RE: Practical application of Demings teachings

["Alan Meekings" <alan@landmarkconsulting.co.uk>]

Hello Alistair,

If I understand your situation correctly, your firm has a radio in service
that you've "made for the last ten years" which is failing far too
frequently in service.

If you wish to maintain customer loyalty, then you're clearly right to
repair any failing units with good grace and as quickly as possible.

Again, if I understand what you're saying, you're firm is still selling
radios of this ilk.

With reference to the suggestions you made, my comments would be as follows:

(1) "Am trying to map where these radios are located and see if there is any

correlation between location and those that are being returned to be 
repaired."

This seems like a sensible approach, but don't hold your breathe for a
location-specific or use-specific cause.


(2) "Building up a database of information from repairs, what was wrong, how

long it took to fix etc."

Again, this seems like a sensible approach, but do note that customers are
unlikely to be terribly interested in how long it takes you to fix their
problems, except in the sense that an immediate resolution would be much
appreciated.

(3) "Streamlining the repairs process so that the radio is worked through 
systematically and accurate records are maintained. Overseeing the
establishment of a reliable test rig so that repairs can be 
made quickly and efficiently."

My view is that you need to differentiate between fixing problems associated
with units already in service and ensuring that new units are not sold with
the same inherent problems.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with us on this Forum or to contact
me direct, whichever you prefer.

Bye for now,

Alan