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Everyone in the quality field has one common enemy: \"quality issues.\" Whether it’s customer complaints, rework, scrapped products, or defective items, people tend to refer to these situations as \"quality issues.\" When there are too many such issues in a company, managers blame the quality department, especially in small and medium-sized domestic enterprises. As a quality professional, it’s really frustrating and upsetting. So how can such problems be solved? 1 What exactly are quality issues? At a quality review meeting, I once said to my boss, \"First of all, in our company, no matter what the issue is—whether it’s customer complaints, fines, or rework on the production line—we like to label it as a quality problem. Once it’s classified as such, all the blame falls on the quality department. For example, last month our client, Huawei in Shenzhen, returned a batch of goods to us. The colleagues from the sales department went to ask the manager for reimbursement for the shipping costs associated with returning those goods. When asked why the return was necessary, the sales team replied that it was due to a quality issue. The manager immediately came to see me, speaking in an accusatory tone, and asked why there were again quality problems. But when I told her that it was caused by errors in the drawings provided by the engineering department, she stopped talking right away.\" Now, I have a question for everyone: what exactly is a quality issue? Who can explain it to me? ” Now things got interesting – everyone present, including the boss, the vice president, and the managers of various departments, were stunned. After all, people always talk about \"quality issues\"; any problem can be attributed to quality problems and then passed on to the quality department. As a result, quality has become a framework into which all mistakes are stuffed. The quality department is working tirelessly, but with no results; the quality manager gets scolded every day. 2 A high-level awareness is of utmost importance; it is essential to make the boss or top management realize or acknowledge that: \"The company has no quality problems – only management problems.\" ”To achieve this goal, it is possible to analyze some major customer complaints and identify the underlying causes. For manufacturing companies, problems arise from one of the following reasons: poor design, defective raw materials, or poor manufacturing processes. Upon further analysis, it is certainly issues such as design review, staff training, supplier selection, planning, and employee motivation mechanisms – all of which are management-related problems. To convince the boss, evidence is important. For example: \"A few days ago, after a version upgrade, the supplier sent us components from the old version; I was surprised. Doesn’t our company change the part numbers for all custom items when there’s a version upgrade? Why wasn’t it changed this time?\" I went to see the manager of the Materials Technology department, and his reply was: We believe that if something can be managed properly, then there’s no need to change the material code; if it can’t be managed properly, then we change the material code. Moreover, I conducted a separate investigation later regarding the management of custom version upgrades, and found that the company didn’t have any documents outlining the procedures for this task. ”It’s a real case; the boss is well aware that such things happen in his company every day, so he has no choice but to admit it. 3 When a \"quality issue\" occurs...... Company A is a manufacturing enterprise that specializes in large-scale construction machinery; its brands and prices are competitive in the market, and it has many loyal customers. Since the launch of the \"mortgage service\" for purchasing construction machinery in collaboration with banks, market demand has been further stimulated, resulting in a continuous stream of orders. Company A’s workshops have also been operating at full capacity, working overtime. Yet, joy turns to sorrow. One day in May, at 10 a.m., Manager Wang from the sales department received a call from Xu, a distributor in a certain region. \"Manager Wang, a customer reported that the construction equipment manufactured by your company, which they purchased not long ago, experienced a sudden break in the crane’s arm during use, even though the load being lifted by the crane did not exceed its maximum rated capacity.\" We have already sent maintenance staff to the accident site; I estimate that the locomotive will need to be towed back for repairs. What worries me the most now is whether there will be problems with other construction machinery This month we sold six locomotives of the same model; please have your quality control department check them right away to ensure there are no issues. If other customers find out, those locomotives that haven’t been picked up will definitely be returned. ” After hanging up the phone, Manager Wang from the sales department didn’t know what to do: \"I can’t report this to my superiors; it’s such a serious matter – I don’t have the authority to make decisions, and I also don’t know what to do.\" ； Report it to your superiors; there’s bound to be a huge uproar in the company. ”After some thought, Manager Wang decided that it was better to report the issue to higher authorities and leave it to the general manager to handle. After all, he was in the sales department, so he shouldn’t bear any responsibility. Upon receiving the news, the general manager immediately informed the heads of the relevant departments via the office about this product failure, and ordered all middle and senior management staff to gather in the conference room on the first floor at 2 p.m. for an emergency meeting to discuss ways of dealing with the situation. But as details of the accident were made public internally, almost everyone became aware of it, and Company A immediately erupted in chaos. Before 2 p.m., attendees from various departments had already gathered in the conference room, with continuous discussions and arguments – a scene quite different from any previous meetings. With the general manager’s arrival, the meeting room immediately fell silent. The general manager first glanced at the heads of each department, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, “I’m sure everyone is already aware of this incident involving a broken locomotive arm. I won’t say anything more; I just want to hear the opinions of the department heads regarding this accident.” ” There was a silence in the meeting room. Half a minute later, Manager Zhang from the Quality Department spoke first: “Let me start first.” Upon hearing about this, the Quality Department immediately reviewed the previous inspection records again. According to the inspection records, we carried out the inspections in full compliance with the standard procedures as well as the technical parameters provided by the design department, and all the inspection records are very complete. So from a testing perspective, it definitely meets the standards; we are ready to undergo inspections at any time. As for why this quality issue occurred, the Quality Department truly couldn’t find the cause. ” After the speaker from the Quality Department finished speaking, Manager Li, the head of the workshop, also shared his views: \"The production department carried out processing and manufacturing in full accordance with the process requirements and design parameters, and the inspections conducted by the Quality Department showed that everything was up to standard. Therefore, I don’t think we bear any direct responsibility for this incident.\" But I think upgrading a product from a smaller tonnage to a larger one isn’t as simple as just changing some parameters. The load capacity doubles, and requirements regarding power and the lever arm must be determined through actual testing. Our current design work involves merely adjusting parameters, and the testing is just for show – there is no actual testing on-site at the construction site. How can we ensure the accuracy of the design and the suitability of the final product for use in the market under such circumstances? With an accident like this occurring today, the design department must be held responsible. ” Hearing that the production department was blaming the design department for the accident, Manager Liu from the design department became restless: “First of all, I must tell everyone that all products go through countless tests and calculations before they are put into production.” Just like this heavy-duty locomotive, we spent a total of two years developing it. Before it was put into production, we conducted thorough tests both in the laboratory and in actual operating conditions, and all technical specifications met the required standards. I can’t accept the idea that it’s the responsibility of the design department; in my opinion, the problems lie more in the production process. These past few months, orders have increased, and the workshop has been working non-stop to meet them. Several times, our engineers visited the workshop and pointed out that some workers, in an effort to speed things up, did not follow the standard procedures; moreover, the precision of many components did not meet our requirements, necessitating rework. But in the end, it actually passed the quality inspection. ” Manager Wang from the sales department could also hold back his frustration and couldn’t help complaining: “As far as I know, the deadline has been extremely tight these past few months; the quality control department only goes through the motions – they just stamp something and attach a label saying the product is qualified before allowing it to be shipped. I heard that when the inspectors are too busy, they even ask the workers who drive the machines in the workshop to help with the inspections and data recording. How could there be anything substandard when one tests oneself? ” Seeing this situation, the general manager had to interrupt everyone’s speeches: \"There is a problem with our product, and responsibility must be held for that. Identifying the root cause of the problem is key to resolving it.\" I think design, production, and quality control are all involved in this. I will dispatch a specialized accident investigation team to investigate this product quality issue. What I would like to hear next is how to handle this crisis, how to deal with our dealers, customers, the media, and even our competitors. ” Manager Wang from the sales department took the lead: \"We should proactively contact the media; otherwise, within three days our competitors will also bring this matter to the media, and things will become even more complicated. So we must not wait passively.\" Moreover, this is likely to affect our orders next month; even orders that have not yet been picked up may be returned. The dealers are also waiting for our news. How should we reply to the distributor? ” Manager Deng from the Operations Department said, “I think we should first form a crisis management team to handle this matter. We can’t have everyone focused on it; the company still needs to operate normally.” I’m not in favor of making accidents public, as it will affect our brand image and also result in high costs for repairs. Moreover, in the case of public accidents, our local media can ensure that the coverage is positive, but in the past we have not had very close ties with media from other regions, so it is likely that we cannot control the bias in the reporting. ” Manager Wang from the sales department wasn’t entirely in agreement: “I think it’s better to take the initiative to release information, so as to prevent competitors from spreading even more unfavorable news.” Moreover, we need to be accountable to the distributors; in the event that something similar happens and casualties occur, the responsibility will be even greater. We can first talk to ** and the media, issue a statement in the newspapers to affirm that our products are safe, and then have the PR department use its connections to obtain a product inspection report from an inspection agency. At the same time, expert resources are pooled to identify the problems, and after-sales staff are sent to carry out repairs at each household. I can provide the list of all customers who purchased this product. I also think it’s too costly to tow the locomotive back for repairs. ” Manager Yang from the PR department said, “It’s no problem to use connections; I’m in charge of all external PR matters.” But until a final decision on how to handle this is made, we ask everyone to temporarily stop spreading this information, and to refrain from giving any responses to the distributors for now. ” Faced with everyone’s discussions, the general manager fell into deep thought: “Time is of the essence; the cause of the accident must be determined as soon as possible.” We need to provide explanations to the outside world, including customers, dealers, the media, and competitors, and the issue of what to do with the locomotives that have already been sold is also a matter that needs to be addressed. Everyone is waiting for my decision on whether to take an open approach or keep things private and handle them behind the scenes. Everyone has their own reasoning. Although the experience of other companies in dealing with crisis situations can serve as a reference, it is not necessarily suitable for one’s own company. If this matter is handled well, the company can not only turn danger into safety but also reach new heights ； If not handled properly, it will put the company’s development into a deadlock. What decision should I make, after all? ” Solving quality issues is the responsibility of the Quality Department. Do you have any clever ideas? Let’s discuss it! - End -