The 4 pillars of TVH’s Quality Management

Björn Vansteenkiste has been Quality Manager at TVH since 2020. He is responsible for the practical organisation of the quality teams to ensure optimum product quality control, but his commitment goes much further. He also plays an active role in promoting and integrating product quality assurance in all processes that affect product quality. Prior to joining TVH, he gained 22 years of experience in various quality-related positions in the automotive sector.

“In order to guarantee the quality of our products, the responsible people must of course be able to rely on predetermined quality requirements. Hence, specific standards have been set for our products,” Björn stresses. “A product is only applicable for inclusion in our range if it conforms to all safety and product regulations. In addition, its form, fit and function must be such that our customers experience a flawless assembly and performance that meets their expectations. These parameters are by the way not only used in product onboarding, but also in quality sampling at goods-in.”

“To meet our quality commitment, we are constantly striving to improve product quality assurance in all processes that affect product quality,” Björn continues. “In addition, our quality teams have several quality control processes in place to ensure the right quality of all our products. First of all, there are several preventive measures so that flawed parts don’t get a chance to make it into our range. Therefore, both first article inspections before product onboarding and randomised inspections of incoming goods are standard practice.”

“But despite our best efforts, it is always possible that a problem will arise and that we will have to take corrective action. Imagine we receive a quality claim from a customer. This triggers a process to avoid similar quality issues in the future. The process starts with gathering as much information as possible to help us identify and analyse the root cause of the issue. Based on this analysis, we take appropriate corrective action, such as adjusting our global stock. The analysis also helps us to take the appropriate preventive actions. Sometimes this is as simple as updating the drawings. In more extreme cases, we may need to change suppliers. Finally, all preventive measures are validated, for example with new goods-in inspections and audits.”

“Measuring and testing products are at the heart of all our inspections, both preventive and corrective. We analyse the material, carry out dimensional checks, make 3D measurements, test the functioning of the parts on our various test benches … In short, we always do our utmost to ensure that our range is of the right quality!” Björn concludes.