Zero defect strategy

The zero-defect strategy is a continuous improvement strategy , referred to as Kaizen in the Japanese philosophy of life and work, as part of Total Quality Management (TQM). The zero-defect strategy was developed in the early 1960s by the American Philip B. Crosby and describes a defect-free production in which no rejects should be generated and therefore no reworking is necessary. This strategy is based on Crosby's assumption: “ Quality costs nothing. But it is not a free gift. ”It is assumed that it is not the production of quality that causes costs , but the rectification of errors. The aim of the program is therefore to rule out the smallest defects in every existing production process, including in the development phase of the product.

history

In the course of the Cold War , there was increased military build-up in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s . Particularly with new weapon systems, such as the MGM-31 Pershing missiles, high quality standards were set because they were intended for use with nuclear warheads. In order to increase quality and reduce the cost of repairing defects, Philip B. Crosby, then Quality Manager at Martin Marietta Corporation , which was responsible for manufacturing Pershing missiles, developed the zero-defect program. This also caught on with other armaments companies.

Four principles of the zero-defect strategy

His four principles of quality served as the basis for Crosby's considerations:

1. The definition of quality is the fulfillment of requirements.
2. The quality system deals with prevention and ensuring production is correct on the first try.
3. The measure of quality is the cost of non-fulfillment (not fulfilling the task correctly at the first attempt)
4. The standard of performance is zero defects

Quality definition

By defining quality as compliance with requirements, quality becomes a clear, measurable term. Therefore, the quality can be specified in a so-called performance standard. In general, every process has a performance standard. This defines how high the permissible deviations may be for a particular process. Action is only taken when the deviations are greater than the permissible deviations. Since the “Zero Defects” performance standard does not allow any deviations, measures are taken to eliminate the errors and prevent them from occurring again even if the results deviate from the requirements. The next process step is only initiated if the test results are flawless.

It follows that quality is not just the goal of the end product, but an ongoing process and must be guaranteed in every step. The strategy therefore demands constant efforts to improve and further develop the individual production processes and thus quality at the same time.

Zero defects as standard

The goal of the zero-defect philosophy is to lead people as closely as possible to perfection. The basic attitude of people that mistakes are inevitable and that people are naturally predisposed to mistakes should be changed in such a way that mistakes are no longer considered normal and there is no acceptable error rate.

Error prevention and costs incurred as a result of non-compliance with requirements as a measure of quality

The quote from the "father" of the zero-error strategy makes it clear which advantage is behind the strategy:

"Why should companies waste a lot of time and money tracking down, defining and combating errors when it is possible to prevent them from occurring in the first place?"

- Philip B. Crosby : Online

The aim is to prevent mistakes in advance. If an error-free production cannot be achieved even with the greatest effort, it is advantageous to identify the residual errors as early as possible in the production chain using the most precise control mechanisms and to correct them immediately.

The term “frontloading” is also widely used for this procedure. This is more economical and therefore makes sense, since the cost of eliminating a defect increases tenfold with each production step (rule of ten for the defect costs).

Implementation of the zero-defect strategy

In order to be able to achieve this goal, various measures must be taken by the companies . These include the development of responsibility for quality among employees, zero-error planning, continuous training for the workforce , as well as the exclusion of sources of error and corrective measures in the manufacturing process. In addition, a group is required to manage and monitor the relevant zero-error program. Crosby sees management as having a particular duty to meet the quality requirements, since, according to him, "workers do [their work] according to the attitude of management". Thus, the management has to go ahead of the employees on the quality issue in order to be able to achieve a higher level of quality. In addition, according to Crosby, "quality improvement has no chance until individuals are ready to see that improvement is necessary". It therefore stipulates that every employee must be ready to work for an improvement in quality and to implement this. As a rule, however, this will to improve must first be initiated by management and its quality objectives. Such measures are the only way to ensure that each individual employee acts in accordance with these principles.

The quality of the products and services is to be systematically improved through a structured approach. The following three dimensions are usually adhered to: culture, structure and tools.

Culture

Following the zero-defect strategy, the company strives to produce products that are perfect in every respect.

In order to achieve such a goal, it must be the concern of all those involved to reduce the error rate to zero.

It is the task of managers to set the “zero defects” performance standard and to create an environment in which employees can identify with this performance standard. Mentalities such as "mistakes happen" or "that will be enough" should be exchanged by the zero-error philosophy.

"In 85% of the cases in which customer requirements are NOT met, the cause of the error lies in the processes and systems ... and less in the employees themselves."

- Edward Deming : Online

The optimization should therefore start with the processes and systems in the company. The first step should not be to force employees into faultlessness.

Even if the employees are not the main source of error, every employee must be aware of their responsibility and adopt a way of thinking and acting in accordance with the zero-error strategy.

Starting from the management, every employee contributes to the compliance with the performance standard. The personal responsibility of everyone is to understand the requirements for the processes and products, try to adhere to them by all means and, if necessary, to recognize deviations and to prevent an error from occurring again.

structure

When implementing the zero-defect strategy, the primary focus is on error prevention and the secondary focus on error detection and correction.

Tools

In order to avoid errors, a wide variety of quality methods are to be used appropriately in all stages of the product development process. Four methods are briefly discussed below:

• Methods by William Edwards Deming

The standardization group (SDCA) and thus the standardized sequence of a process should guarantee freedom from errors. If an error occurs due to a gap in the standard, the improvement committee (PDCA) will eliminate the problem and an optimized standard is assumed for future production.

• "Internal customer" principle

Departments that carry out individual work steps are in a relationship between supplier and customer. The supplier only provides the customer with flawless intermediate products and the customer checks for flawlessness. With this method, errors are tracked down and eliminated after each work step. Further processing of defective products is therefore excluded.

• Poka Yoke

The Poka Yoke method (Japanese for “avoiding unintentional wrongdoing” or “foolproof”) was invented by Shigeo Shingo on the basis that neither man nor machine are faultless. With this method, the aim of the zero-error strategy is to avoid errors instead of checking errors.

• Six Sigma

The goals of Six Sigma are increased quality and lower costs. Six Sigma aims to achieve a Gaussian distribution in which only two out of a million parts are outside the six sigma range. The Six Sigma system is often used in combination with the DMAIC method.

However, it is important to note that adherence to the strategy does not necessarily mean that no mistakes are made, but rather that under no circumstances are defective goods resold.

In addition, the principle applies that each error may only occur once, i.e. That is, if an error occurs, the process etc. must be optimized so that a similar error does not occur again.

resonance

In 1964, Crosby was awarded the Department of Defense's Armed Forces Civilian Service Medal for developing the program. Furthermore, since the early 1960s, the program has gained in importance , especially in the arms industry . The assumption, “It is always cheaper to get the job right the first time”, was of fundamental importance here, which led to a shift in quality management towards the search for sources of errors and their subsequent elimination. This was mainly done by questioning employees about the reasons for the errors when errors occurred.

In general, the zero-defect strategy is becoming increasingly important, as companies are driven to improve quality, time and costs.

However, there are also points where the zero-error program reaches its limits: In reality, it is not possible to work completely error-free. This also includes the fact that a product is of high quality in the present, but could have a lack of important properties in the future due to the latest developments. So you will never achieve perfection in the form of no errors whatsoever, which the program strives for, but it still leads to a further improvement in quality.

There was a debate about whether all mistakes could be avoided. Crosby himself believed that only quality problems for which the employees are responsible can be solved. According to empirical studies, however, the quality and errors are primarily dependent on product and process development, which is why it is important to take these into account when introducing a zero-error program.

literature

• Holger Brüggemann, Peik Bremer: Basics of quality management. From tools to methods for TQM, 2nd edition, Springer Vieweg, 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-09220-7 , ISBN 978-3-658-09221-4 (eBook), pp. 183-185
• Hans Dieter Seghezzi, Fritz Fahrni, Thomas Friedli: Integrated quality management. The St. Gallen Approach, 4th edition, Hanser, 2013, ISBN 978-3-446-43461-5 , ISBN 978-3-446-43520-9 (e-book), pp. 22-23

Web links

• Quality in the shop floor - strategy for zero-defect production

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Basics of quality management - Holger Brüggemann, Peik Bremer. , “Basics of quality management. From tools to methods to TQM ”, pp. 183–185.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Phillip Crosby: Quality is free ( Memento of the original from March 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Phillip Crosby Associates , accessed May 4, 2016. 
3. ↑ Total Quality , Courses aiu edu , accessed on 4 May 2016th
4. ↑ ^{a b} Integrated quality management. The St. Gallen Ansat
5. ↑ ^{a b} Phillip Crosby: Quality is free ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Phillip Crosby Associates , accessed May 4, 2016.
6. ↑ ^{a b} ZERO ERROR CONCEPT ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , vbf, accessed April 30, 2016. 
7. ↑ Quality concept , kromberg & schubert, accessed on April 30, 2016.
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Zero-Defect Strategy , business24, accessed April 30, 2016.
9. ↑ TQM Zero Defect Strategy , quality.kenline, accessed on April 30, 2016.
10. ↑ Selection and implementation are underestimated by the user ( memento of the original from May 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Industrieanzeiger, accessed on May 1, 2016. 
11. ↑ Zero Defect Policy , kurtzersa, English, accessed April 30, 2016.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Zero Defect Strategy , Lean TPM, accessed April 30, 2016.
13. ↑ ^{a b c d} Zero Defect Production: Just a Fiction or a Necessity? Dipl.-Ing. Bernd Garzinsky, awf, accessed April 30, 2016.
14. ^ Zero-Error-Concept , onpulsonlexikon, accessed on April 30, 2016
15. ↑ ^{a b c} The Zero Defect Principle - Pokayoke and TPM , Performance Development Institute PDI, accessed April 30, 2016.
16. ↑ Quality in the shop floor - strategy for zero-defect production , Fraunhofer Institute, accessed on April 30, 2016.
17. ^ Six Sigma , Gründerszene Lexikon, accessed April 30, 2016.
18. ↑ Prof. Dr. Armin Töpfer: Six Sigma: "Project Management for Zero-Defect Quality in the Automotive Industry" ( Memento of the original from October 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Dresden Faculty of Economics, accessed on April 30, 2016.
19. ↑ The Concept of Zero Defects in Quality Management simplilearn, accessed on May 8, 2016.