Quality — There Is A Lot To Consider BY PAUL GRAVER
cide what needs to sell and to where and to whom it needs to be sold. Product quality and the capability of achieving that level of quality must be part of that equation. You must understand your customers’ expectations and know that your product, and how you make it, will meet those expec- tations. Specifications and limits are the key. Make sure the specifications are the right ones needed to properly define your product and that the specifications are within your ca- pability. Understand what your customer is doing with the product, so you can be sure the specs are right. Keep in mind that even if you’ve done that homework sometime in the past, your customers’ process or expectation may have changed. Did your specs change to keep up? Even if your quality is meeting all your expectations, your com- petition may have adapted their version of the product to meet the customer’s changing needs. If you haven’t, the difference may show up as loss of market share that will be hard to win back if you are late to the party. Once you have specs established, you need to decide how, and how often they need to be measured or ob- served. Whether it is a specific measurement, test, or visu- al assessment, it must be defined, quantifiable, and docu- mented to ensure consistency and validity. The frequency of these tests should be in line with the known variability of your process, so you know the data you collect is repre- sentative. There should be written procedures with clear CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
Quality means many things to many people. It’s a matter of perspective, but your definition of quality needs to be specific to your process and products. Attributes of a qual- ity product from a customer’s perspective are consistency, meeting customer expectations, durability, and fitness for use. From the producer’s view, quality impacts reputation, work culture, production cost, material cost, waste, reve- nue, time, and productivity. All must be considered when creating a quality program or evaluating an existing one. Where does your quality program stand? It helps to ask a few questions. Are you looking at the right things? Are you measuring them correctly? Are you logging the right data, analyzing it, and making the right decisions based on what you see? Does your quality system cost you money or save you money? Does your team understand the value of quality? What do your customers think? How well does your product perform? Is it fit for its intended use? Who you are and what you are selling will define your quality. Sales, Marketing and Product Development will de-
Process and Quality System Optimization
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