Customer & Quality Day 2022: at the core of customer satisfaction

Quality is a key factor in Vallourec's relationship with its customers.

11/04/2022

Corporate

Quality is a key factor in Vallourec's relationship with its customers. All Group employees are involved in this process, which culminates in Customer & Quality Day, an event organized each year at all Vallourec sites, mills, and departments. This year, the theme of this event was the PDCA cycle (Plan-Develop-Check-Act), also known as the Deming wheel.

Already part of our quality management system and successfully implemented by several of our entities, the PDCA cycle, also known as the Deming wheel, is a major tool in any total quality approach. It allows us to easily identify the steps to follow to identify problems and solutions and thus continuously improve quality in organizations.

Quality is at the heart of our relationship with our clients. The PDCA cycle allows us to achieve the high level of performance that customers expect from our company and allows us to analyze and mitigate the risks we face. Continuous improvement, which underpins our operational and functional activities, allows us to maintain high standards and pave the way for further progress.

Philippe Guillemot

CEO

The Customer & Quality Day event is essential to share with all Vallourec employees the attention the Group pays to its customers and for each person to understand the role they play in the quality approach, whether in their daily work or at company level. It's an opportunity to understand how our customers use our products and services and understand their expectations in terms of quality, performance, but also on-time delivery.

Ulrich Menne

Director of Safety, Quality, and Industrialization

Vallourec’s mills and entities have made real progress in recent years, as shown by the decrease in the number and severity of claims and the faster responses provided to customers. But there are still some Group processes that can be improved and require constant attention, conscious action, and a regular review to identify major risks of failure and potential (if not obligation) for improvement. This is part of regular processes, both at an operational and functional level. The PDCA cycle provides guidelines for improving products and processes.

PDCA steps

PLAN includes management leadership, a deep analysis of the current process situation and customer expectations, as well as the definition of targets and the steps to achieve them.
DO involves onboarding people in their workplaces and rigorously executing the processes.
CHECK involves monitoring and checking whether actions were properly implemented, and if milestones were successfully reached.
Finally, ACT or Adapt is the remedial step, which includes the definition of standards based on lessons learned once all actions are completed.

From several of Vallourec’s customers and executives, to workshops and games dedicated to quality, conferences and detailed presentations on the topic of the Deming wheel, see photos of Customer & Quality Day 2022 in the Group’s entities.