Mr. Rehbein, what exactly brought you to Uhlmann?

I was actu­ally approached by someone while I was still working at Voith. I then took a look at Uhlmann and saw some very clear and, for me, appealing simi­lar­i­ties between the philos­ophy at Uhlmann and, for example, TRUMPF, where I also worked for 6 years. I think it’s fantastic when the owner really still has an influ­ence on the company, like the Uhlmann family does.

What is your job in the company?

My job is to ensure that the quality of our prod­ucts and processes creates delight for our customers – a respon­si­bility I share with the BU managers. For me, it’s about providing support. And not just iden­ti­fying prob­lems but resolving them, true to the prin­ciple: a good product comes from a good process.

Effec­tively, this means that we uncover our customers’ pain points, consis­tently push to perma­nently elim­i­nate them, and guide future deci­sions on prod­ucts and processes so that they never recur. Quality is always measured by the customer. It’s a bit like looking for a new partner: You may think you’re quite a catch, but you’re not the one making the deci­sion.  

What are you working on at present?

Since the summer, we have been making more consis­tent use of a tool known as the 8Ds* method to elim­i­nate errors on a long-term basis. This is a contin­uous process that we are constantly improving.

Here’s just one example: On one of the compo­nents of the heat-sealing machine, we had been seeing recur­ring short circuits. The 8Ds method helped us trace the root cause back to the plan­ning stage. In this way, we were able to get rid of it once and for all.

We are also working on estab­lishing so-called QPIs (Quality Perfor­mance Indi­ca­tors) across the Group so that we all measure and see the same thing.

To this end we have the SAC system, which every employee can log into. And only knowing where you stand can get you where you want to be. A further focus is on boosting supplier quality by means of clear assess­ments, effec­tive audits and exten­sive support. If you want good parts, you must also make your supplier clearly aware of your expec­ta­tions. We are also helping our colleagues in Poland to improve quality and intend to do the same at other sites in the future.

Has your job of ensuring top quality become more diffi­cult in the midst of the coro­n­avirus pandemic?

It helps if you can look each other in the eye, espe­cially since we rely so heavily on commu­ni­ca­tion. If we want to get our colleagues on board, we have to earn their trust. Unfor­tu­nately, we can only commu­ni­cate digi­tally at the moment, which is a shame. Even though I often like to immerse myself in analyses, I still spend a lot of time talking to employees and colleagues. Our process manage­ment makes us the archi­tects of collab­o­ra­tion in the company. Coro­n­avirus is an obstacle, but not insur­mount­able.

You recently took part in your first customer audit at Uhlmann. What was that like?

It was very inter­esting because every­thing took place online. Our customer is based in Denmark and knows from past expe­ri­ence exactly where our weak points lie. However, we as Uhlmann did exceed­ingly well and the result is some­thing we can be proud of. An audit like this is a good thing because the customer steers Uhlmann in the right direc­tion, and in our role as quality engi­neers we have the chance to defend our orga­ni­za­tion. In this way, we are perceived differ­ently from just a “bunch of guys who simply turn up and start complaining”.

What are your plans for the future?

In future, we have to look harder at the devel­op­ment process. If that’s where we are already making errors, that’s where we have to elim­i­nate them. To this end, our quality depart­ment has an overview of the field fail­ures and can shine the spot­light on what needs to be done. I would also like to see more modern tech­niques being used in QM as well, for example in terms of process descrip­tions.

Every­body uses YouTube nowa­days, but we are still mentally stuck in paper land with our work instruc­tions –even if they are stored digi­tally. I think it would be great if we could even­tu­ally get to the stage where, say, a depart­ment head uses a short video clip to briefly explain what counts in a process. That builds commit­ment, is enter­taining, and is there­fore on my wish list.

And finally, a private ques­tion. What do you do in your spare time?

Music is very impor­tant in my life. Once a week, I go dancing with my wife at the club. I also sing in a choir and used to be in a band and on stage in musi­cals.

How would you describe your­self in three words?

Commu­nica­tive, orga­nized, and demanding.

Thank you for talking to us, Mr. Rehbein!

 

Tool of sustain­able trou­bleshooting: What are the 8 D’s?