Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 6, 1993 TAG: 9301060044
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NEW COUNCIL'S MAIN GAME: QUALITY
More than 50 company representatives gathered Tuesday to form the Western Virginia Quality Council, an organization designed to improve quality and customer service."We're attempting to do something that may impact the community more than politicians' rhetoric," said the group's chairman, Vaughn Porter, who also coordinates the continuous improvement program at the Roanoke Times & World-News.
The new council is sponsored by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.
To promote quality, the council will offer an exchange of ideas; be a focal point for activities bearing on improved quality and service; and act as a communication link on quality matters among business, government, schools and community groups, according to its mission statement.
A prime example of demand for quality by local companies is Ford Motor Co.'s "leaning on" Vitramon Inc. of Roanoke to limit its defects to 0.88 per million capacitors that it produces, said Vitramon's Bill Drennan. The company makes tiny components for autos and computers.
Fortunately, he said, Vitramon's defect rate last year was 0.73 per million. But Ford's objective for 1993 is 0.4 per million, and half again that rate the following year.
Drennan, main speaker for the council's opening meeting, defined quality in the business world as "meeting and hopefully exceeding customer expectations."
Vitramon, recent winner of Ford's top quality award, was required to have no problems with the quality of its products for six months and to score at least 80 percent on an assessment by the automaker.
Total quality management, a buzzword in industry today, "changes the way you think and what you do," Drennan said.
To achieve an award like Ford's, a company must have commitment from its top management, know what the customer expects and be able to measure improvement, he said. "If you can't measure it, it's not quality."
Ford buys 35 percent of the Roanoke plant's production and is "very demanding. They like their money's worth," Drennan said.
Vitramon, starting on a $21 million expansion that will double its plant and work force, makes 1.2 billion of the capacitors in a year. That will grow to 2.5 billion to 3 billion when the expansion is completed, according to Drennan.
The council plans to hold monthly meetings to exchange ideas on quality, and committees will work toward education of small businesses and the public about quality programs.
The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a series of total quality management seminars with Virginia Western Community College from Feb. 4 through June 3.