We were engaged by a mining services provider to help them identify the root cause of costly quality problems. The client’s value proposition was to deliver high-spec consumable products to a defined quality level and DIFOT (Delivery In Full On Time) requirement. However, failure to meet their service promise resulted in significant financial impacts. We needed to develop a comprehensive plan to address the issues and improve product quality.
Our client was a well-regarded niche supplier but was facing challenges with variable quality outcomes in its manufacturing activity across multiple sites. Despite having a well-oiled enterprise and an excellent approach to waste and continuous improvement, the client needed a review of its manufacturing activity, people, systems, technology, and processes. Recent attempts to fix the issues included upgrading testing processes, acquiring higher-calibre people, and investing heavily in process control equipment.
Although the safety infrastructure was excellent, when customer issues arose, SOPs and records were reviewed rather than senior managers actively engaging. As a quality-assured supplier, the focus was on low-impact, high-frequency events, and so leadership assumed their commitment to safety, and the customer needed to go no further.
To address the challenges faced by the client, the executive team took a number of key steps. They removed barriers to continuous improvement thinking and shifted towards a more holistic view of quality and client expectations. The team implemented a more rigorous business case review process for technical solutions that required capital expenditures. This with the dashboard reporting and meeting practices led to behavioural change across the organisation.
