Quality Cannot Be Bought Cheap!
Today, quality is considered one of the cornerstones of success in every sector and every market. Quality is defined by whether a product or service meets certain standards, how well it meets customer expectations and its sustainable performance. However, offers that promise high quality at a lower cost are frequently encountered. The view that “quality cannot be bought cheaply” is usually the right approach in terms of cost and efficiency in the long term. Quality cannot be obtained cheaply, and low cost negatively affects quality.
Defining Quality
Quality is not just an aesthetic feature or a visible external feature. Quality is the combination of a series of factors that include the functions, durability, efficiency, safety and sustainability of a product or system. A good engineering product aims to meet high standards from the design stage to the production process and to offer a healthy, safe and efficient product to the end user.
Quality also includes elements such as error-free production processes, optimum material use, robust testing procedures, labor efficiency and keeping environmental impacts to a minimum. All these factors directly affect the durability and safety of the product. These elements must be carefully balanced to achieve quality. This usually requires high investment and time.
Quality Problems in Cheap Products
While price is an important decision factor for many consumers and businesses, it is a fact that products obtained at low prices often have quality problems. Cheap products are usually produced by compromising on quality. These compromises can include many negative situations such as design errors, poor material selection, inadequate production processes and passive quality control.
From an engineer’s perspective, cheapness often leads to factors that negatively affect quality. For example, a machine part produced at low cost may have lower durability. This can shorten the life of the system and lead to frequent failures. Inadequate material use or faulty production techniques shorten the life of the product and ultimately cause more maintenance, repair or replacement costs. This leads to the product obtained at low cost at the beginning becoming a high-cost investment in the long run.
High Quality Requires High Investment
High investment is always required to produce a high-quality product or system. High-quality products are usually produced using high-quality materials. These materials are more expensive to procure, process and assemble. In addition, the production of high-quality products may require more technological machines, more careful workmanship and longer production times.
Ensuring quality at every stage of product design is not only about material selection, but also means optimizing production processes, performing correct tests and properly implementing quality control procedures before the product is delivered to the end user. Such a process requires time, labor and resources. In short, the investments required to achieve high quality should be seriously evaluated against the fleeting benefits provided by cheap production.
Continuous Investment to Maintain Quality
Once quality is achieved, it must be maintained and maintained. The high quality of a product or system is not limited to its success only in the production phase. In order to maintain quality, continuous investments such as maintenance, repair and updates are required. These continuous investments extend the life of the product or system and increase its efficiency at the same time.
Low-quality products, on the other hand, are designed in a way that cannot provide this continuity. Frequent failures require more repairs and ultimately cause you to spend more money. Investors and engineers should keep in mind that the savings provided by low-cost but low-quality products in the short term can turn into greater costs in the long term.
Impact on Safety and Human Health
One of the most important reasons is safety. Safety in engineering projects is directly related to quality. Cheap and low-quality products can pose serious safety risks in the areas where they are used. Especially in engineering products, compliance with safety standards is of utmost importance. The use of poor materials, faulty designs or inadequate tests can lead to product or system security vulnerabilities.
For example, a cheap construction material or machine part can fail unexpectedly and cause accidents. This can cause both loss of labor and more serious safety problems. Quality materials and engineering practices are necessary to ensure health and safety standards.
The Need for Continuous Innovation and Improvement
Quality is not only should not be limited to current conditions. Quality requires a continuous innovation and improvement process. This stage is a very important element to ensure and maintain quality in engineering. A quality product can be updated and improved over time. However, this process usually becomes more difficult and expensive for cheap products. Innovation and continuous improvement are an integral part of quality production processes and make success sustainable in the field of engineering.
Investing in Quality is a Long-Term Gain
Although quality increases costs in the first stage, it is a fact that these investments made in the long term will provide much greater gains. Investors and engineers should make their choices by considering not only the aesthetic or functional features of a quality product, but also its safety, durability, efficiency and sustainability. Cheap products, on the other hand, usually provide short-term gains, but can cause great losses in the long term. Therefore, investing in quality in the field of engineering minimizes not only costs, but also labor loss, safety risks and environmental impacts. As a result, the saying “Quality Cannot Be Bought Cheap” in engineering is the key to long-term success and sustainability.
İlker Kuran
Alperen Engineering Co. Ltd.