The Wise Approach to Production Management and Quality Control
Not long ago, a phone call shattered my originally peaceful life. On the other end of the line was the voice of an old friend, full of anxiety and distress. He has been engaged in production management for many years and has always been diligent and conscientious. However, recently he has been extremely troubled by work problems. The product quality of their company has been frequently problematic, like a stubborn illness that is hard to cure, giving him a huge headache.
He also tried to solve this problem. For some time, he made up his mind to focus on quality and strictly control every production process. Unexpectedly, the production efficiency dropped sharply like going down a slide. After that, he shifted his focus to improving production efficiency and made every effort to promote the production progress. However, the quality problem emerged again like a ghost. He was caught in a dilemma, groping in the dark without ever finding an exit.
To get out of this dilemma, he began to frantically read books on production management and quality management. Those thick books were piled on his desk, carrying his hopes. However, the ideal is plump, but the reality is skinny. The theories in the books didn't immediately show results in his actual work, and he still lingered in the whirlpool of distress. Helplessly, he thought of me and then dialed my phone number to ask me for help.
Actually, I've accumulated quite a lot of management experience in my work. However, this experience has only been put to use within the enterprise where I work, just like a sword hidden in its scabbard, never showing its edge in the world. But how could I stand by and do nothing when a friend is in trouble? For the sake of this precious friendship, I summarized my experience into three sentences: Cultivate three types of awareness, closely follow process control, and add two weapons. Then I imparted it to him without reservation.
Part I: Cultivate Three Types of Awareness
In the field of quality training, there has always been a common phenomenon. The trainer talks non - stop on the stage until he/she is hoarse, trying to make the trainees understand what quality is and how to do quality work well. However, the trainees in the audience are sleepy. After the training, they whisper to each other, and the conclusion they usually reach is: the theory sounds good, but it's not useful for actual work. The trainer will probably be extremely angry when hearing such feedback.
I once also conducted training on quality. I deeply understand that the traditional way of explanation may not yield good results, so I used a simple and easy-to-understand sentence to interpret quality: Quality = Conscience + Sense of responsibility. This sentence is like a key that opens the door for employees to understand quality. Employees can easily remember it and deeply understand its meaning. They will unconsciously reflect on whether they can clear their conscience if they take the company's money but don't do their jobs well. If their negligence causes the company to suffer heavy losses, how can they have a clear conscience? Production and quality inspection personnel will have the same thoughts. After everyone has this kind of awareness, with appropriate guidance, controlling quality will no longer be a difficult task. As long as employees have a little sense of responsibility, many quality accidents can be avoided. When employees actively ask how to do a good job in quality, it means they are "teachable". At this time, three kinds of quality awareness can be cultivated in them.
Self-inspection awareness
The key to product quality lies in the manufacturing process, not the inspection stage. The secret of production quality control is to make everyone take responsibility for their own work and produce good products. This requires employees to conduct self-inspections on the products they produce. Only when they themselves consider the products to be qualified can the products be allowed to flow to the next process or workshop. During the self-inspection process, if unqualified products are found, employees should mark them and place them separately. This is not only a responsibility for their own work but also a respect for the entire production process.
Mutual inspection awareness
For the products flowing from the previous process or workshop, employees should not blindly continue processing them but should conduct inspections. Only after confirming that the products are qualified can they proceed with the next stage of production. If quality issues in the previous process or workshop are found, they should be reported in a timely manner. This is the principle of "not manufacturing defective products, not accepting defective products, and not passing on defective products". The awareness of mutual inspection is like a line of defense that can effectively prevent defective products from continuing to spread in the production process.
Special inspection awareness
After the employees have conducted self-inspections and mutual inspections, the production supervisor can instruct the full-time inspectors. While producing, employees are all engaged in self-inspections and mutual inspections. As full-time inspectors, they should have a stronger sense of quality control. If the full-time inspectors are subordinates of the department, communication will be smoother; even if they aren't, they will accept correct instructions. The awareness of specialized inspections is like a precise scalpel that can eliminate quality problems at the last moment.
Part II: Keep a Close Eye on Process Control
In the world of management, many people place too much emphasis on the results. A phrase they often say is, "Whether it's a white cat or a black cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat." Although this phrase reflects a certain philosophical wisdom, we cannot ignore the importance of the process. If there is no good process, how can there be good results? Regarding quality control, I firmly believe that only by closely following process control can we truly control the quality. Therefore, I advise my friends to pay attention to process control.
First inspection control
Before the product is launched, team leaders, quality inspectors, and employees should carefully verify the materials to be put into production to ensure that the quality of the materials meets the requirements. At the same time, they should confirm the performance of the tooling equipment in use to ensure its stability and integrity. Then, conduct small - batch production, produce three products and confirm whether they are qualified. Only when all three products are qualified can mass production be carried out. If the products in small - batch production are unqualified, the cause should be investigated until the problem is solved. First - inspection control is like the preparation before a battle. Only with full preparation can one win the battle.
Inspection control
During the production process, management personnel and quality inspection personnel should conduct spot checks on products. They should devote 80% of their energy to paying attention to the weak links in production, such as inexperienced employees, key equipment, and key positions. These links are like the short planks of a wooden barrel. Once problems occur, they will affect the quality of the entire product. Patrol inspection control is like a sentry on patrol, always on the alert for potential dangers in the production process.
Final inspection control
During the product winding - up process, special attention should be paid to the final products. At this time, employees are often impatient and prone to negligence. I once encountered such a situation. An employee, in a hurry to finish work, mixed an uninspected defective product into the batch. Fortunately, it was promptly detected by the team leader, thus averting a serious quality accident. Therefore, during the product winding - up process, the closer it gets to completion, the stricter the control should be. Final inspection control is like the end - game of a battle. Only with a perfect ending can the success of the entire production process be ensured.
Part III: Add Two More Weapons
Quality control in the production process is like a war without gunpowder smoke, where the situation changes in the blink of an eye. Quality either goes up or goes down; there is no middle ground. If managers want to achieve "long - term stability" in quality management, they must have two magic weapons: the "open sword" and the "hidden arrow".
"Mingdao" - "Three Analyses and Three Non-Passings" Activity
As the saying goes, "It's easy to dodge an open blade", but it also depends on who is wielding the blade and what kind of blade it is. If a martial arts master is holding a wooden sword, it may not be easy to dodge; while if an untrained person is holding a precious sword, it can still be intimidating. The "open blade" I'm talking about has its own rules.At the daily production morning meeting, in - depth analysis should be carried out on the quality problems that occurred and were encountered in the previous day's production. First, the harmfulness of these quality problems should be analyzed to make everyone understand that once unqualified products leave the factory, they will not only bring huge negative impacts to the enterprise but also damage the interests of users. Then, trace the causes of these quality problems layer by layer, clarify the quality responsibility, and find out the loopholes in the production process. On this basis, analyze the measures to be taken and put them into practice, and promptly improve the deficiencies.Throughout the whole activity process, it is necessary to truly implement the principle of "not letting go until the cause is not investigated clearly, not letting go until the quality responsibility is not clarified, and not letting go until the corrective measures are not implemented". When managers wield this "open blade" and strive for a little improvement in quality every day, over time, the quality can be significantly improved.
"Hidden Arrow" - Personnel Quality Awareness Test Method
As the saying goes, "It's hard to guard against an arrow shot in the dark." In quality control, this "arrow shot in the dark" is indispensable. The implementation process of the personnel quality awareness test method is as follows: Managers randomly select some non - conforming products with inconspicuous quality defects, record their numbers or mark them, and then mix them into a large number of similar products to see if employees can detect them in a timely and accurate manner. Employees with weak quality awareness and lack of attention to detail often have difficulty getting high scores in such unexpected "tests". Therefore, if employees want to pass the test of this "arrow shot in the dark", they must always maintain a high level of vigilance and responsibility at work and strictly abide by the principle of "not accepting non - conforming products from the previous process and not passing non - conforming products to the next process".
By cultivating three types of awareness, closely following process control, and utilizing two tools, I believe that friends will surely achieve remarkable results in production management and quality control, break free from the current predicament, and usher in new breakthroughs in their work.