The Quality Imperative

You don’t really hear much about W. Edwards Deming anymore. Sure, he shuffled off this mortal coil some 15 years ago, but the American auto industry has yet to recover from his enormous positive impact on its Japanese competitors. You do remember Deming, the man whose philosophy was that business success centered on quality?

Two concurrent incidents got me thinking about him today: the start of our efforts here at Food Product Design to put together April’s supplement on “Controlling Costs, Maintaining Quality,” and Peanut Corporation of America’s Salmonella-contaminated peanut butter debacle. (Which, if what I’m reading is true, might be called “Controlling Costs, Destroying Businesses and Lives.”)

As for the former, the concept is that people are now trending toward spending their shrinking dollars more wisely—they may be questioning the value of a $4 cup of coffee, but aren’t up for a cup of Postum or a toasted acorn brew. Conventional wisdom says that, while consumers are searching for bargains, they’re not looking for soup made with old boots. So, our objective is to search for options that will save manufacturers money without compromising quality. Deming had a few thoughts on that topic, by the way, and I don’t think any of them included selling substandard or worse product. Examples to follow.

I don’t profess to be a Deming expert—far from it—but the man must be spinning in his grave fast enough to supply power to the Eastern Seaboard if he’s tuned into the celestial newscasts about the peanut company in question.

While PCA’s owner and plant manager pleaded the fifth at the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on the Salmonella outbreak, the panel released e-mails that indicated the owner was just concerned about the cost and delays, rather than the contamination problem itself, which appears to be have been ongoing for several years. (“We need to discuss this. The time lapse, beside the cost is costing us huge $$$$$ and causing obviously a huge lapse in time from the time we pick up peanuts until the time we can invoice.”) The FDA inspection report reads like a food industry “don’t” list.

Which brings us back to Deming. Among his writings, he left some advice for business success in the form of his famous “14 Points for Management.” Several key points (Nos. 3 through 5 on the list), which would apply to peanuts as well as widgets, include:

• Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.
• End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
• Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.

Skeptical? I know it’s not really the theory du jour these days, but ask Toyota how that all worked out for them.

   -Lynn A. Kuntz

   (from the March print issue of Food Product Design)