Product Quality

Defects Create More Waste Than Meets The Eye!

Defects, mistakes, and errors are a major source of frustration for customers and cause them to look for other providers for the products and services they purchase.  But in addition to customer dissatisfaction, these defects, mistakes, and errors create waste that suck up our precious resources of time and money.  Employees are forced to rework and repair products and provide services all...

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Data Measurement: For Better, For Worse!

All decisions in life, whether personal or professional, are based on available information or data-or at least should be.  Accurate information contributes to good decision-making.  On the other hand, insufficient or inaccurate data contributes to faulty decisions. Measurement is how your company collects data.   But having someone go through the motions of measurement is not enough.  Your...

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Contamination, Perception and The Story of the Dirty Rug

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of working with a relay manufacturer in China.  They wanted help implementing lean in their stamping operation, reducing changeover times and help resolving some long standing quality issues.  During my initial visit, they told me that one of their biggest problems was product contamination due to dirt, dust, human skin, fibers, etc.  As they took me on a...

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Understanding the Aspects of Product Quality Can Help Build a Competitive Advantage

In his 1987 article in the Harvard Business Review, “Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality,” David Garvin defined eight dimensions or characteristics that can be used at a strategic level to analyze product and service quality.  As producers of products it is important to understand what customers desire among these characteristics to help build a competitive advantage....

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