5 Key Strategies To Improve Product Quality Today

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Improve Product Quality|5 Key Strategies To Improve Product Quality TodayWithout a quality product, your brand will fall short of its true potential. Customers are quick to recommend a quality product when they find one, but they are also quick to leave bad reviews unless they are satisfied. To help to improve the quality of your products and services, focus on these five areas.

1 . Create a winning product strategy

The first step to boosting product quality is to create a winning product strategy. One of the key elements of a product strategy is determining the product market and the needs that the product will meet. You’ll need to establish the key differentiators and the selling proposition. Entrepreneurs need to consider the business goals of this new product.

A product strategy should also include the vision for your product. It’s useful to think about the vision as the purpose of your product, what do you want it to achieve? Product goals could relate to various areas, from revenue to customer ratings.

2. Use a QMS

With the help of a Quality Management System businesses can determine how to develop services and products. The standard QMS used by companies is the ISO 9001. It’s basically a set of guides which outline product creation and distribution. Using a QMS business can audit their procedures, backed by a certification body.

A QMS is based on 7 quality principles. These 7 principles include customer focus, leadership, engagement of people, process approach, improvement, evidence-based decision making, and relationship management, (Bestpractice, 2021).

3. Work with the best equipment

To ensure product quality you’ll need to make sure that you’re working with the best materials and equipment that you can find. To find the best equipment you’ll need to work with top suppliers, perform research, and check reviews where appropriate. You’ll need to communicate your needs to everyone you work with, to ensure quality standards are upheld.
Whether you need the best 8-inch jointer for your woodwork applications, or quality automotive parts, businesses across all industries must pay close attention to quality control.

4. Obtain feedback

Maintaining quality standards relies on collecting customer feedback. Once you’ve obtained customer feedback you’ll need to use these insights to your advantage. Some businesses like to involve their customers in the product development process. Taking consumer ideas on board can be a great way to secure the success of a new product.

5. Test your products

Your products may not be perfect right away, there could be a few adjustments you need to make or errors you need to correct. Testing your products is a fantastic way to gauge consumer reaction, make improvements, and check performance. Brands should test their products to ensure usability, and measure customer satisfaction. Think back to the vision of your product. Is your product currently meeting your vision? If so, what steps can you take to correct this?

Focusing on these five strategies will help you to boost product quality and meet your product goals. Evaluating your performance is a key step to ensuring quality. Look for areas to improve, and make the best use of your customer insights. Launching your business relies on paying close attention to the desires of your consumers.

How To Successfully Implement A Warehouse Maintenance Plan

/in /by

A maintenance plan is a well-thought-out and researched schedule for ensuring your warehouse’s safe and efficient operation. Good practices combined with preventative maintenance can save you time, money, and headaches down the line.

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Warehouse Maintenance Plan|How To Successfully Implement A Warehouse Maintenance Plan

What do you want to achieve?

To begin with, establish what type of business you are running and know which areas you want to concentrate on first. Are you just looking to make your workplace a little safer, or do you have a project that will require a significant investment? Your first step should be to determine what will give you the greatest return on your investment.

Determine areas of priority

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to look at each area and prioritize them. Which areas are most important for the safety and efficiency of your employees? Once you’ve determined that, it’s time to look at the critical areas for keeping things running smoothly. Finally, prioritize by cost. This last step will help you determine which projects are worth implementing first.

What resources do you need?

After you have all of these lists prioritized, please take a closer look at them and identify what you’re going to need to get the job done. It would help if you had a good idea of what you can do yourself and what you will need help with, whether from employees or contractors. Remember, if something isn’t on your list, but it’s an emergency, don’t hesitate to call in some reinforcements.

Once you have all of your resources listed and have identified who you’re going to need, start looking for the necessary equipment. Then, look into any training required or recommended for completing a particular area of maintenance – especially if it’s in a high-risk zone in the warehouse or critical equipment like the crown pallet jack. Remember, this is preventative maintenance, so you want to make sure all of your employees are prepared to do their part.

Implement your plan

Once it’s time for implementation, get everyone involved and work together. That means managers, supervisors, technicians, contractors – anyone who will work on the equipment or participate in ongoing training. Make sure you have a post-maintenance meeting to review what went well and what needs improvement.

Review the outcome

Now that the maintenance plan has been implemented, it’s time to look at some statistics. If this is your first maintenance plan or it’s been a while since your last one, use the metrics from your company as benchmarks for evaluating areas of improvement. This is important to know what areas need more attention and where you can cut costs in the future.

Continuous improvement

You may find that your maintenance plan wasn’t as successful as stated above or that it did not work, which means it’s time for a new one. These guidelines are just a basic outline of successfully implementing a maintenance plan and what steps you should take for the best outcome.

The most important thing is to make sure your employees are involved; everyone knows their roles and that the maintenance plan is working for your facility!

10 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Roof Type for Your Construction Projects

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article | 10 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Roof Type for Your Construction ProjectsYour roof will determine the durability and appearance of your business facility whether it’s an office or factory. Here are 10 factors worth considering when choosing a roof type for your construction projects.

Choosing a roof type comes with great responsibility. This also involves choosing the right contractor for your construction projects as they influence your decisions the most. Baker roofing company provides you with the 10 factors to put into consideration when choosing a roof type for your construction projects.

Your budget

Finances will always be your number one constraint. How much are you willing to spend on your roof? A good roof type will always be more expensive than the rest. You should be aware of the costs you will likely incur through the process of purchasing, installation, and maintenance. Costs may include that of raw materials, transportation costs, a roofing contractor, and maintenance costs.

Budget involves estimation of costs prevailing in the market. The use of construction estimating software eliminates the likelihood of underestimation or overestimation. Having a good budget with correct estimates shades more light on how much the project will cost you.

Business needs of the facility

When choosing a roof type for your construction projects you need to consider the business needs. Does it need a roof? Is it an office? In case it’s a factory, are there any pollutants emitted? Will they react or cause damage to the roof? These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself to make a good choice.

The geographical location of your building

Different regions have different trends of weather. The weather may differ year to year in terms of wind velocity, rainfall, and snowing and other regions may experience the extremes of these weather conditions. Different roof types are made to withstand the extremes. Your geographical location may restrict you to only certain types of roofs hence you should consider looking into this.

Cost of maintenance

Roofs also need maintenance to keep them functional. Some types of the roof will require high maintenance with the need of expertise which may be expensive. Some may also need to be replaced wholly, therefore, you should take into account this factor.

Reviews, references, and testimonials

A good roof type will be followed by positive reviews. Check the provider’s website or social media platforms to see the reviews and testimonials given by their customers. Ask for references from other owners of buildings who have already installed their roofs.

The length of service

Longevity varies from one type of roof to another. In addition, other factors may influence its normal lifecycle by either prolonging or shortening it. These factors may include exposure to the sun, level of maintenance, and installation. The key goal of any business is to maximize profits and minimize costs hence the need for long-term goals prioritization.

You need to ask yourself this: will there come a time when you’ll have to relocate? Do you have ideas of converting the building into something else shortly? Answering these questions will help you make an informed decision on the type of roof you need to purchase.

Level of expertise of the roofing contractor

Some negative reviews of the roof types may arise due to poor workmanship. You may end up not liking your roof type because it was wrongly installed by an unqualified professional. Expertise in this field has vast knowledge on the different types of roofs and has a better understanding of which one will suit your business. You should also consider looking into the number of years the roofing contractor has been in the market. Those with over 50 years of experience such as slate roofing should provide a high level of expertise.

Energy saving

Energy-saving roof systems are becoming popular because of their efficiency. They can recycle toxins that are hazardous to the environment hence leading to energy bills savings. They are quite expensive than others but in the long run, you save more on your energy bills.

Building codes

Some states have restrictions on the type of roofing for safety purposes. This is because some states are exposed to risks that are natural such as tornadoes and hurricanes.

The roofing application

Are you applying the roof to a new building, as an addition or as a replacement? Answering this will help you in choosing the correct roof type needed.

Conclusion

Making a good choice of roof type is very vital for the success of your business. Your decisions should be informed. Considering the 10 factors discussed above, you will be guided to arriving at the best decision.

Improving Quality Assurance During The Software Development Process

/in /by

Quality assurance (QA) is a crucial part of the software development process. Regular testing ensures that applications are not filled with bugs and they operate as they should. Unfortunately, a lot of companies have trouble with their QA process because they think that throwing money or more people at the problem guarantees results. However, that’s not the way that it works and if you want to improve QA, you need to adapt your strategy and change the way that you approach it. Here’s how you can improve quality assurance in the software development process.

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article | Improving Quality Assurance During The Software Development Process

Improve Project Management

One of the biggest ways to improve QA is through project management. If you want to make sure that QA is working, you need to make sure that it’s an integrated part of the development process and not something separate from everything else. So many companies make the mistake of thinking of QA as an afterthought and that’s when the process suffers. Everyone has to have clear roles and responsibilities in testing as well as communicating with each other about what’s going on. It’s important that you have a good project management team to help integrate QA and ensure that it is a priority throughout the development process.

Implement Automation Tools

Another way that you can improve QA is through automation. With automation, it’s going to be a lot easier for people to do their jobs and test applications because they have tools at their disposal that make testing much more efficient. Using automation tools (like this one at testRigor.com) allows you to automate a lot of the time-consuming aspects of QA instead of testing everything manually. You can create detailed reports so you know exactly where the issues are and they can be resolved quickly and easily. Many people make the mistake of expanding their QA team instead of improving efficiency with automation tools. The problem is, more people complicate the process and increase the chances of mistakes. Automation tools solve this problem and save you a lot of time and money, while also ensuring that your QA processes are working as they should.

Test Throughout The Development Process

Another way that you can improve QA is by testing throughout the entire development process. Instead of waiting until everything is more or less completed and then testing, you should be constantly testing as things are added to applications. This ensures that new components and features don’t throw off the balance of what’s already been created and that there aren’t any crucial components that are overlooked. The more you test, the easier it is to fix issues when they arise and improve production quality. It’s always more effective to deal with small issues as and when they come up instead of trying to iron out complex problems at the very end of the development process.

Quality assurance is so important during the software development process and if you don’t get it right, the user experience of your applications will suffer. By making these simple changes, you can drastically improve QA in your business.

Delivering Packages To Your Customers: What You Need To Know

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Package delivery|Delivering Packages To Your Customers: What You Need To KnowAs a small or established business, getting your products to your customer is one of the most important things to get right. It won’t be as simple as letting the mailman take it, you will need professional solutions to be as effective as you can.

Consider How You Package Your Products

You will have a range of options when it comes to packaging your products. You will first have to think about if your product is perishable or not. It will also be worth considering the shelf life of your product in general, as this could mean you need unique packaging solutions, rather than a conventional box. Some packages will need to be packed delicately, meaning you may need to bubble wrap.

Consider How You Gather Customer Information

For you to get your packages to the right place, you will need to ensure you are getting the right delivery information. You will have a few options to consider, from giving customers the option to confirm their addresses as they input them, to you sending emails to them post-purchase for confirmation.

In some cases, your business may not have the time or systems in place to deal with all this on your own. That’s why businesses have started using innovative technology solutions that give not only address verification upon input but also with email services. For example, you could use Lob’s service to help automate address verification on a mass scale, giving you more flexibility and visibility when it comes to your business.

These sorts of systems help to save time with transforming outdated manual input, as well as verifying the locations to help ensure that the package will be sent to the right person. This will help save costs when it comes to not losing packages and improving brand reputation when a package arrived on time.

You may also need to think about if you keep customer information on record. Most businesses will do this with emails, allowing them to send order confirmations, as well as send digital newsletters to them later on to give them exclusive discounts to help keep their custom.

Consider If You Will Deliver In-House Or With A Partner

Whilst it is possible to have your in-house delivery service, it will most likely be more cost-effective to partner with an established delivery service. Even partnering up with a local delivery service could see you save costs. You should consider speaking to a few different delivery services to get the best quotes as well as times.

It’s not only important to look at delivery prices, but the times in which they will leave you and arrive with the customer. If a customer sees that it will take two weeks to arrive, whereas a similar product with a competitor will take a few days, then it is likely that they will choose someone else for convenience. This is why a delivery services reputation is also important, as if they mismanage your products and delivery times, it will be you that hears about it and suffers.

Ensure The Cost Of Packaging Is Worth The Sale

The cost of wrapping a product and get it to the customer is also worth thinking about. It could affect how much you will charge someone. In most cases, businesses will just ask that customers pay the delivery fee that they have to pay, but they may have extra fees that need applying to meet a threshold.

Some businesses will use packaging automation solutions that are essentially a set of machines that will mass package your products for you. This could give you a variety of different options, from using bags, boxes, or packets. It will also be important to consider if your package is being sent directly to a customer, or if it is being sent to another business to be sold again.

Consider How You Will Deal With Potential Returns

Your packages will not always arrive in prime condition even if you’ve tried your best. A package may also be sent to a customer with the incorrect contents. Either the wrong amount of product or the wrong product in general.

This means that returns in general are probably inevitable at some point for your business. You should consider inserting a how-to return guide on your website, or as a piece of paper within the package itself. Some businesses will even include a return package envelope to allow customers to return goods without needing to pay for the shipping themselves.

Create A Packaging Strategy

No matter what you do, it will benefit you and your business to create a packaging strategy of some kind. That means weighing up the cost versus the revenue, as well as how it will get to point A to point B. You should speak to members of your organization to find if they have any ideas, to find cut-saving methods and time-saving techniques.