Our technological world is changing rapidly. “printing”, as we know it, is part of this technological world and is continually changing in response to society’s needs for communication. The advent of computer systems and our ability to digitalize and manipulate information are examples of the change staking place. As these evolutions and revolutions continue, we need a work force that can adapt without being threatened. The work force will need to be trained with the skills necessary to deal with change. These skills will become as important as, if not more important than, the skills needed to complete the actual printing job. In other words, let us remove the barriers to adopting change by educating and training the work force to participate and share in the inevitable technological changes that will continue to take place.
The skills required for a changing work force are different than the skills required for status quo environments. Traditionally, printing required employees who had the ability to learn a skill and continually improve that skill. A typesetter became better and better at perfecting the skills of speed and accuracy, while the press operator became better at accurate makereadies and run performance. New technologies require the ability to develop systems quickly, anticipate customer needs, and translate them into workable specifications, while at the same time trying to anticipate what must be changed in order to compete effectively. These new requirements will necessitate a work force that is team oriented, continuous process improvement centered while at the same time anticipating, planning, and sharing in the re-engineering of the system to better satisfying the customer. This is part of the process of meeting new customer needs, not merely satisfying old ones.
Those printing organizations that grasp the basic tenets of total quality management (TQM) and invest in the time and effort of re-engineering their organizations to embrace the philosophy will be the leaders of the technological revolution. Employees will then not feel threatened by these rapid changes as their skills will be centered around participating in these changes for customer satisfaction. They will know that initiating as well as accepting change will mean that their jobs will not be threatened and that their contributions will not only be welcome, but absolutely necessary. This is the basic reason to embrace the principles of TQM.
However, beginning the journey to a total quality management company is hard work. It requires a plan that is long term while having short-time goals. Do not expect employees to leap upon the TQM bandwagon. When first introduced, many people get excited about the prospects that TQM offers. But coaching rather than directing is a large change for managers. Learning how to take responsibility for quality, waste reduction, and process improvement can be very threatening to the work force. Successes and failures belong to everyone in a TQM organization.
It takes top management commitment, long-term objectives, short-term goals, and perseverance to make TQM work. Once committed, top management must hold everyone to the TQM process. There will be setbacks, but only top management can stay the course. Top management must understand that TQM is a re-engineering concept that requires the use of continuous process improvement. Most experts agree that it takes at least three to five years to make the transition from the standard operating procedures of most printing companies to the acceptance and implementation of a TQM organization. With this in mind, planning and patience are required to be successful. TQM is not a program or quick fix for your immediate problems. What TQM will do is to give it a long-term structure for dealing with the critical areas of re-engineering, continuous process improvement, benchmarking, teamwork, empowerment, the use of data for decision making, and a central focus on the ever-changing needs of internal and external customers.
