The quality inspection department counts the number of repaired parts of each unit, and the monthly data is published according to the facts, and the factory department strictly checks. If the problem in the upper process is not discovered in time in the lower process, but is found when the vehicle is delivered, not only the upper process, but also the lower process must be assessed. If a quality problem is found in the hands of the user, it will be double-assessed by "additional crime". The functions of the quality inspection department have also been adjusted, only responsible for the final inspection of locomotives and the design and monitoring of the quality management system and process of the whole plant. Branch factory, its business is in charge of by the relevant branch factory. Some people objected, and some persuaded them with good words: "Isn't this encouraging the cheating in the branch factory? I shouldn't supervise myself!"
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That's a really silly question. Thirteen years ago, when I was studying in the factory of GE in the United States, I also asked the same stupid question to Americans. I found that there are no full-time inspectors in many processes, and a foreman runs around with a folder in his hands. I asked the foreman: "Who is responsible for the quality of your work area?" Links are marked with a person's name. "These guys are responsible for the quality, you see, that's my name," he said.
Then, I asked a more stupid question: "When there is a conflict between progress and quality, do you keep the quality or the progress? Will you sacrifice quality in order to catch up with the progress?" The foreman looked at him with doubts. I didn't make a sound for a long time, and then said: "How is this possible, how can I deliver unqualified products to the hands of users?" His answer was not satisfactory to me, until I was about to leave a few months later, I just discovered that the employees of GE are very responsible, and the questions I asked are no different from college students asking Mr. Xiang the simplest arithmetic problem. The director of the branch factory has become the first person responsible for quality, and every employee in the whole factory must bear the corresponding quality responsibility. The responsibility can be traced back indefinitely, even if the user has used the product for 10 years.
The concept of "product quality comes from drying, not inspection" has gradually taken root in Zhuzhou factory. After a few months, the effect gradually appeared, the number of rework and repairs dropped significantly, and the quality of products gradually improved. In order to consolidate the achievements and make the new quality concept deeply rooted in the hearts of employees, the whole factory launched a massive "zero defect" campaign.
The factory's internal newspaper "Electric Locomotive News" published the full text of my article "Carrying out the 'Zero Defect' Campaign and Improving Product Quality". The article expounds the concept of "zero defect" at the beginning: "zero defect" can be understood as the limit concept tending to zero, which enables enterprises to have a continuous pursuit goal in continuously improving the management level; It is also a definite and quantifiable management goal. When the goal is achieved, "zero defect" is realized; after the goal of the current stage is achieved, a higher goal for the next stage is set, so that the dynamic progress is continuously approaching the limit value of zero. The purpose of carrying out the "Zero Defect" activity is to cultivate employees' work style of pursuing excellence and perfection, stimulate people's subjective initiative, and eliminate all possible mistakes.
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As mentioned in the theme of "zero defect" production, the five major quality ideas embodied in "zero defect" production are:
"Customer First, Competition First Market Concept",
"The dynamic concept of pursuing excellence and never having a diameter";
"Mistakes are not allowed, prevent problems before they happen";
"All staff self-control"; "All staff quality responsibility system";
"Control and Feedback".
In the "zero defect" supply theme, "rectangular check system", "unified plan management", and "qualified sub-supplier management system". At the end of the article, it is mentioned that "zero defect" is one of the most important values of our factory. This value is written on the flag of our company and flows among the employees (please note that I will change the employees to employees after this, because I Think that the flavor of the market economy is a bit stronger) in the blood, and finally form a unique culture of the enterprise.
For a while, the newspapers and magazines of the factory, and everyone in the workshop were talking about quality, which is the advantage of state-owned enterprises. A female worker accidentally connected a wire to a false connection. The locomotive had a problem after it was put into operation in Beijing. The after-sales service personnel checked for a few days but could not find the cause. It took more than 10 days to find the cause until the factory dispatched experts. Relevant departments calculated that the accident cost the factory tens of thousands of yuan, and the damage to its reputation was even more inestimable. Fortunately, the user did not pursue the loss of the outage. If he did, the compensation would be more than tens of thousands of yuan. After publicity, this incident caused a great shock in the whole factory, and the branch factory punished the female worker by laying off her job for half a year and retraining (note, it is not simply dismissal and fine). If this matter was put in the past, most people would think that a locomotive was connected to a wrong line, so there is no need to make a fuss or fuss. 99% of the things in the enterprise are small things, and managers are doing small things most of the time. If the small things are not done well, it is useless to do 1% of the big things well. The factory is digging all kinds of little things around it, which is a good start.
China is still an agricultural society, and it has only a few decades to enter the primary stage of industrialization. It is not something that can be done overnight if the extensive farming culture of thousands of years is to be transformed into a lean industrial civilization. What's more, for thousands of years in China, feudal emperors despised craftsmen, and craftsmen were at the bottom of society. European culture is not the case, excellent craftsmen can last forever. Some nobles also like to make handmade products by themselves. The Russian Tsar Peter the Great once went to the Dutch shipyard to learn crafts incognito. After returning home, he taught the craft and even sewed his own riding boots. He also personally participated in the design of St. Peter’s Castle, which amazed future generations.
To get rid of the bad reputation (madein china) of Chinese products, we really have to start from ourselves. To create a lean manufacturing culture, we must arouse social resonance. Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier Group, smashed refrigerators in front of the factory. What he smashed was not just a few unqualified products, but a bad habit that people are accustomed to. The bad habit of Zhuzhou Machinery Factory is the repair habit developed by repairing steam locomotives for decades. It is sloppy, dealt with, fastidious, and rough. This habit has been passed down from generation to generation. It is really impossible to get rid of these bad habits without using some of the revolutionary spirit of the 1911 Revolution (exquisite metaphor)
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I just want to create an impression that this new factory director pays special attention to the "little things" and does not let go of them, so that managers at all levels feel that "small things" cannot be handled well, and their jobs are difficult to secure. Occasionally, I will walk around the workshop, looking for those "little problems" that everyone turns a blind eye to
In the car body branch factory, seven or eight workers are sweating profusely to adjust the flatness of the side of the car body. Some of them knocked, some roasted, and some sprayed water to cool them. They finished adjusting one side in less than an hour. . The director of the branch factory watched it with me, and I asked, "Is it always done like this before?" The director of the branch factory replied, "Yes." I said, "I saw it in Germany, and their craftsmanship is similar to ours. It’s just much more precise than ours. German companies are using a meter stick to measure the flatness of the light in vertical and horizontal dimensions, while we use our eyes to take a look and it’s over.” Many years later, my successor Li Zhixuan, the director of the factory, grasped Wen Huan, a lean manufacturing company with "three finesse and one seriousness", said that German experts believe that the quality of Zhuzhou Machinery's car body has surpassed that of Germany. It seems that as long as it is serious, there is nothing China can do wrong.
Let more engineers who are passionate about manufacturing and products enter the management teams at all levels.
In the 1980s, Japanese products spread all over the world, while American products were on the decline. Some scholars conducted a comparative study of Japanese and American companies and found that 90% of the chairman of Japanese companies were engineers, and they treated the company’s products as if they were their own children. ; while 90% of the chairmen of American companies are accountants and lawyers, and they pay more attention to data and results. The two attitudes lead to different results, causing American entrepreneurs to reflect. At a dinner party more than 10 years later, Ms. Ke Ailun, chairman and CEO of DuPont, Fu Chengyu, chairman of Sinopec, Ning Gaoning, chairman of COFCO, Liu Shunda, chairman of Datang Power, and Song Lixin, president of Yingcai magazine, etc. , everyone talked a little about their deepest understanding of managing a company. What impressed me the most was the words of Ms. Ke Ailun: "Over the years, DuPont's new products have emerged one after another, and the company has developed rapidly. This is not unrelated to my long-term career as an engineer..."
Soon, a group of engineers who love products and are obsessed with technology became the directors of Zhuzhou branches. They were the middle-level management elites of the Zhuzhou factory at that time. Their style of paying attention to details and pursuing excellence has influenced many grassroots employees.
