I apologize if this is in the wrong category, Marc, but I wanted to start a thread on goals. Often we use the either business objectives and/or the quality management system to drive improvement. However, I am struggling with goals for inspectors in an inspection for quality environment.


Ken

how about some level of external rejects, meaning that your inspection is working by keeping the defective material from reaching the customer? (just one example that would definitely be tied to inspection)

We don't have a quality department. :cool:

Keep in mind why you want goals in the first place - improvement. I can't tell you what to measure, but here are some things to consider when deciding:
- What are the desired results of the process(es) the inspectors contribute to or are controlling
- What can you measure to verify that the process(es) are achieving the desired result

We don't have a quality department. :cool:

Keep in mind why you want goals in the first place - improvement. I can't tell you what to measure, but here are some things to consider when deciding:
- What are the desired results of the process(es) the inspectors contribute to or are controlling
- What can you measure to verify that the process(es) are achieving the desired result

We don't have a quality dept. either, except for the 400 employees here.

We don't have a quality department. :cool:

Keep in mind why you want goals in the first place - improvement. I can't tell you what to measure, but here are some things to consider when deciding:
- What are the desired results of the process(es) the inspectors contribute to or are controlling
- What can you measure to verify that the process(es) are achieving the desired result
I am walking a thin line. We use trained inspectors and temporary employees to ensure product quality. We may have 5 temporary employees in one week on one job - manufacturing. This is the choice of the ownership in the company.

However, I have one inspector who performs above par - he is observant and "sees" systems rather than just product. On the other hand, I have an inspector who is not as focused. I want to distinguish the difference between them. If I use a global # of returns example, then it is not detailed enough.

I want to promote teamwork, but at the same time address the deficiencies with training etc...

job shadowing might work for you. are all these people on one shift? otherwise, we do a lot of sending people to another shift to work for awhile to "calibrate" each operator. They can benchmark the other crews and all crews come closer to the same standard.

You have a difficult proposition there. You want to promote teamwork, but you want to distinguish performance between individuals.

Here's what I'd suggest, if you have the ability to separate the data to individuals. You can have a global measurement (such as # of returns) that includes the results for all individuals. This can be posted, published, distributed to everyone. For each individual, you can determine what their contribution to the global measurement is. This should only be shared with the indivual that it applies to. This way each individual knows how they are contributing to the total, but not how they compare with each of the other individuals. If they need improvement, it should be easy for them to recognize it.

If you want to promote teamwork, you don't want to reward individuals for "being the best." Instead you want to reward the team for achieving its goals collectively. SteelMaiden has some good ideas for methods they can use to collectively improve.

Thanks for the replies. This is a management problem - hence, my problem - and I appreciate the insight steelmaiden and howste. I will post any successes or failures that I have maybe this will help someone else as well.

Ken

Thanks I will post any successes or failures that I have maybe this will help someone else as well.

Ken

Please do!