Jeroen van Oostrom - FreeDigitalPhotos.net“ Lorena Bermúdez Camblor is Coordinator of the Master in Quality Management and Excellence in Organizations at Bureau Veritas University Center.”
I would like to start this post by asking the following question: does quality cost money?
Using a play on words, I dare to say that quality does not cost, what costs is the NON-quality. And it is on this point that I believe efforts should be focused when it comes to reducing business costs.
This will be well understood with the following case that I tell you:
A chemical company that makes dyes made a sale to chinese america data a textile company for €1,000. The textile company dyed fabrics with this chemical, giving the fabrics a value of €6,000. Finally, a multinational textile company made clothing items from the fabrics for a value of €30,000.
At the end of manufacturing, during a washing process, it was observed that the dye was leaving the dyed area , staining the rest of the design.
This is when the chain reaction of claims occurs . The manufacturer of the garments complains to the supplier of the fabrics, who offers to refund the €6,000 that the material cost. On the other hand, the manufacturer of the fabrics complains to the chemical company, which only covered the cost of the dye.
To prevent trade relations from breaking down, everyone tried to partially remedy the problem. But in the end, no one took full responsibility for the damage, and everyone suffered at the same time.
If we observe, the damage was gradually increasing as the defective product advanced in the chain, hence the importance of controlling quality from the beginning, despite the obstacles that may arise , so that problems are detected as soon as possible, thus achieving a reduction in associated costs.
We see that quality, in the long run, never implies costs, since if it were not controlled, the costs would be much higher.
Non-quality does entail costs, and this fact is evident in the day-to-day running of companies, resulting in losses that can amount to millions.
In order to improve, we must be aware of the problems associated with the activities we are carrying out. If we do not recognize the existence of problems, the spirit necessary to solve them will not appear.
I am not going to go into all the aspects related to cost management and control in this post. There is a wide bibliography that we can find. However, as a simple recipe, I would like to briefly recall the famous waste or “mudas” that Kaizen talks about, in order to avoid incurring non-quality costs. The reduction of these wastes are aspects in which, to a greater or lesser extent, we can all collaborate:
Overproduction : This is the act of producing more than the customer requires or demands. Excess inventory, work in progress and finished products are the result not only of a management philosophy aimed at “pushing” products to the market, but it is also a way of protecting against production interruptions due to lack of raw materials, equipment breakdowns, process failures, etc. However, it is necessary to realize that everything produced above customer demand entails consumption of resources, both labor and raw materials, and is therefore a waste. The solution is to produce when the customer demands it.
Excess Inventory : This excess of raw materials and finished or in-process products creates the need for larger physical spaces, increasing handling costs, stock management costs, higher financial costs, costs due to breakages, expiration dates and out-of-fashion, as well as hindering daily tasks.
Transport : Transport waste refers to unnecessary internal transfers due to poor designs of both plants and production processes, which generate costs but do not add value for end consumers.
Unnecessary movements : These are all those that, by not considering a better design of the circuits, processes and activities, generate lower levels of productivity in workers, as a result of unnecessary movements and greater physical wear and tear.
Waiting Times : Refers to both the time wasted due to lack of supplies or machine breakdowns, as well as the preparation times for machines and tools.
Failures and Repairs : Failures and errors subsequently generate corrective activities or the loss of elements. This waste is caused by the lack of continuous control and the application of preventive measures that allow the correct products and services to be generated the first time.