The voice of the customer comes first!
The “Together with VIAVI” blog series features some of the many talented, diverse, and often spirited people across the company, bringing their best to you – our customers and partners – every day. Your success is our success and we are delighted to be on this journey with you!
Name: Happy Zhang
Job Title: Quality Manager
Country: China
What made you want to be a Quality Manager?
I am currently a Quality Manager at VIAVI in the factory located in Suzhou, China. I am proud to work for a company with excellent quality management that focuses on providing customers with highly qualified products. This guarantee not only fulfills the promise to customers aiming to achieve customer satisfaction, but also it is the foundation for customers to increase their confidence and obtain more opportunities and attract potential customers. I have been with VIAVI since Jun 2010, I started in leading the establishment of the quality management system of the Suzhou factory, and now we are working to upgrade the quality system to the International Standard for Automotive Quality Management Systems (IATF16949), a standard based on the needs of entering the automobile industry with current products. This has been an incredible learning experience that has allowed me to move into something I am passionate about which is driving efficiency and process optimization.
The quality manager role means that I have the chance to work with the entire company and be immersed in and connected to many parts of the various business functions. In addition, VIAVI is a global company that allows me to partner with many global customers and work with people from all over the world.
How would you describe “A Day in the Life” of your current job at VIAVI, and the impact your role has in helping customers or partners?
As a Quality Manager, one of the most important things is hearing the voice of your customer. Once we get any feedback from our customer, I work closely with the team to confirm their expectations, find the gaps and investigate issues, organize the team to embark on improvement actions and we keep in constant communication with our customers. These daily cases give the customer a good experience very directly to show that we really care about our customers and operate efficiently and reliably.
To be a Quality Manager you must have strong principles and flexibility, without principles, the correct implementation and thorough implementation of the quality system cannot be completed, and without flexibility, the work cannot be carried out successfully. I take charge of each operation and work to improve the quality management, which includes quality system development, quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. Every day I check if there are any new changes and quality issues for the product and processes first, then I combine daily planning and management. I have a “to-do” list which classifies each task as urgent, and non-urgent, also will divide it into three categories: what you want your subordinate to do, what you need yourself to do, and what you need to discuss with your boss. Sometimes we have to deal with emergencies. Before leaving work in the afternoon, I will complete a summary according to the morning plan including which work has progressed to what extent, and what things need to be paid attention to the next day.
What is your favorite accomplishment or success story with a customer or partner?
I am very proud to have grown with this company and have the opportunity to work at VIAVI with so many experts and wonderful people. We have matured the Suzhou operation and we have built and developed a better consolidated set of systems. One of my favorite success stories happened when several customers once visited and audited our factory and were very pleased with our advanced technology. The customers took the time to compliment our excellent culture, our innovative operations and our very good quality management. This customer callout example is why we are laser focused on the needs of the customer each and every day!
You can read more about VIAVI Customer and Partner Champions on the “Together with VIAVI” website.
