Barriers to total quality management in the Department of Defense

Reliability and maintainability are discussed as subsets of the assurance sciences. Total quality management (TQM) covers all of the assurance sciences, with significant emphasis on the human and organizational systems underlying all production processes. When the Air Force Logistics Command initiated TQM, a number of challenges had to be overcome to achieve the full potential of the program. These barriers included a lack of worker motivation, opposition of existing management, and lack of effective communication.<>