Quality 1st

"Can you afford the cost and risks of a low quality solution?"   Leigh Brotherston CEO Atlantech Hosted Solutions Limited

A story about "Quality, Performance and Price"

Some years ago, I had the opportunity to work with a quality manager called Lisa.  Lisa had been trained by the mainframe computer manufacturer Digital and worked as an engineer and quality manger in their microchip manufacturing plant in Scotland.  As you can imagine there is very little margin for error involved in microchip manufacturing.

The key idea Lisa gave me was based on her advice to a local manufacturer who wanted to reduce manufacturing defects. She said:

"Fire most of the quality control managers at the end of the production line".

"Spend the money saved on good product design and the selection of good suppliers of quality components and you will eliminate the defects and rejections you presently experience"

Lisa's pragmatic approach to quality management and problem solving had a strong influence on the development of our quality strategy for our organisation and clients.

In essence it goes like this:

1. The values and vision of the company must embody "Quality 1^st ".
2. Staff are appointed based on both their technical skills and understanding of the importance of quality of their workmanship.
3. We will only provide products and solutions from vendors and supply chains which meet our (company and clients) exacting standards.
4. We will identify and work with clients who recognise the value of up front investment in low risk / maintenance long term solutions.
5. The solutions we design will be positioned to deliver the balance of performance, quality and investment appropriate to the customer's situation.
6. Being confident in our solutions, we will offer fixed price, no quibble implementations that will completely meet our client's quality standards.
7. The investment made by our clients will include a fair margin to sustain the delivery of quality solutions.
8. We will not compete solely on initial purchase price.
9. We will not be beaten on quality
10. Customers will select us based on their overall solutions return on investment
11. Based on our reputation and performance our customers will trust us and act on the advice we offer without trying to second guess and dilute the quality of the solutions designed.