Quality As A Marketing Tool

For over 35 years I have watched companies choose vendors on the basis of the quality of services they provide. Customers monitor rejects, off-spec manufacturing and consistency. Every couple of years, someone from Harvard Business School, a major corporation or some unheard of business guru comes up with a new buzzword or system to assure the customer that it's vendors can provide good product.

What does this mean to the manufacturing service provider? It means more costs and responsibility to meet some other new method of making good products. Many customers now have no incoming inspection or surveillance systems for manufactured products, and they rely on their supplier to produce and document that they have provided good product. Some industries have gone so far as to pass through costs of product warranty to all suppliers for not only the product produced, but also the costs of warranty service for labor to replace the part in the field.

As the customer has demanded more quality assurance, they have cut back on their vendor base and only utilize vendors that can assure they meet the quality needs of the customer. The companies that have added systems and staff to meet the higher quality requirements in some industry segments have been able to increase their pricing as they only compete against like competitors.

There used to be a standard cry of "there is no cost for quality!" It may have been true in the more elemental states at that time. However, meeting the standards for the aircraft, medical, aerospace and some other specific industry segments does require greater costs than other industries. The costs of compliance and certifications are one that has to be born by the industry having the need. If you have put a system in place to participate in these higher quality industries, then it is time to look at what industries also need to have these commitments by vendors and develop a target market based on quality needs. If you would like to participate in this business, then you need to define what your costs will be to achieve these standards and incorporate them into your overheads.

Find balance for your organization and bring your quality system to the level of your desired customer base and then market your quality system the same way you would market all the other aspects of your business.

By: SB-MC

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