Quality & Compliance Newsletter - September 2004

['Quality and Compliance']

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Sept 2004

	Reducing New Product Introduction (NPI) time using a packaged software solution
	In several industries, the total time taken to introduce a new product into the market can be the key difference between a blockbuster and a mediocre performing new product. New Product Introduction involves several collaborative processes including product design, product quality planning, identifying and qualifying vendors and plants for sourcing components, conducting first article inspection and taking corrective actions to fix issues and finally, transitioning the product into high-volume production. Supply Chain and PLM vendors have attempted to solve this problem using a very narrow approach. However, in order to successfully reduce the NPI cycle time, companies need a software solution that supports end-to-end NPI process.
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	Raising your Audit Score through effective Document Control
	In our August 2004 issue, we discussed best practices for implementing a well-designed audit program. In this issue, let us discuss how one can most effectively raise the audit scores of your organization by building effective document control processes. Document control and document lifecycle management have become increasingly important foundation for building and implementing a good quality and compliance system. With the growth of online manuals, standard operating procedures (SOP’s), supplier contracts, electronic material safety datasheets (MSDS), OSHA safety datasheets, plant and operator instruction manuals, most large and mid-size manufacturers are finding it difficult to enforce compliance with corporate procedures and quality standards. In many cases where such digital document repositories do exist, we find that these document repositories are not integrated with the underlying processes and quality standards of the organization.
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	Benefits of a Supplier Quality System – A Case Study
	A large industrial products component manufacturer was challenged to reduce supplier quality issues in response to changing market dynamics. The manufacturer faced increased competition in their core product segments and needed to reduce their overall costs and improve product quality to stay ahead. After a detailed analysis, the manufacturer identified supplier quality as one of the three key operational improvement opportunities. The manufacturer had built a network of about 25 core suppliers and sourced 90% of their components from them. In order to identify opportunities for improving supplier quality, the manufacturer started evaluating their key supplier-facing product quality and delivery quality processes.
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	According to AMR Research, 87% of the firms surveyed expect 2005 IT-related spending on compliance will equal or exceed 2004 spending. Details are as follows:
		68% expect budgets to increase year over year.
		19% plan on level spending in this category.
		13% estimate compliance expenses will fall.
	"We've proven that Baldrige and Six Sigma complement each other well. The analogy we use is that of an orchestra: Six Sigma takes the trumpet player and makes her a world-class trumpet player, but in isolation that doesn't necessarily make the orchestra sound better. Baldrige looks at how all the elements are working together to make beautiful music. Put another way, Baldrige helps identify where we need to go, and Six Sigma makes the improvements happen."
		- James S. Beard, President of Caterpillar Financial Services - Quality Digest
	"In world-class organizations, working to improve quality is not an extracurricular activity. It is a minimum requirement."
		- Chang, Labovitz, and Rosansky

Links to papers in the prior newsletter issues
		Best Practices in CAPA		Calculating the Cost of Poor Quality
		Workplace Safety Compliance		Impact of Regulatory Compliance on Quality and Profits

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