Share | Quality is like fighting a fire, but it’s difficult to put it out in time!

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According to a previous \"Quality Professionals Survey Report\" released by the American Society for Quality, many quality professionals in Chinese companies play a role of \"putting out fires after the fact\" within their organizations. The overall treatment is unsatisfactory, and the work does not receive enough attention. So, some people say, “Quality is fire fighting.” What’s your opinion? In the comments section below, write down your opinion. 1 It’s difficult to put the fire out in a timely manner. “I’m supporting all of you yet I haven’t done anything at all.” ” A casual remark from the boss dealt a heavy blow to Li Ming, who was the head of the quality department. “My current job is quite passive. ”Li Ming said that the daily work involves dealing with quality issues that have already occurred; there is a delay in addressing them, and it’s unknown how many issues will arise each day. It’s simply impossible to control the yield rate in production; everything depends on the quality of the equipment and raw materials. In short, it seems that whether quality problems will occur is predetermined; I can only act as a ‘firefighter’, and I can’t blame the boss for saying that. Like Li Ming, the term ‘firefighter’ serves as a description of the working conditions of those engaged in quality-related work. An excellent quality department can definitely help a company achieve growth and improved efficiency by \"cutting costs\". However, in many companies in our country, the quality department is viewed as a cost center, rather than a profit center that can generate economic benefits for the company. Of course, there is still a significant gap compared to advanced countries and regions in terms of the understanding of quality by quality professionals, the requirements regarding the skills and qualifications of those working in quality management, as well as the career planning for such professionals and their role definition within the company. At the same time, it is also difficult to truly fulfill the role of a firefighter in terms of \"extinguishing fires\". Because in the current situation of businesses, they face pressures from market competition in terms of price, delivery time, and performance, and managers often have to confront a dilemma: should they prioritize quality or the time to market? ； Quality or customer order delivery? ； It is a dilemma between quality and aspects such as product cost control. As a cost center, the quality department often becomes a victim that can be sacrificed in such decisions. Therefore, in the face of problems that arise later on, quality personnel can only do their best to address them. Yet such issues are often beyond the capabilities of a single department; instead, the staff in the quality department need to coordinate with various departments to resolve them together. Ultimately, it is often the staff in the quality department who end up facing the awkward situation of having to go into battle without the authority, weapons, or support needed. 2. The large differences among different companies pose a problem for many quality control professionals; what puts them in an awkward situation is not only their role as \"firefighters\" but also the uneven distribution of responsibilities. It is reported that there are also differences in the professional conditions of employees in various industries and even among different types of enterprises, as well as those who are involved in quality work. At the same time, there are also significant differences in the performance of enterprises and their quality personnel across different cities and regions. Experts say that for foreign-funded, wholly-owned, or export-oriented enterprises, their domestic quality management systems are already part of their existing global quality control systems. Their operational processes, quality procedures, and inspection processes have all been thoroughly tested before they entered China, and the training and career development of employees are also carried out in a systematic and planned manner. In such companies, employees are merely part of the larger system; this, in turn, ensures the job roles, status, and decision-making power of those responsible for quality control. As for those export-oriented companies that have close trade relations with foreign countries, they have also come to realize the importance of quality and that of quality control personnel through continuous interactions with foreign clients; therefore, it is relatively easier for quality control personnel in these companies to carry out their duties. For other enterprises or those based in different regions, the gap remains significant; sometimes it is due to differences in the quality of the workforce across regions, sometimes enterprises are not yet at a stage where they understand the importance of relying on quality to survive, and in other cases, these enterprises are still in the process of exploring their way forward. 3 Delegation of quality responsibilities: As corporate production and management technologies continue to develop and mature, the quality management methods, tools, and analysis techniques held by quality professionals and quality departments will in the future become essential for other functional departments as well, which will need to utilize them directly. In other words, the core competencies possessed by current quality departments and personnel will be those that front-line team leaders must also master and be able to apply in the future. The responsibility for quality thus shifted from being truly managed by a single quality department to one based on true accountability across all employees and all departments. “Within this trend of development, in some companies abroad, there is no longer even a central quality department or a position of quality director at the company’s headquarters; instead, quality responsibilities are delegated to the respective business units. ”Experts say that designers should take on the responsibility for managing design quality ； Production staff are responsible for managing production quality. As part of the company’s overall strategy, the quality management strategy was also integrated from the very beginning into the company’s comprehensive strategic planning by its management at the decision-making level, where it was designed and implemented as a whole. - End