Quality comes in many forms, and a first step to achieving quality in your facility is to acknowledge that processes must adapt to meet new quality standards. These changes may happen suddenly and regularly and the learning curve– the proverbial hump over business as usual– may be steep, but necessary.
One such example of this is the old saying, “When you can’t change the direction of your wind — adjust your sails.” You can’t control the wind any more than you can control other outside factors. You have to adjust your actions to maintain high quality output in the face of these changes. Those who can do this concisely and correctly won’t miss a beat. Those without a good understanding of their process or without adequate control could faulter.
Some such factors that force quality adjustment include:
- Outside suppliers changing a product line, discontinuing a product or having production issues.
- A shift in your industry such as movement to unions or other labor-related changes
- A new law or regulation that applies to your industry, your products or your services.
- Shifts from your competition towards more eco-friendly processes or materials which forces segments of the industry to move with it.
- Efficiency within your own process improving, thus forcing changes in other parts of your process and the processes of those aroudn you.
- The effect of the customer’s needs changing which may force a retooling or scaling up or down of operations.
While many of these circumstances sound drastic, they don’t have to be. The first step is to acknowledge where you stand in your process. The second step is to seek out the tools to make the necessary changes. The third is to institute these changes and the fourth is to judge the changes and how they effect the quality of your output.
Even the biggest shifting gust won’t be able to knock the wind from your sails if you’re prepared.
