First, the composition and basis of product quality
Product quality is regarded as a ball composed of planning, design, raw materials and original devices, manufacturing, inspection, assembly, packaging, storage, transportation, installation and service, which floats on the water based on "scientific and technological knowledge" and "enthusiasm for employment" (sense of responsibility and honor). In other words, the quality of every process that constitutes the quality of products contains rich scientific and technological knowledge and the enthusiasm of employees (sense of responsibility and honor). Generally speaking, product quality is based on science and technology and employment enthusiasm, and there is a relationship between them, which is what we call "a rising tide lifts all boats". I think it makes sense, grasping the essence of product quality problems, and pointing out that the fundamental way to improve product quality lies in improving the level of science and technology and the enthusiasm of employees. If we abandon these two foundations and talk about various measures to improve product quality, it will be tantamount to giving up the basics, and it will be difficult to achieve remarkable results and not be fundamentally improved. Looking at the economic development of all countries in the world, we can also draw a conclusion that all countries that can produce high-quality products are countries with high scientific and technological level; It is not uncommon for countries with low scientific and technological level to produce world-renowned high-quality products. This fact also fully proves that improving the level of science and technology is the fundamental way to improve product quality. In addition, it is equally important to stimulate and maintain the enthusiasm of employees and mobilize their enthusiasm. It can even be said that enthusiasm is the premise of improving the level of science and technology and the basis of improving product quality. Workers will study science and technology with enthusiasm and sense of responsibility, give full play to their acquired scientific and technological knowledge and talents, and use them in all work to improve product quality. We should have a clear understanding of this. Whether it is the competent department of products or the production unit, when grasping all aspects of product quality, the first thing that comes to mind is the fundamental way to improve the level of science and technology and mobilize the enthusiasm of employees, and try their best to open up this way. Since 1967, the Soviet Union has implemented a comprehensive "national product quality verification system", in which there are two important measures, namely, trying to promote the improvement of product quality with the principle of "improving the level of science and technology and the enthusiasm of employees". These two measures are:
(1) While the national product quality is approved, the technical level of the factory and the quality of the production equipment are systematically reviewed, and the leaders of various industries, companies and enterprises are instructed to shoulder the responsibility of improving the technical level of the factory and innovating the production equipment.
(2) The national verification of products is divided into quality grade evaluation, combined with the reward and punishment system, and the policy of high quality and good price, profit commission, inferior price reduction, transformation or elimination within a time limit is implemented. These are all problems worthy of our study.
| Youao | 18
We should take improving China's scientific and technological level as the strategic policy of revitalizing the economy and the guiding ideology of economic construction. To quadruple China's total industrial and agricultural output value from 1980 to 2000, it is seriously insufficient in terms of capital, energy, materials and other conditions, if calculated according to the technical and economic indicators that have been reached now. We must raise the level of science and technology as soon as possible, and raise all technical and economic indicators to a new level in the process of construction in these twenty years to ensure that the output value of industry and agriculture quadruples. In other words, we must rely on science and technology to develop product varieties, improve product quality and economic benefits, and make up for the lack of funds and energy. We must strive to transfer to the advanced technology base, so as to make better use of the existing financial and material resources and create more social wealth. Just quadruple it. Our science and technology will soon have a brand-new situation, and the quality of our industrial products will also be improved to a new level.
Secondly, regarding the adoption of international standards.
In order to meet, promote and accelerate the arrival of this new situation, in our product quality work, we should not only do everything possible to improve the level of science and technology and mobilize the enthusiasm and enthusiasm of employees, but also take a series of strategic and tactical measures directly related to improving and ensuring product quality, which are complementary to strengthening the above foundation. I think one of the most urgent measures is to strengthen product standardization in China. It is common sense that product quality is closely related to standardization. There is no need to elaborate. I just want to express my personal views on the adoption of international standards. After the founding of New China, China's standardization was basically established. Over the past 30 years, especially after the downfall of the Gang of Four, we have made great progress and achievements. Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, China's standardization work has developed rapidly and healthily. According to data reports, there are 845 national standards for industrial and agricultural products in China from 1976 to 233 1980. It has almost tripled in four years, which is an amazing high-speed development. In addition, there are now more than 15000 ministerial standards formulated by various industrial departments in China, and these achievements are very remarkable. However, compared with developed countries in the world, there is still a big gap: first, there are few types and quantities of standards, and the national standards of advanced industrial countries are generally above 1 10,000; Second, the standard level is low. Most of China's national standards and ministerial standards are very old, only equivalent to the international level in the 1950s and 1960s. These two gaps in product standardization actually reflect the gap in product quality between China and advanced industrial countries. This situation does not meet the needs of the country's economic development, and it is indeed time to grasp it. At present, an important technical and economic policy in China is to seriously study and actively adopt the international common standards and advanced standards of foreign famous brand products. I think this policy is correct and should be vigorously implemented. Because the adoption of international standards, on the one hand, can shorten the process of formulating standards; On the other hand, it can improve the level of China standard and promote the improvement of product quality. These two aspects can just make up for the above two gaps, which is of great significance.
There are two popular issues and opinions about adopting international standards. First, I think the international standards formulated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) are incomplete, especially many product standards have not yet been formulated. What should I do? Second, the manufacturing technology in China is low, and many products can't reach the quality level required by international standards. Can we lower the standard or postpone the adoption of international standards? The first question is the fact. By 1980, there were only 4,269 international standards I * * formulated by ISO, most of which were general technical standards, and the product quality standards were few and far between, which was obviously insufficient. Personally, I think that the so-called "international standards" are not necessarily limited to the standards formulated by ISO and IEC, but should include more advanced standards or regulations formulated by other internationally recognized international societies. For example, the standard procedures for petroleum products and petroleum production and refining machinery and equipment formulated by API gravity (api gravity) are internationally authoritative and have been adopted or referenced by many countries. Some standards, specifications and guidelines formulated by CCITT (International Welding Society) are often recognized and cited internationally. We adopt the so-called "international standards", and if there are ISO and IEC, we will adopt them. If ISO and IEC are not available, we might as well compare the standards formulated by the above-mentioned national societies or advanced foreign standards, such as American ANSI, German DIN, Japanese JIS, French NF, and Soviet TOCT, and learn from each other's strong points, abandon each other's strong points, and make a reasonable reference combination to become our own standards. Of course, in this process, we should take a very cautious attitude and ensure that this combination conforms to scientific principles, with technical requirements and economic benefits as the highest standards.
On the second question, I think it is not advisable to suspend the implementation of the policy of adopting international standards or lower the standards to adapt to the current situation because some technical levels in China are still relatively low for the time being. Because "postponing adoption" will often become "not adopting indefinitely", which will only make the policy of adopting international standards "stillborn". Under the call of the new situation, we must have an urgent sense of urgency to improve product quality. As the adoption of international standards is a strategic policy to improve product quality, it can only be achieved within a time limit and cannot be postponed. The so-called "realization within a time limit" means that if the quality of a product temporarily fails to meet the requirements of international standards due to the low manufacturing level at present, enterprises and competent departments should be instructed to do everything possible to improve their technical level and improve the product quality to the level required by the corresponding international standards within the specified time limit. There is an old saying in our country: "We can get the best from above, but we can only get the worst from the middle." Only by adhering to the high-standard policy and vigorously promoting it can we improve the quality of our products. Of course, work and conditions must keep up.
At present, I think the most urgent problem is to organize competent manpower, collect the corresponding international standards of various products as soon as possible, translate them and make scientific analysis and comparison. It is necessary to master the requirements of foreign advanced standards and the differences and gaps between the actual quality of products and China's existing standards and product quality, as well as the differences and gaps between standards and product quality in the world and their respective advantages and disadvantages, and then make a decision: whether to adopt international standards or make partial revisions to China's current standards with reference to international standards. I think this is a very complicated and arduous task, and the workload is also quite huge. But it must be completed as soon as possible, so that the product quality can be improved and the guarantee work can be followed up.
Three, about "on-the-job training" and "quality education"
The elimination cycle of professional knowledge is shortening. In the past ten years, 30% of the technical means in the industrial sector have been outdated and eliminated. The figure in the electronics industry is as high as more than 50%. At present, various theories and theories are being impacted and shaken again and again, and it is urgent to establish new theories and theories to describe objective natural laws and phenomena more accurately and quantitatively. In the past ten years, there have been more scientific and technological inventions and discoveries than in the past two thousand years combined. The next decade will be twice as big as it is now.
We often hear the saying that "knowledge is aging". Some people say that the original knowledge will become obsolete by 20% or 50% every five years, and so on. This numerical expression of knowledge aging degree is not necessarily accurate, but it vividly shows that knowledge aging is indeed a serious problem in today's era of rapid technological change. If this problem is not solved as soon as possible, the level of science and technology in China will not be improved and the quality of products will not be improved. I think "on-the-job training" and popularizing quality education are effective ways to solve this problem.
Before the 20th century, education and training were "once in a lifetime" concepts. A college student graduated from college, and an apprentice learned a trade and went to work. From then on, he only gained knowledge by accumulating work experience.
The knowledge acquired by a school student from the age of 18 to the age of 20, as well as the knowledge gained through experience in later work, can basically meet the requirements of work before the 20th century. The knowledge gained only by school study and work experience can't keep up with the progress of science and technology and can't meet the needs of new jobs. People must keep learning to acquire new knowledge. So on-the-job training is very necessary. Governments, enterprises and social organizations in developed industrial countries attach great importance to on-the-job training of employees (from managers, technicians to workers), and training courses of various types, majors and durations (from a few days to several months) have mushroomed, which has played an important role in increasing employees' knowledge, skills and talents and developing their careers. In China, in recent years, all units have begun to pay attention to the on-the-job training of employees, but it is not very common, especially the lack of planning and temporality, which makes many problems in textbook compilation and teaching methods and affects the effect. This is a problem worthy of a good study.
In my opinion, we should pay attention to instilling new ideas and imparting new technical skills in on-the-job training and quality education for employees. There can even be two kinds of training courses. The so-called teaching of new technical skills refers to the teaching of some specialized technologies, such as nondestructive testing technology, welding processing technology or quality inspection and sampling technology, which is a form of training that we also attach great importance to. As for a training form of concept indoctrination, it seems that it has not attracted universal attention in China, but it is of great significance. Concept is an invisible force that guides people's actions. If there is no concept or vague concept, people will not have a correct understanding of something, let alone take correct actions against it. For example, in August of 1980, the US Federal Commerce Commission submitted a legal proposal on the Product Liability Law to the US House of Representatives. This legal proposal puts forward high requirements for product quality, requiring product manufacturers to bear great responsibility for quality accidents, and contains many new legal concepts. The American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), the American Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and the American Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have hired some experts to cooperate with the implementation of the Product Liability Law, and spent several years working out training plans and teaching materials for product designers, manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and distributors respectively, and instilling in them the legal concepts and technical concepts of the Product Liability Law. In the training plan of product designers, it is emphasized to change the dominant concept of future product design to meet the new requirements of this law. Future product design must include risk analysis and reliability analysis in addition to technical design. Hazard analysis should fully predict the misuse and misoperation of products and their possible consequences, and make a written explanation. Reliability analysis should determine the reliability and confidence of various quality indicators (especially safety and quality indicators) of products, and make a reliable estimate of safe service life. Hazard and reliability analysis should be based on fault analysis and experiments. In order to implement this law, the United States mobilized a lot of manpower and material resources, conducted large-scale training, and instilled the necessary basic concepts, so that the implementation of this law was established on a solid foundation. When the relevant personnel have a clear concept of this law, they can take corresponding actions in their respective work to meet the requirements of the law. Another example is France's "national consumption view", which is an institution to protect consumers' interests and supervise product quality. In order to carry out product quality education, the textbook of "consumer knowledge" for primary and secondary schools was compiled in cooperation with the French Ministry of Education, in order to make people establish the concept of attaching importance to product quality from the beginning of national basic education. Many audio-visual teaching materials have also been compiled to widely publicize product quality, safety, legal ethics and knowledge to consumers and factories and enterprises. These educational methods deserve our attention.
Four, on the establishment of product quality supervision and assurance system.
Industrial products can benefit mankind, and the purpose of producing products is to meet the needs of people's spiritual and material life and the needs of national economic development. However, poor quality products can't achieve this goal, and there are still many factors that endanger human beings. Such as mechanical damage, explosion, combustion, electric leakage and electric shock, noise, escape from poison, radiation, environmental pollution, etc., are often incalculable, not only limited to personal injury, property loss, waste of energy and natural resources, but also can seriously collapse the entire civil economy, and even leave endless future troubles for the space on which human beings depend. Therefore, the problem of product quality is by no means something that producers can do at will, but a big problem related to the vital interests of the public and the national economy and people's livelihood. Not only the producers of products bear great responsibility for this, but also the public and the state have the right to intervene and ask for supervision and verification of product quality to ensure that no harmful factors are produced. Therefore, we should establish a perfect product quality assurance system and supervision system, put product problems under the control of scientific management and legal system, prevent inferior products from entering the market and endangering society, and even limit the production of unqualified products to avoid wasting precious energy and natural resources.
In my opinion, "product quality assurance system" should include "internal quality management of enterprises" and "social supervision". Internal quality management and social supervision of enterprises have their own advantages and disadvantages, which complement each other and form a "round" and vibrant system.
On the one hand, the quality assurance function of "internal quality management" is to safeguard the interests of enterprises themselves, on the other hand, it is the performance of enterprises being responsible for the interests of the public and the state. The quality assurance function of "social supervision" is directly to safeguard the interests of the public and the state, and indirectly to protect the interests of enterprises. "Enterprise internal quality management" contains profound knowledge, which is exactly what China Quality Management Association and relevant experts and scholars should devote themselves to studying. I will focus on "social supervision", which is a part of the quality assurance system.
In western capitalist countries, the "social supervision" of product quality can be said to be composed of "consumer's free choice structure" and "third-party supervision and verification". Under the capitalist "free economic system", consumers' free choice and purchase play a huge natural role in restraining inferior products from entering the market, forcing product producers to spare no effort to improve product quality in order to win market competitiveness. However, consumers, especially ordinary consumers, do not all have the judgment ability to identify the quality of products, let alone the skills and facilities to detect defects and harmful factors from products, so they are still vulnerable to a lot of losses and injuries caused by inferior products that are intentionally or unintentionally put into the market. In order to protect the interests of consumers, the public and the country, governments and non-governmental organizations in some advanced industrial countries in the west have established various forms of supervision and verification institutions, and conducted statutory quality supervision and verification of various products from the standpoint of "third parties" (neither producers nor users), and formulated and promulgated relevant laws and regulations for this purpose, such as the Product Liability Law and the Product Quality Law. In this way, from the social point of view, a strict line of defense has been set up to prevent fake and inferior products from entering the market, which has exerted tremendous pressure on product producers from the outside, forcing producers to realize that they have assumed great responsibilities for the interests of consumers, the public and the country while making profits, and have to do their own quality management to improve and ensure product quality. At present, all countries in the world verify and supervise the quality of industrial products as a legal third party, and the relatively extensive systems include "technical supervision system" and "product certification system". Similar "national product quality verification system" has also been implemented in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They all have strict systems, legal execution procedures and relatively modern testing centers and stations distributed all over the country. The institutional framework and work content of these systems are limited by space, so it is impossible to introduce them in detail here. The reason why I mentioned the product quality supervision and verification system implemented by these western industrial countries is mainly the effective experience accumulated by these advanced industrial countries in their long history of economic and industrial construction, and there may be some places worth learning.
Product quality is a "multi-factor" complex problem. It seems that it can't be solved by "single-handedly", and it is necessary to attack from many aspects to achieve greater results. China is a socialist country. Although there are many differences in economic structure between China and capitalist countries, it seems that the great power of "social supervision" cannot be ignored in product quality assurance. However, the social supervision of product quality in China is very weak at present. China implements the policy of "planned economy as the mainstay, supplemented by market economy", and consumers have little room to choose and buy products freely, so its natural supervision on product quality is bound to be very small, so "third-party verification and supervision" is even more important and should be more rigorous and perfect than capitalist countries, but China's "third-party verification and supervision" facilities on product quality seem to be zero, which is really a major defect in China's industrial construction. It seems that this is necessary, and it is necessary to establish a strong institution. There are many reasons for the low quality of our products, which cannot be attributed to the lack of third-party verification and supervision. However, inferior products can flow into the market, leading to frequent quality accidents, which is directly related to the lack of third-party verification and supervision.
As for what kind of third-party inspection and supervision system should be established in China, just like what kind of "internal quality management" should be implemented in China, it is a big problem worthy of serious study. Both of them should conform to the scientific law of product quality development and adapt to China's socialist economic system. I haven't thought about it deeply myself, and I can't think of any good way. Today, I raise this issue here, hoping that all quality management experts and scholars can discuss this issue while studying enterprise quality management. I would also like to invite experts and scholars to make a survey on the "national product quality verification system" of the Soviet Union, which may be worth learning from.