Continuous Quality Fire Fighting: Chet was a very busy man as the Director of Quality Engineering at a large automotive component manufacturing plant, with a staff of over 50 Quality Engineers at three different locations. Chet knew his staff was always “fighting fires.” They simply could not get corrective actions in place before the next “fire” hit them.
From the middle of this unending debris field, Chet decided he had had enough! “We cannot keep going like this,” he said to his managers one day. Something had to change.
Looking back on his long career in manufacturing and quality, Chet realized he didn’t always have these continuous quality fires. In years past he would simply “live” in his customer’s plant. Being there, inside the plant, he was communicating with them on a daily basis and thus knew his customer’s expectations. If they had a problem, “BAM,” he was on it!
It suddenly dawned on Chet that things had changed. Now he only saw his customer if there was a major problem. Thus he had become just a voice on the phone. He and his company had become disconnected from the real scene and the people in it.
The Plan:
This look back made it clear what had to be done. Chet would hire and train Customer Quality Representatives (CQR’s) that lived near enough to the customer’s plant so they would be able to regularly visit the plant, even when there wasn’t a problem. The CQR’s would meet the customer face-to-face and gain an understanding of his expectations. The CQR would regularly audit incoming parts, check scrap parts, return parts, and arrange for sorts if needed. The CQR’s would be his eyes and ears at the customer site.
Chet asked Continental to recruit a network of experienced Engineers and manage this network. Chet then trained the CQR’s and assigned them to his customer’s plants.
The program had an immediate impact. Things quieted down. Quality “fires” stopped. Chet finally had the time to perform root cause analysis and implement corrective actions, using the data provided by the new CQR’s. Best of all, customer complaints, PPM’s, and warranty dollars all steadily decreased. The cost of the CQR Program actually paid for itself many times over.
Can the CQR Program work for your company? Continental may already have CQR’s in place near your customer’s location. If not, Continental will help you establish and manage your own CQR network. In fact, Chet retired from his former company after 40 plus years of Quality Engineering and has joined Continental as the Director of Quality to assist customers with this highly successful program. Feel free to contact Chet for more information on how the CQR Process can help your company. (765-778-9999 x321, cbabb@continentalinc.com or Just fill out the form below)
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