Lessons learnt from 50 years of quality control.
WH Kemp Electrics Ltd
WH Kemp: Advanced manufacturers’ first choice for wiring looms, cable harnesses and control panels for over 50
WH Kemp are proud of our record on quality. In the second quarter of 2023 we achieved 98.5% On Time in Full and 99.96% Right First Time. In looking to improve manufacturing quality a strategic approach is essential. Improvements in quality lead to reduced costs, less wasted material, and fewer lost working hours. These all result from a focus on quality. We would like to share some of the lessons we have learnt about quality over the last 50 years.
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Create a team approach.
Imposing quality from outside rarely produces sustainable results. Creating a quality culture within your team will enable potential issues to be identified and rectified rapidly and effectively. Encourage people to become invested in the work they do, and they will reward you with a valuable perspective on your manufacturing process. One of the benefits of this sort of employee engagement is that you will build up an indispensable history of how your process has come to be the way it is, helping to avoid repeating mistakes. Building on this history and team approach will bring measurable improvements in quality. When the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) visited us recently they were impressed by our “daily stand ups with issues escalated and improvement opportunities captured and tracked”. They appreciated our “active management of issues escalated by production cells which capture and tracking of improvement ideas.”?
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What does quality mean to the customer?
Many businesses state that they want to be “better” at their manufacturing process, without defining what “better” means to the customer. It is possible to improve a manufacturing process, make it quicker, more accurate, but the cost of making that improvement can outweigh the benefit. Maintain a dialogue with your customers, understand what improvements make a difference to them. Our daily stand-up meetings keep everyone in touch with customer expectations.??
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Keep processes consistent.
To ensure that quality improvements can be monitored consistency of process is essential. Where changes in process are required, or new ones introduced a clear structure for implementation is needed, so that all participants understand the changes and could contribute to improvement.
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Problem solving.
Where a production issue arises, it is vital that the cause of the problem is identified and resolved rather than just dealing with immediate concern. A genuine solution to a problem is one that ensures that the problem will not return. Responsibility for quality improvement and problem solving needs to have a clearly defined path within the business, to ensure ownership is held in the place that will be able to do most to contribute. The MTC had something to say about our approach here as well saying, “people take pride in what they do this is a great assist with continuous improvement and problem solving.”
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By looking around the internet you can find an unending stream of advice for improving your manufacturing quality. At WH Kemp we have learnt the lessons above over 50 years producing cable assemblies and apply them daily in maintaining our sector-leading quality stats. A final thought from the MTC’s visit suggested that, “the shop floor has ‘showroom’ effect. Customers should be encouraged to walk the shop floor and speak to your people.”
To learn more about how we operate, and how we have implemented these tips visit our website or get in touch.
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