On Implementation

Why implement a quality system?

It makes good business sense. An effective and well-maintained quality system can assist you in producing and sustaining a higher quality of product and service. This leads to customer satisfaction, repeat business, a greater share of the market and higher profits. It can also substantially reduce your current costs for rework, after-sales service, customer complaints and scrap.

If you are still not convinced of the advantages of implementing a quality system within your organization, remember this:

The costs for poor quality are coming straight out of your profits.

Will a quality system affect my organization?

Most definitely. When you implement a quality system you are invoking change. In the long run, the effect is positive and involves following well-defined and logical methods of processing your products and conducting your business.

One of the greatest fears of executive officers is that implementing a quality system will create havoc in the manufacturing cycle and result in less productivity and late delivery. We suggest an objective evaluation of the costly rework presently necessary, and consideration of Meskimen's Law:

"There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over."

Subsequent to an evaluation, most companies discover that change cannot be avoided. It may take a period of adjustment for everyone to realize that "close enough" is no longer good enough.

Are additional personnel required?

This question is frequently asked by company executives and is, perhaps, the one most difficult to answer. For example, if you intend to implement a quality system within your organization and no inspection, verification or auditing is currently being performed, a new position to handle these requirements will most probably have to be established. As to how many inspectors, supervisors, etc. you may require, this will depend on the size of your company and the type and complexity of the products you produce. It will also depend on the complexity of the quality system you determine is right for your company. 

How difficult is implementation?

Properly planned and organized, the implementation of a quality system can be fairly straight forward.  Disaster is usually the result of inadequate planning prior to implementation, or lack of understanding of the actual requirements.  But make no mistake, implementing a quality system requires a substantial amount of effort, time and conviction.

How much does it cost?

Generally the cost of implementing a quality system will vary depending on the size of your organization, the complexity of your product or service and the system requirements established for your organization.

The actual cost will vary from one organization to another, but it is not uncommon for a larger organization's implementation budget to be in the 6 figures.  Ironically, if you use a quality consulting firm that really knows what they're doing, your overall costs should actually be significantly reduced.