Furniture PLC: Quality Control System Quality Control

¶ … Furniture PLC: Quality Control System Quality control is an important aspect of any business, from manufacturing to customer service to retail. The different aspects of quality control that are encountered in these different contexts can vary quite widely, and when a business concern is engaged in more than one area developing and implementing a comprehensive quality control system can be quite arduous and complex.

This is the position Quick Fit Furniture finds itself in; as both a customer-service oriented business and a retail furniture distributor, there are many specific tasks and operations that the company must ensure meet appropriate standards and goals. Especially as the company has experienced problems with the quality of its output as of lat, making sure that proper quality control measures are put in place is highly important.

Quality Control System Two of the quality control issues Quick Fit is currently facing must be resolved through human resource training and development, which can be difficult to achieve in established organizations using current personnel (Daft, 2010). First, in order to achieve the goal of answering all incoming phone calls within thirty seconds, training for dealing with calls efficiently and effectively must take place, and average call lengths for each phone representative should be regularly monitored.

Optimum staffing levels for specific times of day/the week should also be determined, tracked, and adhered to. Second, monitoring rates of first-call resolutions and incorporating new methods for call handling into training will be necessary. Changing individual behaviors through changes to organizational values and expectations is one way to achieve certain goals, however will not solve all of any organization's problems, and certainly not Quick Fit Furniture's (Griffin & Moorehead, 2012).

Quality control issues with materials are also a major concern for the company, including the turnaround time on packing and shipping orders, maintaining a high standard when it comes to the quality of the materials used, and ensuring that all orders are correctly packed with the necessary hardware.

A software system that helps to communicate information faster and contains double-checking procedures for orders would improve quality control in all of these areas, enabling orders to reach the packing department within seconds of being placed over the phone; pre-made hardware packages checked by two personnel and the larger pieces of the furniture can be labeled with barcodes and all pieces scanned as they are packed on a per-order basis, making sure that the components match the expectations for the order and also tracking the personnel involved.

This system will also help with first-call resolutions by providing better tracking of the ordering, packing, and shipping process. The system that should be put in place, then, consists of two major components. First, there must be ongoing human resource development and monitoring, with performance reviews that identify areas of success or needed improvements. Second, there should be greater use of IT solutions for the monitoring of outputs. Combining these elements should provide effective quality control for all of the company's operations and outputs.

Quality Culture Model The Kanji Quality Culture Model, developed by Dr. Gopai Kanji, asserts that total quality management is the result of foundational cultural values and attitudes that emphasize customer satisfaction through continuous assessment and improvement (Kanji, 2012). Six specific areas of an organization are identified in this model as areas needing direct and explicit attention in order to achieve total quality management: leadership excellence, business scorecard, business excellence, customer satisfaction, supply chain management, and performance management (Kanji, 2012).

Using this model in this scenario, it can be seen that Quick Fit Furniture would benefit from stronger and more operations-oriented leadership in order to improve satisfaction, and that supply chain management and performance management are also major quality control concerns for the firm. Recommended Improvements In addition to the general quality control system outlined above, the company should consider even greater levels of automation for many of its procedures.

Both ordering and packing/shipping can be automated to a fairly large degree, and this automation can be more efficient in terms of time and reduce the number of errors made in taking, packing, and shipping orders as well. Though initial costs in achieving this automation might be high, operations as a whole should become much more cost effective and will also be far more scalable at lower costs as the company expands its market share and sales numbers.

Wider Implications of Proposed Changes It would be grossly incorrect to assume that changes could be made in terms of achieving greater levels of automation, implementing new training programs, and increasing performance expectations without having unintended and perhaps undesired consequences (Armstrong, 2006; Griffin & Moorehead, 2012).

There is likely to be at least some level of backlash from certain individuals in the company no matter how carefully the changes are announced and implemented, and increased automation would also lead to a reduction in the number of workers needed, which could further damage morale and performance, at least initially (Griffin & Moorehead, 2012).

Changes must take place in a way that demonstrates and recognizes the value of human resources while also creating the improvements in quality control and cost effectiveness that the company is seeking as a long-term objective. Explanation of System The system that has been proposed was developed after careful consideration of the problems Quick Fit Furniture.

It is believed that human resource development at the customer service end is necessary as it is only through education, clear values and expectations, and purposeful development that substantial improvements will be made, an not through simply mandating faster answering and more effective resolving of calls (Armstrong, 2006). Automation and the use of IT systems is now a major part of many organizations, and has been shown to be effective in terms of quality control and efficiency (Daft, 2010).

Accommodation for Problems The human resource problems that might (and even are likely to) arise in response to the announcement and implementation of the new quality.