Henry Ford said that, quality means doing it right when no one is looking. What is doing it? And how well must it be done?

In every industry, competitors find themselves fighting price wars or positioning themselves as the low-cost provider only to find out that in many instances, quality is as important to customers (if not more so) than the cost they pay. Quality can be defined as the acceptable standard of excellence determined by the receiver. But, having a quality product and getting it to market is only part of the challenge; especially if you see quality as one action or an end result.

You cant give lip service to quality. Anytime that there is a handoff, a deliverable, a discussion or even a decision to be made, quality is key. It has to be factored in and measured throughout the organization and considered in all activities of design, development, production, installation, servicing, customer interaction and documentation. The goal is to continually identify standards of quality, evaluate performance, monitor results and make adjustments that will improve the customers perception.

When it comes to improving quality in your organizations you have five points to consider: the product, the processes, every transaction and the thinking that leads to overall performance quality. Achieving quality in an organization is an ongoing pursuit and has to be adopted as a mindset before any significant gains will be realized.

FOCUS #1 - Product Quality is measured by workmanship and reliability. It includes the raw materials, assemblies, products and components; as well as the function or services related to production. To have a quality product output means that you have to continually improve the inputs.

FOCUS #2 - Process Quality includes the quality of work in developing, making, and selling products and services. It is measured by adherence to performance standards, fewer mistakes, fewer rejects and less rework.

FOCUS #3 - Transaction Quality is measured by the effectiveness and efficiency of human interaction. When a products fails to meet the expectations of customers and they in turn seek remedy from the organization that creates a transaction (Ronald Coase, a British economist). Poor quality increase the number of transactions needed to resolve an issue and increases the cost of doing business. Once a customer picks up the phone or walks into your offices to seek resolution, the quality of the transaction itself becomes important.

FOCUS #4 - Performance Quality is within the control of every employee. It is achieved when transactions are handled in a way that delivers ever-increasing value to internal and/or external customers. Performance quality begins with quality of thought. How your people think about their jobs, their roles, your products, and your customers will determine the effort that they will expend.

Quality is achieved only by understanding current needs, future needs and then effectively and efficiently correcting errors and finding solutions that add value. Every internal handoff or customer exchange creates a learning opportunity for the employee involved, the organization, and the system. Employees often detect the first indication of a problem and are in the best position to eliminate it before the situation grows. How they make those decisions is indicative how they think.

FOCUS #5 - Quality of Thought- Rigid, habitual thinking makes product, process, transaction, and performance quality impossible. Without the ability to think strategically, laterally, or critically employees in organizations can never develop the creative ideas that spawn innovation and lead to quality improvements. Stale thinking overrides any opportunity that a company has to outwit the competition or get ahead of change. Breakthrough thinking is needed if organizations are to deconstruct challenges, set goals, construct workable real-time solutions, and accurately identify the right solution for the right situation at the right time.

In a competitive marketplace, quality is the great differentiator that pays impressive dividends. It is never a final destination but an ongoing pursuit to achieve maximum customer satisfaction in the shortest time and the lowest cost.

Quality products and processes begin with quality thinking but here is a list of ten more things that you can do to increase quality:

1. Understand the nature and communicate the importance of quality to every employee.
2. Know what matters most to your clients and why.
3. Develop products and processes that help your clients meet their business goals in the most efficient way.
4. Make what your customers care about your top priority.
5. Make sure that dollars spent to improve operations, systems, and products relate to the needs of your current and targeted customers.
6. Set, enforce, and revise standards to deliver your best (product, process, transaction, performance and thinking) to the marketplace.
7. Work collaboratively to establish quality in all internal processes and interdepartmental hand offs.
8. Create self-managed teams that focus on continuous improvement strategies.
9. Increase the learning opportunities and challenge the habitual thinking of employees.
10. Eliminate the waste and non-value added activities from your processes it will reduce your product development and process cycle-times.