Use of interim standards
For most firms , the standard of zero defects is a long range goal . the ability to achieve this standard is strongly tied to supplier quality . for most companies , materials and services purchased from outside parties make up a significant part of a product is cost . for example , more than 65 percent of the product cost for tenant company was from materials and parts purchased from more than 500 different suppliers . to achieve the desired quality level , tennant had to launch a major campaign to involve its suppliers in similar quality improvement program . developing the relationships and securing the needed cooperation from suppliers takes time in fact , it takes years . similarly , getting people within the company itself to understand the need for quality improvement and to have confidence in the program can take several years
Because improving quality to the zero defects level can take years , yearly quality improvement standards should be developed so that managers can use performance reports to assess the progress made on an interim basis . these interim quality standards express quality goals for the year . progress should be reported to managers and employees in order to gain the confidence needed to achieve the ultimate standard of zero defects . even though reaching the zero defects level is a long range project , management should expect significant progress on a yearly basis . for example , tenant cut its quality costs from 17 percent of sales to 8 percent of sales over a period of six years an average reduction of more than 1 percent per year . furthermore once, once the 2.5 percent goal is reached , efforts must be expended continuously to maintain it . performance reports , at this stage , assume a strict control role