Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/276079
22 FEDA News & Views Foster Frable Using Quality Process Controls to Avoid Errors During Installations By Foster Frable Jr., Clevenger Frable LaVallee fosterf@cfldesign.com continued on page 28 T ight margins, coupled with customer demand, should be strong motivators to make every process in our business as predictable and efficient as possible. It lowers the risk of errors and helps diminish the possibility of expensive repairs and equipment replacements. While this may sound like simple, straightforward advice, too many mistakes occur that clearly could have been prevented with efficient pro- cesses in place. As consultants, we see daily examples of pro- cesses and procedures gone awry on both project delivery and installations. For example, let's consider a pro- cess improvement from another indus- try that is recognizable to many of us: bringing a car to a dealer for service. In the old days, we would drop off the keys at a central desk and return later to pick up the newly serviced vehicle. In today's environment, this activity is done quite differently. Most service center entrances have a staff member with a form and pad who carefully checks every inch of the car in order to record pre-existing dings, scratches, or any other body damage. The reason for this change: all too often customers blamed the dealer for dings and scratches on their cars at pick-up time and demanded free paint jobs as compensation. Dealers had an incentive to develop a process that documented any pre-existing vehicle damage to protect themselves against this kind of finger-pointing. This process adds a little time and paperwork for the dealer, but clearly provides dividends. Virtually every dealer now operates this way. This is the type of process control that we need in food- service equipment sales, delivery, installation, and start-up. Here's another example (this one comes from our industry) that demonstrates how expensive it can be to ignore recur- ring problems. Over 30 years ago, I raised issues with a major refrigeration manufacturer that installed individual blades for the grill louvers on their product. These louvers were easily scratched, bent or left off the unit after servicing. In open or display kitchens, these bent or missing louvers sections were eyesores that degraded the image of the premium product, and even the kitchen itself. Incomprehensibly, the manufac- turer's response was that this perception was mine alone. According to them, no one else had ever raised this problem as a concern. I knew this wasn't accurate and was determined to help fix the problem. Even though I liked the product overall, I was spend- ing too much of my time dealing with unhappy customers who didn't appre- ciate a bent or missing section on the louvers. In response, I asked these cli- ents to write letters to the manufac- turer indicating their concerns. I also started snapping photos of the bent louvers when I came across them and sent the photos to the manufacturer. This went on for almost a year, but I'm now happy to say this manufac- turer finally got the message and start- ed manufacturing the louvers with the blades all mounted in a frame. The mes- sage here is two-fold: 1) specific, docu- mentable feedback beats general run-of-the-mill complaining, and 2) the ability to be open-minded about improvement opportunities in one's own operation saves aggravation, time and, most importantly, avoids unhappy customers who start shopping elsewhere. A close equivalent to the car door dings and bent louvers is the damage sustained by equipment during installation, and the fit-out by various trades. As an example, I consistently see things like unprotected chefs' tables with bent tops because they were used as work platforms during the construc- tion phase of a project. Other common repeatable offences I consistently see things like unprotected chefs' tables with bent tops because they were used as work platforms during the construction phase of a project. Other common repeatable offences include unprotected hoods and walk-in coolers dinged and dented.