Masonry Magazine August 1992 Page. 12
The Quality Revolution
Although we're seeing quality as a revolution, it's certainly nothing new. It's been around for years, and your customers are changing as a result of the effects of quality management.
American business is in the midst of a revolution. Signs of this revolution are visible everywhere-in newspapers, magazines, on television specials, and more importantly, in the attitudes and demands of your customers.
This revolution is called quality. In its simple form, it's a system of management that focuses a company on its customers and establishes processes that consistently and profitably allow the company to meet or exceed the customer's needs.
Just look at the successful contractors that you know. They're successful because they have a firm grip on what their customers want, and have been successful in meeting those needs. They are part of the quality revolution and are insuring their future success.
Although we're seeing quality as a revolution, it's certainly nothing new. It has been around for years, and your customers are changing as a result of the effect of quality management. Those of you who have been in business for more than five years have seen some dramatic changes in your customers. They seem to be better informed and are demanding more value for their dollars.
What has caused our customers to change, to demand more value and better quality? Think about it-you know the answer. Who spoiled our customers, who showed them they could get better quality? That's right the Japanese.
Just a short time ago, the Japanese made junk, and now they're the masters of quality. How did they make the change? How did they get the edge on quality?
Simply put, it was one man and one concept. Edwards Demming introduced quality management to the Japanese after World War II-and the rest is history. Just look at the automobile industry. Once controlled by American manufacturers, it's now dominated by the Japanese.
And our customers are spoiled. The Japanese have shown them that they can expect high quality on a consistent basis. That's why Honda is number one in customer loyalty.
By ALFRED R. ROACH, JR. and WILLIAM M. CALLAHAN
Callahan Roach and Associates
These concepts of quality-originally exported from America to Japan-are now being practiced by a number of American companies who recognize that it's no longer a question of choice but a matter of survival. These companies know that if they don't meet their customers' demands for quality, some competitor will.
So quality is a matter of survival. Its not an option for American businesses in the 90s.
Don't look at this as a threat. It's a great opportunity. The good news is that companies that invest their time and money in learning and implementing the quality process will be successful.
What is quality? How can we implement a process until we're able to define it and use it in our business? Quality is a subjective concept, is often misunderstood and seen as too vague to use as a system of management.
Just as Potter Stewart of the U.S. Supreme Court wrote when attempting to define pornography... "I can't define it, but I sure know it when I see it." Quality is like that hard to define but our customers sure do know it and buy it when they see it.
We must have definition. If we want to pursue quality as a system for managing our business, we must be able to define it. Phillip B. Crosby, author of "Quality is Free", says, Quality is conformance to the requirements, and that's all it means. If you start confusing quality with elegance, brightness, dignity, love or something else, you will find everyone has different ideas. Talk about conformance and non-conformance. If you don't like the requirements, get them changed officially, If you don't adopt this attitude and an stick to it, everyone gets to set his own standards and the last person in line determines what goes out the door.
According to Crosby, quality is defined by our customers. Simple, isn't it? Since we wouldn't be in business without our customers, it makes sense to run our business based on what our customers want. So, quality is defined as conforming to our customer's requirements.
Since our definition uses the word "conforming," it suggests that quality is a process. It's a way of doing business.
Crosby goes on to define the system of quality by adding three other concepts, or absolutes. Crosby's second absolute tells us that once we have learned about our customers' needs and requirements, we must establish goals, or performance standards, which equal those requirements.
For example, we know our customers don't want call-backs. They want the job done right the first time. So, if that is what the customers want, that's what we must deliver. Our performance standards are driven by our customers.
Crosby's third absolute requires that we determine how our company measures up to meeting our customers' requirements. This is called the "cost of quality." This absolute requires that we determine why we are not meeting our customers' requirements, and measuring how much that failure is costing us.
And if we haven't gotten your attention yet, this failure cost should be enough to get you involved in the quality process-immediately.
Crosby, and other experts who study the effects of quality on businesses, tell us that the cost of not doing quality results in a loss equal to twenty to thirty percent of a company's annual revenue. Big number, isn't it?
And that's where the issue of survival comes in. Quality is a matter of survival-it's not an option for American businesses in the 90s.