不良品への対応

先日、とある取引店さんから、出荷した包丁の柄挿げ不良についてのご報告を頂きました。
率にして２％ほど、同じシリーズの包丁で問題が継続的に発生しているとのことでした。

この方とは取引が始まって10年以上、今では一緒に旅行するほど仲良くさせて頂いており、また何度も弊社に来て頂くなかでスタッフとも顔馴染みになるくらいに、関係性の強い取引先さんです。

そういう関係性もあってか、『伝えようかどうしようか迷ったのだけれども…』という前置きをして頂いた上での今回のご報告でした。

弊社としてはすぐに改善すべき課題ですので、事実を伝えて頂いたことに対して感謝を伝えた上で、『可能ならば返送して頂きたい旨』、また『今後も何らかの問題があった時には、決して我慢されずにお伝え頂きたい旨』をお伝えしました。
（この記事をご覧の方でも、もし同じような問題に気付かれた方はぜひご報告下さい。大変申し訳ございません。）

社内では、すぐにスタッフ全員と情報共有しました。
誰が作業したものかが判別できない状況ではあったのですが、皆が高い問題意識をもち、「ひょっとして僕が作業したものかも」『いえ、私がしたものかも』と、個々に可能性を伝えてくれました。

それぞれのスタッフの作業手順を確認してみると、きちんと教わった通りに作業してくれていることがわかり、特に問題は見当たりませんでした。

総合的に判断すると、自己申告をしてくれた一部スタッフの入社前にあたる一年ほど前に作業したものである可能性が高く、包丁の種類によっては作業手順が徹底されていなかった環境で発生した可能性があるということが分かりました。

問題を出さないように作業すること、また問題が出た時にすぐに改善することはもちろん重要ですが、その時に当事者意識を持って解決策を探すことができるということ。

この数年で新しいスタッフが数人入り、彼らが生み出す売上の伸びこそまだ少し時間がかかりますが、目に見えないところで着実に成長している姿が垣間見れた、貴重な機会でした。

Defective product response

The other day, we received a report from one of our suppliers about a defective handle installation of a knife that was shipped to them.

At a rate of about 2%, we were told that problems were continually occurring with the same series of knives.

We have been doing business with this person for more than 10 years, and we have become such good friends that we now travel together, and our staff has become acquainted with him through his many visits to our company.

Perhaps because of this relationship, he prefaced his report by saying, “I wasn’t sure whether to tell you or not, but….”

I expressed my appreciation for the fact that he had informed us of the problem, and told he that I would like he to send them back to us if possible, and that if there were any problems in the future, I would like he to tell us without holding back.

(If anyone reading this article has noticed a similar problem, please report it to us. We are very sorry.)

Internally, I immediately shared the information with the entire staff.

Although it was impossible to determine who had done the work, everyone had a high awareness of the problem and individually communicated possibilities, saying, “Perhaps I did it,” or “No, it could have been me.

When we checked the work procedures of each staff member, we found that they were working as they had been properly taught, and we did not see any problems.

Overall, we found that the work was most likely done about a year ago, which was before some of the staff who self-reported to us had joined the company, and that some types of knives may have occurred in an environment where work procedures were not thoroughly followed.

It is of course important to work to prevent problems from arising and to immediately remedy them when they do arise, but it is also important to be able to be a party to the problem and look for solutions at that time.

Several new staff members have joined us over the past few years, and although the growth in sales they generate will still take some time, it was a valuable opportunity to catch a glimpse of their steady, unseen growth.