A right first-time approach

By Distinction Doors.

Look around the composite door market and the homeowner could be forgiven for thinking a door is a door is a door. With a limited number of slab sources and many of them doing their level best to look just like each other, the word ‘differentiation’ sometimes seems to be out of reach to any installer trying to rise above from the local competition.

But there’s one time when there really is a big difference and that’s when something goes wrong. And that is where Distinction Doors is making a difference of its own with a committed and structured approach to quality assurance aimed at driving down the risk of faults and returns to an absolute minimum.

And that is something Stan Goodhall and Jon Nield take very seriously. The two are at the point where quality assurance and production join forces to work in harmony, ensuring low non-conformance and return rates which, according to all feedback, trade customers really appreciate.

“The approach Jon and I take is first and foremost about asking ‘why’,” quality assurance assistant Stan said. “That means using the ‘5-Why’ approach to getting to the root cause of any issues to solve the problem and to learn about how to avoid it arising again. That way, we can solve both the short-term and long-term issues by being ready for when the same problem arises next time.”

He said that, with the two having a presence together as quality and production on the shop floor, it helps them to have a beneficial influence on the machine operatives.

“While promoting team work and a right first-time approach, it shows the machine operatives that we are here to help and not to criticise, which is normally how the quality department is perceived,” he said.

Shift leader Jon, with 33 years’ experience in the window and door industry said quality control doesn’t end at the factory door.

“It’s just as important to have a good relationship with customers and constantly liaise with them so that on the rare occasion that they say something is wrong, we can get onto it and put it right without delay,” he said.

General manager Andrew Copeland said the pair epitomise so much about the way teamwork makes such a difference throughout Distinction Doors.

“It’s people who make a product and our people prove that,” he said. “With Stan and Jon, every machine operative plays a part in quality Ccntrol.

“Every manufacturer knows how costly returns can be. They are wasteful in time and reputation as well as money for both us and our customers. Once you empower your production people with the knowledge and motivation to be a part of the quality process, you begin to find the number of faults and returns starts to fall. With people like Stan and Jon for guidance, they begin to feel a greater sense of inclusion, which in turn enables them to take more pride in everything they do.

“Every member of the Distinction Doors team is passionate about composite doors. That is what makes the Distinction Difference and from everything our customers tell us, it really does make a difference.”