#How to create a culture of quality assurance?

How do you create a culture of quality assurance throughtout the production value stream?

The first thing to realise is that many people think quality control is responsible for quality, it isn’t, the people at the Genba doing the work are responsible for assuring quality.

Here are a few key points to consider when building a lean DNA quality assurance organisation:

1. Focus on standard work but don’t overdo the normal with process, some things should remain as process memory. Exactly what is a longer discussion. So don’t worry you can kaizen with limited standard work successfully too.

2. Reduce the number of production planning throw-ins. This is inevitable but too many disturbances to a daily schedule bring in massive muda, mura and muri. Don’t fall for the syndrome, he who shouts the loudest gets the way.

3. Do standard work of the line and shift leaders. This is called Minimum Job role. For my money, if you have a quality assurance issue find out exactly what the leaders and supervisors actually do.

4. Use visual management especially marker pen and white board, see my previous post. The more you connect the eye, the brain, the hand with the written word, the more personal and meaningful are the figures. “enter” does not create engagement in QA.

5. Andon, in my view misunderstood by many. Andon is a call for support by anyone who is saying “support me as the built in quality of my process at the agreed cycle time is wobbly”. And, here is the key point, the direct line supervisor should be there asap with a smile asking how they can support, demonstrating respect, trust, sincerity and problem solving skills for the member.

6. Morning shift meeting and production meeting. See my previous post. Its not about numbers, its about numbers and people relationship building. Set them up to engage their hands, heads and hearts.

7. Constantly look for keeping to and improving on 4S, Kamishibai, flow, Kanban and JIT.

8. Problem Solving, develop all members using 5W, PDCA, 4D, OPL, QRQC 1, all bread and butter of quality assurance.

9. Cabbage patch; use the CP meetings to show people what they did out of standard, that they got paid for it and get them to solve the problems so that the CP gets smaller till it is not necessary.

10. Do monthly 5 minute appraisals in line with the competency matrix. End of year assessment must only be a confirmation of 12 monthly meetings.