How focus on quality contributes to the TVS Group’s growth

“The time was when a man could order a pair of shoes directly from the cobbler. By measuring the foot himself and handling all aspects of manufacturing, the cobbler could assure that the customer would be completely satisfied.”
— Dr Yoji Akao, pioneer of quality function deployment

The knowledge economy has, perhaps, rendered this degree of personal interface to a Utopian dream, but the final word in quality still belongs to the customer.

Business has become more customer-centric than ever before, with customer satisfaction being the raison de etre as well as the acid test of every organisation. Consequently, quality can no longer be defined in terms of statutory requirements or standards alone.

These need to be accompanied by customer-centric metrics, and all modern quality management systems are based on the principle that the customer is the best judge of quality.

Outcome metrics that point to the customer’s preferences and requirements are an indispensable tool for any organisation that aspires to remain competitive.

Delivering the goods - cases from the industry
Product and service quality is probably the most universal theme in the global economy. In the quest for competitiveness, every organisation strives to redefine quality and deliver results that make a favourable mark on the customer.

At Lego, product quality is no child’s play. The company has internal quality criteria, which are higher than international standards. All Lego toys meet not only specifications for toy manufacturing but also conform to regulations that apply to food packaging. Lego defines quality from three perspectives — technical quality including durability, stability and product safety; utility and versatility; and development quality, which addresses the value of the toy to the customer (child), reflected through customer retention.

While the state-of-the-art factories and laboratories focus on conformance to specifications, another division of the quality team observes children at play to identify factors that stimulate them.

Every defect-free production year — and there have been many — is celebrated with a lot of fanfare to reinforce the company’s commitment to results.

Cisco Systems, the world’s leading supplier of Internet networking equipment, has developed a set of internal product metrics based on extensive consumer research. These measures are driven into the organisation’s culture and communicated across all levels. Cisco also has separate defect reduction teams and failure analysis teams that try to identify and eliminate the root causes of failure and evaluate products from the customer’s perspective.

The TVS Group has a self-confessed obsession with product quality. Every year, many of the group companies figure among the recipients of the prestigious Deming prize for quality. The company has embraced the TQM philosophy and adapted it to suit TVS consumers and their quality expectations. All the Deming awardees in the TVS group have recorded remarkable performance results — for instance, the TVS Brakes foundry division has sustained a spectacular rate of 35% in revenue growth for the last 3 years.

Summary: The product or service outcome of a business is not merely the result of processes; it is the vital factor that justifies business operations and determines customer loyalty.

Conclusion: If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, nothing can gratify a business more than a loyal customer who keeps coming back for more helpings. Customer loyalty is the best measure of product or service outcomes; it should also be the beacon that guides all strategic decisions of the organisation.

Suresh Lulla is the managing director of Qimpro Consultants, founder of the BestPrax Club, and chairman of the IMC Quality Awards Committee. In 2005, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Management Consultancy.