methodology as in stated quality circles in 1063 and was awarded ISO 9001 in the year 1993. As the foundation was strong, it was easy for BHEL to proceed further of launching TQM in 1997 and achieve the award in 9 years. This article describes the various steps the organization has undergone in its journey towards quality excellence, (no refs.)