The quality issues and protecting the country's interest
Thursday, 4 October 2007
Ahmed Showkat Masud
OUR national economy is undergoing rapid changes. Explosive growth of global trade in international market place and international competition are the causes of such rapid changes in our economy. If any country can not compete in the global market, then it will remain isolated. The country's economy as well as its people will suffer.
Globalisation has created some problems for countries like ours. Developed countries are prone to interfering with various issues like human rights, labour rights etc. To face these problems, any poor or developing country should give emphasis on economic diplomacy.
Besides economic diplomacy, poor or developing countries must have to address quality issues for survival. The success of many world-famous companies can largely be attributed to good quality of their products. No company can survive for a longer period with average quality performance. If any sector -- for example the readymade garment (RMG) sector of our country -- wants to stay in the global competition, it will have to address quality issues on a priority basis. This will have to be done primarily by the entrepreneurs in the RMG sector. Entrepreneurs also have to continue their promotional activities for marketing their products in the global market place. For promotional activities, the government has to play a more pro-active role through our country's embassies abroad.
It is relevant here to highlight the need for adopting total quality management (TQM) as a marketing tool for promoting our export sector.
Products' quality, customer satisfaction, companies' growth and development, profits etc., are all inter-related. Better quality assures higher level of customer satisfaction. Quality improvement programme also assures a higher share of market that can help achieving lower cost by minimising the average cost. Quality programme has to be organisation-wide and, for this, it has to be a continuous one. Quality function has to be deployed in the whole production process. All departments of any manufacturing unit have to work together as per market feedback. What the buyers want has to be addressed in the factories' production, marketing, shipment processes etc., by deploying the resources for the purpose thereof If any company has to satisfy its customers, then it will have to be a quality company.
To fulfil customers' requirements, the companies need to orient their operations in order to comply with customers orders -- be it through export letters of credits (LCs) or sale contracts. If a company cannot transform the voices of customers into its organisational processes, it will become sick. The customers preferences will have to be addressed first. This can be achieved through quality improvement.
With the improvement of quality of products, timely shipment has to be ensured through close contact with buyers in order to get their feed-back. Motivation of workers, employees, increased productivity through training etc., can create a congenial environment in the factories. Suppliers of raw materials of a manufacturing unit are also important factors in this connection. Such suppliers have to be creditworthy. Here, credit reports about suppliers can be collected before going into contract. Lead time, date of shipment, expiry of LCs/contracts etc., are most important.
To address these problems, productivity, and infrastructural facility -- both of factories and country -- have to be improved. Workers and employees have to be committed to their work for guaranteeing timely shipment of products. Doing things at the right time can be the best solution. It can reduce wastage and help maintain inventory at the desired level.
The commitment of workers and employees should, thus, receive the top priority. Entrepreneurs have to be more proactive to motivate their workers and employees. The government has to address the issue of labour and employees' unrest, efficiently, effectively and also in a timely way because we are still at the developing stage of our economy.
(The writer works with ONE Bank Ltd., Khatungonj Branch, Chittagong)
OUR national economy is undergoing rapid changes. Explosive growth of global trade in international market place and international competition are the causes of such rapid changes in our economy. If any country can not compete in the global market, then it will remain isolated. The country's economy as well as its people will suffer.
Globalisation has created some problems for countries like ours. Developed countries are prone to interfering with various issues like human rights, labour rights etc. To face these problems, any poor or developing country should give emphasis on economic diplomacy.
Besides economic diplomacy, poor or developing countries must have to address quality issues for survival. The success of many world-famous companies can largely be attributed to good quality of their products. No company can survive for a longer period with average quality performance. If any sector -- for example the readymade garment (RMG) sector of our country -- wants to stay in the global competition, it will have to address quality issues on a priority basis. This will have to be done primarily by the entrepreneurs in the RMG sector. Entrepreneurs also have to continue their promotional activities for marketing their products in the global market place. For promotional activities, the government has to play a more pro-active role through our country's embassies abroad.
It is relevant here to highlight the need for adopting total quality management (TQM) as a marketing tool for promoting our export sector.
Products' quality, customer satisfaction, companies' growth and development, profits etc., are all inter-related. Better quality assures higher level of customer satisfaction. Quality improvement programme also assures a higher share of market that can help achieving lower cost by minimising the average cost. Quality programme has to be organisation-wide and, for this, it has to be a continuous one. Quality function has to be deployed in the whole production process. All departments of any manufacturing unit have to work together as per market feedback. What the buyers want has to be addressed in the factories' production, marketing, shipment processes etc., by deploying the resources for the purpose thereof If any company has to satisfy its customers, then it will have to be a quality company.
To fulfil customers' requirements, the companies need to orient their operations in order to comply with customers orders -- be it through export letters of credits (LCs) or sale contracts. If a company cannot transform the voices of customers into its organisational processes, it will become sick. The customers preferences will have to be addressed first. This can be achieved through quality improvement.
With the improvement of quality of products, timely shipment has to be ensured through close contact with buyers in order to get their feed-back. Motivation of workers, employees, increased productivity through training etc., can create a congenial environment in the factories. Suppliers of raw materials of a manufacturing unit are also important factors in this connection. Such suppliers have to be creditworthy. Here, credit reports about suppliers can be collected before going into contract. Lead time, date of shipment, expiry of LCs/contracts etc., are most important.
To address these problems, productivity, and infrastructural facility -- both of factories and country -- have to be improved. Workers and employees have to be committed to their work for guaranteeing timely shipment of products. Doing things at the right time can be the best solution. It can reduce wastage and help maintain inventory at the desired level.
The commitment of workers and employees should, thus, receive the top priority. Entrepreneurs have to be more proactive to motivate their workers and employees. The government has to address the issue of labour and employees' unrest, efficiently, effectively and also in a timely way because we are still at the developing stage of our economy.
(The writer works with ONE Bank Ltd., Khatungonj Branch, Chittagong)