How to improve operational performance in manufacturing

You may have access to voluminous spreadsheets of audit data to monitor internal manufacturing operations, CMOs, and suppliers. But how effectively are you using that data?

Are your key managers able to quickly make sense of that audit data and take corrective actions?

Operations struggle when they don't have an efficient process to get information to reviewers for corrective action.

Effectively understanding and reacting to changing business conditions determines your level of success. But, a sluggish response to changing conditions is unfortunately the norm in most organizations.  The time it takes to identify an issue on the operations floor to the point a reviewer becomes aware of it and makes an actionable decision is way too long.

Organizations that gain a competitive advantage find ways to become better, faster and more efficient about making sense of their audit data and taking action.

What to do...

Reduce the time-span between identifying an issue and its resolution - that is the critical space that deserves attention and where improvements are made.

Enhance execution of decision making and issue resolution for more effective change management. The increase in operational performance will help you carry out business strategies faster and more effectively than your competition.

Obtain an operational advantage with real-time data right from the manufacturing floor directly into the hands of reviewers. Analytic applications provide clear, immediate and actionable insights into current performance and the ability to positively impact future success.

Employ decision-centric software applications that are developed specifically for manufacturing operational business problems. The software presents information in a context with which your key operations people are familiar, so decisions are fast and insightful to drive better business outcomes.

By incorporating software into daily operations, you speed up the execution of decision making, improve performance and obtain a measurable competitive advantage.

http://www.ctqsoftware.com/

How to get employees to care about quality in manufacturing

When are you the most focused and do your best work?

Most likely it’s when you have a clear goal to achieve.

With a clear goal you’re able to block out all distractions.
You lose track of time, ignore your email, and skip lunch.
You’re on a mission. Every action performed has intent.
No aimless wandering, just purpose to your action.

The challenge is getting employees into that same
mindset - into the frame of mind where they’re on
a mission to accomplish their goals.

Announcing that you have a goal of zero defects is a start, but…

What really gets people to care about quality…?

Standford University’s Albert Bandura found that people’s motivation
to accomplish a task increases when they have a challenging goal and receive
feedback along the way about how their doing.

It’s the combination of the two - goals and feedback - that's the key.

Giving feedback without communicating goals has little effect on motivation.
Likewise, goals alone are insufficient unless we get consistent measurement of progress.

You may have come across the employee that says, “Zero defects?
Why are you giving me feedback about that? I didn’t know that was our goal!”

In the best of all worlds, employees set their own goals.
People feel best about themselves and what they do if they voluntarily
set their own goals. It's critical employees know why doing something
is important, and to what end it serves.


How to track progress

Help employees set a goal of quality and use a continuous improvement system
to monitor their results and provide them with feedback; it makes employees
more engaged, committed and intent on achieving their mission.

Set goals for departments too. Post the results on a common area
wall so that employees begin to internalize the mission.

Goal setting affirms the person and contributes to what they think about themselves.
It keeps them on track toward a mission of quality.

With clear goals and detailed feedback, employees determine what help they need
from others and who might benefit from their assistance. Under these conditions, they’re
willing to put forth effort.

http://www.ctqsoftware.com/

How to prevent brand damage from a recall

Just ask Toyota if negative quality perceptions linger long after the problems have been corrected. In the first 2 months of 2010, their recall story was consistently among the top 10 news stories.

Would your company survive the brand damage due to a recall?

The question is - do you want to take that risk? 

No matter if you’re a large or small company, you can’t hide a recall from your customers. With every Google search of your company’s name, there’s a good chance that a FDA recall announcement will be displayed in the return listing. That article is not going away either.

The challenge..

Toyota was fooled by its past success, thinking they could never succumb to quality issues. Your company may have a good long standing record of quality and a solid reputation. But, you’re only as good as today. Deteriorating quality tends to happen in subtle ways, not in loud recognizable ones.

What to do...

Discovering risks beneath the water line takes vigilance and a continuous eye on your operations. An effective auditing program gives you that eye, but a pen and paper audit process is not enough. With well-designed auditing software, audits can be performed more frequently and results reviewed and analyzed quickly and effectively.  Analysis of audit data is critical so that adverse trends are detected; root causes identified and corrective actions taken. 

Protecting your brand means identifying and mitigating areas of risk internally before they become catastrophic public issues.  An “eyes open” approach and investment in the right auditing system is your best protection.  

http://www.ctqsoftware.com/

What is the return on investment for quality management software

The monumental struggle faced by the quality department in a manufacturing
company is to ensure compliance and quality in the light of everything that could
and does go wrong.

Challenged with eliminating the barriers to quality and ensuring compliance,
the quality department’s mission to hold employees, CMOs and suppliers
accountable to high performance standards is a round the clock endeavor.

To be successful, the quality department can use a number of tools to persevere
through the labyrinth of quality, safety and compliance issues.
                    
Walking into a best in class manufacturing operation, one thing becomes apparent
very quickly, the commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Best in class companies continually invest in ensuring peak performance from its
employees, equipment and suppliers. Very little is left to chance and circumstance.
They’ve become the best by paying their dues, learning from mistakes and continually
improving. Investment in quality managment software is one way best in class
manufacturers improve performance.

When selecting a quality management software application, consider assessing
the return on investment including risk mitigation, improvements in efficiency,
safety, and compliance to choose the best investment options for future
company performance.

Productivity improvements to increase output, or decrease cost are the most straight
forward and simplest benefits to quantify in a return on investment (ROI) analysis.

Enhanced productivity is not the only source of the value delivered by quality
management software investments. Selecting software with business analytics
also enhances effectiveness by providing individuals and organizations with a
better understanding not only of how well they are performing but also why,
as well as guidance on the best course of future action. For example, analytics
tools can continuously monitor the details of the business but request attention
from managers only when something out of the ordinary occurs. This allows managers
to focus their efforts on things that matter. It ensures that they‘re alerted when decisions
need to be made and provided with the facts to make smart decisions in order to keep
the business functioning optimally.

Quality management software enhances company effectiveness by enabling you
to make better decisions faster and more consistently.

http://www.ctqsoftware.com/

How to go from reactive to proactive quality management

Are you stuck in a reactionary mode with what seems like no end in sight?

Do you feel like you’re moving from one crisis of quality to the next without
ever catching a break?

Would you prefer the feeling of confidence? Of being on top of things and knowing
that whatever challenges present themselves will predictably be handled with
intelligence, grace and composure?

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a complex business of constantly changing regulations,
quality and safety concerns. Keeping on top of your internal operations, CMOs and
suppliers is a challenge even with a robust budget and ample resources. The struggle
is in quickly gaining visibility into the issues that negatively impact quality. The problem
many companies face is how to go from reacting to gotcha problems late in the game,
to proactively catching and addressing issues early on.

Best in class pharmaceutical manufacturers have figured out how to transform their
business and prosper with proactive internal auditing. These companies have made
a proactive switch by implementing the right tools to understand what’s happening
on the manufacturing floor. Using analytical software to leverage real-time quality
data gives visibility into the issues that negatively impact the business operations
with little warning.

By using technology to scan for underlying systemic issues, you make better more
timely operational decisions. You mitigate previously unforeseen issues before they
negatively impact your business and transform your organization from reactive to proactive.

http://www.ctqsoftware.com/

What makes a great audit system

The director of quality for a pharmaceutical
manufacturer recently told me how frustrated he
was with his current audit system. “It’s difficult
to use, he told me. It’s as if the people that
created it had no idea about what’s actually involved in
using a quality management system. Every time I need to
do something, I have to pull out the manual". 

I asked him what would be a great audit system?

“It needs to be easy to use, period.”

Audit systems that are difficult to use are basically useless. What
is the point of having a system that no one wants to use and
doesn’t make it easy to retrieve your data. On the other hand an
audit system that is easy to use, that is intuitive, that enables
you to get in and get out without a headache is one that people
will use.


The secret to a great quality system

When you’re using an easy to use quality management system, you will
find risk. And only then will you increase quality. A good audit system
should enable me to drill down to find the root cause of issues, to start at a
very high level with a department and drill down to find the one employee
that’s really the problem. Or be able to look at the data in a way that
reveals that certain audit questions are not valid, or not being asked
enough, or are just plain no longer need to be asked.

“A good quality management system makes it easier to find risk.”

http://www.ctqsoftware.com/

How to make a quantum leap in quality

Is it possible to take a quantum leap in quality?

Yes. Especially if you’re using a paper-based auditing system, and only auditing once a year. There is tremendous room for gains in quality.

The challenge is how to audit more often without requiring more resources. Frequent auditing is important because the more often you audit, the more you ask the questions, the more you’ll discover risk and ways to improve performance. If you’re not asking the questions, you’re not going to find risk — it’s just that simple.

What’s the key to making quantum leaps in quality?

If you were to implement quality management software, you could quickly and efficiently go from auditing once a year to 20 times a year. That is 20 times the probability that you’ll be able to find actionable risk. With the help of technology, supervisors and other staff can perform audits and expand quality company wide. This ensures that quality is everyone’s responsibility, reducing the load on the quality department and creating a company wide “culture of quality”.

Top companies are using technology to create environments that capture data faster and more often. Then, using the analysis capabilities within the technology, quickly cut through data clutter to find systemic issues with employees, areas and suppliers. Finding risk, and then making sense of it, enables top companies to take action quickly, mitigate risk and increase operational performance. Data drives decision making confidence, and quantum leaps in quality.

http://www.ctqsoftware.com/