Applying Total Quality Management to Design and Construction

Abstract

In May of 1992, in Dallas, Tex., the Construction Engineering Program at Iowa State University held its third “Total Quality Management (TQM) in Building Design and Construction Workshops.” As was true for previous workshops, this workshop brought together knowledgeable executives from the United States and Canada to share how they have applied the concepts of TQM to their businesses and to share their TQM experiences. The workshop included breakout sessions, summary sessions, and case‐study presentations. The keynote address was given by the president of the Defense Systems & Electronics Group of Texas Instruments (TI), Inc., a 1992 Baldrige Award winner. Four topics were selected for discussion in the breakout sessions: (1) Recommendations for beginning the quality journey; (2) quality implementation in small and large companies; (3) recommendations for improving job‐site quality; and (4) recommendations for the development and use of quality‐improvement teams. During this workshop, participants developed lists of observations and recommendations for each of the four topic areas. The recommendations amount to an action list for companies interested in implementing TQM.