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su•per•fi•ci•al•i•ty (Part I)
Superficiality Within Quality Management Systems
Superficiality is an interesting word, especially when you contrast its definition from a quality management system perspective.
Here are some of the definitions:
• Vocabulary.com: “shallow; affecting only the surface layers of something."
• Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: “not being careful; only considering what is obvious."
• The Free Dictionary: “apparent rather than actual or substantial”.
• Cambridge Dictionary: “not important or complete; involving only the most obvious things."
When considering your current Quality Management System (QMS), do any of the above characteristics describe any aspect of your QMS?
This has been the case for the majority of Bluestreak™ companies we have spoken with over the years. Some recently told us their motivation for looking at new QMS-related software was to speed up production primarily by eliminating some steps and making things easier for their production workforce. If you have an oversimplified QMS, you are most likely operating your business superficially.
The High Stakes of Superficial Quality Management
Many businesses, driven by the need to meet tight production schedules, faster turnaround times, and stringent compliance requirements, often attempt to streamline their operations by choosing simplified QMS or MES. These systems are marketed as offering a quick fix to production challenges by reducing production time and simplifying processes. However, the reality is that over-simplified systems often prioritize speed over quality, leading to costly pitfalls. What benefit does your company gain from completing work faster if it's not done correctly?
The True Cost of Settling for Simplistic Solutions
In the high-stakes world of quality management, compliance isn't just a goal—it's a mandate. If you're a quality professional responsible for ensuring stringent audits, producing top-notch parts, or returning service-treated products to satisfied customers, you've likely encountered the pitfalls of settling for superficial QMS.
Simplistic approaches can result in:
• Increased costs
• Production delays
• Audit nightmares
• Poor data protection/cybersecurity practices
• Reputational damage
• And more
Discover the significance of robust, comprehensive QMS + MES software that can manage key product decisions in real-time, avoid costly errors, and streamline operations with automated processes.
Two key questions:
1. Are fewer software clicks for your production staff more important to speed up jobs?
2. Is quality management, individual accountability, and preventing rework more important so jobs get done right the first time?
If you chose number 1, by eliminating key quality checkpoints and sign-offs, your software will make risky assumptions that will ultimately hurt your business. These questions underscore the trade-offs between operational efficiency and the enduring value of quality, framing a fundamental discussion about the priorities that will define a company's production strategy.
Navigating the Pros and Cons of Automation
Today's modern Quality Management Systems are increasingly leveraging automation technologies, especially on the production floor. This integration aims to streamline operations by automating data capture, process monitoring, and compliance checks, thus reducing human error (using hand-written forms) and increasing efficiency. Automated workflows can now ensure that steps in the manufacturing process adhere to predefined quality standards, with systems automatically flagging deviations for immediate correction. This capability not only enhances the reliability of the manufacturing process but also boosts overall productivity by enabling a more seamless flow of operations.
Exercise caution when upgrading or choosing your QMS software to pursue modern digital transformation. If software automation is overdone, it can undermine effective quality management, compromise quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC), and diminish individual accountability among production personnel. Your production control and quality management software should make it easy for your plant workers to do what they do best in their particular areas of processing. It should collect all the required information electronically, so there is no question about how a job step was processed and completed, with the appropriate sign-offs and automatic compliance assurance documentation collected as the job is moving through the production floor towards completion.
There's a fine line between excessive software automation and effective quality management. Manufacturing and service-based manufacturing companies and job shops, such as heat-treating, coating, plating, surface finishing, fabrication, and forging, always seek ways to streamline and improve production processes through process transformation. This can involve transitioning from paper-based to electronic job travelers or adopting new computer-based technologies to increase efficiency.
However, beware! Each company takes a unique path as it navigates the complexities of its specialized industry. Even if two companies offer similar services and use identical equipment, their approaches may vary. For instance, one company might incorporate additional operational steps into its overall part process and use software to track each step on the production floor, including time/date stamps, load counts, labor counts, and quality data collection.
Conclusion Superficiality Within Quality Management Systems
While it’s crucial to systematically track these steps, ensure you're focusing on those that directly impact the finished product's quality. Excessive automation without proper quality management can result in missed non-conformances, reduced accountability, and compromised production standards.
Author: Ron Belts, Director Of Strategic Accounts for Bluesteak | Bright AM™
About Bluestreak™:
Bluestreak™ is a fully integrated Quality Management System (QMS), a powerful Manufacturing Execution System (MES) designed for the manufacturing environment and service-based manufacturing companies ( metal-treating/powder-coating, plating, heat-treating, forging, and metal-finishing), businesses that receive customers’ parts, perform a process (service) on them, and send those parts back to the customer). Companies need MES software tailored to specific functionality and workflow needs, such as industry-specific specifications management, intuitive scheduling control for staff and machinery maintenance, and the ability to manage work orders and track real-time data. If different work centers on the production floor aren’t “speaking” to each other via the MES, the data loses value and becomes disjointed or lost in disparate silos.
Bluestreak | Bright AM™ is an MES + QMS software solution specifically designed to manage and optimize the unique requirements of Additive Manufacturing’s production of parts and powder inventory usage.
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