• Inside Varroc
• Culture
• Interviewed

“In the Automotive Industry, one wrong turn can lead to a dead-end. Thus, maintaining a ‘Zero Defect’ in Quality is a priority we strive to excel in. On the occasion of ‘World Quality Day’ we spoke to Anoop Sharma, Head Operation Excellence , at Varroc, who shared with us his insights on mastering the mantra for ‘Zero Defect’ in all walks of life.

Interviewer: What is the importance of Quality to Varroc?

Anoop Sharma: At Varroc, our focus point is to bring the new technology product to market, so the ‘Quality’ of our technology products is important to us. In manufacturing, one small defect has the possibility to lead to a complete failure. For example, One defect in any of the engine valves has the possibility to cause a complete Engine Failure. Thus, we believe that our ‘Zero Defect’ Policy is very important as it helps us maintain perfect Quality. Furthermore, we believe that maintaining Quality works as a strong differentiator, which can only be highlighted with the recognition and practice of ‘Zero Defect’ in all our functions. As our Customers expect ‘Zero-Chance’ of defect, it leaves very little scope for us to make mistakes.

Interviewer: How do we generally celebrate it in plants?

Anoop Sharma: We encourage every team member to propagate and further initiate ‘Zero Defect’ in all the functions they perform, by rewarding those who outperform. We celebrate excellence by hosting a series of Shabaash Awards for employees, it is given as an opportunity award to those who set the bar for detecting the smallest of problems. Apart from presenting these awards we conduct the annual Kaizeen competition, where a recurrent theme of ‘Defect Prevention’ is used to seek excellence internally in plants, both on regional and group levels. We also maintain Operational Excellence Assessment scores, that sets the ‘Quality Pillar’, and a Methodology Criteria Assessment. Furthermore, to understand the customer better we maintain a ‘Customer Score card’ for all our customers this enables us to gain customer-recognition, deliver the desired quality products and maintain the position of a preferred supplier. These processes help us to encourage, maintain and understand the presence of ‘Zero Defect’ and Quality in all our functions and decisions.

Interviewer: How do we ensure Zero Defect?

Anoop Sharma: To ensure Zero Defect we uphold a well-defined QM (Quality Maintenance) methodology which conducts Detection and Prevention evaluations that offer growth in corrective, preventive and system improvements. The two main ideas that we work with to ensure Zero Defect are; one, the ‘Zero-chance of Defect’ and two, the ‘Zero-Defect in Service’.

Interviewer: Zero Defect and the organisation-how important is it?

Anoop Sharma: According to Varroc, ‘Zero-Defect’ is a necessary element in all walks of life, or rather a thought process which differentiates an individual and the organization from the others. At Varroc, we are inculcating this mindset across all levels as we are constantly engaging with many high technology products like, ECU, sodium-filled valve and other EV products.
We are all aware that connected vehicles and self-driven cars are no longer a myth, since these vehicle are marketable and driven with complex software algorithms and hardware. And, amidst this process of change with modernity it is tough to strive for business excellence without a strict ‘zero-defect’ culture.
Apart from the automotive sector, even other sectors, like Pharmaceuticals-there can be no chance of defect. The chance of a small defect is scrutinized to such an extent, that its happening is almost considered negligible.
In an Industry, like ours we can’t afford to harbor a defect. Therefore, we believe in performing every second and the collective performance then becomes the practice for the desired cultural build-up that propagates ‘Zero-Defect’.”