Training in quality

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There used to be a notion back in my early days of manufacturing that you could inspect quality into your parts. There was always an inspector or two at each line and if a problem got through to a customer, there was added a third. It seems crazy now of course, though this practice is still used quite often.

So we’ve learned over the years that you can’t inspect quality into parts. This begs the next question:

Can you train in quality?

This is sort of a trick question.

While you certainly can't inspect quality into your products, training your team to take proactive steps towards planning for better quality will result in high quality for the long term of your business.

Higher quality = happy customers = future business.

So, can you train in quality? Actually, yes WE can. Empowering and educating your team to design quality into your products and processes will avoid big issues down the road.

Understanding how the product will be used, abused, and manufactured will provide decision points where careful analysis and action will be required to ensure quality. Many would call this: Advanced Product Quality Planning.

Of course, we’re still human, right? Problems still arise in even the tightest run ships. Luckily disciplined problem solving is also trainable.

Can quality be trained into your parts?