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Solving DAM Problems: Standards are DAM Important!

I remember long ago my first job in the PCB industry, which was at a small, humble captive board shop owned by a larger, but still small, upstart company in Salt Lake City. One day, the vice president of quality came to visit. He was fresh from a multi-day affair with a large consulting company. He asked, “What is quality?” We stumbled around trying to extract a definition. We talked about products we loved and cherished; travel experiences that changed our lives; a book that caused us to think differently about ourselves; an experience we shared with a close friend, which shaped an unexpected future and gave our lives new meaning. Everything we were saying was personal, important, and intimate. Collectively, we are very proud and floating on a cloud. Then it happened: the sudden rush of air coming out of our balloon. The VP said, “You are all wrong. Quality is just meeting customer requirements. That is all it is and ever will be for this company.” The silence was deafening. In less than a year this company filed for bankruptcy. Their major customer no longer wished to do business with us.

Throughout the decades I have spent in this industry, I have often asked, what is quality? Too often, I hear, “Quality is meeting the customer’s standard requirements. Nothing more.” I have no idea where this definition originated, but somehow it stuck in our industry. It is the reason why we have such a difficult time competing and staying profitable. It is the reason why we have such a difficult time retaining customers where, despite all of our technology, and complex processes, we get no respect. We are seen as “nothing more than a pair of socks at Walmart” (August 2011). Yet, WigWam socks, which will only make their socks in America (December 2012), has a globally competitive, growing, profitable business. Why? Because they have an organization that lives, breathes, and performs to very high exacting standards with absolutely no excuses, no compromises, and no exceptions. Standards are DAM important!

Read the full column here.

Editor's Note: This column originally appeared in the August 2013 issue of The PCB Magazine.