The Quality Killers: Complacency

Standing outside the door, they slowly put on their safety glasses, take a slow deep breath, and
walk into the production area of the large and bustling automotive manufacturer. The noise
generated by the production activity is loud and to the auditor’s trained ear, has a unique but
familiar rhythm.

As they look around, they notice a production worker moving through the area, stepping over
some scrap lying on the floor and over to a workstation covered with papers and folders. The
visiting auditor moves in the direction of this work area knowing what to expect. The symptoms
are everywhere. Loose papers on the workstation, first piece logs which are not completed and
the operator paying scant attention to the job at hand. Lastly, there is the unlabeled container
overflowing with parts, The auditor wonders if they are good or bad and does the operator know.
(It appears obvious the operator does not care!) The point is the operator has been doing this for
so long it has become routine and does not appear to care.

Complacency has taken over and it is manifesting itself in a production process capable of
severely affecting the company’s reputation, the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) numbers and
potentially the profitability of the company itself.

Author Stephen R. Lorenz said “Comfort leads to complacency, and complacency kills. For this
reason, I believe that we all should be a little uncomfortable in our jobs.”

If you venture out onto the internet and visit the Dictionary.com website, you will find the
following definition for complacency.

com·pla·cen·cy kəm-ˈplā-sᵊn(t)-sē : self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by

unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.

It is my humble opinion, a major roadblock to Quality in the automotive industry (or any
industry) is complacency. Taking for granted everything is under control and what we are doing
is going to be hunky-dory until it is not and then tossing a revised process or a corrective action

The Quality Killers: Complacency 3/26/23

at it is all we need to do to make everything okie-dokie, good as gold, right as rain. (Sorry, I do
not know what came over me, the trite sayings just popped out.)

Now this is not to say there are not times when things can get out of hand and the system gets
overwhelmed. It does happen, especially during those times when production gets backed up due
to supply shortages, a lack of qualified workers or utility interruption. If you think about it,
situations such as those seem to bring out the best, or the worst in any business. “Complacency
disappears when a crisis appears!”

Understand, I am speaking as someone who has spent their professional career in two different
worlds: Broadcasting Sales and Management and 15 years in the ever-challenging world of
Automotive Quality. So, my point of view may be slightly different than those who have
dedicated their lives to mastering other professions. And, depending upon the industry,
complacency can have a different effect. Image the difference between an office environment
and in the cockpit of a 747 Jumbo Jet flying high above earth at over 500 miles an hour.

In the world of automotive manufacturing, complacency is not a rarity. I have experienced the
effects when you think “I’ve got it covered” and a customer calls and says they have found a
large number of non-conforming components and need them replaced immediately only to
discover the machine was off-line for maintenance because “we don’t need to worry about it,
they (the customer) has plenty of parts and the next shipment isn’t for two weeks.”

(Key Brittany Spears singing “Oops! I did it again!”)

Now, Brittany profited from this, but when an automotive manufacturer sings that song, it
becomes costly, quickly and in more ways than need to be listed here.

Let me highlight a few of the obvious “costs” and start with the customers receiving inspection.

Shoddy production has a great chance of failing the initial receiving inspection. When that
occurs, the customer can quarantine the incoming product and demand replacement. Since they
practice JIT, they need the product now or it will interrupt their production flow. Next day
shipping (if they are nice) or same day replacement (if they are needy – of product!). The result

The Quality Killers: Complacency 3/26/23

is your production schedule is about to be placed under severe strain, even if you have a back-up
stock of their production requirements. Other aspects of this are how large is the order? How
complex is the product and what difficulties are liable to be encountered during the sort?

Now once you have the replacement requirements they need to be shipped, either Same Day
Expedited or (again if they are nice) the next day, early morning. Either way, this is on your
dime (do I need to remind you, LOTS of dimes)!

Now when the replacement product is shipped and delivered, you still have the problem of the
initial shipment. What is going to happen to that? Does the customer want the initial shipment
sorted? If so, where will it be sorted and by whom? At the customer facility by a sorting
company? By the customers’ inspection staff or do they want your staff to come on-site and do
the inspection?

I could go on and list any number of “expenses” connected to this scenario, but I suspect you get
the idea. None of them are cheap and they add up quickly. All because complacency was allowed
to set in!

So, the question is how do you combat complacency?

Let us go back to the airline pilots. At this point, I want to mention my airline miles are
substantial, so I am not a stranger to flying. While technically I have had the joy of handling the
controls of an airplane, I have never piloted one.

Trust me, when I tell you, there is a significant difference.

Anyway, the airline pilot knows one thing for fact. It is easier to fix a plane on the ground than in
the air, thus the pre-flight inspection. A good pilot takes their time and inspects all the major
components. The AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) has on their website
information on how to “pre-flight” an airplane. This will give you an idea of what other pilots
recommend. The website is https://aopa.org/.../how-to-pre-flight-an-airplane. While I cannot
prove it, I suspect this is just one-way pilots remind themselves of the importance of staying
focused on the job at hand and not getting complacent.

The Quality Killers: Complacency 3/26/23

In the manufacturing sector, the anti-complacency tool is the internal audit.

Done properly, the internal audit will find out where in your process(es) manufacturing
personnel have become complacent. It is easy to perform an internal audit that results in an audit
form being filed with little or no useful information. It is the old “no issues found” scenario. This
type of audit serves as evidence the company has completed a requirement passed down by a
governing body such as ISO or IATF. A certification auditor may or may not accept this type of
internal audit.

There are numerous means of stopping complacency from gaining a foothold, but it must start at
the top. Upper management can talk Zero Defects and other quality platitudes, but until they
understand their employees look to them for guidance and inspiration, or simply put “leading by
example,” complacency will continue to creep into their operation and maintain its title as “The
Quality Killer”!

A final suggestion. If you have not taken the initiative and availed yourself of the knowledge and
wisdom passed down by the Quality Kings (E. Walter Deming, Joseph M. Juran and Walter A.
Shewhart), do it now and do it often. You will help kill complacency and the disastrous effects it
can have on your quality and your company.

The Quality Killers: Complacency 3/26/23