Title: Agile Innovative Total Quality Function Deployment and its financial accountability in an Indian company

Authors: S. Vinodh, G. Sundararaj, S.R. Devadasan, D. Rajanayagam, R. Murugesh

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 004, Tamilnadu, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 004, Tamilnadu, India. ' Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 004, Tamilnadu, India. ' Standards and Systems, Salzer Electronics Limited, Coimbatore 641 047, Tamilnadu, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore 641032, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract: In the last few decades, the world has witnessed the emergence of three strategies, namely, quality, innovation and Agile Manufacturing (AM). This paper reports research work, which was carried out to tap the synergic powers of these strategies. To begin with, a model by the name agile Innovative Total Quality Function Deployment (agile ITQFD) was designed. A financial accounting system was also designed in order to depict the performance of agile ITQFD using financial values. As an experiment, the working of agile ITQFD and its financial accounting system were studied in an Indian electronics switches manufacturing company. This company has successfully applied many world class manufacturing strategies. Hence, the inferences drawn from this experimentation could be viewed from a global perspective, which indicated that it is possible to apply agile ITQFD and its financial accounting system successfully in real-time situations.

Keywords: agile manufacturing; financial accounting; Indian companies; innovation; total quality; quality function deployment; QFD; India; business management; electronic switches manufacturing; world class manufacturing; WCM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2007.014479

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2007 Vol.1 No.1/2, pp.244 - 263

Published online: 10 Jul 2007 *

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