Masonry Magazine June 1992 Page. 7
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Why The Emphasis
On Quality?
By RICHARD MATTHEWS
President, Mason Contractors Association of America
TWO OF THE MOST FREQUENT questions I've been asked recently have been-What is the Masonry Quality Institute, and why is MCAA putting so much stress on quality? We all consider ourselves quality conscious contractors, and the suppliers we deal with are pretty good. So why the need for this expensive program? It must be for another part of the country for the other guy-not me.
That was my first reaction when I was approached with the idea for the program. And I also wondered why anyone of our members would want to buy into the idea.
Through the program, however, I've learned that there's a lot of money to be saved by my firm just by doing the job right the first time. Doing it right the first time sounds simple enough, but seldom, if ever, is any project completed without problems. Think of all the money that could be saved if everyone in your firm started pulling in the same direction.
MCAA, in conjunction with the National Concrete Masonry Association, developed the Masonry Quality Institute, an intense two day program which we feel certain will save our members thousands of dollars a year-while dramatically increasing the ability of our industry to effectively compete with other wall systems.
The Masonry Quality Institute provides participants with an opportunity to change the philosophy of your company. Many industry experts predict that any company that doesn't have a quality improvement program in place by the end of the century won't be in business.
Everyone running a business today knows they need some sort of edge on the competition. What everyone doesn't know is how to maintain that edge over time. Maybe your business has grown during the current economic slow-down, but what prevents competition from bellying up to your table, elbowing you aside and scarfing up your dinner and maybe you right along with it?
Our industry's competition-other wall systems-keep developing dazzingly new and different systems that save the customer or building owner money or so they claim. This necessitates our doing our work more efficiently, with better quality and on a timely basis-just to keep our current share of the marketplace.
The Masonry Quality Institute program will assist your company in doing each job right, the first and every time. More importantly, it will help your company to increase its profits and retain its customers. Four sessions of the Masonry Quality Institute have already taken place and each has been eminently successful. One session was so successful, in fact, that it was oversold and members had to be turned away. New dates are being added to the schedule to meet the demand.
Many companies realize that a formalized quailty improvement process isn't an option in today's marketplace-it's a matter of survival.
MASONRY-MAY/JUNE, 1992 7