CaseSt

udy
HankKol
b,Di
rect
or,
Qual
it
yAssur
ance
HankKol bwaswhi stl
i
ngashewal kedtowardshisof fi
ce,sti
llfeeli
ngabi tlikea
strangersincehehadbeenhi redfourweeksagoasDi rector
,Qual i
tyAssurance.All
l
astweekhehadbeenawayf rom t
heplantatanint
erestingsemi narenti
tl
ed“Qual i
ty
i
nt he80’s”givenforqualit
ymanager sofmanuf acturi
ngpl antsbyt hecor porate
tr
ainingdepar t
ment.Hewasnotl ookingforwardtor eall
ydiggingi nt
ot hequal i
ty
problemsatt hi
sindust
rial
productsplantemploy
ing1200peopl e.

Hankpokedhi sheadi nt oMar kHaml er’

sof fi
ce,hisimmedi at
esubor di
nate,the
Qualit
yCont rolManager,andaskedhi m how t hi
ngshadgonel astweek.Mar k’s
mut edsmi l
eandan“ Oh,fine,
”stoppedHanki nhistr
acks.HedidnotknowMar kvery
wellandwasunsur eaboutpur suingt hi
sr eplyanyf ur
ther.Hankwasst i
lluncert
ain
abouthow t ostartbuil
dinghisr elat
ionshipwi t
hhim sinceMar khadbeenpassed
overfort hepromotiontoHank’ sj ob–Mar k’seval
uationform hadstated“superb
technicalknowledge;manager ialskillslacking”Hankdeci ded toinquir
ea l i
ttl
e
furt
herandaskedMar kwhathadhappened.Mar krepli
ed:

Oh, j
ustanothertypi
calqual
itysnafu.Wehadalit
tl
eprobl
em ontheGreasexl i
nelast
week ( a special
i
zed degreasing solv
entpacked in a spr
ay can fort he high
nd
technol
ogysect or)Ali
tt
lehighpressurewasfoundinsomecansont he2 shi ftbut
asuper vi
sorv entedthem sot hatwecoul dshipthem out.Wemetourdel i
very
schedule!

Si
nceHankwasst il
lrel
ati
velyunf
amili
arwitht
hepl
antandt
hepr
oduct
sheasked
Markt
oelabor
ate.Painf
ull
y,Markcont
inued/

We’ vebeenhav i
ngsomet roublewi tht henew f il
li
ngequi pmentandsomeoft he
canswer epr essur i
zedbey ondourAQLonapsir atingscale.Thepr oductionr ateis
sti
ll50%ofst andar d,about14casespershi f
t,andwecaughti thalf
wayi ntot heshi f
t.
MacEv ans( theinspect orf orthatl i
ne)pickedi tup, taggedt hecases‘ Hold’,andwent
onabouthi sdut ies.Whenher eturnedatt heendoft heshifttowr it
eupt her ejects,
Way neSi mmons,f ir
st -
linesuper v i
sor,wasbyapal l
etoff i
ni shedgoodsf inishing
sealingupacar t
onoft her ejectedGr easex;ther eject‘Hold,”tagshadbeenr emov ed.
Het oldMact hathehadhear daboutt hehi ghpr essuref r
om anot heri nspect orat
coffeebr eak,hadcomeback,t akenof fthetags,i ndi vi
duall
yt urnedthecansupsi de
downandv entedev eryoneoft hem i nther ej ected8car tons.Het oldMact hat
productionpl anningwasr eall
ypushi ngf ort hest uffandt heycoul dn’tdel ayby
hav i
ngi tsentt hrought her ewor kar ea.Het oldMact hathewoul dgetont he
operatort or unt heequi pmentr ightnextt ime.Macdi dn’twr it
eitupbutcamei n
about3day sagot ot ellmeabouti t
.Oh,i thappensev eryoncei nawhi leandIt old
himt omakesur et ocheckwi t
hMai ntenancet omakesur ethef il
l
ingmachi newas
adjusted;andIsaw Way nei nt hehal landt oldhi mt hatheoughtt osendt hest uff
throughr ewor knextt ime.

Hankwasabi tdumbf oundedatthi

sanddidn’tsaymuch–hedi dn’
tknowift
hiswas
a“bigdeal”ornot.Whenhegott ohisoff
icehet houghtagai
nwhatMr.Morganthal
,
GeneralManager,hadsaidwhenhehadhi redHank.Hewant edHankaboutt
he“lack
ofaqualit
yat t
it
ude”intheplant
,andsaidt hatHank“ shoul
dtr
yanddosomet hing
aboutthi
s”.Hehadf ur
theremphasi
zedthequal i
typrobl
emsinthepl
ant;
“Wehavet o
i
mproveourqual
it
y,i
t’
scosti
ngusal otofmoney,I’
m sureofi
t,butIcan’
tpr
oveit!
Hank,youhavemyf ul
lsupporti
nt hi
smat t
er;you’r
einchargeoft hesequal
i
ty
pr
oblems.Thi
sdownwardqual
it
yproduct
ivi
tyt
urnoverspi
ral
hastoend!”

The incidenthad happened a week ago;t he goods wer e pr

obablyouti nt he
customer ’shandsbynow; everyonehadf or
gott
enabouti t(orwantedto!);andthere
seemedt obemor epr essi
ngpr obl
emst hanthi
sf orHankt ospendhi sti
meon;but
thiscontinuedtonagathi m.Hef eltli
kethequalit
ydepar t
mentwasbei ngt reat
edas
aj okeandi tal
sofelttohiml ikeaper sonalslapf rom manufactur
ing.Hedi dnot
wantt ost af
fawarwi ththepr oduct i
onpeopl ebutwhatcoul dhedo?Hewas
troubl
edenought ocancelhisappoi nt
ment sandspendt hemor ningtalki
ngt oafew
people.Af t
eralongandv erytactf
ul morninghelearnedthefoll
owing:

a.From Per sonnel–theoperat

orforthef
ill
i
ngequipmenthadj ustbeentr
ansf
err
ed
from shipping2weeksago.Hehadhadnof ormaltr
aininginthisjobbutwas
beingt r
ainedbyWay ne,onthejob,toruntheequipment.WhenMachadt est
ed
thehi ghpr essur
ecanst heoper at
orwasnowher etobef oundandhadonl y
l
ear nedoft herej
ect
edmat er
ial
from Wayneaft
ertheshi
ftwasov er
.

b.From Maintenance– t hispar t

icul
arpieceofaut omatedf i
ll
ingequipmenthad
beenpurchased2y ear
sagof oruseonanot herpr
oduct .I
thadbeenswi tchedt o
theGreasexline6mont hsagoandmai ntenancehadhad12wor kor
dersdur ing
thel
astmont hforhandlingt helowerv i
scosit
yGreasex,whichithadnotor i
ginall
y
beendesignedf or.Thi
si ncludeddesigningaspeci alf
il
li
ngsensiti
vefil
l
inghead,
repl
acedthreet i
mesi nthel ast6mont hs,hadtobemadeatanear bymachi ne
shop.Non-standarddownt imewasr unni
ngat15%ofact ualr
unningti
me.

c.From Pur chasi

ng – the plasti
c nozzl
e heads f orthe Gr easexcan,r ecentl
y
designedbyav endorforthi
snewpr oductonar ushor der,wereof t
enf oundwith
sli
ghtburrsont heinsi
der i
m,andt hiscausedsomet r
oubleinf i
tti
ngthet opto
thecan.Ani ncreaseinapplicat
ionpressureatt hef i
ll
i
ngheadbymai ntenance
adjustmenthadsol v
edt heburrappli
cati
onpr oblem orhadatl east“f
orced”the
nozzleheadsondespi t
eburrs.Purchasi
ngsaidt hattheywer egoingtotalktothe
salesrepr
esentati
veofthenoz zl
eheadsuppl i
eraboutt histhenexttimehecame
i
n.

d.From pr oductDesi gn&Packagi ng–t hecan,desi gnedespecial

lyforGreasex,
hadbeencont ouredtoal l
owbet tergr
ippingbyt heuser.Thischange,inst
igated
bymar ketingresearch,setGreasexapartfrom theappearanceofitscompet i
tors
andwasseenbyt hedesignerstobe“signifi
cant”.Therehadbeennot estoft he
effect
soft hecont ouredcanonf il
li
ngspeedorf ill
inghydrody
namicsf r
om ahi gh
pressuredf i
ll
i
nghead.Hankhadahuncht hatthenew designwasact i
ngasa
venturewhenbei ngf i
ll
edbutthepackagi ngdesignerthoughtthat“
unli
kely”
.

e.From manufact
uringManager–Hehadhear daboutthepr oblem,infact,Wayne
hadmadeaj okeaboutit,
braggi
ngabouthowhebeathi sproducti
onquot atothe
otherf
oremenandshi ftsuperv
isors.Way newast houghtbyt heManuf acturi
ng
Managertobeoneoft he“bestforemenwehav e…heal waysget shisproducti
on
out.
”Hispromotionpaperswer eactuall
yont heManuf act
ur i
ngManager ’sdesk
whenHankdr oppedby.Way newasbei ng“ st
rongl
yconsidered”forpromot i
onto
 shi
ft superv
isor. The manufactur
ing Manager
,under pressur
ef rom Mr .
Morganthalf
orcostimprovementsandreduceddel
iver
yti
mes,sympat
hizedwit
h
Hankbutsai dthatthereworkareawouldhavejustvent
edwi t
hthei
rpressur
e
gaugesthatWaynedi dbyhand.“
But,Iwi
ll
speakwithWayneaboutt
heinci
dent.
”

f
. From Mar ket i
ng – the int
roduction ofGr easex had been r ushed to beat
competitor
st omar ketandamaj orpromot i
onal/adv erti
singcampaignwasnow
underwayt oincreaseconsumerawar eness.Adel ugeofor derswasswampi ng
theorder–t akingdepartmentrightnow andput ti
ngGr easexhighont heback
orderli
st.Pr oducti
on“ hadtot urnt hestuffout”;ev enal i
tt
leoffspecwas
tol
erabl
ebecause‘ i
twouldbebet tertohav eitont heshel fthannotthereatall
.
Whocar esift helabelisali
ttl
ecr ookedort hestuf fcomesoutwi thalit
tl
etoo
muchpr essure.Weneedmar ketsharenowIt hathight echsegment .
”

Whatbot heredHankt hemostwast hesaf el

yissueoft hehighpr essureint he
cans.Hehadnowayofknowi nghowmuchofahazar dt hehighpressurewasor
i
fWay nehadv entedthem enoughtoef fecti
velyr
educet hehazard.Thedat afrom
the can manuf actur
erwhi ch Mar khad showed hi m i ndi
cated thatt he high
pressur ewhi chtheinspect orhadf oundwasnoti nt hedangerar ea;butthen
againt heinspectorhadonl yusedasampl etesti
ngproceduretor ejecttheeight
cases.Ev eni fhecoul dmor al
lyacceptt hatther
ewasno pr oductsaf et
yhazar d
couldhemakesur ethatthisneverhappenedagai n?

Hank,ski ppinglunch,satinhisoffi
ceandt houghtaboutthemor ning’
sev ents.
Lastweek’ ssemi narhadt al
kedabout“ ther oleofqual i
ty”
,“productiv
ityand
quali
ty”,“creati
nganewat t
it
ude”,andthe“qualitychal
l
enge”butwher ehadt hey
tol
dhi m whatt odowhent hishappens?Hehadl eftaverygoodjobt ocomeher e
becausehet houghtthecompanywasser iousaboutt heimportanceofqual it
y,
andhewant edachal l
enge.Hankhaddemandedandr ecei
vedasal aryequalt o
theManuf acturi
ng,Marketi
ng,andR&D Di r
ectorsandwasoneoft hedirect
repor
tst otheGener alManager.Yethestil
ldidn’tknowexactlywhatheshoul dor
shouldn’tdoorev enwhathecoul dorcouldn’tdo.

1.Whatcoul
dhav
ebeendonebyhankKol
b?
2.Whatshoul
dbedonenowbyHankKol
b?
3.Whatshoul
dnotbedonebyhankKol
b?