We recently visited a new Which Wich sandwich shop near our home for lunch. As you can see from their website, they are very proud of their innovative sandwich creation process.
Process Only Does So Much
Which Wich’s system allows a customer to clearly state what they want and how they want it. You don’t have to worry about language or other communication barriers between customers and employees. Their ordering process also allows for a quicker throughput of customers, thus giving the illusion of speedy service.
That’s nice and all but what about the actual product?
Process Output Matters
Despite Which Wich’s dazzling new store and whizbang ordering process, the sandwich was a disappointment.
Will we return for another lunch? No.
Did it have to be this way? No.
A great process will only get your company so far. You need to make sure that your employees and other inputs to that system are facilitating high quality results.
Feedback Loop
The outputs of your process need to be verified against your quality standards. Check your products regularly and systematically so you can detect when things start to deteriorate. When problems are detected, fix them quickly.
If you wait too long, your system will be creating products customers don’t like and then their trust will be hard to regain.