Hank Kolb Case Study

Overview of the Case

Hank Kolb, the new director of quality assurance, recently found several issues in the manufacturing department in regards to the quality of the product Greasex and the manufacturing process. The general manager, Morganthal, believes that the lack of quality control is costing the company money and he has tasked Mr. Kolb to solve the issue. The overlaying issue that needs to be addressed is the attitude toward quality. The foremen at the plant only care about the production numbers and not the quality of the products. To foster a culture of caring about quality, Mr. Kolb must first establish upper and lower control limits for the pressure in the cans of Greasex and enforce these limits to reduce the hazard of high pressure cans. Then, over the next 2-5 years, Mr. Kolb should focus on implementing Crosby’s 14-Point Program to shift the entire organization toward a quality mindset. Once this is achieved, the company will no longer be losing money due to quality issues and will be producing more cans of Greasex every day than before the quality initiative.

The Attitude Problem

The manufacturing facility crew currently has a quantity mindset instead of the quality mindset needed to ensure high quality products. This mindset is costing the company money and time. Many of the products are not to company standards at the end of the manufacturing process and need to be reworked. By having to rework the products, the manufacturing team is producing fewer cans of Greasex than they could if they made sure the products were made correctly the first time. The management at the facility does not promote quality products, only the production of orders completed on time to reduce delivery times to clients. While reduction of delivery times is important to the company, the quality of the orders shipped could negatively impact the company’s reputation and result in less orders in the future. If the company’s reputation is harmed due to the poor quality of the Greasex product line, other product lines will soon also be known as low quality products and the company will lose even more revenue and potential customers.

There is also a lack of quality control on the equipment used to produce Greasex. The maintenance team demonstrates a “good enough” attitude when it comes to maintaining the equipment. By not scheduling regular maintenance on the equipment, the maintenance team is showing that their attitude is one that reflects a lack of quality. By changing the attitude of the maintenance team, the manufacturing plant will reduce the downtime of the plant and increase the quantity of product shipped. Maintenance is a key component to production that is too often overlooked, Mr. Kolb needs to enforce a regular maintenance schedule for the equipment until new equipment that is designed for this type of production can be acquired.

Establishing Control Limits

Anytime a company would like to improve the quality of its products or services, it is important to set control limits. These control limits allow management to know when something is not right with production and needs to be adjusted. Mr. Kolb needs to establish these control limits by first understanding the maximum and minimum pressure allowed in the cans; these numbers will be the initial limits. After these initial limits are set in place, Mr. Kolb needs to sample the cans that are produced every day for one month and use the variations in those observations to set limits that are stricter than what is allowed. By setting new limits, Mr. Kolb can ensure that the quality of the products will improve. When the pressure in the cans falls outside of these limits, the cans of Greasex must be sent to the rework area to be fixed and the incident must be reported so that management is aware that there could be a bigger issue that needs to be addressed. Mr. Kolb also needs to enforce the constant inspection of the Greasex cans by going to the production floor at least twice a day. When management is involved with quality improvement, the personnel are more likely to make the changes that management wants to see.

The control limits can apply to more aspects of production than just the pressure in the cans. The nozzles for the Greasex cans often have defects that could be monitored so that the purchasing department has more data when the suppliers come to the plant. By monitoring the defects in the nozzles, the purchasing department will able to push the supplier to fix the defects. This will ultimately increase production of Greasex as it will not take the workers as long to install the nozzles. This will also affect the overall quality of the Greasex line as all the parts used on the can will be quality parts.

By understanding the current attitude of the personnel at the manufacturing plant and establishing control limits, Mr. Kolb will start the short-term change toward better quality products. These short-term plans will make everyone at the plant understand that quality is an important component of the products. When the quality is better, the work orders will be increased and the company will have a better market share. The quality of the products will affect all other aspects of the company and ultimately either make the company more money by continuing to improve quality, or lose money due to poor quality products that could have been fixed.

Long-Term Plan

For long-term success in achieving high quality products, Mr. Kolb should focus on implementing Crosby’s 14-Point Program within two years of starting this quality initiative. By beginning to understand the attitude toward quality, Mr. Kolb will be able to find the right people in management to enforce a commitment to quality. Once management is fully committed, Mr. Kolb will need to establish a quality improvement team, quality measures (these can be control limits), and analyze the cost of quality evaluation. Each of these steps will happen at the management level but will also need to take into consideration the personnel that are producing the products every day. These steps will determine what the quality factors are at each step in the production process and the cost benefit of improving one area before another. It is important for Mr. Kolb to work with a team of other directors on these steps so that he can see how each one will affect the overall production process.

The next steps involve the individuals that are on the production floor every day. Mr. Kolb will have already created a culture where the employees are more careful to do things correctly the first time, so this step of quality awareness takes that idea a step further so that each person fully understands how he/she can contribute to the constant improvement of quality in the products and processes used. The employees will also have to understand the corrective actions put into place by management. When employees fail to meet the quality measurements- for example, not reporting when the pressure in a case of Greasex cans falls outside of the control limits- there will be corrective action to reduce the chance that this mistake will happen again. It is important for Mr. Kolb to remember that the management team should set in place corrective actions that encourage people to do the right thing and not to discourage them from doing the job.

The remaining steps of the 14-Point Program all happen within the management. Mr. Kolb will need to form a team that can create a zero defects program for the manufacturing facility. This zero defects program will have a specific start date that should be no later than three years after the start of the initial quality improvement initiative begins. Supervisors must undergo new training; this will also help change the attitude problem at the facility. When the supervisors understand that poor quality products are costing the company orders, they will be more inclined to focus on the quality of the orders. Supervisors should also set goals for themselves and meet with their teams to set team and individual goals. This will improve communication between supervisors and employees and allow for better on-the-job training. When the job training improves, the quality of the Greasex line will improve and supervisors will see less mistakes from the people they are training. By improving the communication in the manufacturing plant, employees will be more comfortable approaching supervisors when something in the production process is not working correctly. This will allow every issue to be reported and addressed in a timely manner.

The final piece of the program is recognition of employees and the forming of quality councils. Recognizing employees and teams that perform above the new company standards will drive other employees and teams to perform above the standards as well. The quality council will be a team that regularly meets to discuss how things are currently working and what can be done to continuously improve the quality of the products and processes within the plant. This will encourage the spirit of quality production among everyone at the manufacturing facility. When the entire facility reaches a point where quality is important, then the quality of the products and processes will improve, the quantity of orders produced will increase, and the company will make more money and have a greater market share.

Final Thoughts

Hank Kolb has been tasked with a challenge that will take some time to overcome. The quality of the products cannot be improved unless and until the employees and management teams begin to take quality control seriously. While the management can make jokes about the poor quality of the Greasex line, the quality will not improve and will continue to cost the company money. The first changes in quality control need to be made at the management level, when the managers realize how the poor quality of the Greasex line could affect the entire company, they will have more incentive to care about the quality of the products they allow to be shipped to customers.

Mr. Kolb can implement the quality control program and make the company more money with production numbers increasing. When quality improves, production numbers improve, customers are more satisfied with quality products, and the company will achieve a higher market share and more profits than was seen with the poor-quality products.