UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader “I don’t know what answer to give you, Mike. It was human error. He just didn’t do his job, and that’s why the part’s not good.” This was an argument I recently encountered at a heavy manufacturing facility with hard-working individuals. They had shipped a bad part, missed one step, and the customer required a corrective action. So what do you do? It’s one part from a manual process where somebody forgot to attach one component. 14 of...
13 days ago • 4 min read
UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader Making quality the way your company operates will transform the way you do business. Can I tell you a story of how I did it? One of my first roles in quality was helping my predecessor retire. He was a brilliant, kind man, someone who had carried the company through the early days of ISO, QS, and TS. He’d seen it all and kept the system afloat through sheer determination and personal effort. But the quality system he built? It ran...
20 days ago • 4 min read
UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader Concept: Quality becomes "cool" when it's simple, effective, and delivers real results, without feeling like extra work. At the ASQ World Conference, someone asked: “Who’s going to make quality cool again?” My answer? Quality is already cool. What do you mean? But let’s be honest—many organizations still see quality as a burden or a cost. Something they have to do, not something they want to do. But as Philip Crosby said: “Quality is...
27 days ago • 1 min read
UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader Concept: Leadership defines quality culture, and everyone has the power to influence it. Strong quality systems don’t begin with standards or audits—they begin with leadership. Whether you sit in the boardroom or on the shop floor, your influence shapes your organization’s quality culture. Here are 3 points to help you improve your quality influence. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe Here Who Owns Quality at the Top? A recent...
3 months ago • 3 min read
UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader Concept: Adherence to procedures defines today's heroes. Checklists are the vehicle to do this. Details: (2 min read) I recently read a book called The Checklist Manifesto. The premise of the book is right in the title; checklists are more useful than you think. I highly recommend it! Many industries never learn from their mistakes. Their response is to try harder next time or to just cover the issue up. (Can you relate?) Quality has a...
9 months ago • 2 min read
UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader How is quality responsible for competence? Do you use the word competence in your workplace? Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe Here I don’t like calling people incompetent. I prefer certification. Here’s the thing about ISO 9001, it tells you what to do, but not how to do it. You have the freedom to rename, change, and modify nearly everything so that it works for you I deleted all their Work Instructions An example: at a...
10 months ago • 4 min read
UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader So this past week I needed to justify why we have to inspect parts. (This is obvious right? Apparently not.) My initial thought was to go to ISO 9001 8.6 and throw the book at them. And in my early years as a quality manager, that is exactly what I would’ve done. Quote the clause and say you need to do this. But then I wondered what is that going to get me? What will they learn? And what will that do to the company culture? Was this...
11 months ago • 2 min read
UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader Quality professionals are supposed to be change agents. But what does that mean? And how do we do it? (Sorry about the delay - this newsletter took more time than usual. I want to make sure you get the most value out of this newsletter.) To understand change management, we must understand some of Deming’s teachings. After Deming’s 14 points, he later developed his Theory of Profound Knowledge. It’s a bit of a grandiose title, but really...
about 1 year ago • 7 min read
UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE Quality that's simple Hey Reader This process if done correctly will create the most loyal customers. This method got a client of mine off their customer’s top worst supplier list in <30 days. You screwed up, now what? Your customer has bad parts, what are you going to do next? Here’s the thing: It’s not the problem that defines us, but how we fix it. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe Here Did you know Quality is also the customer service department for your...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
