Quality Control in 2020 : NO Way !

Does Quality Control Department add any value to your organisation ?

I am sure that most of us if not all of us, will feel empty when we are asked not to have mobiles in our hands. What if you were asked to travel through continent to deliver the message either through the bicycle or by horse riding. What about if you were asked not to use your computer for day to day work and use old hardcopy report format. What about if you were asked to live without internet? Above questions are relevant if you find 100 years old business practice is followed even today. Stupidity ! Right ?

Let me try put the terminology of the proactive and reactive approaches. The example of making reservation of my flight ticket and hotel for accommodation well in advance is a proactive approach while searching for flight after reaching to airport is a reactive approach and in the similar way searching for the hotel physically after reaching to a town is also an example of reactive approach. Reactive approach is a matter of past. Proactiveness is past plus present while mitigating the expected risks is the present and future. Same logic is applied when it comes to quality as department. 

Quality of the product is essential and is the face value in the market but according to lean, any kind of inspection is understood non value added activities. Let us understand the concept of Quality. In early of 20th century quality as a department had the functions targeting to ensure the meeting of the requirement of the customer. In the middle of 20th century quality department was given the responsibility of improvement and quality assurance along with inspection. 

The Quality department was created with the following roles 

1. Quality Assurance : To define the processes, procedures and the methods in order to meet the customer, legal requirement along with the compliance of applicable code and standards. 
2. NDT : The nondestructive testing which became popular after world war I, to inspect the materials without destroying them
3. Quality Control : The function of the quality which was to involve to see if the product is make as per requirements, defined by quality assurance. 
4. Quality Improvement : The ways to improve the quality of the the product started getting popularity in 1980s 

Now a days when the way of operating the business is changing, the directions to look at the problems are evolving, customers are concentrated to see the adherences to processes in the organisation which eliminate or reduce the probable causes of any quality issue. There are numerous softwares and simulations are available which provides the real time data at each stage of the manufacturing of the product and doing their services. 

Following are some facts which are to be determined for quality control function. 

1. Quality Control function was great when the literacy in the industry was not adequate so some people were needed to certify if product meets the desired requirements. Now time has changed, the literacy and knowledge is not the factor even now multitasking is also past phenomenons. Policing is not required. 
2. Accountability: It's most heard word in the industry. The person who is producing a component has the best knowledge and idea about the shortcoming of the product. Taking one more person to check the work of other is the waste of time and money and most of the time, things are being overdoing. I do not need a person to tell me if my spelling is correct when I have spell check facility available. 
3. Know How base is much better now a days and a person who produces or manufactures a component must have a knowledge of the conditions of accepting the product. 
4. Inspectors then inspectors on inspectors are overkilling the on time delivery.

So what is the need of an hour, each organisation should invest the quality control personnel in more useful way in place of putting them as an inspectors to play hide and seek with people who are really manufacturing the products. I propose organisations to concentrate more in customer satisfaction pro production work rather than being creative mode. NO MORE QUALITY CONTROL. Let's start discussing about the elimination of wastes and proper utilisation of each function including quality to keep alive in the business. 

The growing organisation shall be concentrated to have following structure

1. Quality Assurance to define the quality requirements
2. NDT to perform non invasive tests
3. Quality Improvement to concentrate in sustainable improvement.
4. Customer Satisfaction to make customer delight

#qualitycontrol #business

An organisation formate designed in 1920s is to be revived with the requirements of 2020s. To discuss or understand more, please do reach to me at dvir_singh@yahoo.com 

Dharmveer Singh

dvir_singh@yahoo.com