Excellence and Quality is taught in many of the courses in the College. MidEx is auditing what teaching is done in the fields of quality, improvement, standards and excellence. The aim is to ensure a consistent approach across all subjects in the College and more broadly in the University. It is important to embed quality and improvement principles and techniques into our full and part time teaching, at all levels, translating our cross-sectoral learning into practice for the benefit of Midlands (and global) organisations.
In particular, we would want to ensure awareness and the practical application of the following topics and their associated tools and techniques:
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Process/value stream mapping and analysis, to 'lean' existing production and service processes, thus improving productivity and efficiency.
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Lean/just in time principles applied to resources management and operational control.
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Quality control practices and the use of Statistical Process Control (SPC).
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Total Quality management (TQM) principles and the contribution of the Quality Gurus.
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Kaizen/continuous improvement.
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'Zero-defect' and Crosby's 'cost of quality' principles.
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The emergence of participative programmes for quality improvement, including the quality circle movement.
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Regulation, certification and accreditation, including the ISO range of standards, especially ISO 9000 series.
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Quality awards and associated benchmarking tools, including the EFQM Excellence scheme, Investors in Excellence Standard and Investors in People (IiP).
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Lean Six-Sigma and the DMAIC cycle.