As we discussed in our post “Creating a Focused Business”, one of the first exercises we do when we engage a new client is to have everyone, from the executives to the supervisors, write down what they believe to be the goal of the company. Aside from dissimilar answers, another commonality among the companies we have helped is that most team members will mention something about quality in their response. It seems everyone wants to be the highest quality supplier to their customers. Everyone knows that quality is paramount and that without it your chances of success are very limited. Everyone agrees on that.
The problem comes when asked how they define quality. Again, the answers are varied. We have heard many answers, most are subjective. They range from “If you would sell it to your mother then it is OK to ship” to “If it meets or exceeds the customer’s expectations”. This is a reasonable statement of a quality goal but what if your customer is unreasonable? What if their expectations are simply too high for your price point or service proposition?
If you measure QER, you will absolutely know if you are meeting or exceeding your customer’s expectations. Perhaps you only have one customer that is complaining about quality, that could be a result of not having managed your customer expectations rather than a “quality” problem. But what if you do have a “quality” problem?
The first step in any solution involves defining the expectation. If you cannot define what makes a quality product objectively, how can you hold any of your employees accountable for producing a quality product? The definition must be objective and absolute. Depending on your industry, the definition does not need to be a perfect, flawless product. But if flaws are allowed then the type, size, location, etc. of the allowable defect must be clearly defined and measurable. That definition must then be communicated clearly to your team and, as importantly, to your customers.
Once you have the definition of quality the next step is to build quality into your process. You cannot inspect quality into your product. If you wait to inspect the final product to see if it meets your quality definition it is too late. Every step of your process should be designed with a quality product in mind. It should be easier for your team to do it right than it is to do it wrong. We typically do not have quality inspectors in our processes, although we do understand that they are sometimes required. We prefer to make every team member a quality inspector. If they pass a defect on to the next step in the process, even if they did not create that defect, they are accountable.
The final step is to measure your quality performance. If you are measuring QER then you have a solid measurement of mistakes that have made it to your customer. Beyond that you should be tracking your internal errors as well. Even though they did not affect your customer you still need to be able to see if your process needs to be adjusted. Having a measurement of internal defects will allow you to see where there are gaps in your process that need to be filled.
Let us help your team define your quality standard and develop your processes to make you the top supplier to your customers! Call Title 2 Business Services today!