See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/233227549

Effective Total Quality Management in the textile fashion retail supply chain: A
pilot survey of the UK textile manufacturers

Article  in  Journal of the Textile Institute · March 2005

DOI: 10.1533/joti.2004.0058

CITATIONS READS

11 2,548

2 authors, including:

Neil Towers
University of Gloucestershire
35 PUBLICATIONS   719 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Neil Towers on 16 January 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Effective Total Quality Management in the textile fashion retail supply chain;
a pilot survey of the UK Textile Manufacturers.

Corresponding author
Neil Towers
Department of Textiles
UMIST, PO Box 88, Manchester
M60 1QD
Tel: 0161 200 3172
Fax: 0161 955 8391
Email: N.Towers@umist.ac.uk

John McLoughlin,
William Lee Innovation Centre,
UMIST, PO Box 88, Manchester
M60 1QD

Keywords: Textile Supply Chain, Total Quality Management, Survey, SMEs

Type of Article: Pilot survey

ABSTRACT

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a well documented philosophy to improving

business and operations activities through adopting quality management systems,
procedures and competencies. The approach is underpinned by the notion of striving
for excellence in performance in fulfilling customer expectations. The aim of this pilot
survey is to examine how widespread TQM has been implemented within the UK
textile manufacturing sector that is characterised by a high proportion of Small and
Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) managing unpredictable and volatile demand. The
survey investigates the effects of quality management systems on business
performance and highlights a number of difficulties including cost constraints, lack of
training and productivity improvements. Reported benefits in team working, quality
awareness and customer satisfaction were noted.

1
Effective Total Quality Management in the textile fashion retail supply chain;
a pilot survey of the UK Textile Manufacturers.

Keywords: Textile Supply Chain, Total Quality Management, Survey, SMEs

Type of Article: Pilot survey
Introduction

During the early days of manufacturing an operative’s work was inspected and a

decision made whether to accept or reject it. As businesses became larger, so did

this role and full time inspection jobs were created. Accompanying the creation of the

inspection function caused other problems to arise. These included:

 More technical problems occurred requiring more specialised skills

 The inspectors themselves lacked training

 Inspectors were ordered to accept defective goods, to maintain

factory throughput

 Skilled workers were promoted into other roles, leaving less skilled

workers to perform the operational jobs

However systems for improving and managing quality have evolved rapidly in the

last two decades. Simple inspection activities have been replaced or supplemented

by the use of quantitative methods involving the application of statistical techniques

for quality control. With these developments in assessing quality came new issues

such as setting of common standards, staff training, recording of data and the

accuracy and consistency of measuring equipment. It had become clear that the

scope for quality was more than just product acceptance, and a need to address

defect prevention emerged. In the process of progression four discrete stages were

identified, shown in Figure 1 below.

2
Figure 1: The Four Levels in the evolution of TQM (Dale, 2003)

The four levels shown in Figure 1 include Inspection, Quality Control, Quality

Assurance and Total Quality Management. There are two quite different approaches

to quality management in the workplace. Inspection and quality control are a

reactive approach based on the detection of non-conforming product within a batch

or sample. However quality assurance and total quality management focus on a

proactive approach of prevention by addressing process as well as product

performance. The performance of the management infrastructure contributes to the

outcome of product quality rather than solely the technical capability of the

operation. Progression through the different levels is supported by an organisation

empowering and caring for its staff and seeking continuous improvement. It is driven

by a positive approach to quality management by learning from its shortcomings and

introducing sustainable improvements for the longer term.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

The model proposed by Dale (2003) identified a number of basic principles that

underpin a total quality management approach to improving performance. These

3
include commitment and leadership, customer orientation, process orientation and

continuous improvement.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach to improving the competitiveness

and flexibility of an organisation for the benefit of all stakeholders. It is a way of

planning, organising and understanding each activity and of removing all the wasted

effort and energy that is routinely exerted in the organisation. It ensures the leaders

within the organisation adopt a strategic overview of quality and focus on the

prevention of problems. The customer orientation provides a common goal for all

organisational activities and its members, and incorporates both quality of the

processes used in the operation as well as conformance to the product specification

(Oakland, 2000). Each process in the chain has a customer who demands total

fulfilment of their expectations and strives for excellence in performance. The

activities performed within an organisation can be broken down into basic tasks or

processes, normally seen as the transformation of inputs into outputs by the

operation. Processes are linked in a series of interconnected operations to form

extended processes. In this way TQM attempts to emphasis that all employees are

ultimately involved in servicing the final customer. Satisfying customers involves an

incremental and continuous improvement in performance through servicing their

requirements. It involves innovation and improvement through small steps, often

based on team working that can lead to larger and more radical breakthroughs.

Measurement systems must be in place to monitor the cost of quality and customer

satisfaction. The more intangible process metrics of TQM are supplementary to the

more traditional product measurement of defects and variation. Figure 2 describes

the range of participants and processes involved in the quality management system.

4
Figure 2: The Process Based Quality Management System (BSI, 2000)

Monitoring the quality performance level of participants, both internal and external to

the business towards their customers requires a recording and evaluation activity

embedded in the operation. These assessments establish the extent by which the

customer needs and expectations have been met. Process effectiveness and

efficiency can be assessed through internal and external audit and incorporated into

the control mechanisms.

Quality Management System (QMS)

As part of a TQM approach an organisation must develop and implement an

appropriate quality assurance system that is tailored to the type of manufacturing

activity for the product or service being offered. A fully documented Quality

Management System (QMS) will ensure that the two important requirements of

customer expectation and the organisation’s requirements, both internally and

externally are met.

5
The QMS is the means by which an organisation is managed and controlled. The

system should use processes to achieve that outcome and are a balance between

procedures and staff competencies. There is a requirement to identifying the

processes, determining their interaction, ensuring that there is sufficient information

to monitor performance and maintain control within prescribed limits. Processes are

what need to be done, which within the organisation needs to undertake the task

and what is the intended result. Procedures and competencies will support those

processes and define how the activity is required to be completed. Central to the

philosophy is the assumption that people, processes and performance are

inextricably linked (Porter and Tanner, 1996).

To achieve quality performance and to strive for excellence the notion of total quality

management has been developed to incorporate the external dimension. The

processes are managed and continually reviewed to fully satisfy the customers and

to support the business’s policy and strategy. Figure 3 below illustrates the

progression of different stages in the pathway to excellence for an organisation

6
 EXCELLENCE

TQM
Quality Assurance

Quality Control

Inspection

Figure 3: The Way to Excellence

Small Manufacturing businesses

Changes in the UK manufacturing sector over recent times have been well

documented, with the predominant theme of downsizing of large companies and the

growth of small businesses (Hirst and Zeitlin, 1989; Thoburn and Takashima, 1992).

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with less than 250 employees accounted

for nearly 44% of all employment in the UK (Day, 2000) but are characterized by a

different set of attributes that challenge the adoption of a TQM approach. Their

existence is continuously exposed to risks of limited investment capability and there

is a difficulty of diverting skilled personnel from day to day activities. There is also a

difficulty to undertake process reengineering initiatives together with a lack of

advanced planning support tools specifically conceived for them (Mezgar et al,

2000). These concerns provide for a different context in which TQM is considered as

a beneficial business strategic initiative. In a comparative study Dale and Duncalf

(1984) studied the quality management practices in a sample of 110 small UK

7
manufacturing companies and noted shortcomings in their use of the quality

assurance approach. It has been estimated that about one third of all effort

expended in organisations is wasted time such as correcting errors, searching for

misplaced items, checking why products are late, redoing etc.

Textile Sector

Many textile businesses have significantly reduced their manufacturing capacity in

the UK and have transferred it overseas to Eastern Europe, the African continent and

Asia. With their significantly lower labour and production costs, companies are able

to widen their profit margins considerably. However there is still a significant textile

manufacturing base in the UK but as a result of economic pressures the textile sector

is currently predominantly populated with SMEs. By focussing their operations on

quality and speed of response as well as cost, UK based organisations have been

able to sustain a position in their markets.

However studies of SMEs within the sector have identified gaps in TQM performance.

Allen and Oakland (1988) found that in a sample of 183 textile businesses the small

companies were not practising quality assurance as well as their larger counterparts.

In a later study (Allen and Oakland, 1991) they commented that there was a distinct

lack of good management practices found in the sample of companies studied from

the British textile industry. Although Total Quality Management is not a new concept,

it is only in the last few years that it has started to be implemented in the clothing

and textile industry in the UK (Mcloughlin, 1999). Taylor (1994) suggested that

utilising a formal quality assurance system (ISO 9000) in textile manufacturing has

been accompanied by at least a perception that financial savings have accrued.

8
TQM in Textiles businesses

The number of textile organisations taking up quality management systems within

the UK has grown continually, from a handful of organisations eight years ago to

several hundred today. But the image of the clothing industry with poor working

conditions and authoritarian management is unfortunately still often justified.

However manufacturing units have become more modern and streamlined replacing

some of the old clothing textile mills with more contemporary ground floor units and

the introduction of new technology have transformed some of the production

equipment. Many of the old practices such as the piecework payment system and

crisis management still remain.

With more and more textile organisations moving their production offshore, it has

been vital for the remaining UK based textile manufacturing industry to retain a

strong position in their market. The need to engineer high quality supply chains to

match customer requirements has particular significance for textile products.

Recognition has been made of high product variety, innovative design and

responsive participants in agile textile supply chains that combine with volatile and

unpredictable demand patterns (Childerhouse and Towill, 2000). Service level

performance is seen to be the order winning characteristic for agile supply (Mason-

Jones et al, 2000). The two factors of cost and customer service performance are

essential to the success and survival of the organisation. Customer service

considerations are paramount since for all textile manufacturing businesses the

customer experience is the prime differentiator to securing orders. Quality

management systems within a total quality management approach share the same

requirements for an uncompromising commitment to promoting excellence.

Research Methodology

9
The focus of the research was to investigate the impact of total quality management

in SMEs working in the textile sector in the UK. The intention of this paper was to

undertake a pilot study to explore the validity of the constructs developed by Dale

(2003) and the appropriateness of the generic process based quality management

system developed by BSI (2000) to textile manufacturing SMEs.

This research sought to achieve a number of objectives, which were:

 To examine how widespread total quality management has been implemented

within small and medium sized textile manufacturing enterprises in the UK.

 To investigate the perceived effects of quality management systems on SME

business performance.

 To propose further investigation for TQM with SMEs in the textile fashion retail

supply chain.

Research Methods

A questionnaire was developed to explore the use of a TQM approach within the

organisation, specifically asking questions about attitude and behaviour towards

customer orientation and the notion of excellence within the business. The

questionnaire was sent to 100 Textile manufacturing SMEs. From the responses a

sample (n=26) of SME textile manufacturers that included clothing manufacture,

textile fabric manufacture and textile finishing returned completed questionnaires for

the research. The questionnaire was personally addressed to the Owner/Managing

Director of the SME.

Analysis of Results

10
The 26 responses to the questionnaire in the pilot survey included 10 (38%) medium

sized businesses and 16 (62%) small businesses. 21 (81%) of the respondents

described their current position as either board or senior management whilst the

remaining 5 (19%) described themselves as middle management or a partner of

their business.

The survey identified that 14 out of the 26 respondents had introduced a quality

management system, whilst two companies had plans to do so within a year. This

represents over half (54%) of the surveyed enterprises reporting that they had

adopted formal quality management systems as an integral part of the operating

procedures within the business (Table 1).

All Small Medium

Organisations enterprises enterprises

QMS present 14 6 8

Planned QMS 2 2 0

No QMS 10 8 2

Table 1: Implementation of a Quality Management System (QMS)

Of the 14 enterprises that reported adopting a QMS all 6 small businesses and 6

medium sized businesses had introduced formal quality management procedures

within the last 5 years whilst the remaining 2 medium sized businesses had

introduced formal quality management procedures more than 5 years ago (Table 2).

Generally the adoption of quality management systems was a recent phenomenon

for the textile manufacturers.

11
 All Small Medium

QMS present: Organisations enterprises enterprises

1-5 years 12 6 6

More than 5 2 0 2

years

Table 2: Adoption of a Quality Management System (QMS)

From the financial perspective the adoption of the quality management system would

be beneficial if it contributed to an improvement in the profitability from the

investment in the operating processes of the SME. 8 of the 14 respondents (57%)

reported an improvement in profitability as a result of incorporating a QMS into the

operating procedures of the SME (Table 3).

All Small Medium

Organisations enterprises enterprises

Improved 8 3 5

profit

Reduced 6 3 3

profit

Table 3: Profitably performance resulting from a TQM approach

The majority of all respondents in the pilot survey used failure/reject rate as the

main quality performance measure. Enterprises that have implemented a QMS tend

12
to have a broader range of quality measures. None of the enterprises that had not

adopted a QMS measured the cost of quality and only 3 SMEs measured the number

of received customer complaints. A summary of the quality performance measures is

shown in Table 4.

No of Failure/Reject Customer Customer Cost of Other

SMEs rates complaints feedback quality

All 26 18 10 8 8 2

respondents

Enterprises 14 11 7 3 8 0

with QMS

Enterprises 12 7 3 5 0 2

without

QMS

Table 4: The main quality performance measure

The main reasons given by the respondents provide an insight into the rational and

motivation behind the adoption of a QMS for the textile manufacturing SMEs.

Customer requirements for supply and competitive pressures are the two most

common reasons (Table 5).

13
 Reasons for adopting QMS Responses

Customer requirements for supply 63%

Competitive pressure 50%

Shorter lead times 13%

To achieve world class status 13%

Table 5: Reasons for adopting a Quality Management System (QMS)

The most important difficulty associated with the quality management system within

the enterprises in the survey was reported as cost constraints. There had been some

minor difficulties with an emphasis on short-term goals, a lack of training and that

the quality improvement had primarily been seen solely as a production concern

(Table 6).

14
 Difficulties Major Minor Not a

concern concern concern

Cost constraints 2 5 2

Focus on Short 0 2 7

term goals

Seen as 0 2 5

Production only

concern

Lack of training 0 4 4

Table 6: Difficulties associated with the Quality Management System (QMS)

The results from the respondents in the pilot survey suggest that in general there is

an overall perceived benefit from developing a QMS as part of a total quality

management approach for a SME textile business. It was found that the external

environment in which textile manufacturing SMEs operate predominantly require the

adoption of TQM as a driver towards customer orientation by the business. It had

become a prerequisite requirement for the textile SME to qualify for supplying

product into the marketplace.

Effects from QMS in striving for Improvement

The questionnaire incorporated a number of questions that were designed to explore

the extent the respondents were striving for improvement in different activities

within the businesses. The proposition was that by focusing on improving the

15
business operation through the use of a quality management system would promote

the notion of striving for excellence. The responses from the 14 SMEs gave a greater

understanding of the effects experienced from the TQM approach to their operation.

These perceived views from the 14 respondents relating to performance of their

textile businesses are summarised in Table 7.

Major Minor No Minor Major

Attribute Improvement Improvement effect Deterioration Deterioration
Quality 7 4 3 0 0
awareness
Team 3 7 4 0 0
working
Labour 0 2 12 0 0
turnover
Safety 4 3 7 0 0

Customer 5 7 2 0 0
complaints
Scrap/defect 4 5 5 0 0
level
reduction
Customer 4 5 5 0 0
satisfaction
Additional 4 7 3 0 0
Sales
Productivity 0 4 7 3 0

Improved 4 4 0 4 2
profitability
Table 7: Business Performance within TQM orientated textile manufacturers

Table 7 indicates that the majority of the manufacturing textile SMEs had

experienced some degree of improvement from the adoption of a TQM approach.

Half of the enterprises had reported major improvements with quality awareness,

team working, safety, scrap/defect level reduction, customer satisfaction and

additional sales. The adoption of TQM in striving for excellence had produced a

limited effect on employee related issues as only minor improvements had been

16
reported in labour turnover and productivity. In fact the latter attribute had been the

widest range of responses with no major improvement or deterioration being

reported. Eight of the 14 textile SMEs that had adopted a QMS reported increased

profitability. This might be interpreted as a consequence of the major improvements

gained from adopting the TQM approach to striving for excellence.

Findings from the pilot survey

For UK based textile manufacturing SMEs operating with a quality management

strategy it appeared to take a considerable amount of time, patience and learning. It

can also be a costly process but it was generally seen as an investment that would

provide a long term benefit to the business. Nearly two thirds of the respondents had

developed or were planning to implement a TQM approach to their businesses. The

textile SMEs saw TQM as an important contributor to sustaining a customer facing

operation. Although this pilot study had not sought to investigate a link between

company performance and TQM it was observed that all the businesses had

experienced increased customer demands for responsiveness and service

performance in parallel with customer lead TQM requirements as a condition of

supply.

TQM was seen as a method of removing waste by involving everyone in improving

the way things are done. Incorporating quality management systems into a

business’s operating procedures as part of adopting a TQM approach was about

changing attitudes and skills so that the processes become one of prevention rather

than detection. Even with the limited resources available to the SMEs priority was

given to improving productivity and reduce costs in supporting supply requirements

to customers. The constructs developed by Dale (2003) and used in this research

were found to be useful in the context of this pilot study.

17
The pilot survey had provided some further understanding of the supply process

used by textile SMEs operating in a very dynamic and volatile marketplace with

considerable competition from overseas companies. The contribution that TQM had

made to improve the operation of the business was seen as important and

necessary.

Future Research

The intention is to undertake a large scale survey of textile manufactures in the UK

that develops this research to gain a greater understanding with a larger sample of

SMEs and larger businesses. The marketplace in the UK for textile manufacturers

continues to change at a fast rate as fashion characteristics of supply are extended

to different retail outlets. It is suggested that future research investigates the impact

of these changes on TQM and its application to customer service performance.

18
 References

Allen, N. and Oakland, J. (1988) “Quality assurance in the textile industry: part 1”,
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 5 (5), pp 25-37
Allen, N. and Oakland, J. (1991) “Quality assurance in the textile industry: part 2”,
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 8 (1), pp 22-30
BSI (2000) BS EN ISO 9000: 2000
Childerhouse, P. And Towill, D (2000) “Engineering supply chains to match customer
requirements”, Logistics Information Management, 13 (5), pp 337-345
Dale, B. (2003) Managing Quality, 4th Ed, Blackwell Publishing
Dale, B and Duncalf, A (1984) “A study of quality assurance in small businesses”
Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, 198B (6), pp 135-9
Day, J. (2000) “The value and importance of the small firm to the world economy”,
European Journal of Marketing, 34 (9/10), pp 1033-1037
Hirst, P. and Zeitlin, J. (eds) (1989) Reversing Industrial decline? Industrial Structure
and Policy in Britain and her competitors, Berg, Oxford
Mason-Jones et al (2000) “Engineering the leagile supply chain” International Journal
of Agile Management Systems, Spring 2000
Mcloughlin, J. (1999) “Implementation of a zero breakdown strategy”, World Clothing
Manufacturer, 80 (1), pp 12-15
Mezgar, I. et al (2000) “Co-operative production planning for small-and medium-
sized enterprises” International Journal of Production Economics, 64, pp 37-48
Oakland, J (2000) Total quality management: text with cases, 2nd ed Butterworth-
Heinemann, Oxford
Porter and Tanner (1996) Assessing Business Excellence: a guide to self-assessment,
Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford
Taylor, W. (1994) “Organizational differences in ISO 9000 implementation practices”
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 12 (7), pp 10-27
Thoburn, J. and Takashima, M. (1992) Industrial Subcontracting in the UK and
Japan, Avebury, Aldershot

19

View publication stats