If you’re a budding entrepreneur interested in producing a quality product, then this guide is for you. While many suppliers and outsourcing providers will assure quality, that’s not always what you receive. The problem with this is that it can reduce the appeal of your product. If you aren’t producing high-quality products, customers won’t trust you, and won’t get the repeat business you need to thrive long-term.
So, what are our essential product quality tips for budding entrepreneurs?
Define what you mean by “quality”
Defining what you mean by quality is essential in the manufacturing business. You need everybody on your team to understand the star that you’re shooting for. Creating a memorable standard is tricky in some situations but also possible. For example, you might insist on a defect rate of less than 1% if you’re in a commoditised industry. You might also insist on things like custom finishing if you’re in the luxury goods market.
Understand what your customers need
The next step is to develop a proper understanding of what your customers need. Conducting the right market research is an invaluable asset because then you can identify their pain points and expectations.
Most companies in the manufacturing sector start by building their MVP, then they throw it out to the market to see how it’s received. Even if feedback is negative, it can sometimes be a positive experience overall because it provides crucial insights into what needs to be done next to improve the quality of the product or service.
Implement proper testing and control
The next step is to implement robust testing and quality control. You want to make sure that you’re testing everything from usability to performance and security throughout the entire testing process. If you’re making physical products, then order samples of parts or completed products from the manufacturers during the development phase. Then use them yourself to see if they provide you with the minimum value that customers require.
Don’t expect everything to be perfect the first time, but just ensure that you’re dealing with issues early on because when they’re new, they’re cheaper to fix. If you get to the production stage and there are still defects, then these can be much harder to resolve.
Design for scalability
Designing your products for scalability is something that many new entrepreneurs forget to do. They think in terms of small batches instead of how products will be manufactured when scaled up to thousands of units. For this reason, it’s critical to think about materials costs and assembly. It’s also worthwhile considering the supply chain. The more you plan for production readiness, the better off you will be overall.
Foster a quality-first culture
Finally, you’ll want to invest in a quality first culture. This involves:
Training your team on the principles that they need to empower them and flag issues is critical.
Making sure that you’re actively rewarding improvements as they happen and encouraging continuous learning.
Getting everyone on the team into the habit of constantly working on problems and fixing them instead of leaving them until later.
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