Visualise to meet quality expectations.

When determining a quality policy it is crucial to try and visualise why your customers might need the parts you are making for them. I had a member of our team ask me if they should try to convince one of our customers to accept parts 0.1mm out of tolerance, because it would not impact upon the function.

The parts in question were the clasp for a dropdown tray table on an aircraft seat, and our guy was right, the 0.1mm we were out of tolerance would not drastically affect function, they would still work. Before I answered I imagined myself as our customer’s customer sitting down in the seat behind, I pictured myself as someone evaluating a high value purchasing decision. Should I refit our fleet of aircraft with these seats I asked myself, as I undid the tray table lock and it was just that little too easy, just a little too loose, and I decided no, not with these seats. And so no was my answer, we should not try and convince our customer to accept these parts, we should remake them to tolerance.

We need to do what we can to protect our clients’ business and help them grow, and this in turn will help us to grow, even if it means us occasionally losing money in the short term. So basically we make things to your drawing, or we remake them.