Quality should be job 1, even in times of change: it all comes down to attitude. Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.

WHEN ALL IS said and done, quality and change are the most difficult concepts for employees, coworkers and management to understand. Like taxes and death, quality is a given and change is inevitable. No matter how much we talk, listen, think, train, reprimand or motivate, the two areas every company wants to improve are its quality and the speed with which it reacts to change.

The fact is that while many of us grapple with how to improve these two key business areas, many in our industry, especially companies in business aggressive Asia, are not just excelling, but setting the benchmark. While many complain about their inability to make satisfactory headway toward improving their quality and dealing with change, their most feared competitors are successfully achieving better performance with both!

It is quite amazing that year after year, our industry, which revolves around advanced technology (i.e., change), and aggressively competitive pricing that requires the highest yields (i.e., quality), improving quality and dealing with change are the two "must do" things that we have the most difficulty excelling at. It should be noted that there are some domestic companies who are leaders in producing consistently high-quality product and services and many foreign companies that produce marginal or worse product with virtually non-existent service. The problem for most, however, is understanding that success can be achieved regardless of where you do business or what technological niche you claim. Success is a state of mind.

One of the reasons that Asia's businesses are so aggressive is that their state of mind is one of success. They focus on "how" to do something instead of seeking reasons "why" they should do something. The entire world is benchmarking the same criteria--capability, service, speed and quality. So, what one thing has had the most impact on quality? What one thing makes the difference between change working against you and change being a strategic tool?

The answer to both is the same all over the world--people. More specifically, it is people with the attitude and state of mind of success. And it's not just people you have working for you or around you, but even you!

A quick litmus test of how you are doing can be found within your company. Are people at all levels talking about how to increase yield and reduce scrap, how to move technology to the next level or how to be an industry leader rather than just a hopeful survivor?

Quality is people, measured by yield, scrap, excess inventory, non-productive overtime and cycle time. Change is people, measured by how you are perceived in the market--by customers and suppliers--as a business that is staying current with and expanding capability and performance.

Excelling with quality improvement and excelling in harnessing change as a strategic tool is more a state of mind than possessing extraordinary technical skills. People who are engaged in the design and manufacturing of printed circuit boards have the skills and technical know-how to implement exciting and dramatic improvement to process, yield, service and capability. Equally harnessing those skills and technical know-how rarely requires significant financial or capital investment. What is often missing is the state of mind necessary to make it happen.

Much has been said about the cost advantage and technical prowess of Asian electronics manufacturers. Much has been written about the imbalance of global capacity vs. demand. Many have debated the process and cost demands impacting us because of RoHS and other environmental legislation. However, little has been said about how companies, large and small, have turned these obstacles into strategic advantage. And in each case where obstacles have been converted into opportunity, the defining element has been people.

Improvement begins with having an open mind to change--something our foreign counterparts understand very well.

But on the other hand, looking ahead beats constantly looking over your shoulder at who is about to pass you by. Yes, quality is a given and change is inevitable. But remember that your rivals are just as vulnerable as you are.

So where do we start? By leading by example. Regardless of your level within your organization--CEO or chief floor sweeper--improving quality starts with asking how you can contribute to doing your task better and faster. Adapting to and harnessing change requires you to ask yourself not "why" but "how" to do something new.

Just do it! PCD&M

PETER BIGELOW is president and CEO of IMI (www.imipcb.com). He can be reached at [e-mail].