From Reaction to Action – Quality is Everyone's Business

"Developing innovative products and manufacturing them with high product quality is the central task for everyone in the company." This claim, formulated by Managing Director Dr. Joachim Hümmler, represents a departure from the classic understanding of quality for Magnetbau Schramme GmbH & Co. KG: Quality is no longer equated exclusively with product quality, and is no longer a specialist task for only a few people in the company: Quality concerns everyone. The introduction of a QM software should also be viewed from this perspective.

As a manufacturer of electromagnets, valves, sensors and actuators, Magnetbau Schramme has been very successful in the market for many decades and will continue to expand this position in the future. In view of the volatility in the markets, overlapping crises, the emergence of new competitors, the shortage of workforce, the challenges have not diminished. Building on a corporate strategy developed by the company's management circle and supported by its shareholders, Magnetbau Schramme is setting itself up for the future in a long-term and stable manner. However, this only becomes truly effective if the plan is supported by the entire workforce and by the customers in the form of lived processes.

Because the term quality is often equated with the quality of products and manufacturing processes, it is often delegated to a few people in the company as a specialized task. In addition, the quest to avoid recourse and penalties has further reduced the focus of quality on successful certification or auditing. If problems do occur in day-to-day business, quality is called upon in the role of a "fireman" to quickly extinguish the source of the fire. In view of the scarcity of resources, the role of fire extinguisher has meanwhile become the main task for many people in quality management. With a view to the understanding of quality in the company, one can speak here of a rather classically shaped understanding.

In contrast, a modern understanding of quality goes beyond the requirements of product quality. Based on all the requirements placed on a company, the modern understanding of quality also addresses all the parties concerned in the company. It is not limited to the quality of products and manufacturing processes. It encompasses the requirements of all stakeholders and addresses the totality of all processes and participants in the company.

A modern understanding of quality encompasses corporate responsibility and arises from the involvement of all people in the company. In this way, it leads to an Integrated Management System that is then lived, since it already serves all the requirements of the company. Shadow systems, on the other hand, are a phenomenon of the classic understanding of quality.

Modern quality management picks up employees, involves them and conveys a sense of purpose, since everyone knows their contribution to the company. Responsibility becomes delegable and decisions can be made competently by the responsible employees. This in turn leads to leaner companies, lengthy communication/decision paths are avoided, and better and faster decisions are made. Top management can also focus on the real top decisions. The transformation to a modern understanding of quality leads to agility and speed in all company processes. It increases the quality of decisions in processes by involving competent employees and creates room for quality in management and innovation in products and processes. Modern quality management makes a valuable contribution to the development of a company in an increasingly volatile environment.

Magnetbau Schramme's focus on a modern understanding of quality follows a simple motto: "Out of reaction and into action," as Managing Director Dr. Joachim Hümmler puts it. "Following our claim to modern quality management, we want to and must leave the role of the short-term firefighter who only extinguishes when there is a fire somewhere." Instead, he says, the long-term development of the entire organization must also be taken into account in project planning.

Consequently, the introduction of QM software at Magnetbau Schramme does not serve solely to remedy a specific or acute problem. The focus is on using the potential of a universal and comprehensive software to implement the modern understanding of quality described above. In doing so, it must be clear to everyone involved what is to be achieved with the introduction of the software. It is not very helpful to talk about a holistic solution in the planning of the project without specifying this holistic approach. The question that the company must therefore ask itself is: What is the focus of the introduction of the software?

• Is it primarily a matter of solving problems quickly or is the focus on the development of the entire organization on the basis of a living management system? Or does one even want both?
• Is it about the introduction of a tool or the introduction of an integrated software for all Q tasks, optimally connected with the existing IT system landscape?
• Should the establishment of an error culture, the creation of transparency, the transfer of knowledge, the interdepartmental cooperation for the benefit of the customer be included as a project goal, or are goals arising from operational pain in the foreground?

It does not always have to end in an "either or". The awareness must be created that the introduction of QM software is also always about the long-term goal of developing quality management out of the role of the "firefighter" reacting in the short term. Project planning must include a well-balanced understanding of operational and short-term remedies on the one hand, but also of long-term development of the entire organization on the other.

This can be achieved with a suitable commitment from the management, all departments involved and the naming of specific goals that go beyond the operational pain, while at the same time consistently implementing the project on the basis of milestones and regular feedback rounds.

1. The purchase of the software and a quick installation are not the sole guarantee for a successful introduction. It is important that everyone involved is aware of their role and actively participates in the introduction.
2. Training measures must be adapted to the project process. The possibility that the learned knowledge can be applied immediately must be ensured. The knowledge about the application of the software is not to be limited to a small circle of users, it is to be passed on to all users. Feedback loops on whether the training has been understood and whether the software is being used successfully are elementary.
3. 3. QM must not be considered in isolation, like an island, for example. The realization of interfaces, e.g. to the ERP, is important, but it must not be overlooked to take the whole company along in order to inform about the possibilities of the software, respectively the processes connected with it.

• Not all modules at once. The introduction should take place module by module. The order in which the modules are introduced should be carefully considered and agreed with the software partner.
• A standard procedure for the introduction must be defined. Transparency about the status of the introduction is important.
• All (affected) employees must be involved.
• A holistic approach and short-term benefits are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Allow and demand visionary thinking. Make holistic thinking tangible for all involved with the help of the following questions:
  • Which challenge to which problem should be addressed / solved?
  • Which group of people is affected by this challenge and the problem (affected stakeholders)?
  • What goal is to be achieved in the end? How do we determine success?
  • What is the focus of the approach (scope / out of scope)?
  • What resources are needed to realistically achieve the goal?
• Ongoing monitoring and effective support in the form of small steps and rapid feedback (feedback loops for immediate correction).
• Operational progress must be effectively communicated (quick wins). Turn stakeholders into participants, move from reaction to action (whet appetite about the progress of the project)
• IT infrastructure must be designed accordingly. Quality of installation, but also quality of data is necessary.
• Achieved results are always to be checked in the context of the described challenge and the affected group of people. If the affected employee understands that a good implementation of the software is important for everyone and sees the results, it is much easier. However, it is not easy to start with employees who have no experience. Then the risk increases that the software will not be effective in the end.
• Only after the successful implementation of one module, the next module should be started.

QM software is never a universal solution, and it can never substitute for the lack of understanding of quality in top management, in the management circle or among the staff. The situation is made even more difficult when QM software is misunderstood as a short-term aid. In the end, this only creates "module corpses" and causes uncertainty among all those involved.

In the interaction between modern quality understanding as well as effective quality management and with the support of a suitable QM software, an environment is created in this way that involves all participants in the company and in which innovation and high product quality enjoy a high priority in order to make the company competitive and capable of growth in the long term.