| dc.description.abstract | Quality tools and technique can be used to achieve continuous improvement of quality
in the manufacturing industry. This research is focused on manufacturing companies located
in the states of Perlis and Kedah. The study examines whether manufacturing companies
employ quality tools and techniques in their daily operations. In addition, it identifies the
problems and challenges faced during the implementation of the tools and techniques on the
manufacturing shop floor. The study uses mail questionnaires and structured interviews as its
main instruments of data collection. In this study four hypotheses are developed based on the
theoretical framework, of which the variables are in the categories of independent, dependent
and moderating variables. Independent variables comprise of company location, number of
years the company has been operating (referred to as “level of maturity”), annual sales
turnover, number of full time employees, product(s) of the company, and quality standard
certification. Meanwhile, the dependent variables are the issues in the implementation of
quality tools and techniques, and how quality tools and techniques help the companies.
Moderating variables in this research are the actual use of quality tools and techniques and
information regarding the respondents who answered the questionnaire on behalf of the
company. Data was analysed using independent T-Test and one-way analysis of variance
(ANOVA) and the results helped to identify the problems and challenges faced during the
implementation of the tools and techniques. The findings of this study reveal that quality tools
and techniques are indeed being used by the companies but each with varying degree. The
results reveal that companies that implement ISO 9000 quality system tend to use more
quality tools and techniques compared to companies without quality systems. The study
indicated that high sales turnover has no impact on planning, budget and training as well as
the implementation of quality tools and techniques. It also indicates that the level of maturity
does not have any bearing on the implementation of quality tools and techniques. Lastly,
higher numbers of work forces do not necessarily bring about issues of communication and
teamwork in order to implement quality tools and techniques in the company. In conclusion,
the overall results from this study show that training, teamwork, communication, planning, and
budgeting have no impact at the companies in Perlis and Kedah. | en_US |
