Ten Signs Your CEO still has no idea about ISO 9001 and Lean

Can anyone else out there relate?


http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside...ill-has-no-idea-about-iso-9001-and-lean.html#

 

This VV

General problem.

Quality IS your business, whatever widget you make is co-incidental to the fact.

I am a South African and in our country we have a saying in Afrikaans, one of our local languages Goedkoop is deurkoop - which literally translated is buy cheap, buy twice.
Despite having a an economy where upto 40% of the population are rural poor people, even these poor folks will buy good quality even if it means saving up, and having to spend money to travel to the city to get the item.

 

True, but not always a truism. Some companies have as their strategy to "make cheap - sell cheap" and have a huge market (dashcams, surveillance cameras, many electronic gadgets), and quality is not a strategic direction. They continue to sell the same poor quality item because the customer is satisfied with the value, which is simply the cost vs. utility. Too often I see many quality gurus assume that every company wants or needs to make a high quality product, but the market shows otherwise. Improvement over time may be necessary to stay competitive, but only at a minimal level, and largely dictated by forces outside the company, not within. This is a business strategy (context of the organization!) and quality rarely enters the picture unless there is a severe problem that can impact the product sales (hoverboard battery fires) for example. This is also a problem in the construction industry, where companies are formed entirely for one project (a large unit housing subdivision or a hi-rise apartment setup), because as soon as the project is completed, the company ceases to exist, and a new company is formed for the next project, thus long term quality is avoided. Regulation and 3rd party inspection help avoid some of the major issues in this case, but cannot monitor longer term effects.

 

Agreed.

Let's be honest here: many companies go for ISO 9001 (or other QMS standard) certification because customers demand/expect it, and in such situations the primary intent is simply to maintain certification (hence 1st 3 points of the article).

For those of us in the QMS business, this can be certainly frustrating... but the list in this article doesn't surprise me at all. I'm sure it's very common, and due mainly to the business incentives described above...

 

As I read this article, it reminded me of the reasons that lead to having to leave a company where I was the ISO Audit Coordinator. I was continually placed in a position where ethical issues were expected from me. In the end my only option was to leave. What has bothers me to this day is the company is still ISO certified...

 

I am exactly in the same boat and I have been asked to do lots of unethical issues. So, I am looking out to leave the company soon.

 

At the time of my decision I searched Elsmar Cove for suggestions on what I could do. I read online newsgroups about whisleblower laws and realized the universal answer was that I had to leave. When I posted my reply above, I actually expected it to be censored or removed, I was surprised to have a reply. I would be interested in hearing from others have also been placed in this position?

 

I think every quality person is subjected to this, some more than others, alot depends on the company culture itself. I have left companies because of this precise issue, where I just could not support it because it meant doing unethical things. As an example, it was one companies policy if an employee looked or acted seriously ill, for his manager to drive him home immediately. While this sounds good, the purpose was so the company could claim that any serious illness occurred at home, not on the job. They once drove home a guy with chest pains who later died from a heart attack, at home. This kept the health insurance costs down as he did not take sick time then become sick, so it was not on record in the company files.
Unless the top management of a company is founded on quality, and they accept nothing else in the minions they hire, these pressures will be there. Hopefully they will be small issues, but small ones become bigger over time.

 

My first job in manufacturing led me into the Quality field - my mistake, I asked too many questions.

My supervisor said, and I quote:

" We can't be bothered to take the time to do things right "

I wonder where he is today ... (normzone goes off to LinkedIn)

 

Hmmm...

I don't think make cheap - sell cheap implies low quality. High value equals high quality, whatever your target market. Equally, whatever your market, if you don't improve you'll be left behind.

Yes, some companies can survive for a project, or even for a while, with poor quality. But it will eventually kill them.

 

I can relate, but I would't go forwarding it to bosses. It's sarcastic and snarky and the tone immediately makes one stop listening. (though it is amusing).