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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
AUGUST
2017
This is according to Saartjie Duvenhage,
chairperson of Aspasa’s technical
committee on Quality Management, who
adds that co-operation and communication
are the key ingredients to delivering
aggregates that conform to standards. She
adds that authority should also be vested
in those responsible for maintaining quality
at every step of the process from the pit, to
production, transport and ultimately sales
and delivery of the product.
A slip at any one of these stages could
undermine efforts and may lead to the
delivery of inferior products. It follows
therefore that ultimate responsibility
should also be vested in managers of these
departments who should have the authority
to halt processes at any stage if there is a
deviation from the set requirements.
Shared responsibility
“It is easy to see how conflicts can arise
when you look at a typical operation
in which production staff are often
preoccupied with pushing production,
sales staff with pushing sales and logistics
staff making arrangements to store and
transport the aggregates. On the other
end, you have the quality inspectors and
laboratories ‘slowing’ down the process and
getting in the way of reaching targets.
“To avoid conflict however, we have
found that quality should be placed at
the forefront of divisional managers’ key
performance indicators (KPIs). They need
to understand that without consistency and
quality, their efforts are misguided.
After all, quality gives marketers something
unique to sell. Consistency gives them a
good reputation.
The catchpoint is that it does not help
to have lots of product if your market is
diminishing if you are losing clients due to
quality concerns.
“Nowadays, buyers in construction firms
are increasingly being tasked with finding
quality rather than the cheapest materials.
The aggregates industry is now being
judged on quality as much as it is on price.
Therefore, the channels of communication
between seller and buyer needs to be
clear to ensure the right product is delivered
at the right price. If for whatever reason
there is a variation in quality, this also needs
to be communicated to the client who may
either make allowance for the variation or
not use it until the situation is remedied,”
says Duvengahe.
Risk mitigation
She explains that quality inspectors and
laboratory staff tasked with the monitoring
of aggregates must be empowered to act
and communicate directly with manager to
make well informed decisions.
After all, if there is a comeback or a
court case it will be decided by the
results of the laboratory tests and the
action taken by those in authority to
remedy the situation. “Ultimately, if quality
can be improved it will influence the entire
operation positively in terms improved
income and better long term relationships,”
concludes Duvenhage.
Improving aggregate standards
Saartjie Duvenhage addresses members of Aspasa’s technical committee on quality.
Aggregate producers need to embrace quality across all areas of their
quarrying operations in order to obtain the kind of consistency required on
modern construction sites.