Total failure mode and effects analysis in tea industry: A theoretical treatise

One of the harmless beverages consumed by humans is tea. Today, tea manufacturers are striving to produce high-quality tea by making changes in the manufacturing processes and agronomic practices followed. However, in these efforts 'total quality management' (TQM) techniques are not being used. In order to overcome this research and practice gap, in this paper, the method of applying a technique called 'total failure mode and effects analysis' (TFMEA) in tea industry is theoretically explored. TFMEA is a simple and an effective technique when compared with 'Failure Mode and Effects Analysis' which is widely used in the TQM field. TFMEA is devoid of any complex computations and procedures and therefore it facilitates illiterate labourers of the tea industry to participate in the endeavour of achieving continuous quality improvement in tea manufacturing. Despite its simplicity, tactical steps are required to be followed to gain the acceptance of TFMEA programme among the labourers and managerial personnel of tea manufacturing companies. These tactical steps are illustrated in this paper using a hypothetical case study. The paper concludes by pointing out that real-time case studies are required to be carried out for assessing the practicality of implementing TFMEA programme in the tea industry.