I’ve had the privilege of seeing behind the curtain in many different businesses from a broad range of industries. No business I’ve seen has had the luxury of shirking quality. It’s an essential part of every operation. However, an organization’s view of quality manifests itself in the ways they attempt to control it.
Let’s explore the different views of quality and the evolution over time. Think about where your organization fits in…
The first view of quality is an outdated one; that quality is the minimization of defects (complaints, failures, defective units, etc.). This was the prevalent view of quality up into the 80s. However, there was a massive awakening shortly before the turn of the century that quality must mean more than just good or bad. The notion of quality being driven by customer specifications was born. Within spec was not enough anymore. Now we look at process capability and the ability to produce to target with minimized variability. Six Sigma methodologies were used to drive consistency. In the Lean parlance, process standardization and making identical components was the order of the day.
This was a watershed moment in the manufacturing world. Unfortunately, this revolution was generally fixated on product quality – the widgets of the world. Product quality was only part of the bigger picture, though many organizations still haven’t adopted a grander vision.
Eventually the concept of quality was expanded to include process quality and with it, the realization that the process, as well as the output are interconnected and therefore both subject to the inconsistences that generate variability. Now processes become highly scrutinized and we pursue various certifications to guarantee to our customers that our processes are well-defined and well-adhered to, such as ISO. These certifications are honestly of only limited value, but that’s a topic for another time. Either earnestly or begrudgingly, companies now line up to have third-party verification of their standardized processes.
It’s too bad that having a documented process doesn’t insure that the process is reasonable, efficient, or even necessary. But I digress…
Also, what about high-mix environments and custom jobs shop? Some applications are just too complex for ISO-type certifications. For them, this approach has little to no return on investment and a high price to maintain and to manage.
So what’s left to consider? Internally, we appear to have our ducks in a row now. Products are covered. The processes we use to produce these products are covered. Not so fast.
The third level of quality has to do with the entirety of the customer experience – service quality. We can often and easily neglect this aspect of quality. The elimination of complaints isn’t enough. This is moving from a reactive to a proactive posture in purposely DELIGHTING your customers. Think about it. With rare exceptions, the customer has numerous choices. We therefore have to be strategic in how we differentiate ourselves in the vast supplier pool and maintain the attention of our desired customers.
The old paradigm says “do no harm” but we need to graduate to a level of service quality where we’re actively searching out means to delight our customers and make their entire experience positive rather than just neutral. You see this in fast food. You see this in internet commerce. How would this concept work in your particular industry? What would delight your customers? Have you asked them?
Covering our bases with quality is important. Edward Deming said it this way: “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” Well put. The difference between thriving and just surviving might very well be in the version of quality you’ve adopted. Whatever you are doing today can be taken up a notch or two with the right expertise and culture in place. Don’t allow quality to be too restricted or passive. It might just be the thing that sets you apart from the pack.
Lean In and Lean On.