Common Pitfalls in Quality of Packaging

Even the most well-intention quality programs can be derailed by implementation mistakes that can impair the speed and effectiveness of the system.

Common missteps include:

• Assuming the “quality experts” will handle it. While a dedicated Quality team will bring significant expertise, quality must be embraced by the entire organization and senior leadership.
• Being overly dogmatic. The process-orientation of quality systems is meant to deliver better outputs. But a too-bureaucratic, sledgehammer approach can slow action and reduce innovation. Quality must fit into the company’s ecosystem in the right way.
• Measuring the wrong things. “What gets measured gets managed” is a common refrain in business. But if the quality system is focused on the wrong metrics – items that are not correlated with key outputs – then energy is being wasted.
• Having inconsistent goals. A system can be optimized around a limited number of variables. It’s hard to lower production cost, raise production speeds, and raise production quality at the same time. Quality goals need to be internally consistent.
• Seeing quality only as a tactical tool. Quality should be considered while making strategic decisions, not just during tactical issue-fixing. Quality can play a role in topics like deciding the new product pipeline, selecting the right supply-chain partners, and hiring staff.

Part of the art of implementing a good quality system is to manage the trade-offs to get the benefits of quality without succumbing to these pitfalls.