Unleashing the Power of Quality in Organizations

The recent Economic crunch has exposed many weaknesses in organizations. Organizations have seen their dashboard indicators turning red and they are faced with tough decisions to make. Executive teams went back to the board rooms and revisited their strategy in an effort to put plans to survive and stay in business. The Question was "what shall we do know? Do we drop our scorecards and KPIs? Which projects should we drop? Do we cut down on our work force?

For months, many leadership teams have had only one strategic goal in mind: survival. Grander visions have been forgotten. Research from Boston Consulting Group suggests that corporate hibernation only works if recessions are short, if the outside world goes back to the way it was before, and if all your competitors are equally inactive. In 2009, not one of these conditions apply.

Companies realized that they need to go back to a Quality driven culture. Showing the added value to their customers through quality initiatives seemed the only logical strategy at this time. So what quality plan should be adopted? The role of the quality team now seems to have more presence at the senior management meetings.

"MUDA" as Japanese call it is the waste in organizations. We are not talking about industrial waste here. We are talking about process waste. Service and administrative processes are full of waste.

The Lean Workshop helps organizations gain a good understanding of Lean concepts and their application in a non-manufacturing environment. It introduces service and administrative functions to lean fundamentals and their application to improving quality, productivity and cost. The workshop is highly interactive and filled with application activities (the ‘teach and do' approach) so that participants can transfer what they learn back on the job. Additionally the Six Sigma and traditional quality tools seemed to attract more users. Companies have gone into full throttle with their quality drive. They have realized that staying in business can be only driven by an efficient process clear of waste and defects and with a workforce that have Quality mindset.