amage from poor quality is unquantifiable. Loss of customer loyalty, loss of market share, loss of good-will. Even some of the effects can and must be captured in monetary terms, since money is a language that grabs the attention of management.

The cost of non-conformance involves all the additional costs incurred because things were not done right the first time. These might include overtime, scrap, rework, warranty claims, recalls, processing of customer complaints etc.

Error Prevention

As Deming (and Crosby himself) often said, quality cannot be inspected into a product or service. It must be built in right from t

The late Phil Crosby of the Zero Defects fame tells of how as quality manager he once spent time explaining to his boss in sophisticated statistical terms how the defects they found in the shipments to a customer (which had resulted in complaints by the customer, and the need for field repairs) were inevitable and indeed much lower than their competitors could manage. As the story goes, the boss had patiently listened to his excuses and explanations and when he had finished replied, "Philip, somewhere in this world there is a quality manager who can get me products and services with no problems in them. I sure would like that person to be you."

Crosby, suddenly realising that the matter had moved from a merely academic debate to one of professional survival for him - his job was on the line - achieved one of the swiftest shifts in paradigm ever! Mulling over the matter, he came to the conclusion that the only acceptable goal for quality was Zero Defects. He reasoned that all errors and defects resulted either from a lack of knowledge or a lack of attention. The first cause could be remedied through proper training and education. The second required that management consistently show its determination not to allow the delivery of any defective goods or services to customers.

Zero Defects - How Possible?

Is zero defects possible? To answer that question, consider how many times you have picked the wrong kid when you went to collect your child from school, or driven home to the wrong house after work, or had the wrong salary paid to your employees.

The tasks we have outlined are routinely performed with precision. Why? Because those involved know what to do, and more relevant, find the outcomes important enough to command full attention.

What Management Must Do

Crosby defines quality as "conformance to requirements". Management must set the requirements and make sure they are known by all concerned. And then management must refrain from sabotaging its own efforts through inconsistency.

For example the company that professes quality and then under pressure to meet profit projections at year end, allows defective products to get to the customer, only shows to the workforce that its commitment is only for show. Employees know that management will cave in when push comes to shove.

On the other hand, the company that orders a product recall on discovering defects shows its people that management is serious and that there are no exceptions to the rule.

Quantifying Non-Conformance

On the whole, the damage from poor quality is unquantifiable. Loss of customer loyalty, loss of market share, loss of good-will. Even some of the effects can and must be captured in monetary terms, since money is a language that grabs the attention of management.

The cost of non-conformance involves all the additional costs incurred because things were not done right the first time. These might include overtime, scrap, rework, warranty claims, recalls, processing of customer complaints etc.

Error Prevention

As Deming (and Crosby himself) often said, quality cannot be inspected into a product or service. It must be built in right from th

y, suddenly realising that the matter had moved from a merely academic debate to one of professional survival for him - his job was on the line - achieved one of the swiftest shifts in paradigm ever! Mulling over the matter, he came to the conclusion that the only acceptable goal for quality was Zero Defects. He reasoned that all errors and defects resulted either from a lack of knowledge or a lack of attention. The first cause could be remedied through proper training and education. The second required that management consistently show its determination not to allow the delivery of any defective goods or services to customers.

Zero Defects - How Possible?

Is zero defects possible? To answer that question, consider how many times you have picked the wrong kid when you went to collect your child from school, or driven home to the wrong house after work, or had the wrong salary paid to your employees.

The tasks we have outlined are routinely performed with precision. Why? Because those involved know what to do, and more relevant, find the outcomes important enough to command full attention.

What Management Must Do

Crosby defines quality as "conformance to requirements". Management must set the requirements and make sure they are known by all concerned. And then management must refrain from sabotaging its own efforts through inconsistency.

For example the company that professes quality and then under pressure to meet profit projections at year end, allows defective products to get to the customer, only shows to the workforce that its commitment is only for show. Employees know that management will cave in when push comes to shove.

On the other hand, the company that orders a product recall on discovering defects shows its people that management is serious and that there are no exceptions to the rule.

Quantifying Non-Conformance

On the whole, the damage from poor quality is unquantifiable. Loss of customer loyalty, loss of market share, loss of good-will. Even some of the effects can and must be captured in monetary terms, since money is a language that grabs the attention of management.

The cost of non-conformance involves all the additional costs incurred because things were not done right the first time. These might include overtime, scrap, rework, warranty claims, recalls, processing of customer complaints etc.

Error Prevention

As Deming (and Crosby himself) often said, quality cannot be inspected into a product or service. It must be built in right from t

How Possible?

Is zero defects possible? To answer that question, consider how many times you have picked the wrong kid when you went to collect your child from school, or driven home to the wrong house after work, or had the wrong salary paid to your employees.

The tasks we have outlined are routinely performed with precision. Why? Because those involved know what to do, and more relevant, find the outcomes important enough to command full attention.

What Management Must Do

Crosby defines quality as "conformance to requirements". Management must set the requirements and make sure they are known by all concerned. And then management must refrain from sabotaging its own efforts through inconsistency.

For example the company that professes quality and then under pressure to meet profit projections at year end, allows defective products to get to the customer, only shows to the workforce that its commitment is only for show. Employees know that management will cave in when push comes to shove.

On the other hand, the company that orders a product recall on discovering defects shows its people that management is serious and that there are no exceptions to the rule.

Quantifying Non-Conformance

On the whole, the damage from poor quality is unquantifiable. Loss of customer loyalty, loss of market share, loss of good-will. Even some of the effects can and must be captured in monetary terms, since money is a language that grabs the attention of management.

The cost of non-conformance involves all the additional costs incurred because things were not done right the first time. These might include overtime, scrap, rework, warranty claims, recalls, processing of customer complaints etc.

Error Prevention

As Deming (and Crosby himself) often said, quality cannot be inspected into a product or service. It must be built in right from t

ll concerned. And then management must refrain from sabotaging its own efforts through inconsistency.

For example the company that professes quality and then under pressure to meet profit projections at year end, allows defective products to get to the customer, only shows to the workforce that its commitment is only for show. Employees know that management will cave in when push comes to shove.

On the other hand, the company that orders a product recall on discovering defects shows its people that management is serious and that there are no exceptions to the rule.

Quantifying Non-Conformance

On the whole, the damage from poor quality is unquantifiable. Loss of customer loyalty, loss of market share, loss of good-will. Even some of the effects can and must be captured in monetary terms, since money is a language that grabs the attention of management.

The cost of non-conformance involves all the additional costs incurred because things were not done right the first time. These might include overtime, scrap, rework, warranty claims, recalls, processing of customer complaints etc.

Error Prevention

As Deming (and Crosby himself) often said, quality cannot be inspected into a product or service. It must be built in right from t

amage from poor quality is unquantifiable. Loss of customer loyalty, loss of market share, loss of good-will. Even some of the effects can and must be captured in monetary terms, since money is a language that grabs the attention of management.

The cost of non-conformance involves all the additional costs incurred because things were not done right the first time. These might include overtime, scrap, rework, warranty claims, recalls, processing of customer complaints etc.

Error Prevention

As Deming (and Crosby himself) often said, quality cannot be inspected into a product or service. It must be built in right from the start. This means preventing the errors that produce defects from occurring in the first place.

Thus for identified defects/errors, the first step is to determine the source or root cause. The next step is then to eliminate the cause so that the problem is gone forever.

The journey to Zero Defects is an eternal cycle of observing defects, determining their causes and permanently eliminating these causes.