Facts of the Case: • Hank Kolb, Director of Quality Assurance is attending a seminar that is given to quality managers of manufacturing plants by the corporate training department. • Hank Kolb is now looking forward to digging into the quality problems at this industrial product that plant employing 1,200 people. • The company lacks quality that needs more improvement to continue their operations. • Hank Kolb found problems regarding from personnel, plant maintenance, purchasing, product design and packaging, manufacturing manager, and from marketing. Hank Kolb must find a way to stop the company’s quality problem and somehow improve it. I. Viewpoint • Hank Kolb, Director of Quality Assurance must look into the company’s quality problem and seek his knowledge to improve it. II. Statement of the Problem • What can Hank Kolb do to setting up a continuous improvement program and improve their quality performance on producing a zero-defected product? III. Objectives • Hank Kolb must find a way to stop the problem and continue on their operations. • Setting up of continuous improvement of their business processes. IV. Areas of Consideration (SWOT Analysis)
Strength – Weaknesses – The fundamental problem is management in general and senior management lacking the policies and visible support of a quality matters in particular. – There are still many other problems affiliated with quality control. – The lack of management assurance of quality was evident once a chain of actions was being done wrong. Such actions are putting schedule and market share above quality and safety, poor attitude about quality on behalf of the entire organization. – – They viewed quality as a secondary added value which was seen as an obstacle in doing their job. Their problems are lack of purchasing, design, and testing processes, inspections that are after the fact without in-process controls or feed back loops. It also leads to a lack of product tractability, quality maintenance records of the equipment so improvement or stabilization data is not available. Thus all decision was made with no data in mind. Opportunity – Seminars that higher ranked employees can get information about what to do in times of business processes problems. Threat – Manufacturing Company’s that has already implemented Six-Sigma concept and continuous improvement program. New technology including new machines and equipments that other manufacturing company had. V. Alternative Courses of Action 1. Implementation of the Six-Sigma concept to have zero-defect products. 2. Hiring of new people that has experience on handling of filling equipments in manufacturing, as well as people in maintenance, purchasing department, product design and packaging, and people from marketing. 3. Setting up a continuous improvement program onto their business processes. VI. Recommendation We, strongly recommend alternative course of action no. because with the help of continuous improvement program, Hank Kolb can now easily make a step to improve their manufacturing processes. VII. Conclusion I, therefore conclude that Hank Kolb must setup a successful continuous improvement program. Hank will have first to study very carefully the fundamental problems that caused the lack of quality from the first place. Once this is accomplished he will need to make sure that the senior management be involved in order to provide a clear support for a quality philosophy that will change the attitudes across the company.
To follow up on the change of attitude in the entire company, Mr. Kolb will then need to start an awareness campaign in which it will provide the workers a clear understanding regarding the cost of poor quality and the value of good quality processes as part of this management support. Mr. Kolb should make a sure that perfect quality is the solution and hence making the quality assurance printed in the mind of every employees and even the manger itself.
