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March 2023 #15284 Page #35
Does Your Plant Have a Culture of Quality? By Glenn Traylor
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uality, productivity, and speed are intertwined and impact each other. My previous article, Where is Your Focus on Manufacturing?, emphasizes that improving quality starts with implementation of the ANSI/TPI 1 standard—and, with that process, you will improve proficiency and speed. The article also discusses how rework of product will increase your costs as will inattention to controlling waste. Here, let’s focus on the most effective approach for implementing quality improvement—creating a culture of quality. When you have established a culture of quality, then you’ll have a sound footing from which to continue making quality improvements that don’t negatively impact productivity and speed. Assuming we are working on improvements while balancing our strategies to improve productivity, speed, and quality, what can we do to enhance the culture within the manufacturing facility? First, non-compliant work must be identified. To do this, it is essential that everyone is on the same page. This is done by implementation of ANSI/TPI 1 Chapter 3. Third party auditing with an eyewitness at your plant enhances and speeds development and improvement. Once we are aware of areas to improve, we can correct poor workmanship. This will improve everyone’s efforts and will improve the manufacturing stream. Moreover, all departments should be reviewed and management needs to participate. Clear expectations need to be understood by all involved in the process. Remember, the culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate. Providing tools to educate existing workers and on-boarding new hires is important. This should be deliberate and comprehensive so as to cover important issues. Training should focus on mission-critical topics. This is not to say other related topics are ignored. To create a culture, a strong understanding is important across the board regardless of each worker’s job description. They need to understand the big picture.
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