Good managers want to contain costs in the manufacturing industry. One way to improve finances is by eliminating the cost of poor quality. Lost labor hours and scrap material don’t add any value to the operation and it helps to eliminate these wastes. There are a number of ways to improve manufacturing quality control and there are a number of benefits in doing so.
Use a Team Mindset: One person can’t just solve quality control alone. In order to make a lasting impact, it needs to be a team-based approach. If managers involve multiple discipline areas, there is a variety of perspective. It also helps to know the knowledge of process history. Why are things done the way they are? There should be a reason, and the reason should be considered when looking at new approaches, in order to not make the same mistakes. By considering both the group perspective and the history, quality control can be improved.
Look at Quality from the Customer Perspective: Many times the staff wants to make the product better, but they aren’t sure what better really means. Usually, to make the product better there needs to be an additional cost, but these additional costs may not be worth it for consumers. Someone should serve as the customer advocate. This voice can usually come from the marketing or sales department. Take the customer’s perspective in mind to determine what the best product will be, but while still keeping costs in check.
Solve Problems Completely: Improvements in quality sometimes fix the symptoms of failure, instead of the root cause of the problem. A true understanding of the root cause of the problem should be developed, and then teams should work to fix that cause instead of just what happens because of it. It’s also important to consider the costs that are involved with replacement or warranty repairs, as well as the cost of the company’s damaged reputation. If this is taken into consideration, it’s easier to want to find the root cause of the problem in order to save on costs in the long run.
Use Strong Process Discipline: It important that some structure is used to maintain consistency and an understanding of how the product is made. This way, the root cause can be identified to see if any new problems come up as a result of the change.
Utilize Automation: There are a number of automation tools on the market that can make quality control easier. By automating some tasks, you can focus energy on tasks that require manual involvement. Scalability is important when thinking about automating, and you want to choose a system that will grow with your business.
Remember manufacturing quality control should be the most important area to focus on. If you aren’t producing quality products, then everything else will become irrelevant.