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Quality is a continuous process

Written by Katja Laakkonen | Jun 7, 2023 7:43:28 AM

Quality is the prime principle in our operations. We pay attention to the quality of products, services, and processes from different perspectives, such as through various standards and customer requirements. Our operations are guided by the certified quality systems ISO 9001 and ISO 13485.

We conducted a survey among our staff about what quality is and what quality means in our work. It was a pleasure to note how broadly quality is perceived in our operations. Based on the responses, quality is associated not only with the quality of products and services, but also with occupational safety, the environment, risk management, and issues related to overall responsibility.

What quality means at Mectalent?

Below are some definitions that are part of our company's quality system requirements and quality objectives.

Compliance

Compliance accompanies the entire design and manufacturing process. The product or service must meet all the requirements set for it: applicable standards, legislative requirements, customer requirements, internal quality requirements, and expectations of different stakeholders.

Compliance is monitored at different stages of the processes, for example through inspections, measuring, testing, and visual checks.

Faultlessness

Our goal is the zero defects principle through preventing deviations and continuous improvement. Doing things right the first time is more efficient and of higher quality. Errors cause inconvenience to our customers and reduce the efficiency of our operations.

Although we strive for faultlessness, there are factors in the process that we cannot prepare for or anticipate sufficiently. In terms of operational deviations, we strive to investigate the root cause of the deviation as precisely as possible. Once the cause has been identified, we implement corrective and preventive measures to prevent the same error from recurring. It is important that we learn and can develop through any errors made.

Traceability

The raw materials, as well as all stages of production and delivery process, can be traced in our operational control system. Our documentation process is defined and monitored.

Expertise

The absolute prerequisite for expert services is high-level expertise and skill. Mectalent employs about 120 true professionals in their field. The staff includes newly graduated junior experts as well as seniors who have been working in their field for several decades. Each employee's knowledge and skills contribute to the collective knowledge capital of the entire company.

Continuous improvement

Through continuous improvement, we can improve our performance and remain competitive as the world changes around us. Continuous improvement manifests in our operations as the identification and analysis of errors and causes of variation, the implementation of improvements, and learning from errors. It is also risk management, problem-solving, and innovations.

Continuous improvement is the active, systematic, and proactive development of quality and efficiency as part of everyday operations - the culture of continuous improvement. In support of continuous improvement, we use various tools, such as statistical quality development methods like Lean Six Sigma, along with other problem-solving techniques.

Safety

The concept of safety is also associated with quality and responsibility. We talk about the safety of business operations, occupational safety, and information security. We train our staff to identify and minimize risks related to safety.

Efficiency

Work efficiency is also a part of operational quality. We utilize the Lean philosophy and its methods in the daily work and development of our manufacturing services. 

We strive to visualize and standardize operations and above all, avoid waste and increase value-adding work in our operations. We have received positive feedback from our customers for the implementation of the 6S method in our factory. 6S enhances the cleanliness, safety, and comfort of our facilities.

We use automation to increase efficiency in our manufacturing processes. We have collaborative robots at our disposal, which are used especially in repetitive tasks. We recently acquired an automated storage system, which allows us to streamline the handling of small materials.

Customer Satisfaction

At the top of our quality goals is customer satisfaction. We work to meet the needs, requirements, and expectations of our customers. We monitor customer satisfaction through regular survey. The results of the latest customer satisfaction survey show that the three most significant reasons our customers chose us were the quality of our services, our expertise, and our ability to collaborate.

Our product development services received positive feedback for understanding concepts, bringing new ideas, and implementing projects. According to the respondents, our manufacturing services were successful in manufacturing challenging components with precision and in delivery reliability.  

We will take the survey results into account as we develop our operations. Quality is a joint effort of our entire staff and an essential factor in our success. Customer satisfaction is one of the key indicators of the quality of our operations. We are pleased that our customers gave our product development services an overall rating of 4.3 and our production services a rating of 4.2, with the highest rating being 5.

Quality is a multifaceted concept

So, quality is a multifaceted concept that is deeply rooted in our company's DNA. For us, it is both the source of motivation and the guarantee of competitiveness. We strive constantly to be better, to learn more, and to achieve better results, because we understand that quality is not a destination, but a continuous process.

Read about Mectalent's quality policy >>