Quality Control Re: Continuous Improvement

Quality Control

Re: continuous Improvement vs. quality control

Your last email asked me to define the management philosophy of continuous improvement, versus the engineering concept of quality control, and asked what concept would better support the goals of our organization. In a nutshell, continuous improvement focuses on making changes in the methods of production by constantly eliminating the most wasteful processes of a production line, and building upon the process that generate the highest levels of productivity. Change is constant, quality is never a destination, and improvement is a gradual and methodical process rather than something that requires seismic changes in corporate leadership or methods. "It involves making the work environment more efficient and effective by creating a team atmosphere, improving everyday procedures, ensuring employee satisfaction and making a job more fulfilling, less tiring and safer." ("Kaizen, Answers.com, 2006) In short, fix things constantly, before they break.

Quality control stresses the need for products to meet exact consumer specifications. If a particular mechanism or part is continually sub-par, the processes for producing that mechanism must be improved. However, the problem with quality control is that it can encourage an organization to rest on its laurels, if current production methods are meeting quality goals. This can cause the organization to fall behind as competitor discovers a way to do things better, faster, and more efficiently, essentially raising the bar or standards of the industry, much as Toyota, the originator of the continuous improvement philosophy, did for the car industry. Even when quality control mandates that the least wasteful processes always be eliminated, by creating a mechanism with the continual improvement philosophy where change is an accepted part of the company atmosphere, the organizational actors tend to be more responsive to the need of sweeping changes in the modes of production, and also tend to find more creative solutions to potential problems that lie outside of current corporate methodology. In short, what organization would you wish to emulate -- Toyota, with its constant innovation, or the tried-and-true model of GM? The answer, in light of recent business history, seems clear.