When speaking to one of our wholesaler clients last week, I was reminded of the real cost of conforming to the regulations that govern the pharmaceutical warehousing (and manufacturing) industries in this country. Making time to spend on quality-related tasks can seem to be taking this limited resource away from daily more-profitable operational activities but these essential regulatory tasks DO increase the value of your products.
The price you’re prepared to pay to ensure quality products or services, depends on your definition of quality. One definition of quality in business and manufacturing could simply be interpreted as the ‘non-inferiority’ or ‘superiority’ of a product or service. Peter Drucker in ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship’ said “Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for.” Do we strive to meet the ‘must-be quality’ conformance standards prescribed or is the ‘attractive quality’ evident to your customers?
An advantage of operating one’s business in Britain is the perceived quality of ‘buying British’. In a recent ‘Make it in Britain’ survey, 84% of manufacturers expressed that the UK’s reputation for quality products as the main advantage to being in Britain. Another major benefit of operating in Britain includes access to quality suppliers.
Yes, there is a cost to providing a quality product, but as we consider that perceived quality lies with the personal perception by the customer; let us focus on conveying ‘quality’ throughout our business transactions to exceed the customers’ expectations and add thereby increase the value of our products.