Vision without action is a day dream Action without vision is a nightmare

Japanese Proverb

In this chapter we link Total Operations Solutions to TQM, Six Sigma, Lean Sigma and FIT SIGMA. Chapter 8 shows that if an organization is serious about effecting and maintaining improved performance then a total quality management culture is required. Achieving such a culture is not easy; sustaining it is even harder. The same applies to achieving and sustaining benefits of a quality initiative. This chapter considers the use of FIT SIGMA for achieving and sustaining the benefits of Total Operations Solutions.

The Malcolm Baldridge award, the Deming quality award, the European Foundation of Quality, have all served to give TQM a high profile. One count suggests that there are over 400 TQM tools and techniques (Pyzdec, 2000). However, this high profile has paradoxically contributed to a level of scepticism, especially by middle managers and staff. Promises have not been realized, high profile organizations that have claimed to be practising TQM have gone into decline. Staff have seen slogans and mission statements published which focus on customer service and our people followed by redundancies and drastic cuts in training budgets. This chapter shows how to avoid this.