Yesterday’s Quality : Today’s Dinosaur
Then: Quality Control
In my early years as a Quality Consultant, nobody really understood what I could deliver? Typical reactions were:
“You mean quality control?”
“Which industry? What products?”
I would invariably respond:
“Not quality control; I focus on quality improvement. In quality control you maintain the standard. In quality improvement you challenge the standard.”
“Quality improvement is a managerial subject and not specific to an industry.”
Strong silence would follow. I would not hear from these persons again.
Now: Quality Improvement
Today, ‘quality’ is widely understood as being ‘customer driven’. That’s right. In fact the term ‘customer’ has expanded to include external and internal customers.
I like to define ‘customer’ as anyone impacted by the related product and/or process! These customers define quality. Therefore, quality in the eyes of the customer is the basis to be competitive. To remain competitive, quality improvement is no longer a choice. It requires that you improve at a rate faster than your competition. Always challenging the standard.
It is worth noting that Qimpro has saved its clients in excess of Rs 17,500 crore as a by-product of quality improvement.
Obviously, a habit of quality improvement makes good business sense.
Tomorrow: Quality Planning
Quality management involves quality planning, quality control, quality improvement.
Quality planning starts with: “Who is your customer?” Everyone needs a customer for the work they do. Or else, what are they doing?
The next question is, “What are your customer’s needs?” Understanding customer needs requires empathetic listening skills.
The remaining steps lead to Best-In-Class product goals and Capable Processes. Therefore, in quality planning you set the standard. This can generate results of Zero Defects.
That is precisely what our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wants from ‘Made In India’.
Zero Defects: Doable in India
For Zero Defects, we need quality planning to Build Quality into the Design. As you are aware, quality control and quality improvement focus on operations and compliment the driver – quality planning.
And yes, Zero Defects is doable in India. Check with Suresh Krishna of Sundaram Fasteners. His team knows how to produce defect free radiator caps for General Motors, globally….year after year.
Suresh Krishna was Qimpro Platinum Standard 1997.
————-
Click here to buy his new book: Quality Fables–now available on Amazon Kindle
————-
