Inchcape Testing Services—Product and Service

London-based Inchcape Testing Services understands quality. A core subsidiary of £8.9 billion services and marketing group Inchcape pic, Inchcape Testing Services operates through 355 offices and 156 laboratories in 70 countries. It provides independent testing, inspection and certification to the manufacturing, and oil and petroleum industry, including many of the world's leading corporations and governments. "We're in the business of improving the quality of other people's products," explains Director of Human Resources, Keith Hodgson. "So it's important that we apply quality to ourselves as well." 

Quality initiatives are nothing new to the £200 million company. Hodgson explains, "We've put a fair amount of effort, in the past, into product and service improvement.  What we want to tackle now is quality on a higher level; improving the energy, impact, and effectiveness of the complete customer-employee interface."

Inchcape Testing Services has begun an 18-month quality change process designed to help the company create closer partnerships with their customers. The process will be based on what Inchcape considers to be the crucial first step—establishing a baseline of knowledge about what customers want and how employees are willing and able to respond.  Surveys are based on the Organizational Alignment Survey, which will also be used to develop the appropriate quality improvement processes.

"We sent out a survey with our test reports that asked a sampling of our 30,000 customers how they felt about the quality of product, service, and other intangible offerings that Inchcape Testing Services provides," says Hodgson. "Then we asked our 6,000 employees how they felt about the company's mission and goals, and how they were currently incorporating quality into their efforts to meet those goals." 

Hodgson expects the survey data to reveal numerous opportunities for improvement. Yet before changes are implemented, Inchcape will allow a several-month period for employees to develop a personal understanding of how they can support the higher quality standard. Hodgson believes, "What we want to do is heighten our employees' level of quality awareness. We want to inculcate a mindset where every employee comes to work everyday thinking about how they can do their job better, both for internal and external customers.

Hodgson expects to implement the Organizational Alignment Survey on an ongoing basis to make sure the company's customer partnerships remain strong.  "Once you've established a baseline of knowledge, it's necessary to keep monitoring the quality situation," he says.  "You need to understand whether what you're doing is generating improvements.  When our entire organization is aligned in support of our company vision, we will understand our customers' objectives better and be able to provide unparalleled value in the role of a superior supplier partner.  That's our goal."