Email Jim at jthompson@taii.com
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Once in my career, a boss told me we were building too much quality into our products. He said we should provide only the quality the customer expects. That might be true if "extra" quality costs extra expense which you cannot recover.
There is another way to look at this. Automobile quality used to be horrible. If you bought a new car in the early to mid-1970s, you could expect it to have blemishes, if not downright defects right from the start. The only automobile I ever ordered, a 1973 Camaro, was delivered with a broken shock absorber. Within two months it died because it had a clogged fuel filter from debris left in the tank. The quality of automobiles has improved greatly--competition, primarily Japanese--forced it. This is the power of quality. Build a better product and you'll beat the competition and high operating margins as well.
The quality of air travel is better, too. More flights are on time today than back then. The amenities of the airplanes and the terminals have improved from those of forty years ago. Where has quality really improved? Fatalities per passenger mile flown have dropped significantly over time and are half the rate of what they were in the 1990s, which in turn were much safer than in the 1970s.
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Speaking of the 1970s, we are making much better paper than was being made in that time frame as well. Why? Our ability to measure and control paper parameters is far superior to what it was then.
For paper buyers to have a quality experience with your company involves much more than just the product. The service before and after the sale are just as important as the product. I have seen business won, lost and retained--all related to the sales experience, not the product experience. The same is true for all the equipment and services related to capital projects.
If your sales are sluggish and your operating margins are low, you might try spending money--spending it on any portion of the client experience which may relate to the perceived and actual quality of your products or services. I push this regularly here at Paperitalo Publications. Our objective is to love our advertising clients whole-heartedly. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don't.
If you think you have a quality problem, the first place to start is by dialing your company's phone. What do you hear? Is it clear, concise and does it immediately direct your prospects and clients to the places they need to go? Or does it have the dreaded message, "Please listen carefully, for our menu options have recently changed." I have called many mills and gotten that same message for several years.
A couple of decades ago, it became popular to do away with receptionists and replace them with a phone in the lobby and a menu when the main number was dialed. The logic was of course, cost savings. I had a friend who operated a company and did not do this. I asked him why. His answer was simple: "I have people in the back end of this mill who waste more money before noon than a receptionist costs in a month."
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Developers up to their old tricks... Check out the latest edition of Strategic & Financial Arguments.
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You may think only suppliers and others who service your company come through the reception area and go through the gyrations you make them go through to reach the parties they need to reach. You may think that because you are buying from them, it does not make any difference.
That is where you would be wrong. For by making your suppliers go through a torturous process to reach the persons they need to reach in your facility, you have told them what level of quality you will tolerate. You can expect them to turn around and provide that same level right back at you.
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There will be a student competition/report on new ideas in papermaking at the 7th Annual Light Green Machine Institute Conference (16 - 18 Oct 16 in Raleigh, NC) This is being organized by Dr. Joel Pawlak
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If you haven't guessed, this is quality month at Paperitalo Publications. I think the place to start is to ask you what you think of us. It is hard to criticize someone else when your own house is not in order. Our annual reader survey is open and by responding to it, you can enter to win USD 100.00. Please respond here.
For safety this week, we know that safety and quality are linked together in many ways. Yes, there is a safety dividend in building quality into your work.
Be safe and we will talk next week.
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Nip Impressions has been honored for Editorial Excellence by winning a 2016 Tabbie Award!
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You can own your Nip Impressions Library by ordering "Raising EBITDA ... the lessons of Nip Impressions."
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