What’s Quality got to do with it?

How do you maintain it? Whats the best practice? Should my company try to achieve certifications like ISO? 

The Quality department in the coating industry is not an easy task. Usually this position can come with the “bearer of bad news” label. It however is imperitive to have a rock solid team in place in your quality department as a coating company espeically when you are applying material  that can cost as much or more as the substrate its being applied too.  In my years of experience if your quality person isn’t educated on coatings or the process you are preparing yourself for constant battles. Thats why investing in the training to help educate your employees is so important not only for keeping your customers happy, but to keep the cost on your business down by reducing your cost of poor quality in house. 

In my experience, maintaining a quality department requires checks and balances. Let’s be honest! Its not always your companies fault when something goes wrong. Its how you handle these situations that will set you apart from other business’. I have experienced both company options. Option 1: I have worked for companies that take blame for any defects or damage and covered all costs to recoat it. Option 2: I have also worked for a company that didn’t always abide by “The customer is always right,” and would push back when necessary and educate customers on expectations before and after the coating process took place. The second company was able to promote confidence within their internal production team, as well as, positioning themselves as experts with their customers through education and clarifying what if any questions there might be. 

So how do you get there? When it comes to ISO such as 9001:2015 and all the revisions that will come after. In my opinion this type of certifcation with Audit requirements can either help your business, or it can just be stress and a check you have to write every year. Here is why. If a business doesn’t write the ISO manual according to what they do on a daily basis as long as it meets the ISO standard this is where companies can go wrong. This scenario will normally lead to panic before your yearly audit and will most likely cause havoc the day your auditor visits. In Scenario two you may wish to work with an ISO consultant or send an employee to training. My biggest piece of advice is to make sure whoever is in charge write your manual as your production facility runs. For example, I have been in a situation where I was filling out forms for every part that would physically not fit in our building. This not only wastes time, but isn’t feesible or sustainable. The great thing about ISO if you choose to use it you can make changes to your manual as your business evolves. I think ISO certifications can make a finishing company attract larger customers if that is what they are looking for, but its only as good as the business that puts the practices in place.