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Hooray for A. Blanton Godfrey's column in the March issue!
It's extremely frustrating going through all of the gyrations
when attempting to direct my calls. I especially enjoy being
told that my call is being monitored for quality purposes.
(Bull hockey!)
We had a real telephone operator at the last company where
I worked. This was by design because the company president
and directors noted that this is what our customers wanted
and appreciated. However, I should note that we did have
phone answering devices to take messages if we weren't at
our desks. But, at least you talked to a real human being
when you called our company. Some say we were antiquated.
I don't think so.
—F.J. Mike O'Neill
The line in Scott Paton's column (First Word, April 2002)
"The blame lies not with the humble quality manager,
but entirely, and I do mean entirely, with senior management"
could not be more true at my company. Quality control at
my company is seen as a delay—something that, at times,
gets in the way of production.
The talk of quality is there, but when it gets down to
"the rubber meeting the road," quality is whitewashed.
My "quality team" consists of me, although there
are some employees who do their best to make sure that what
they're building is correct and looks good. At one point,
I was the only inspector for three shifts, approximately
55 employees. If something was built on night shift and
needed to ship the next day, inspection was passed. We used
to have a monthly quality committee meeting, but the committee
decided that we were really just wasting our time when owners
and production managers continually ignored real quality
problems. It seemed that it was just easier to deal with
poor quality rather than make a change.
The most important thing at my company is shipping dollars;
that's the bottom line at any company. But at what future
costs do you continually let subpar product go to the customer?
—Name withheld
I can't believe that Scott Paton so quickly responded "terrible"
to the question about the state of quality today. Perhaps
he needs a recalibration of his gaging instruments. What
is he using to measure this feeling? Here are some things
to consider:
* Walk into a major grocery store or super center and take
a look at the variety of products you can choose from. That's
outstanding quality, in my opinion.
* Check out what computer power your money will buy these
days, with improved system and software reliability, compared
to just five years ago!
* Like to watch movies? Have you been to one of the new
"stadium seating" theaters with Dolby Digital
surround sound? What a dramatic improvement! How about the
quality of picture and sound on a home entertainment center?
These are fantastic—and the price for comparable quality
has dropped by about 50 percent over the last 10 years.
* The latest cars offer many of the old "options"
as standard equipment. You can get power windows and air
conditioning on a new car that costs less than $10,000.
If you spend more than $20,000, you can get cars that have
five- or seven-year warranties, some with drive train warranties
up to 100,000 miles.
* Look at the return policies in place at most major stores.
Not happy with your purchase? Return it for credit—most
of the time with no questions asked!
* Even though I'm not a fan of the IRS, I love the improvements
in e-filing.
* Want to get a CT scan or MRI to find the cause of a health
problem? These tests, now available to most people, can
improve the quality of medical treatment. That's excellent
quality!
Yes, I know things are not yet perfect. However, things
are not as "abysmal" as you seem to think. Many
of us are amazed every day by the improvements in our lives
because of capitalism, competition and quality improvement.
—Keith Espelien
Mississippi Lime Co.
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