Oakland Consulting
Strategic quality programme for complex industrial equipment
We were privileged to join the Oakland team for this strategic review of their client's quality programme for manufacturing of heavy lifting equipment. The client had recently outsourced all component manufacturing whilst retaining in-house mechanical, hydraulic and electronic assembly operations. The brief was to establish a defect containment perimeter – or quality firewall – for the factory, assuring the quality of equipment leaving the factory whilst preparing the ground for an advanced product quality planning (APQP) system. A follow up assignment was undertaken to assess the global installation landscape in terms of quality capability.
500
Defects prevented
78%
Reduction in NCRs
QFactorial Service offering
Implementation
Working in collaboration with local management and shop floor teams, a pilot programme was implemented on one assembly line. The programme began by raising awareness of key concepts, including hold/check points, critical to quality (CtQ) criteria, acceptance standards, visual management and continual improvement loops. Next, we introduced tools for planning and establishing the firewall, then guided the client’s team towards full ownership and implementation.
To understand the installer landscape, an extensive programme of stakeholder interviews, site visits, document reviews and data analysis was undertaken. The comprehensive report to senior management yielded eight areas for strategic action and a multi-year installer development programme.
Quality only really works if you can take it into the boardroom and demonstrate a positive impact on the bottom line.
Deliverables included a master firewall template, detailed check sheets with integral CtQs, data collection facilities, skills matrix, KPIs and quality planning procedure. On completion, benefits were demonstrated in terms of: time and money saved by finding assembly defects early; reputation protected by preventing problems escaping into the field; overall reduction in nonconformity; positive impact on workforce behaviour.
The full “size of the prize” available from proposed quality improvements was estimated using cost of quality methodology.
View all case studies
Qfactorial worked with a small team for 12-15 months to improve the quality of complex industrial equipment for a global manufacturer, whilst in parallel developing and deploying a new quality strategy. The great success was simplifying complex situations for the client, providing them with a step by step approach to improve product quality. A robust plan kept everyone on track throughout implementation, working collaboratively with the client team, providing direction, support and drive. As an example of the benefits achieved, an initial focus on the quality of the assembled product reduced the number of non-conformities per product from 14 to less than 3 in the first four months, preventing more than 500 quality escapes in this period.
