To avoid product problems in the long term, quality processes, methods and tools in the company must already be implemented sustainably in the product development process. However, only if the awareness of the necessity and importance of quality work is consistently anchored in the company can it be ensured that this is lived by all participants in a quality network and that the potential is fully exploited.
Background
The guidelines, processes and responsibilities of quality work in the product development process of our customer were already defined at the beginning of the project but were not fully and consistently lived by all participants. As a result, the current quality processes first had to be examined for potential weaknesses in order to identify potential for improvement. In addition, increasing the acceptance of quality work and anchoring it in the company was another lever for exploiting its full potential.
The specific task
Within the scope of optimising the quality performance of our customer, the current quality activities and their control processes in the company’s product development process were to be examined and put to the test. In addition to an analysis of weak points and the development of a concept proposal, potential factors influencing the future orientation of quality work and interfaces to current change projects in the company had to be taken into account.
In order to sustainably anchor quality work in the product development process, we were also to describe the quality strategy and its added value as well as the control model for the various quality activities. In this regard, synergies and interfaces had to be taken into account in order to guarantee maximum efficiency in quality work.
The KBC Solution Approach
In addition to an analysis of the current quality activities in the product development process, expert interviews with those responsible for quality were conducted to record the status quo of quality work. On the basis of the information obtained, we were able to describe synergy potentials and identify improvement potentials. In order to anchor quality awareness in the company, an introduction to Q activities and their necessity, impact and significance for employees in the Q network was developed and a control concept developed.
Realisation of Potential
On the basis of our many years of experience in the quality environment, we were able to improve the company-wide acceptance of quality work with our customers and have identified potential in existing processes. In this way, the quality of our customer’s products can already be optimised in the product development process in order to avoid product problems preventively and sustainably.