The Customer Says 'No'
IndustryWeek Best Plants winners and finalists have consistently improved quality and reduced their customer reject rates over time. (IW defines customer reject rate as a quality measure -- expressed in parts per million -- reflecting the number of completed units rejected or returned by external customers. Calculation include parts reworked by customers. Applies to all shipped units, including parts.) As the accompanying data show, 2013 IW Best Plants winners and finalists reduced their customer reject rate by a median 34.2% over the past three years and an average 6.7%. Be aware that increases in the customer reject rates, while never preferred, can be deceiving. For example, a reject rate increase from 0.001 ppm to 0.002 ppm would be reported as a 100% increase. However, it would be difficult to claim that quality is on the decline, given those figures.
| Reduction in customer reject rate, last three years (as a percentage): | ||||
| Year | Median | Average | Minimum | Maximum |
| 2009 | 43.9 | 30.1 | 233% increase | 97.0 |
| 2010 | 24.0 | 21.4 | 156% increase | 100.0 |
| 2011 | 33.0 | 34.0 | 2% increase | 100.0 |
| 2012 | 15.3 | 12.2 | 100% increase | 64.3 |
| 2013 | 34.2 | 6.7 | 374% increase | 89.0 |
| 2009-2013 | 31.1 | 21.8 | 374% increase | 100.0 |
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