When trying to answer that question, we might go to the classic schools in quality theory of P. B. Crosby or E. W. Deming, but in practice each industry and each company develops their own quality assurance protocol that makes them unique in the market and gives them a competitive edge. The products developed to meet customer expectations and industry standards, the production processes and the unique “secret ingredient” are what can distinguish a company from their competitors.
It is true for every sector that because of the market environment and strict legal requirements particular emphasis must be placed on the processes related to these elements so that the enterprise can retain their position in the market for the long haul. If we go to the store and lift a product off the shelf, we first two things we take a look at are the price and the quality. Once we have chosen our price range, it is quality that determines which product we end up taking home. The question is how a production company can encourage consumers to pick their product from the shelf (catalogue or online store).
Achieving the right quality product is comprised of several levels. How “good” a product is does not only depend on the raw materials used, but also on the production process and their support systems. I will provide an overview below of what element of the “secret ingredient” can supposedly help companies achieve the desired result. This element is none other than the IT support offered to the quality assurance process. Let us take a look at the different levels that make up the process that IT can provide to production companies.
IT on every level
The first level I would like to highlight is data collection. Recording measurement data and connecting various measuring devices to IT data collection software or the quality assurance modules of company IT systems with the help of interface not only minimize the occurrence rate of errors, but can also significantly accelerate the administration process. The dry matter content and pH value read off measurement devices in the food industry or the quality parameters of the supplied raw materials in the steel industry can be automatically recorded upon receipt.
The second level is data analysis. In this phase the measured values and the relevant product specifications and limit values are recorded. Given the correlation of the two, we can make decision about the acceptability of the results in real time during input, which can directly influence the quality of the product. In many industries, including axis manufacturing, it is the customer who determines the specifications of the ordered product, which must meet the quality parameters measured during production.
Level three is the controlling of production processes and stocks through quality assurance. In this case quality assurance has to be coordinated with the production controlling and warehousing systems from an IT point of view. This solution ensures that non-compliant materials are not used in production and non-compliant products are not delivered. It must be noted that stocks can also be used in a targeted way, which means that depending on the quality category, certain materials can be used only in given products, since certain raw materials applied in jam-making might not make for good baby food ingredients.
Tracking on level four
Only if the previous levels are fully functioning can the fourth level be implemented, which is comprehensive tracking. It is every QA professional’s “dream” to be able to access a tracking list at the click of a button, containing the incorporated materials at every level of production, even down to the lot number (batch number, serial number).
It must be highlighted that tracking is crucial in both directions. Let us take an example. There is a quality complaint with one of our products and it is rejected. We must investigate what materials were incorporated, since the production process is impeccable. Tracking from a finished product level provides a solution for this. One of the incorporated materials turns out to be faulty. we must be able to determine what the given material was incorporated into and where the final products were delivered. This is tracking from the incorporated material level. A well implemented IT system can provide the answers to these questions literally at the click of a button.
Simplified processes
When implementing each level, adequate IT infrastructure and business discipline is crucial to ensure the availability of accurate data and the resulting benefits. The online production tracking solution especially supports quality assurance of which you can learn more in one of our previous articles entitled Getting closer to production.
Up-to-date information can be accessed at any time with the use of touchscreen terminals, radio frequency bar code readers, PDA devices and smart mobile devices (phones and tablets). Real time use of materials and final product reporting can trigger a measurement task, which will appear on the user’s device’s to-do list. This means task-oriented and task-controlled quality assurance that is controllable, traceable and accountable, while being applicable also to received materials.
All this information is enough for the quality assurance leader to draw conclusions on quality trends, classify suppliers into quality categories and initiate technological development. Such a customized solution can facilitate the audit process as well given the documentation required during a product audit: quality certificates, standards, authentication documents of production equipment, incorporation lists, list of employees involved in production, their qualifications, medical fitness, number of children, etc.
A well-integrated quality assurance software can provide a solution because it can access electronically stored documentation, it has a tracking list and by accessing the production system it can provide the attendance sheet of employees involved in the production of the audited product.
The key to the solution
As a production expert working for Isys-On Kft. I took part in the implementation of numerous QAD Enterprise integrated resource management systems, which gave me the opportunity to not only get to know the special needs of certain industries, but also to work on providing complex solutions together with my colleagues. This is why I see the above-detailed ‘secret ingredient” as the solution to numerous problems. It is worth considering how much an IT system can help in achieving, maintaining and improving the desired quality. we must admit the time of legal pads is over and the application of spreadsheets is limited.
I can only encourage all of you to move forward and get competitive with increasingly modernized tools. What the rest of the “secret ingredients” are depends on each individual company, since “everyone prefers grandma’s home-cooked meals, even though mom does it in the same way.”
