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Achieving Zero Defects and 100% Delivery

Zero Defects and 100% delivery. Sounds great, right? Two goals to which every business should aspire. But are they achievable goals? And how do you get there?

In his article, “The Quest for Zero Defects,” in Quality Digest Magazine, Mike Richman wrote this about defects:

“Defects. They’re the bane of our existence … After all, if manufacturing and service processes were immaculate in their natural states, there wouldn’t be much call for ISO standards, Black Belts, metrology equipment, Baldrige awards or statistical process control. That being said, the quest for zero defects can still be considered quality’s Holy Grail. In all industries, defects cost money, waste time and frustrate managers. In some (think pharmaceuticals or medical devices), production errors can cost lives. Everyone can agree that reducing defects is good for business, whatever your business may be.”

So, we’re all in agreement that defects are bad and should be eliminated. But, how does a business achieve zero defects? MindTools.com offered some tips in its article, “Zero Defects: Getting It Right First Time.”

• Management must commit to zero defects
• Zero defects require a proactive approach – if you wait for flaws to emerge you are too late
• Create quality improvement teams
• Monitor your progress
• Measure your quality efforts

Team 1 Plastics, a plastic injection molding company for the automotive industry, has implemented these tips in its pursuit of zero defects. According to Craig Carrel, President, “Zero defects is just like it says – ZERO defects. It is perfection. Since zero is a very tough number to achieve in plastics injection molding at our size – running millions of parts each month – our focus is on continuous improvement to move forward towards zero defects. This means developing robust processes during the development process and launch of each part and finding root causes when we do encounter rejects.”

Carrel explained that Team 1’s proactive approach is to prevent defects at the planning stage, believing that this is the best way to eliminate defects. “Inspection cannot lead to zero defects,” Carrel said. “You need to develop processes and systems that do not make a bad part.” Team 1 Plastics has “… spent a tremendous amount of time and money in developing a robust launch process. This is a multi-function team that works together to identify problems early on and works to eliminate them before the parts go into production.”

The launch team isn’t the only one involved at Team 1 Plastics in achieving zero defects. “Everyone is responsible for quality, and our internal quality team has to play an active role in helping us solve problems with everyone at Team 1. Our quality team and metrology lab play a key role in monitoring our quality and giving us feedback on our progress. A corrective action team, made up of Team Members from the Molding, Quality, and Engineering departments, identifies the major rejects and focuses our resources on finding root causes and eliminating re-occurrences.”

Carrel said that the corrective action team focuses on the “Dirty Dozen” – the top 12 rejects over the last one-to-three months. “These rejects have top priority. We have several examples of our team finding root cause for the rejects and completely eliminating them from the Dirty Dozen list.”

According to Richman, achieving Zero Defects is also about repeatability. He wrote, “Performing tasks right the first time only works if you can do them right the next time, too … A process cannot succeed enterprise wide if it can’t be repeated time and time again, exactly the same way on each and every occasion.”

Team 1 Plastics agrees. Carrel said that a key to zero defects is to “… develop repeatable processes. Also, conformance to standards is critical.” That is one reason why being certified to ISO/TS 16949:2009 standard is so important to Team 1. “TS 16949 helps us develop systems and processes that are repeatable. It also focuses on understanding customer requirements and making sure our systems and processes are meeting them,” Carrel said. In addition, “Automation has helped us move towards zero defects by making our processes more repeatable and consistent. It also allows us to utilize our human talent more on set-up, packaging, trouble shooting, and problem solving.”

Another tool that Team 1 Plastics utilizes to ensure that its processes are consistent is to invest in training of its Team Members. Focused on continuous improvement in this area, the company recently added a new position, Training Coordinator. Carrel said, “Danielle Sheldon, our new Training Coordinator, is currently developing an enhanced on-board training program for all our new Team Members as well as a very detailed training for all new Production and Assembly Assistants. Once completed, she will work on detailed training for other key positions.”

Do these tips work? For Team 1 Plastics, the answer is “Yes!” Carrel said that since 2009, Team 1 has seen a “five-fold decrease in its rejects reports/million $ sales and re-occurrence reject reports/million $ sales even though it has seen a three-fold increase in its sales over that same time period.”

Similar to zero defects, Carrel said that “100% delivery is perfection and is a very tough goal to hit consistently. And, similar to zero defects, Team 1 Plastics is constantly working towards 100% delivery. In a similar manner, utilizing continuous improvement activities and repeatable processes moves us forward towards the goal.”

Carrel said, “A key to 100% delivery is seamless communication with all parties; externally with customers and suppliers and internally with our teams and Team Members. Team 1 needs to understand customer orders today, and in the future, so we can plan and have the resources available when needed to execute and have them delivered on time. In addition, we must have the flexibility to respond quickly to changing customer orders. It is critical to meeting their needs and being a strategic supplier they can count on.”

Giles Johnston agrees with Carrel’s statement. In his e-book, “You’re Late!! 7 Common Mistakes that Destroy on Time Delivery Performance … That You Can Easily Avoid,” he listed the final mistake as “Poor Inter-Team Communication.” He wrote, “Even a small team cannot rely upon telepathy. The routines we have discussed along with the various points in the process … need to be managed. Communication binds all … together.”