Total Quality Management

AABP Clinical Mastitis Guidelines and Evaluation Records to Make Treatment Decisions

Abstract

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a relative new term on dairy farms to describe the process of work and how it is accomplished. It implies that every task has an expected level of quality that all personnel on the farm have agreed upon and accepted. Instead of the owner/manager determining goals, objectives and strategies while others are responsible for work assigned, TQM is designed to bring about cooperation of all personnel in determining goals and the work necessary to assure quality is included into the process¹. All work has structure that can be broken down into systems with specific tasks to be accomplished by personnel on the farm. The first step is to establish herd goals and to be sure everyone (owner(s), manager(s), worker(s)) agree on these goals and are committed to the work necessary to achieve them. When everyone has agreed to the goals it is equally important that all are involved in the decision of objectives and strategies necessary to implement the task to get the job accomplished and meet the "quality principles".²