Rethinking industrial quality: Why perfection isn’t the goal in manufacturing reliability

The oft heard “Do it right the first time!” clearly calls for quality, quality, quality! We must have a pushback for quality if we push for productivity. Absolutely! But how does that admonition square with Dr. Deming’s insistence that we must strive for continual improvement, and that if we presume perfection, we lose? In reality, no contradiction exists, but industry misunderstanding frequently leads to missing the great opportunity Dr. Deming provides for our becoming industry leaders.

Quality through constant improvement

A global oil company’s maintenance vision includes the statement “Deliver quality – Do it right, do it once.” A poster in a steel mill declares “EFFICIENCY & QUALITY MEAN DOING THE JOB RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.” A union bumper sticker exclaims “We Do It Right the First Time!” We have heard “If you don’t have time to do it right, do you have time to do it over?” This type of sentiment has found its way into the maintenance planning process leading to some companies adopting “Procedures-Driven Maintenance” where planners strive to create first-time, near-perfect job plans, dictating mandated job steps for craftspersons to improve the quality of task execution.

On the other hand, Dr. W. Edwards Deming began in the 1950s preaching quality through constant improvement, by openly embracing the idea that we are not perfect. An American, Dr. Deming led post-WWII Japan to become a global industrial giant. Japan established the famed Deming Prize for companies who achieve prescribed quality performance. In the 1980s, Dr. Deming returned to America to guide American companies until his death in 1993. Dr. Deming’s work is considered the ultimate authority on quality (Deming, W. Edwards (1986). Out of the Crisis. Cambridge, Mass.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.) Nine of his famous “14 Points” directly point to admitting we are not perfect and allowing craftspersons to exercise their skill beyond any static procedure or job plan:

Point 1: “Create constancy of purpose for improvement…”
Point 2: “Adopt the new philosophy.” (This new philosophy deals with not accepting any status quo.)
Point 5: “Improve constantly and forever…” (We now call this improvement the Deming Cycle.)
Point 6: “Institute training.”
Point 8: “Drive out fear.” (Blind obedience is not desirable.)
Point 10: “Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce.” (Dr. Deming specifically deplores the exhortation “Do it right the first time.” Deming asks how a maintenance person could make it right the first time when the incoming material is off-spec, the machine is not in good order, and the measuring tools are not trustworthy.)
Point 11: “Eliminate numerical quotas…” (This point specifically addresses “work standards” that ignore the system the worker is under.)
Point 12: “Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship.”
Point 13: “Encourage education and self-improvement for everyone.”

Altogether, these points highlight that Dr. Deming wants to improve the system by everyone improving themselves to help show what can be improved. Management must establish this culture to move beyond the status quo to greatness.

Problem with perfection

However, we can carefully reconcile DIRTFT (Do It Right the First Time) and Dr. Deming. Like any prescription drug, DIRTFT can be helpful or harmful. In a harmful sense, DIRTFT is a frustrating, popular slogan that blames system problems on the individual worker.

In a helpful maintenance manner, DIRTFT should be where craftspersons do the best job execution possible subject to constraints of what is available. Craftspersons should never cut corners just to complete more work. At the same time, craftspersons should never blindly follow job plans. Trained and skilled craftspersons should apply their skill and experience, not simply follow step-by-step job plans that may not (or never) be perfect. Craftspersons must also speak up based on their skill and experience to suggest improvements to job plans “for the next time.”

Likewise, DIRTFT should be where planners do the best job plan possible subject to constraints of what is available and the time they have to plan all the work. Proper planning is actually job triage, where planners give the best head start that they can in the time they have available, and then later update the plans with craft feedback. If planners had to be first-time (or any-time) “perfect” with each plan, they could never get all the work through the Deming Cycle.

Doing what is right

Do It Right the First Time should mean everyone doing the best they can within the constraints that they have and then audibly voicing possible improvements to make things better. DIRTFT should be planners giving the best head starts they can subject to the constraints of time. DIRTFT should be craftspersons do the best execution they can subject to any constraints they have, where they freely exercise their skills, and where they give feedback for plan improvement. DIRTFT should be an admonition not to cut corners and to provide ideas for improvement. But because it can be misleading, we probably ought to change “Do it right the first time” to “Everyone should do the best they can considering what’s going on and in the system they have to deal with while always making suggestions for improvement,” but that’s a mouthful. How about “Do what is right”?

Implement maintenance right the first time where trained and skilled persons at every position do the best they can and they always offer suggestions for improvement in everything, forever. Don’t settle for good. Be great and greater and greater and greater…