CONFORMANCE
Conformance at the manufacturing level is a subset of the overall
quality definition. Manufacturing
quality means conformance to requirements.
Requirements include drawings, procedures, specifications, workmanship
details, plus fitness of the product for the intended use. A simple definition of manufacturing
conformance says:
Conformance
is obtained when manufacturing follows an unbroken sequence of operations from
beginning to end for successfully meeting the requirements. All
things produced must be in agreement and harmony with the requirements. Economics of conformance require making
products right the first time and every time.
Product conformance always involves cost and scheduled deliveries.
This definition for conformance says it is right or it is not
right for shipment. In
manufacturing, when products conform, we ship them. If products don’t conform, they fail the
quality test and we must rework, repair, sort good from bad, or scrap the
product. We can’t ship nonconformances
“as is”. Conformance sounds like an
internal requirement, but it is not.
Customers set external standards when they buy an advertised
product. Costs and schedules are also
important product conformance items. As a consumer, do you want to spend more
and receive your purchase later than meets conformance to your requirements?
Conformance by sorting good product from bad is a terminal
manufacturing illness. The sorting
approach is better than nothing—but not much better. Waste from the sort-and-suffer philosophy is
insidious. Sorting begins with the best
of intentions, but the results are costly.
A better manufacturing method is: “Do it right the first time”.
Sorting-and-suffering brings out firm, but silly, “justifications” for
an indefensible position:
1.
We’ve
never had a problem before!
2.
No one ever told me this is wrong, and I’ve been making
this part for 5 years.
3.
Don’t
tell me I’ve got a problem after I’ve made 1,000 pieces!
4.
They
told me it was OK yesterday, and now
you’ve changed your mind today.
5.
What’s
0.001 inch between friends?
6.
How can
you be so sure about the drawings?
7.
I worked
hard on this. Don’t scrap it.
8.
If you
scrap this, we’ll miss the delivery schedule and cost the company big $’s.
9.
Ship it,
no one will ever know it’s bad.
These are ugly admissions of nonconformance dressed for sale—not for
consumption. It’s human nature to deny
personal involvement in a problem.
However, manufacturing efforts require personal effort for correcting
problems so we all benefit by improving our productive output. Before you can ship the product, it must
conform to the requirements.
The English language contains many euphemisms. Euphemisms substitute nice words for
offensive or unpleasant words. The
factory floor has few pleasantries and many plain speaking folds. We don’t deal in a phony world where almost
is good enough. We follow the ancient
Latin phrase: Esse Quam Videri (To
be, rather than to seem to be.)
Pretending all is well, when it isn’t, suits fairy tales—not the
manufacturing environment. We want
product conformance without pretensions and sweet sounding (but misleading)
words.
Conformance has no conscience. Conformance doesn’t mean altering,
accommodating, adjusting, or altering principles or specifications as if they
were made from rubber. Conformance
simply means making parts to the requirements.
Conformance doesn’t require “more than” or “less than” drawings
specify. Conformance is black or white.
Conformance is the responsibility of the machine operator who is the only one
who can produce conformance—no one else.
Conformance responsibility doesn’t pass to inspectors. Inspectors are like historians—they report
what was done. Historians don’t make
history. Only the heroes on the
manufacturing floor control the results.
How you get conformance is important and conformance involves both
accuracy and precision.
Conformance is: Pride for craftsmen in achieving the
requirements. Right the first time for
manufacturing. No rejects at the
inspection station. Confidence for sales
representatives in no customer complaints.
Predictable products for customer satisfaction. On schedule shipments. Profits for stockholders. Starvation for trial lawyers. Jobs and security for you and me.
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© Barringer & Associates, Inc. 1995
The Blacksmith’s Anvil