The role of partnership in today's quality programs
06/01/2000
Jack Cocchi
 Jack Cocchi |
Until recently, the semiconductor industry's quality objectives centered on ISO 9000 certification. Now, everyone in the equipment supply chain is considering Standardized Supplier Quality Assessment (SSQA) — the Semi/Sematech goal for business processes and quality standards. While standardization is a splendid idea, pressure to adopt SSQA in total can be counterproductive; it needs to be tempered. Companies requiring SSQA compliance down a supply chain need to note the effects of audits, surveys, and other controls within their suppliers' businesses. The goal is to strengthen each supplier's capabilities, not to impose non-value-added processes or costs.
Using the ISO 9000 process as a lesson, we saw a cottage industry grow up around ISO certification, offering formulas that often had little to do with a company's identity, its products, or operational style. A recent ad promised "ISO certification in three months while you sleep." We need to remember that the point of quality certification is not to pass an audit, but to enhance the effectiveness of business processes and improve customer satisfaction.
SSQA already poses a significant challenge for top-tier equipment producers. For companies further down the supply chain, its comprehensiveness and complexity can be downright daunting. This reality has spawned the Small Business Operating System (SBOS) and FastStart processes. SBOS relies on self-evaluation or an assessment by peers in the supply chain; it helps a company see itself in relation to ISO and SSQA standards, set its own priorities, and determine long-range schedules for compliance.
FastStart looks at a sub-tier supplier's basic business priorities, assuming its first goals are to obtain orders and fill them, develop new products, and get paid. After considering its priorities, a company can focus on those elements of ISO and SSQA that matter to its survival, and then selectively decide which standards to apply.
Increasingly, it seems apparent that even with these tools, the next generation of cost-effective quality standards needs to embrace every aspect of a business, ranging from the timeliness of deliveries to the courtesy of the receptionist. The atmosphere of a company is vital to quality. A company's culture and human climate make it possible to discuss problems openly, find solutions, and, in general, be creative. Only true partnerships, however, can deal with these larger issues underlying quality.
For example, one of our major customers recently asked our engineers and production personnel, "How can you reduce your costs?" In subsequent discussions, we found that if drawings were toleranced differently, manufacturing time could be reduced. In addition, by using a higher-grade material, downstream maintenance costs would be lowered. When the customer expressed concern over the costs of welded components, we acknowledged the problem and suggested that by redesigning the product we could use riveted construction to achieve the same dimensional and structural requirements, at a 50% saving.
In addition, it is important to see the true cost of quality. Suppliers can pay a high price for delivering inadequate quality, but overinvesting in quality programs can be just as costly, particularly considering the fast change within the equipment supply chain. Recently, a new customer began certifying us for compliance with its quality program and asked for significant changes in our standard reporting practices. It suggested that we contact one of its other vendors for an illustration. When we did, we discovered the vendor had invested significant resources in a benchmarking process, but it was no longer a supplier because compliance with the quality program had proven too costly.
It makes sense to leverage the manufacturing know-how of customer and suppliers in areas such as designing to cost and value engineering. Such collaboration is particularly effective in working toward company-specific requirements, such as plug-and-play and copy-exactly. Goals such as process quality, which involve work and procedures largely invisible to the customer, absolutely demand close collaboration. When a small change in materials can, say, affect the strength of a joint or outgassing of a surface, there is no substitute for the trust that goes with partnership. The same holds true for product reliability: As reliability increasingly becomes a design issue, customers expect to see field records of product performance, lab test data, as well as any other information that addresses reliability at the front end.
Only production partners can achieve quality in procurement. To obtain the best possible prices, customer and supplier must be able to discuss openly the costs of procurement, stocking, and hidden expenses. Each party is bound to have advantageous pricing arrangements with vendors, and both must be willing to share such information.
The quality process must have top management's commitment and involve every department in a company, and it must be pursued with single-mindedness, yet flexibility. "Total Quality" involves the way sales handles purchase orders, the names engineers assign to drawings, and the way error correction paperwork is handled. So tackling quality issues one department at a time is actually very difficult; it is easier to address quality on a company-wide basis. And make sure that people understand the guiding idea behind quality procedures, not just the rules. Grasping the spirit as well as the letter of the law helps people to be flexible. Everyone needs to integrate new quality practices along with existing company priorities, especially in meeting customer needs and expectations.
Finally, be wary of basing quality preparedness on external accreditation, such as customer surveys and certification programs. You may be meeting quality standards, but losing your customer's confidence, perhaps for reasons you have neither understood nor anticipated. Before, during, and after putting a quality program in place, keep in touch with your customer, but don't lose sight of your internal customers — your employees. Keep asking both externally and internally if your company is doing a good job. Such communication is a major part of effective partnering, and the only real way to assess the impact of a quality program.
Jack Cocchi is director of quality assurance at Semifab Inc., 307 Fallon Rd., Hollister, CA 95023; ph 831/634-2830, fax 831/637-1268, e-mail [email protected].
Gold-plating an octopus ring
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A husband and wife, working with two assistants, produced educational toys in a small industrial park. One day, an engineer from the large aerospace company across the street wandered in and looked at their injection-molded toy parts. One in particular caught his eye, a jointed ring from a plastic octopus. The engineer inspected the ring, then asked what it cost to buy a complete toy octopus. $24.95, the couple told him. Looking pleased, the engineer borrowed the part and left.
The next day he returned with a message. His aerospace company needed 10,000 of the jointed rings — and that was just a start. If all went well, his firm would order 10,000 every month for an indefinite period. The husband and wife said they would prepare a quote right away. The engineer told them to wait — someone from his company would be in touch.
Two weeks later, the aerospace company's assistant partner certification manager walked across the street for his scheduled survey of the toy maker's manufacturing operation in a converted garage. The manager did a walk-through, completed his survey, and sat down with the husband and wife. The couple would need to have a detailed manufacturing plan, including an SPC program, in place, he explained, and demonstrate full process capability to a team of inspectors. In addition, they would have to submit their rubber materials to a certified laboratory for analysis on a regular basis. He gave them a CD-ROM with his company's drawings of the numbered part, which specified tolerances down to .001mm. To assure conformance to the company's drawing, the couple would also need an approved statistical sampling plan.
The husband and wife stayed up most of the night, researching statistical process control, statistical sampling, analytical costs, and other topics on the Web. By the time the bleary-eyed couple arrived at work, they had decided to hire a consultant. Within days the consultant had come and gone, and the couple submitted their bid. The rubber ring would cost $189, in lots of 10,000.
The next day the aerospace engineer and the partner certification manager held a conference call with the couple. The four of them talked for an hour, the couple sitting outside with a portable phone, occasionally waving in the direction of the building across the street. Wasn't there a way to lower their costs, the engineer and manager asked? Yes, the couple said, there definitely was. Order their own commercial part number OCTO-111, which featured built-in tentacle capability, for $8.50. Or order the aerospace part number that at the end of the phone call was going to cost $210 — it was up to the company. The couple hung up, waving goodbye to the engineer and certification manager, who sat in a conference room across the street. And they went back to work making toys.