The Global State of Quality - A Perspective

ASQ, in partnership with APQC, released the first findings of the ASQ Global State of Quality research initiative at ASQ’s 2013 World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Indianapolis, Indiana. Releasing its Discoveries 2013 report, ASQ asks "What finding is the most useful to your work?  What finding is the most surprising? What question would you most like to have answered?"

I first became exposed to the Discoveries 2013 report during the Enterprise member Executive Roundtable event at the WCQI. Two key observations that I took away from the report are the revelation that "service organizations are 1.6 times more likely than manufacturing organizations to view quality as a strategic asset and competitive differentiator" (page 14); and, the relatively small number of customer perceptions of quality used as compared to the number of internal measures of productivity, efficiency and effectiveness (page 18).

Why might more service organizations view quality as a strategic asset than their manufacturing counterparts? One main reason, I believe, is because service is THE product of service organizations; whereas service is an added feature of manufacturing. Direct contact with the customer is the moment of truth for service organizations; a distinct competitive advantage is won by the organization that can deliver consistently superior customer experience. In today's global economy, local interaction can be a cost equalizer and a key differentiator.

Common measures of quality frequently cited by participating organizations include:

• First Pass Yield
• Defects Per Million
• % On Time
• Safety
• Internal Failures
• % Compliance
• Employee Satisfaction
• Customer Satisfaction.

While I am not surprised that most organizations measure performance based on their internal goals and requirements, it appears that very few organizations measure customer perceptions of quality beyond an overall satisfaction number. First, it has been well researched and documented that Satisfaction does not necessarily translate into Loyalty...  Second, ASQ's 2011 Future of Quality Study (Emergence) introduces 21st century quality as Total Customer Experience (TCE). TCE is quality experienced by the customer at every touchpoint in every transaction with the supplying organization. I would be interested in learning more about how organizations are capturing and translating customer experience ratings throughout the value chain and product lifecycle: advertising, merchandizing, point of sale, invoicing, customer service, technical service, installation, service, repair and disposal, as well as any online web experience. What innovations have organizations implemented to increase employee and customer engagement?

I look forward to reading the subsequent analysis and insights reports due later in 2013.

Surviving Conferences

In his April blog post, ASQ CEO Paul Borawski asks, "What’s your advice for getting the most from  a conference or networking event?"

Yes, I am planning to once again attend the ASQ World Conference on Quality & Improvement (WCQI). I have attended nearly every WCQI/AQC event since 1990. As an officer of either the Statistics Division or the MN Section many of the related WCQI trip expenses have been shared between my employer and the ASQ member unit for whom I was an officer, or complimentary as a conference speaker. This annual networking experience has proven to be a win-win for my personal development, my employer's benefit, and the ASQ member unit.

Conferences such as the WCQI and the ASQ LSS are an excellent opportunity to build one's professional network. I bring a handful of business cards and, of course, my smartphone. Apps like LinkedIn's CardMunch and Evernote's Hello are great tools to quickly capture contact information and profiles. Social media apps such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and many others are also very helpful collaboration tools. This year I plan to capture video via Viddy (for Facebook and Blogger) and Eyejot (for email) as I document my impressions and interactions at the WCQI for the benefit of others.

However, no number of electronic impressions can equal or replace the impact of face-to-face collaboration and networking. The receptions, luncheons, hospitality suites and 'After 5' sessions are other great venues to meet speakers, subject matter experts, and people like you exploring new learning and best practice sharing opportunities. I hope to see you at the Indianapolis WCQI, but if you cannot physically attend I encourage you follow my tweets and others' (#WCQI13) and/or follow the ASQ Influential Voices blog posts.

The MN State Quality Program - Performance Excellence

In his April blog post ASQ CEO Paul Borawski asks for examples of national quality programs, and whether the program is growing in visibility and perceived value and creating capacity for organizational excellence.

The United States has the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program. I first became familiar with the Baldrige Criteria while an internal evaluator back in the late 1990's when 3M's Dental Products Division won the national quality award in 1997. The Baldrige Program is the USA's public-private partnership dedicated to performance excellence, administered by NIST and ASQ. Rather than focus on the national program, I wish to introduce my readers to the Minnesota state quality program. The Minnesota Council for Quality and Productivity was formed in 1987 as a part of the Department of Trade and Economic Development. The word “productivity” was later dropped from the name, and the organization was eventually spun off into an independent, private non-profit. The Council was one of the first state quality award programs modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. In 2012 the MN Council for Quality was renamed to the Performance Excellence Network, or PEN for short. The primary goal of PEN organizational assessments is learning and improvement, but it also recognizes levels of performance excellence to eligible organizations through the Performance Excellence Award (formerly the Minnesota Quality Award). Per the PEN website, the Award Cycle - with its multiple levels of recognition - remains an important part of PEN’s offering. Since 1991 there have been nearly 100 MN State Award recipients, representing various industries, sizes, and communities throughout the region.

I have been a trained State Evaluator for four years and have participated in several assessments and site visits. The great thing about the MN State Award process is that, unlike the national program, EVERY applicant gets a site visit!  Brian Lassiter, President, and the PEN judges and evaluators have done a masterful job of building a program focused on learning and best practices sharing. My participation with PEN has also benefited from the knowledge and experiences shared by Mark Blazey, author of Insights to Performance Excellence, whom has been invited to teach every year of my PEN evaluator refresher training. Serving as a MN state evaluator has significantly strengthened my understanding of overall organizational performance excellence beyond traditional quality tools, methods, processes and systems, which has also benefited my employer and all with whom I correspond.

Quality in Local Government

Paul Borawski, in his latest ASQ blog, talks about quality improvement efforts in various city governments including Milwaukee, WI, Coral Springs, FL, and Irving, TX.

I have similar experience with the City of Hutchinson - a small town in central Minnesota - where the mayor and city council wanted to establish a "One Stop Shop" for licensing and permitting in the building/planning/zoning departments. A cross-functional team was assembled from across three different government entities: the State of MN, McLeod County, and City of Hutchinson. A problem statement was developed focusing on delivering constituent experience and satisfaction. The 'DMAIC' problem solving methodology was employed to define a new operating system. Quality tools used include surveys, fishbone diagrams, FMEAs, C&E, brainstorming, affinity diagrams, inter-relationship diagrams, experimentation, SPC and control plans.

A more detailed explanation of this example and other personal success stories using statistical thinking are available in the book, "Improving Performance Through Statistical Thinking" by Britz, et al (ASQ Quality Press, Item H0160).

Quality Tools in Forensics

In his March blog, ASQ CEO Paul Borawski asks if anyone had spotted a place where a quality tool would really come in handy. I am happy to announce that I am in the midst of a planned weight loss program. I lost 52 lbs during July-November to achieve my target weight, and have been in transition mode back to "normal" foods since December while maintaining my new weight.

During my weekly consulting sessions the weight loss coach would take my blood pressure, measure my weight and every few weeks conduct an "in-body" scan of muscle vs body fat. I continue to be amazed by the large variation between blood pressure monitors and the apparent lack of standardization between the different scales. Fortunately, these devices are not life critical in a weight loss program, but how often do you question whether the lab equipment at your clinic, in the dentist's office, or in the hospital are calibrated, or whether the test methods are validated and in a state of statistical control?

In a story making local and state headlines, the St Paul Police Crime Lab suspended its drug testing in July 2012 after public defenders challenged the reliability of the lab's work in court. The lab provides drug testing for Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties. The problems at the crime lab have thrown thousands of past and pending cases into question. In a report from MPR News, "A senior lab employee also testified that the lab lacks written procedures for testing evidence for drugs and provides only informal training to new employees. The lab, which processes up to 50 cases per day, does not regularly review its work to check for errors, the employees said, and, like many other smaller crime labs in Minnesota, is not accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors."

Minnesota law does not require accreditation for crime labs, although evidence from these labs play an increasingly larger role in convicting people of drug possession, murder, and other crimes. Perhaps this case will cause the state government to reconsider the value of quality audits, equipment calibration, standard procedures, measurement quality assurance and operator training and certification.

Celebrate Failure As Learning, Leading to Growth

According to an ASQ survey conducted by Kelton Global, while 95 percent of teens agree that risk-taking is required for innovation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics - or STEM - careers, 46 percent say they are afraid to fail or uncomfortable taking risks to solve problems. Failing and trying again is key to problem-solving in STEM careers, including the field of quality. Fewer teens are pursuing STEM fields today because of the fear of bad grades. ASQ CEO, Paul Borawski, suggests that "We need to teach today’s students how to take risks and fail so they feel comfortable when faced with challenging work."

Changing this fear of failure - and the impact of bad grades - requires a culture change where failure is recognized and celebrated as learning; where taking a chance by enrolling in a difficult course that stretches one's ability and receiving a lower passing grade - is rewarded with some kind of bonus points. Not all risks are equal; not all "A's" or "D's" are the same. Formal learning and grading systems should consider the degree of difficulty when calculating the student's grade. Failure in the business world is ultimately evaluated from the perspective of dollars and sense. It has been my experience in business that "bad" financial results are much more palatable when the quality of the decison-making process was first-rate. Project Management Institute (PMI) tells us that minimizing the negative impact of risk can be accomplished by maximizing the expected monetary value of a decision. Expected Monetary Value (EMV) allows you to quantitatively prioritize risk: prioritize the risks with the highest probability of occurrence versus the risks with the greatest monetary impact. EMV Decision Trees help identify the set of options available to minimize risk and maximize opportunity. For example, a "make or buy" decision can be evaluated with knowledge of the probability of each risk along with the monetary value of each risk.

I have used EMV on occasion in my career when considering the cost vs benefit of alternatives impacting quality and reliability. An interesting exercise for the potential STEM student and mentor might be to construct an EMV decision tree to evaluate curriculum options (effort vs. expected grade) using the anticipated earnings of a STEM versus non-STEM career.

In today's fast changing world we must all become comfortable with the uncomfortable. However, that does not mean we should haphazardly make important decisions in the name of speed. According to a study reported in HBR, "...operational speed is quite different from strategic speed. Firms that 'slowed down to speed up' improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating profits over a three-year period... higher-performing companies with strategic speed made alignment a priority. They became more open to ideas and discussion. They encouraged innovative thinking. And they allowed time to reflect and learn."

Allowing mistakes and accepting failure as learning helps to encourage experimentation, potentially leading to breakthrough or even disruptive innovation resulting in personal growth and organizational success.

21st Century Quality

13 years into what Dr. Juran said would be the "Century of Quality", ASQ CEO Paul Borawski asks in his January 2013 blog post, "What do you use as the best, most inclusive, and illuminating definition of quality?" The 2011 Future of Quality Study defines Quality as a force of change, and introduces the concept of "21st Century Quality" - Quality is ultimately what the customer says it is, and what the customer is willing to pay for. Quality today is more than product quality. Perfect product is a given. Exceptional service and transactional quality are often powerful differentiators.

• Quality improvement is the process of managing variation around customers’ expectations.
• Quality processes deliver brand promise, protect the enterprise, improve operational excellence, enable customer-perceived value, increase customer satisfaction.
• Quality, then, in its simplest definition is "Total Customer Experience."

Total Customer Experience is the sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier over the duration of their relationship with that supplier, from awareness, discovery, attraction, interaction, purchase, use, cultivation and advocacy. Superior Total Customer Experience delivers memorable, satisfying experiences in every transaction every time. Peter Drucker, a renowned Quality Management expert reminds us, “Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the customer gets out of it.”

People often ask, “How is Quality different than Lean Six Sigma?” It is my opinion that while Lean, Six Sigma, PDCA, etc. are all important problem solving and continuous methods in the Quality practitioner toolkit, Quality is much more than continuous improvement. A key role of the Quality function is to manage the organizational white spaces that exist between departments in cross-functional work systems and processes. Quality recognizes the importance of effective hand-offs between internal supplier and customers to meet and exceed end user requirements. The Baldrige Criteria offers an excellent framework that describes this holistic definition of Quality. I want you to visualize the hamburger. The bottom bun represents the organization's values and principles. The top bun symbolizes its mission, vision, strategies and plans. Lean, Six Sigma, CAPA, PDCA, PPU are the condiments. The meat, cheese and vegetables are the key business processes of leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, human capital, process management, and business results. Quality assures the alignment of these systems and processes to deliver a satisfying burger experience.

Winning in today’s highly competitive, global market requires flawless execution at the speed of the customer. Delivering Total Customer Experience requires stable and capable processes, with consistent flow, and an engaged, motivated and empowered workforce. To quote Ernst & Young, "There is little chance that your customers will be excited about your products or services unless your workers are."