Quality is achieved through action, not through inspection!

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“The question of \"Is quality created or tested?\" has long been a point of debate in the business world: producers claim that quality is determined through testing, and the presence of inferior products on the market is due to inspectors failing to perform their duties properly； The inspector said that quality is determined during production; if manufacturers do not produce defective products, there will be no inferior goods in the market! Is this perhaps a pseudo-proposition with no conclusion? 01 I said, “Going all out can help everyone get things done in one go.” ” The quality inspection department counts the number of items sent back for repair by each unit, and the figures are published monthly in accordance with the actual situation; the factory management conducts strict evaluations. If a problem in the previous processing stage is not detected in time and is only discovered at the time of delivery, not only will the previous processing stage be held accountable, but the subsequent processing stage as well. If a quality issue is discovered by the user, an additional penalty is imposed, resulting in double the assessment. The functions of the Quality Inspection Department have also been adjusted; it is now responsible only for the final inspection of locomotives, as well as for the design and monitoring of the quality management systems and processes across the entire factory. The personnel in charge of product inspection in each branch factory are under the jurisdiction of this department, but the actual execution of these tasks falls on the respective branch factories. Some people objected, while others advised gently: “Isn’t this encouraging cheating in the branch offices? One shouldn’t supervise themselves!” ” That’s really a stupid question. Over 10 years ago, when I was learning at a factory of GE in the United States, I asked Americans the same silly question. I found that there are no dedicated inspectors for many processes; a foreman walks around all day carrying a folder. I asked the foreman, “Who is responsible for the quality in this work area?” ”The foreman replied, “I’m in charge!” ”He opened the folder and showed me a quality control chart for the entire factory; each section and each step on the chart was labeled with a person’s name. He said, “These people are responsible for the quality; look, this is my name.” ” Then, I asked an even sillier question: “When progress and quality are in conflict, do you prioritize quality or progress?” Would you sacrifice quality in order to meet deadlines? ”The foreman looked at me with a puzzled expression, remaining silent for a while before saying, \"How is that possible? How could I deliver defective products to the customers?" ”His answer did not satisfy me; it was not until a few months later, as I was about to leave, that I realized how responsible the employees at GE are – the questions I asked were nothing more than the simplest arithmetic problems that a college student might ask a teacher. The plant manager becomes the primary person responsible for quality, and every employee in the plant must assume corresponding quality responsibilities; these responsibilities can be traced indefinitely, even if the product has been used by customers for 10 years. 02 The concept that \"product quality is achieved through production, not through inspection\" is gradually taking root in the factory. A few months later, the effects became apparent: the number of reworks and corrections dropped significantly, and the quality of the products improved gradually. To consolidate these achievements and instill the new quality philosophy deeply in the employees’ minds, the entire factory launched a massive “Zero Defects” campaign. The factory’s internal newspaper published in its entirety the article I wrote titled “Carrying Out a ‘Zero Defects’ Initiative to Improve Product Quality”. The article explains the concept of “zero defects” right at the beginning: “Zero defects” can be understood as a limit concept that approaches zero, providing companies with a continuous goal to improve their management levels ； “\"Zero defects\" is, for a certain period of time, a defined and quantifiable management goal; achieving this goal means realizing \"zero defects\"” ； After achieving the goals of the current phase, higher goals for the next phase are set. This dynamic progression continues, gradually approaching the zero limit value. The purpose of carrying out the “zero defects” initiative is to foster among employees a work ethic that strives for excellence and perfection, to stimulate their initiative, and to eliminate all possible errors. Under the theme of \"zero-defect\" production, it is stated that the five key quality concepts embodied by zero-defect production are: the market philosophy of \"putting the customer first and giving priority to competition,\" and the dynamic philosophy of \"striving for excellence with no end in sight.\"” ； “Errors are not tolerated; prevention is key” ； “Self-control by everyone” ； “Full-staff quality responsibility system” ； “Control and feedback”. Under the theme of \"zero-defect\" supply, it discusses the \"rectangular control system\", \"unified planning and management\", and the \"qualified supplier management system\". The article concludes by saying that \"zero defects\" is one of the most important values in our factory; this value is inscribed on our company’s banner and runs in the blood of our employees (note that from now on I will use the term \"employees\" instead of \"workers\", as I believe this gives it a stronger sense of a market economy), ultimately giving rise to a culture that sets our company apart from others. For a time, the factory’s newspapers and magazines, as well as everyone in the workshops, talked about quality – this is an advantage of state-owned enterprises in terms of publicity. A female worker accidentally made a poor connection at one of the wire ends; problems arose once the locomotive was put into operation in Beijing. After several days of inspection, the after-sales service staff were unable to identify the cause. It was not until experts from the factory were sent that the problem was resolved – a process that took over 10 days in total. The relevant authorities calculated that this incident caused the factory to suffer losses of several tens of thousands of yuan, while the damage to its reputation was incalculable. Fortunately, the user did not pursue compensation for the losses caused by the suspension; if they had, the amount required as compensation would have been well over tens of thousands of yuan. This incident caused a great stir throughout the entire factory after it was publicized, and the branch factory imposed a penalty on the female worker by suspending her from work for half a year for retraining (note: it was not simply dismissal or a fine). If this had happened in the past, most people would have thought that a single wrong connection in a locomotive was no reason for such a big deal or excessive concern. 99% of things in a company are minor matters, and managers spend most of their time dealing with these small tasks. If those small tasks aren’t done well, it doesn’t matter even if the 1% of major tasks are completed successfully. Everyone in the factory is paying attention to the various small things around them, and this is a great start. 03 China is still an agricultural society; it has only been a few decades since it entered the initial stage of industrialization. It is not something that can be achieved overnight for a country with thousands of years of extensive farming culture to transition into a refined industrial civilization. Moreover, for thousands of years in China, feudal emperors despised craftsmen, who found themselves at the lowest level of society. European culture is different; outstanding craftsmen can remain famous for generations. Some nobles also greatly enjoy creating handmade items themselves. Russian Tsar Peter the Great once went incognito to Dutch shipyards to learn the craft; upon returning to his country, he shared his knowledge. He even sewed his own long boots by hand, and he was personally involved in the design of St. Peter’s Palace, which continues to amaze people to this day. To eliminate China’s reputation for shoddy manufacturing, it is necessary to start with improvements within the country itself; a culture of lean manufacturing must be fostered, and this requires resonance from society. Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier Group, smashed refrigerators at the factory entrance; what was destroyed were not just a few defective products, but also the bad habits that people take for granted. The factory’s bad habits stem from the attitude towards repairs developed over decades of working on steam locomotives – an attitude characterized by carelessness, perfunctoriness, pedantry, and roughness; such an attitude is passed down from generation to generation. To get rid of these bad habits, it’s really impossible not to draw on the revolutionary spirit displayed back then during the 1911 Revolution when people cut off their queues (a clever metaphor). My goal is to create the impression that this newly appointed plant manager pays special attention to “trivial” “minor matters” and insists on handling them diligently, thereby making managers at all levels feel that if they fail to handle these “minor matters” properly, they risk losing their jobs. I occasionally go to the workshop to look for those \"small problems\" that others overlook. In the body assembly section, seven or eight workers are working hard to adjust the flatness of the vehicle’s sides; some of them strike on the surfaces, some use heat, and others spray water for cooling. It takes less than an hour to adjust one side. The plant manager and I looked at it together. I asked, “Has this always been done this way?” ”The branch plant manager replied, “Yes.” ”I said, “I’ve seen it in Germany; their manufacturing techniques are similar to ours, only much more precise. German companies use measuring tapes to check the levelness in various dimensions, vertical and horizontal, with respect to the light, while we just take a quick look with our eyes.” ” Years later, my successor placed great emphasis on the lean manufacturing culture of “three precisions and one earnestness”. He said that German experts believe the quality level of our factory’s vehicle bodies has now surpassed that in Germany. It seems that as long as we remain earnest, there is nothing the Chinese cannot accomplish. 04 In addition to fostering a culture that values quality, it is also important to include more engineers who are passionate about manufacturing and products in management teams at all levels. In the 1980s, Japanese products were found all over the world, while American products were losing their prominence. After conducting comparative studies between Japanese and American companies, some scholars found that 90% of the chairpersons of Japanese companies were engineers by background, and they treated their company’s products as if they were their own children ； Meanwhile, 90% of the chairpersons of American companies come from accounting or law backgrounds, and they pay more attention to data and results. These two attitudes lead to different outcomes, prompting reflection among American entrepreneurs. At a dinner party more than 10 years later, Ms. Ellen Kullman, Chairwoman and CEO of DuPont; Fu Chengyu, Chairman of Sinopec; Ning Gaoning, Chairman of COFCO Group; Liu Shunda, Chairman of China Datang Corporation; and Song Lixin, President of “Elite” magazine—each of them shared some of their deepest insights regarding enterprise management. What impressed me the most were the words of Ms. Ke Ailun: \"Over the years, DuPont has introduced numerous new products and experienced rapid growth, which is closely related to my own long-term career as an engineer...\" Soon, a group of engineers who loved their products and were committed to technology became managers of various factories; they were the middle-management elite of those factories at that time. Their attention to detail and pursuit of excellence have also influenced many frontline employees. - End -