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Siva Raja

If somebody had to be given the task of improving quality, the immediate action would be to check the output and make a report of the same, may be make a few settings on the machines, get an immaculate copy and be happy about it. We keep doing this over years but I keep wondering if that is what quality improvement is all about. It is interesting to note that each country has its own style for quality management and this goes across industries, products and people. In short it becomes the culture of the country or the equilibrium achieved by that country across all its parameters.

Where does India stand with respect to the rest of the world is a big question. As per the World Economic Forum, India stands at the 59th position in terms of global competitiveness. As per the KOF (Swiss Economic Institute) index of globalization, we stand at the 111th position among 181 countries. Lack of basic infrastructure is the single biggest hindrance to doing business well, ahead of corruption and bureaucracy. Other key indicators holding India back include: low education and health standards (101th rank), poor transportation, the insufficient reach of information and communication technology, poor energy infrastructure, supply and transport. The paradox is that we have one of the biggest talent pool with the second largest English speaking population and provide software solutions to almost the entire world.

Let us look at other parameters. We were ranked the 55th in the recently concluded Olympics 2012. We only procured six medals, while we are the second in terms of population. We also happen to be the139th among 194 countries in terms of life expectancy. We stand in the 3rd position among 214 countries in terms of CO2 emissions as per the US-CDIAC (per capita being one of the lowest at 1.7 vs. US at 17.6). In terms of press freedom index we are ranked at 131 out of 179. Transparency International ranks us at 87 out of 178 countries to indicate the corruption perceptions. (Data sourced from en.wikipedia.org).

In most of these statistics the countries which excel on a regular basis are countries like Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Singapore and Japan. What makes them excel in their performance across industry, life style, and prosperity would provide some interesting insights to improve quality across an organization. Probably the most striking aspect about these countries is the sense of pride the people have for themselves, their products, their organizations, and their countries.

India probably has some of the best heritage sites in the world, we can boast of a huge number of natural wonders and diversity. How do we use these resources to present our country to the world?

While India and Indians work for the entire world in improving their technology, quality of life and prosperity through our software industry or the overseas Indians, we as a country are known for low end, low quality products. We do have a lot of islands of excellence but making that happen across all walks of life consistently as a routine is what will change the perception.

Quality is not about enforcement, it is rather about getting it right all the time as a habit. There is a joke about a Japanese firm which had achieved zero defect level of quality. When one of their customers asked for 6 Sigma level, they had to manufacture three defective components specially and with some efforts to deliver the desired quality. No amount of supervision can improve quality. Let us look at a craftsman creating a masterpiece. He puts in his pride, skill, experience, perseverance, and commitment. Generally in countries that make great and high technology products, the organizations and workers are self-motivated and not supervised. They are cultured to create excellence.

Let us take an example of Delhi Metro, or the Kolkata Metro. Ordinary people ensure that the trains run on time, are clean, there are a high level of honesty, are open to improvement and ensure that high quality is achieved and delivered in terms of design, workflow, high safety, integrity, efficiency, low cost, high productivity and consistency. Of course, a grid failure can stop their efforts midway but they are the first ones to bounce back and start their services once again. They also make a huge difference to the quality of life of their customers.

Countries like Japan, Korea, China and Singapore are some examples of transformation in this century.

Now the bottom line. What will ensure transformation for your organization? A lot of gizmos, tools and instruments, great technology and knowledge exchange programmes will of course improve to a certain extent as these are some tools for change as and when used, on a temporary basis. However, to achieve transformation the organization needs to look at a completely different list of inputs. Some of these inputs are the right attitude, sense of pride in the product being manufactured, the quality of life within the organization and clarity and focus for quality, on one hand and the design of the organization to produce quality, its work flows and systems to produce consistency and standardization on the other. An organization with these inputs improves productivity and saves resources rather than spend money to achieve quality.

India no doubt is making rapid progress on the WAN IFRA scenario and has an enviable number of members in the INCQC. However, the majority of the members (around fifty two) come from a few select countries. It is certainly not a coincidence that ABB, Siemens, Ferag, Muller Martini, Wifag, manroland, KBA, GOSS and Heidelberg are the preferred vendors for capital assets and so are their Japanese competitors who have understood the ISO and its principles.

A Swiss chocolate always tastes the great and is packaged in the best way, whatever the source of its inputs or who ever makes it. It is the product of the national pride and commitment to quality. The output of quality and productivity is the equilibrium achieved out of all the above ingredients. You can achieve a miracle once in a while, but ?TO MAKE IT HAPPEN EVERYTIME THE SAME WAY BY DEFAULT? is the theme and spirit of any quality philosophy like the ISO.

(V Siva Raja works for HT Media Ltd. He has been working for the last 30 years in the areas of innovation, projects, training and development. He has worked in various organizations like The Printers House, The Times of India, Indian Express and Dainik Bhaskar. He can be reached on vsivaraja@gmail.com)