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Current Articles
Process Improvements
& Quality of Service
"Knock Your Socks Off"
Voice & Data Communications
By Lance Liebl
Imagine how you can capture more customers and better serve them if:
- ALL your telecommunications tools (fax, phone (fixed & mobile),
PCs, PDAs) were able to tap into a unified, "smart," secure
network where information could be easily obtained, exchanged, and forwarded.
- The system operated with 99.999% reliability 24hrs/7days/365days with
excellent voice quality, no voice delay, and no data disruption.
- You could provide seamless communication between your remote sites,
branch offices or telecommuters in real time for both data and voice communications
without disruption.
The same quality improvement tools that you used to reduce variability
and improve your product realization processes can be applied to evaluate
your company’s communication processes. With the technology improvements
in voice and data telephony (Voice Over Internet Protocol - VoIP) that
are now available, the time is ripe to benchmark your system’s capabilities
and implement cost and quality improvements.
1. Start by establishing a cross-functional team of quality assurance,
sales, service, and information technology professionals.
2. Some questions to ask: "What
tools would help us capture more sales, reduce the cost of sales, or reduce
accounts receivables; how could we simplify and reduce the cost of operating
the telecommunications system? What are other companies (or competitors)
doing?"
3. Partner with IP Convergence specialists to learn how to migrate to
cost saving IP convergence technology.
"A company’s ability to provide complete business solutions
depends on its ability to communicate - giving workers the productivity
tools they need, staying in touch with customers and prospects, listening
to feedback and responding quickly. At every point in this process, enterprise
infrastructure plays a dominant role."*
* Quote from Compel. Lance Liebl
is an Account Executive with Compel, a technology service provider with
the full spectrum of enterprise infrastructure and voice services. He
can be reached at (562)755-6651 for additional information on VoIP technology.
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The Magic Wand
Theory
By Ray Wise
Ray Wise is a Quality Engineer at Sempra
Energy and the current Chairperson for the Los Angeles Chapter of ASQ (American
Society of Quality). He is a Certified Mechanical Inspector, Certified Quality
Auditor, and Certified Quality Engineer. He shares his extensive experience
in supplier relations in this article.
With today’s leaner and meaner organizations "quality complacency"
has the potential of becoming very costly. Managers must maintain the focus
on real or total costs and not get lost in the false promises of quick initial
savings. Supply management systems and goals are focusing on "reduced
spends" forcing buyers to search out quick savings solutions. Reduced
spend goals can be effective if buyers maintain the real or total cost mentality
but can be very costly if the effort targets only the lowest initial costs.
Managers must be aware and establish effective big picture goals.
The Quality Department role is changing in many industries from direct control
to business unit support and training. The quality effort and responsibilities
have been reassigned to the performing operations staff. The Quality Manager
is now in a consulting role. He or she is responsible for guiding and nurturing
the effort. This type of system can be highly effective when properly documented,
supported, and monitored. But beware of the Three Monkey Quality System,
see no deficiencies, speak no deficiencies, and hear no deficiencies.
Supply management systems are also making an effort to reduce the quality
costs of incoming components and materials. In the past the effort has been
supported with the following elements:
- Product Qualifying Analysis.
- Supplier Process Approval (utilizing plant
visit or self-assessment techniques).
- Supplier Source Inspection.
- Third Party Inspection and Testing.
- Receiving Inspection and Testing.
- Material and Component Audits.
- Process Inspection and Testing.
- Final Inspection and Testing.
Managed properly these quality efforts can be
very effective but tend to be costly. The goals of supply management must
ensure attaining the highest effectiveness at the lowest cost with the
least amount of risk.
Welcome Supplier Certification. What is supplier certification? This is
a question with many answers based on different opinions. Here is my simple
breakdown. Supplier Certification is a written agreement between a Customer
and a Supplier establishing quality requirements and responsibilities.
The focus is on reducing the customer’s quality costs by shifting
quality financial responsibility back to the supplier. The effort within
the above mentioned elements changes as follows:
- Product Qualifying Analysis.
This element must assure product will meet form, function, and fit requirements
as specified.
- Supplier Process Approval (plant visit
or self assessment).
This element must assure the manufacturing process can continuously produce
the above qualified product and sufficient controls are in place to prevent
non-conforming material from reaching the customer. This element should
be evaluated on a six month, one year, or two year cycle as determined
utilizing risk analysis.
- Supplier Source Inspection, Third Party
Inspection and Testing, and Receiving Inspection and Testing.
These elements should be incorporated into the Supplier Process Approval
element. If the elements become necessary due to non-conforming issues,
the supplier would be financially responsible.
- Material and Component Audits.
This element continues to be required and should be repeated on a six
month, one year, or two year cycle as determined utilizing risk analysis.
- Process Inspection and Testing, Final Inspection
and Testing.
These elements are required but should be controlled within the customer’s
manufacturing process.
Beware of the Magic Wand Theory. This occurs when suppliers are automatically
certified without justification. One zap from the magic wand and the supplier
is certified. All of the customer’s quality issues are now the responsibility
of the supplier with no further effort from the customer. The Magic Wand
Theory supports the effort of the Three Monkey Quality System.
Understand the elements of supplier management. Understand management
is impossible without measurement. When the quality elements are transferred
to supplier controls the customer must not eliminate the ability to measure
and validate the supplier’s effort. Awareness is the most powerful
element in controlling quality complacency. If a supplier understands
and respects your quality requirements and system for quality assurance,
the supply management system becomes far more effective.
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Team
Spirit
By Muriel Sasaki
Are you and your colleagues "burnt out"
by problem solving teams? Have your team experiences in the past been
less than productive? Here are five tips to help your next team stay on
course:
1. Establish team ground rules
early in the process by asking the question, "How can we best support
each other in our work together?" Be sure to address issues like
meeting times and length and expectations like showing up on time and
staying for the whole meeting. These common "discourtesies"
impede the productivity of the group, no matter how well intentioned.
2. Train all team members
in the basics of team dynamics and systematic problem solving so they
will know what to expect and how to help move the project along.
3. Select team members for their ability
to provide information or for skills that will contribute toward resolving
the problem at hand. Ask, "What other skills do we need or what other
people should we include to get the data we need?" Bring others with
relevant capabilities to help at different stages of the problem solving
process
4. Identify & obtain the resources
and organizational support the team needs
to effectively carry out its assignment. Some questions that help to identify
these resources are: "To whom will the team make its recommendations?"
"How will the team’s decisions be implemented?" "How
will the team’s decisions be maintained?"
5. Finally, give the team permission
to be creative by asking, "What rule-breaking
path might we take to radically improve our service to our customers (internal
or external)?"
Let us know if these ideas work for you. Email us to share your triumphs
in team problem solving & corrective actions. We would like to publish
them in future newsletters to celebrate your successes and encourage others
in their ventures. Email: aims@earthlink.net.
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Preventative
Action is Liability Prevention
By Muriel Sasaki
My father lost all his teeth when he was a middle-aged man. I remember
thinking, with grim foreboding, that this was a natural consequence of
growing up and aging.
I am recalling this incident because I am frequently asked, "How
do you know what kind of preventive action to take?" or "How
do you know what potential non-conformities might arise?" or "How
do you go about implementing preventive action?" Knowing the outcomes
(as in the case of my family’s dental practices) certainly makes
it easier to decide what "preventive" steps to take. The shifting
sands of the business environment, however, make this virtually impossible.
The ISO 9001 standard doesn’t provide a lot of answers but requires
that:
"A documented procedure shall
be established to define requirements for
a) determining potential non-conformities
and their causes
b) evaluating the need for action to prevent occurrences of non-conformities
c) determining and implementing action needed
d) records of results of action taken
e) reviewing preventive action taken"
ISO 9001-2000; Section 8.5.3
The original question remains, "How do you know what potential non-conformities
might arise?" If Murphy's Law is correct, "whatever can go wrong
will go wrong…at the most inopportune time".
It seems to me that preventive action (like our preventive health care
practices) really needs to be addressed from the viewpoint of protecting
the well being of the corporate entity from its risks and liabilities.
The most serious of these is product liability. So let me ask you, "Who
in your company would know its inherent risks?" Probably not one
single person but several key people would have knowledge from which to
draw a composite picture.
All organizations are challenged by potential liabilities. The news media
is rife with reports of profitable, well managed businesses that have
come under regulatory, congressional, and public scrutiny for failures
of their products or services. Some of them stand literally, on the brink
of "losing all their teeth".
As in the Ford/Bridgestone case, even with fairly good product design
and engineering procedures and appropriate checks and balances in their
product realization activities, unanticipated consequences can crop up.
So What Else Can Be Done?
Randall Goodden, author of Product Liability, A Strategic Guide (ASQ Press,
2000), says, "When an opposing attorney is investigating the internal
practices of a manufacturing corporation for a product liability trial,
he or she is going to expect the manufacturer to have in place at least
the following:
- A fully documented system of control
procedures.
- A procedure for holding
formal design reviews on new products and documenting those reviews.
- Procedures or policies
to assure compliance with any standards that could apply to the manufacturer’s
product.
- A system to fully
document the results of hazards analysis on a new product.
- Procedures for conducting
reliability tests on new products and for documenting the results.
- An effective engineering
and blueprint control program.
- A sound program for
the selection of new suppliers.
- A thorough receiving
inspection program.
- Procedures and processes
for the inspection and testing of the product during each phase of production,
and records to prove inspection and testing occurred.
- Documentation of
customer complaints about products and responses to those complaints.
- A recall program that is used when expected
and deemed necessary."
There are similar expectations of service providers.
When a company goes to trial in a liability case, it must be able to prove
to the court that its products or services are safe and reliable by design.
It must also prove that every reasonable effort was made to ensure that
the products were safe and reliable during their development, production,
and delivery. Moreover, the defendant must demonstrate that reasonable
precautions were exercised to prevent non-conformities from being introduced
or overlooked during the realization processes. Evidence of active managerial
concern for the public welfare and ethical decision making is also expected.
The following activities are the first line of defense in the prevention
of liabilities and non-conformities:
- Review of customer contracts or orders
to ensure they are fully understood and that you have the capability to
successfully meet them;
- Continual evaluation of vendors;
- Product identification to prevent any misuse;
- Preventive maintenance of equipment;
- Continuous inspection and testing of the product;
- Properly calibrated inspection, measuring, and
test equipment;
- Immediate identification or segregation of nonconforming
product;
- Prompt handling of customer complaints;
- Internal audits with trained auditors to identify
potential
weaknesses
- Trained personnel in all areas of the process
But that is only half the story. Being able to prove that these activities
are effective is the other half. Top managers should be able to provide
evidence that they are using the records generated by these activities
to see if any trends exist which show that a potential problem could arise.
Typical situations that should be scrutinized are:
- Difficulties with suppliers
- In-process problems, rework rates, wastage levels
- Final inspection failures
- Customer complaints & customer surveys
- Warranty claims
- Service reports
- The need for concessions
If preventive action is necessary, it should be documented and followed
up in a reasonable period of time to see if it has made a difference.
Liability prevention is of strategic importance.
On the other hand, a well-conceived sales strategy is also important to
prevent unnecessary loss of business. I recently shopped for a ceiling
fan and the characteristics of various motors were extolled to me by the
sales person. Finally, I spotted a fan that struck my fancy. "Oh,
no," he said. " I wouldn’t get that one. It’s motor
is way under-powered for the size of its blades. It’ll wear out fast."
Now, why would anyone use a motor that wasn’t right for its function?
"Price," came the quick reply. "You get what you pay for."
Well that may have been a good enough answer in yesterday’s market,
but consumers today expect far more value for their money. The producer’s
decision to marry that motor with those blades cost the company a sale(s).
So liabilities come in many unexpected forms and are the unintended consequences
of decisions made long before the customer holds the product. Preventive
action requires understanding one’s customer and making decisions
in the best interests of that customer’s needs. It is imperative
to organizational viability...or keeping all its teeth.
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