Ask Capacity: How Do You Define Quality?
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The monthly series Ask Capacity focuses on questions from customers, service providers, and some good friends. We'll take submissions via Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin, so feel free to ask our experts if you have a burning desire to learn about a particular fulfillment topic, supply chain trend, or even if you just want to know where to eat in the tri-state area! Today we answer a question that every company should consider regularly as it grows: how do you define quality? Capacity defines quality in terms of the results we are able to achieve when people collaborate and technology is intelligently implemented. We are the last people to touch our clients' products before their customers see it, which puts a lot of responsibility on our employees to make that all-important delivery look and feel great. We focus on the outcome for our clients above all else, so a customer-centric approach plays a key role in what quality means to our team. While our work is transparent to our clients' customers, we see our role as extremely critical to our clients’ success. We know from our own experience how challenging and expensive it is to acquire customers. It is our goal to give our clients and their customer the best possible experience with our services, from efficient storage and clear tracking tools, to reliable delivery and attractive packaging. This requires a metric-driven approach - we manage quality performance with training and re-training, monitored execution and extensive use of a data-driven approach firmly rooted in our engineering and consulting background. We compare our performance to that of competitors on a regular basis for benchmarking quality levels. More frivolously - but all in the name of testing quality of course - we also enjoy activities like packing delicate items (of our own) and dropping them off of our 35' roof to optimize our packing techniques, along with more conventional testing methods. Capacity provides per client performance statistics and also review our employees, from pickers to packers to shippers and all management and administrative staff. From there we are proud to offer substantial financial incentives for outstanding performers, as well as recognition of achievements within the company. We solicit feedback from clients both anecdotally and through web-based client satisfaction surveys. We modify our online client tools through similar web-based surveys to add functionality as clients require it. We encourage our clients to challenge us - it is a major part of what keeps our passion for our work alive and growing. That passion for our sector and the business of those we serve is another crucial way we find we can drive quality. As CSO Thom Campbell explained in an interview last year, passion in supply chain management is more than just a character trait, it can actually become a competitive advantage when combined with an experienced team and the right technology. Quality, to Capacity, is defined by our customers and originates in our people, our culture, and our technology. With that, Capacity seeks to provide a quality fulfillment service to our clients and their customers.