Total Quality Process (TQP): Rebooting TQM with a New Operating System
- Allan Ung
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
By Allan Ung, Operational Excellence Consulting
For decades, Total Quality Management (TQM) has been the philosophy guiding organizations toward excellence. Its principles remain sound, but execution has often faltered. Too many initiatives were conceptual rather than executable, leaving leaders with ideals but no operating system.
That’s why I believe it’s time for a reboot. Total Quality Process (TQP) is that reboot. If TQM was the philosophy, TQP is the operating system (OS) — faster, sharper, and designed for today’s dynamic business environment.
The 5 Quality Principles: The Roof of the House of TQP
The House of TQP rests on five timeless principles. These are adapted from Philip Crosby’s pioneering philosophy of Total Quality Management, which emphasized prevention, zero defects, and meeting requirements as the true definition of quality. Crosby’s ideas remain foundational, but TQP builds on them by embedding the principles into a role-based operating system that leaders and teams can execute daily.
All work is a process – Every task is a chain of inputs and outputs. Seeing work as a process shifts focus from firefighting symptoms to managing causes.
Quality means meeting requirements – A simple, universal definition that aligns everyone around customer and stakeholder needs.
We focus on processes by measuring – Measurement provides facts, not opinions, enabling problem-solving without blame.
Our quality standard is 100% right – Zero defects is not a slogan but an attitude of prevention and continuous improvement.
The system for quality is prevention – Inspection is reactive; prevention eliminates defects before they occur.
These principles form the roof of the House of TQP, protecting the organization by embedding quality into every process.
Quality Management Pillar – The Leadership Process
Quality Management is the role of top management. It provides the governance process, ensuring quality is not left to chance but deliberately managed. Quality management is structured around Four Key Management Activities:
1. Make a Commitment
Begin culture change at the top: conviction, commitment, conversion.
Establish a clear quality vision.
Demonstrate personal commitment through visible actions.
Communicate consistently with employees, customers, and suppliers.
2. Plan for Quality Management
Form a Quality Management Team (QMT) to direct and coordinate implementation.
Create quality awareness through campaigns, posters, newsletters, and customer communication.
Educate everyone — managers, supervisors, employees — in process control, PDCA, and quality tools.
Prepare for goal setting with data collection, measurement, and analysis.
3. Put Systems in Motion
Set up work process measurements (process mapping, scorecards, departmental metrics).
Measure quality using Cost of Quality (COQ) — making waste and defects visible in financial terms.
Form Quality Action Teams (QATs) to solve problems systematically.
Recognize participation with both monetary and non-monetary rewards.
4. Keep It Going
Sustain activities through audits, reviews, and recognition.
Refresh the Quality Management Team with new members and training.
Benchmark against world-class frameworks (Baldrige, EFQM).
Integrate daily management, visual controls, and management reviews to ensure continuity.
In essence, the Quality Management pillar gives leaders a disciplined process to govern quality deliberately. It ensures quality is not a side program but a core management responsibility.
Quality Improvement Pillar – The Execution Process
Quality Improvement is the role of middle managers and teams. It provides the means to execute quality daily, embedding discipline and problem-solving at the source.
1. PDCA as the Backbone
Improvement follows the Plan–Do–Check–Act cycle, ensuring changes are systematic, tested, and sustained.
2. Eight Steps of Quality Improvement
Teams move through a structured sequence: select themes, grasp the current situation, set targets, analyze causes, implement corrective actions, evaluate results, and standardize gains.
3. Practical Tools for Problem Solving
Quality Improvement pillar equips teams with the Seven QC Tools (Pareto charts, cause-and-effect diagrams, check sheets, scatter plots, etc.) and teaches them how to apply tools effectively.
4. Process Ownership and Accountability
All work is treated as a process. Teams define, measure, and stabilize processes, ensuring improvements stick.
5. Quality Action Teams (QATs)
Collaboration is central. Teams tackle specific problems with clear roles and responsibilities, building collective ownership.
In essence, the Quality Improvement pillar transforms improvement from a set of tools into a systematic, role-based discipline. It ensures quality is executed at the front line, where processes and customers intersect.
TQP: The New OS for Quality
Leaders gain clarity: Quality management pillar provides the governance process.
Teams gain capability: Quality improvement pillar equips them with PDCA discipline, tools, and ownership.
Organizations gain speed and sustainability: Quality becomes embedded, not accidental.
TQM may feel dated, but its reboot — TQP — is built for today. It’s faster, more effective, and finally gives organizations the means to manage and improve quality as a process.
Closing Thought
Quality excellence has always required more than principles. It requires a process. TQP bridges the gap between vision and execution, giving leaders and teams a shared operating system for managing and improving quality.
If TQM was the philosophy, TQP is the execution engine. And in a world where speed, consistency, and credibility matter more than ever, that makes all the difference.
Further Reading: TQP in Action
Real companies, real results — discover how TQP transformed organizations across industries:
BRC Weldmesh (SEA) Pte Ltd – Cut scrap costs, halved late deliveries, and built a culture of teamwork.
👉 Read the full story
O. Mustad & Son (Singapore) Pte Ltd – Drove QC Circles, strengthened teamwork, and achieved major cost savings.
👉 Read the full story
About the Author
Article by Allan Ung, Principal Consultant at Operational Excellence Consulting (Singapore) — a practitioner-led management consultancy specializing in Design Thinking and Lean management. OEC develops facilitation-ready, workshop-proven frameworks and training that help leaders and teams think clearly, solve problems systematically, and deliver sustainable customer value. Learn more at www.oeconsulting.com.sg
Explore the TQP Flagship and Family of Courses
At Operational Excellence Consulting, we’ve built the Total Quality Process (TQP) flagship program to help organizations move beyond theory and embed quality as a living management process. This program is designed for leaders, managers, and teams who want to reboot TQM with a modern operating system that is faster, role-based, and sustainable.
Our TQP family of courses includes:
Quality Management (QMC) Course – Focused on leadership responsibilities, governance processes, and the Four Key Management Activities.
Quality Improvement (QIC) Course – Equipping managers and teams with PDCA discipline, problem-solving tools, and process ownership.
Total Quality Management (TQM) Training Course – This general course provides the foundation for understanding quality as conformance to requirements and the key elements of a TQM framework.
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Training Course – Practical methods to identify, analyze, and eliminate root causes of recurring problems.
