Understanding the value customers places on the quality of your products.
Quality always exists at the forefront of organisations that prioritises its competition and identifies quality as a requirement for success in the global market. Companies that want a competitive edge do this by delivering products that consistently meet customer needs and function as intended.
Quality is subjective. Value is imperative.
Despite the long-established emphasis on the importance of quality in business, its actual contribution to business performance has been relatively unrealised. Quality is often the first department that gets de-prioritised in the midst of company financial stress. Often, it is viewed by business leaders as an overhead expense that can be decentralised into other departments as an attempt to cut costs.
What are the consequences of such decisions?
Poor short-term vision and poor-quality decisions can lead to significant financial, customer relations and employee morale problems down the road, putting companies at risk for both the company and its customers. In fact, quality is the basis of a competitive advantage; although the company's top priority has shifted to speed to market, cost reduction and other operational considerations.
?“Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in.?It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for. A product is not quality because it is hard to make and costs a lot of money, as manufacturers typically believe. This is incompetence.” Peter F Drucker
Peter Drucker's words remain valid today, but they are about value and make you think about how you add value and deliver on quality to your customers’ expectations.
Why, because It’s not possible for you to really put anything in it.
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That’s not your job. You are never the one who is right the customer is, right?
However, it is your responsibility to learn by listening carefully to what the customer has to say about what he expects and wants from your products and you as a supplier. Based on this information, you advise them on how your product will meet or exceed expectations, backed by a strong product design process.
To achieve a high level of improvement and customer satisfaction, organisations need to anticipate and solve problems that arise in product or service quality. This involves establishing an overall perspective on the relationship between costs, quality, and results. This entails a bonded team perspective on the interplay between cost, quality, and outcomes.
Rather than considering these factors individually, as many companies do, organisations need to understand the nature of costs;
This concept and the traditional cost-based approach is a comprehensive approach that encompasses quality and results, allowing organizations to position themselves in the business environment and improve cost management, product quality and business operations as a whole to deliver overall business success.
In short, when a company makes quality a primary goal the benefits outweigh the risks. But in reality, it is a continuous Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) process which should be already embedded in your quality management system. But the most important point is to create value, that is, the value you offer to the customer is positively received by the customer.
So, what specific steps within your organisation can be taken to proactively tackle emerging challenges in the quality of your products or services?