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Quality Management Drivers and Solutions

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Today’s end consumers demand quality, and they are quick to try a competitive product when disappointment hits. For manufacturers, the quest to achieve less variability, more consistency and enhanced customer satisfaction has never been more critical. To consistently produce high-quality products, the key is to improve standards of quality control throughout the manufacturing process, and that requires an effective quality management system with the ability to oversee all activities and tasks that must be accomplished to maintain the desired level of excellence. Such a system helps manufacturers identify potential issues and rectify them before they escalate, leading to improved customer relationships and company growth as well as greater productivity and cost efficiencies.

Quality Driving Factors

  • Customer retention – Given that it can cost up to five times more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones, customer retention is a top priority. Ensuring high-quality standards and delivering consistent standards go a long way towards keeping existing customers.
  • Compliance – For manufacturers, compliance entails complying with the ISO 9001 standard which helps drive quality management practices in metal fabrication. ISO 9001 helps companies improve quality throughout the operation from development and material sourcing right through to product delivery and customer interaction.
  • Product recalls – A product recall is something manufacturers try to avoid at all costs. Statistics show that 25% of consumers reported being less likely to buy products from a company involved in a recall and 65% of consumers said they would be less likely to recommend a company following a recall.
  • Continuous improvement – Continuous improvement is a systematic approach to consistently enhance processes, products (such as water tanks), and services over time. It involves making incremental and sustainable changes to achieve higher efficiency, effectiveness, and quality. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement, businesses encourage employees at all levels to identify problems, suggest solutions and implement small-scale changes to optimize operations.

ERP – Implementing Quality Management

One of the most effective ways of getting quality management right is by implementing an ERP solution that provides the data, tools and infrastructure manufacturers need to gather insights, make informed decisions, and continuously refine their operations to achieve higher levels of efficiency, quality, and competitiveness. A good ERP solution is geared towards helping manufacturers set quality criteria against the products they buy and manufacture to ensure any inputs and outputs from their production lines conform to these standards. This is especially important in today’s competitive market where data is one of the top 3 manufacturing technology trends. Businesses can no longer rely on manual processes and tools to manage quality; it is simply too important to leave up to chance. On the question of customer retention, for example, manufacturers need to manage customer complaints as effectively as possible. An ERP system should provide the tools needed to log, collaborate on, escalate, and resolve customer complaints quickly and smoothly. That way, manufacturers and structural steel fabricators can quickly turn the situation around and build up data at the same time. Similarly, an ERP system with recall management capability enables manufacturers to recall products that are serial or lot traceable. With access to real-time information on affected customers, sales orders, Work in Progress jobs, suppliers and purchase orders, manufacturers can quickly ringfence the problem and stop it from spreading. Effective product recall may be a last resort in the realm of quality management, but it is a crucial one.

Closing Statement

Creating a strong quality management process is essential for manufacturing companies. Not only can it help avoid regulatory fines, good quality can also ensure that the firm is meeting customer expectations and drawing repeat business. A fully integrated ERP quality management system helps manufacturers improve quality performance by reducing variability and costs while ultimately improving customer satisfaction. As the saying goes, there is no substitute for quality – and manufacturers need to always abide by this!

New product concept. Start up business development idea.

Benefits of Product Management Software

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Developing a product from its initial concept to a fully realized consumable is no small feat. Product development can be a prolonged and iterative process with multiple iterations, bottlenecks, and challenges at every step of the development process. To maximize efficiency, product managers must have a clear sense of the challenges they face and the potential for product roadmap management software to help address them. So, what are the challenges encountered during product development and how does product management software help to mitigate these? Let us deep-dive into this topic.

Common Challenges Faced

  • Complex Supply Chains – Manufacturing even a relatively simple product may require numerous suppliers, components, and materials. Each point along the supply chain must be harmonized with the broader product development roadmap.
  • Varying Product Lifecycle Phases – Different products or components can be at various stages of development, production, or even retirement, which can be challenging to manage. Often, product managers must contend with different iterations of the same basic product or juggle the demands of various items within the product portfolio.
  • Regulatory Compliance – While steel manufacturing companies have a strong impact on global trade and industry, they are often subject to stringent regulatory requirements that change over time and vary by region. Product development must always be coordinated with legal compliance, encompassing everything from consumer safety to environmental stewardship.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration – Effective product development never happens in silos. Instead, it requires multi-disciplinary teams of designers, engineers, and testers to work together in tandem. Ultimately, bringing the product to store shelves requires collaboration with sales and marketing professionals.
  • Resource Allocation – Another challenge manufacturers face is ensuring their resources are allocated as effectively as possible. This includes manpower, mining plant and equipment, and raw materials. Ineffective resource allocation can yield a number of issues, including production bottlenecks that can bring the entire product development process to a standstill.

How Product Roadmap Management Software Can Help

  • Visibility Across Supply Chains – Roadmap software allows teams to visualize end-to-end logistics, identifying potential bottlenecks or areas of concern as part of efforts to future-proof supply chains. This perspective can enable product managers to source new vendors or to make necessary changes to the production timeline.
  • Lifecycle Management – With roadmap software, teams can track products at every stage of their lifecycle, ensuring no phase is overlooked. In other words, the right software solutions can ensure that product development teams pay an appropriate level of attention to products that are new to market (e.g., pressure vessels) and those that are close to being sunset, offering adequate support to the entire pool of customers.
  • Compliance Tracking – Additionally, product software solutions can be used to track regulatory changes and ensure products remain compliant throughout their lifecycle. This is an invaluable way to alleviate some of the regulatory burdens that product managers feel.
  • Enhanced Collaboration – Product roadmaps dismantle siloes and improves collaboration among product team members. A centralized dashboard fosters better communication among departments, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
  • Optimized Resource Allocation – Roadmap software can help identify underutilized assets or overburdened teams by providing a visual representation of resource allocation.

Final Thoughts

It should be understood that product development is a multi-step process involving many variables and countless potential hurdles. Product managers have their work cut out for them as they seek to clear those hurdles, but product roadmap management software can be an invaluable asset. Indeed, the right road mapping tools allow for improved visibility, collaboration, agility, cost control, and more. As such, these software solutions can be the “secret sauce” in successfully realizing the manufacturer’s vision of getting a product from its initial sketch to the marketplace!

Security team watching over CCTV surveillance monitors.

Benefits of AI Video Surveillance in Manufacturing

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There is an increased need for video surveillance in the manufacturing and metal fabrication industries. This is partly due to a change in the way people work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of an increased awareness among managers to optimize production and reduce costs. In this scenario, introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in video surveillance and Augmented Reality (AR) has the potential to transform operations and empower managers to manage work more effectively. At the same time, AI can help to streamline manufacturing processes and provide real-time monitoring and security. So, how can we unlock these business benefits of AI video surveillance? This blog will analyze this topic in greater detail.

Unlocking Efficiency

CCTV surveillance has long been an indispensable tool for security, but its capabilities have expanded far beyond monitoring entrances and exits. With the integration of AI, managers can identify and optimize operational processes across a variety of areas, including staff, logistics, manufacturing, and production. Through machine-learning, AI video surveillance systems have been trained to detect people and vehicles with incredible accuracy. Alerts of vehicle movements enhance monitoring of production & shipment progress.

Heatmaps detailing areas of use can change the layout of work floors, storefronts, or office spaces. People detection, counting and queue management capabilities are built into AI video surveillance systems, enabling rapid response to customer service, more efficient logistics, and improvement in communication between employees across different departments, buildings, and locations. Real-time monitoring of employee activities allows for immediate response and intervention when necessary. Intelligent video monitoring by managers is especially valuable in industries where coordination and synchronization among team members are crucial for success.

Prioritizing Workplace Safety

Workplace health and safety (WHS) is of paramount importance for any business. AI video surveillance acts as a vigilant partner in preventing WHS issues and accidents. By analyzing footage, AI algorithms can identify potential hazards and unsafe practices, such as possible accidents during manufacture of pressure vessels. This proactive approach not only protects employees from harm but also shields businesses from potential legal and financial liabilities. Moreover, AI-powered surveillance can detect signs of a negative work environment, harassment, and abusive behaviour. Identifying such issues early on enables management to intervene and create a healthier workplace culture. It is necessary to protect the staff and business by implementing video surveillance policies that work to safeguard the well-being of staff and management.

Remote Security and Access Control

One of the most remarkable features of AI video surveillance is its capability for face, number plate, and metadata (attributes of people and vehicles, e.g.: vehicle colour) recognition. The latest AI video surveillance products offer the means to create permissions or blocklists for access control, thus improving security by granting or denying entry based on recognized faces. The system captures detailed vehicle number plates for accurate evidence and streamlines management by allowing searches based on specific characteristics such as clothing or vehicle colour. Each tagged AI video event allows one to zero in and export key moments across multiple cameras when incidents occur without having to search through hours of footage. These technologies can rapidly transform the way managers, especially those working remotely or off-site, take control of assets and allocate effort.

Closing Statement

It can be observed that AI video surveillance has multiple applications such as remote-site management, monitoring material and machinery arrival, adhering to specifications and requirements (e.g., during manufacturing of water tanks), ensuring worker safety and, site security. Thus, AI video surveillance is no longer confined to the realm of security; it has evolved into a catalyst for efficiency, safety, and strategic decision-making. In time, AI will no longer be an option in video surveillance – it will become a necessity!

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Reducing Steel Scrap in Manufacturing

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During the manufacturing process, the cost of raw materials is usually the most expensive for any industry. Hence, when a high volume of raw material is rejected, it can adversely impact a company’s profit margins. Review of the rejected material (called scrap) is critical and programs to reduce scrap are almost always part of manufacturers’ continuous improvement initiatives. But what is scrap and how can scrap be reduced in the context of metal fabrication and manufacturing industries? This will be covered further in this blog.

What is Scrap?

Manufacturing scrap is the unusable material from a manufacturing operation that will be discarded. Scrap can be subdivided into several categories while used as a general definition for all rejected material. First, there’s scrap that is rejected in raw material form. It may be due to spoilage, or it may be due to off-specification performance characteristics such as tensile strength or shatter point. This material has no additional processing or partial processing added to it. Second, there’s scrap that has been partially processed. Many manufactured goods are produced in stages of a production process, and the failure at any one step can mean that the part must be rejected as part of quality management of metal fabrication. This is more expensive than scrapping raw material as the partially finished part has had some value-added labor. Third, finished goods must be scrapped due to failure to meet specifications. Some can be reworked by adding labor to adjust the part or turn it into something else. Others may require complete scrapping if no rework can be performed.

Ways to Reduce Scrap and Rework

  • Conduct Process Audits: Conducting process audits is the first step in any scrap reduction process. Without understanding the current process as it occurs, identifying scrap points would prove impossible in structural steel fabrication.
  • Improve Communication and Change Management: Manufacturing is a fast-paced, noisy, and extended process. Communication is sometimes non-existent between upstream and downstream processes, and errors can be compounded as a result. The same is true for hand-written notes and tags, where handwriting quality, lack of clarity, and other shortcomings can impact the next production stage.
  • Review Material Sourcing: The quality of a manufacturer depends not only on the quality of material and components used to make goods but also on the quality of material used in industrial processes, such as heat induction bending services. In the case of the former, a rigorous selection of materials such as tensile strength, alloy consistency, and vendor’s production methods can make or break a company’s quality when those materials are in production. In the latter case, cutting dies, routing heads, and other hardened tool types must be guaranteed to cut the material they claim to cut. If the performance characteristics of the tool are inferior, scrap can result.
  • Document the Right Things: Many manufacturers are drowning in written documents from manual procedures. But when it comes to the most critical aspects of documentation, they are lacking. Design iterations for active products should always have defined and traceable access. This includes CAD and CAM drawings and any other engineering specifications.
  • Evaluate Maintenance Strategies: Scrap occurs at a higher than desirable rate while using preventive methods, and most manufacturers have yet to move beyond them. This is because manual condition monitoring requires a lot of labor, manual checking, and measurement of temperature, wear, abrasion, and more. Tool-wear and failure may not be detected with a manual preventive maintenance strategy, and data may be omitted through error, bias, or training issues.

Curtain Call

Scrap is a necessary evil, however there are many means to reduce scrap in fabrication and manufacturing processes. It also requires a change of mindset to move towards sustainability in the steel manufacturing industry and management involvement may be required. So, the goal of companies should not be to make the “scrapyard” empty – but to ensure that lesser scrap is sent to the “scrapyard”!

© K999 Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. 2023