So what really is cost of quality? Most complex issues need to be broken down to properly solve them. Cost of quality is no different. The total cost of quality is really made up of:

• The cost of good quality
• The cost of bad quality

To really gain a good understanding of how to move the cost of quality meter in the right direction, we have to focus on reducing the cost of good and bad quality. The good news is that there are tools to help us do this efficiently and effectively. One such tool is quality management software. Quality management software gives organizations a way to automate many of the process that comprise the cost of good quality, while improving the visibility into key performance indicators for the cost of bad quality (as you would expect in a very simple manner (:  )!

Whew, now we have an easy way to manage cost of quality and get us on the path to best-in-class. The really cool part about affecting cost of quality are the ensuing benefits: shorter lead times, reduced inventories, fewer late shipments, fewer returned materials, fewer compliance related issues, happier customers, and improvements in competitive advantage. For the details, check out the full Cost of Quality and Quality Management Software article.

We all know that Business Excellence does not come easy! But like most complex challenges, Business Excellence can be broken down to manageable chunks.In this article we define five key driver categories:

1. Metrics Management System
2. Quality Management System
3. Performance Improvement System
4. Customer Experience Improvement System
5. Management Improvement System

We discuss how each builds off each other. It is neat to see how the quality management system interplays with each category and ultimately is the glue that binds each category to each other! Oh yeah, one of the most important points of the article is that for each category we share practical best practices to help you implement as well as to know you are staying on the right track. Read on and let us know what you think! Quality Management System is The Glue that Binds Business Excellence.

For all you folks out there who have implemented or are in the process of implementing Quality System Basics (QSB), we wanted to share best practices we’ve learned over the years. This blog is dedicated to that!

Quality Systems Basics (QSB) is NOT a set of individual strategies, but a system for managing operations. While you already have procedures and methods to make good product, QSB introduces some of the best practices General Motors (GM) has found that make it even more likely that your customers (including GM) will be satisfied. And important to you as a supplier, when your customers are consistently satisfied, your costs to achieve that level of quality will actually be reduced.

Also realize that even if the names of some of the 11 GM QSB strategies are different or new to you, you’re likely doing many of the QSB requirements already (e.g. standard operating procedures, product status identification, RPN reduction, supply chain management, etc.).

If you’re new to QSB, start with the strategy that will best help your company reduce costs or problems. Then grow your implementation from there. For many companies, Fast Response is a great starting point because is drives problem solving to the source of the problem; and it develops the discipline of root cause thinking and correcting workflow so that the problem at hand – and similar problems – can be prevented down the road.

So the discussion isn’t really why you have been asked to implement QSB, it’s really about how to best apply the methods and techniques within QSB to save your plant time and money.

We hope you’ll now see QSB in a different light!

Posted by Murray Sittsamer (murray@luminousgroup.com), The Luminous Group, strategic business partner to CEBOS. For more information on how CEBOS can help automate GM QSB requirements, click here.

For most of us, when it comes time to justify an expenditure, we don’t know where or how to even start such an arduous task! It just seems like it makes sense, why can’t management see this and sign off so we can get the project going? We all know that in reality, especially in the aftermath of the Great Recession, it’s not that simple. One trend that did emerge from the Great Recession and is likely here to stay, is the tightening of the corporate purchasing approval process. Nothing gets through without a good solid justification.

Having sold many quality management software solutions over the years, CEBOS has pulled together a short article to help you in justifying your quality management software automation project and put your organization on the path to best in class! We hope you enjoy our article – Creating an ROI for Quality Management Software.