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The experience of Bangladeshi consumers with many local products is that the same do not have an edge over their foreign equivalents either in terms of price and quality or both. In some cases, the prices may be lower than the prices of imported equivalents but the quality of the imported goods appear to be notably superior. In other cases, both in respect of prices and quality the imported products offer better value to consumers. Thus, it should be obvious why local producers who produce for both the local and international markets ought to be concentrating very seriously on improving the quality of their products because quality assurance can be the most important element in helping them to sustain viably in their businesses.
There is need for the Bangladeshi producers to learn from top of the shelf quality control strategies and in this regard the technique of total quality management (TQM) that originated in Japan can be very useful. Reportedly, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) trained the staff of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) on TQM. But TQM should have a much wider application in different areas of the private sector. The chamber bodies in the country can seek out the assistance of the JICA so that TQM techniques can spread extensively throughout the private sector of Bangladesh to substantially improve quality control of individual production units.
TQM is a process involving everyone in an organisation in continuously improving products and processes to achieve better quality on every occasion and at every stage of production so that the final product is found to be flawless and of high quality. TQM practice makes redundant the use of traditional quality control department or the random sampling of products for quality which might not lead to detection of all defective products unfailingly.
Bangladesh has been pursuing an export-led growth strategy for a long time. Success in this strategy to some extent was the result of the very low wages paid to the Bangladeshi workers. But comparative advantage cannot be held for long by low wages alone. Rival countries are coming up and they also have the advantages of low wages or workers. Therefore, for sustaining in the competition for existing products and to win market shares in the export of non-traditional items, Bangladeshi business operators must bank on improving the quality of their products or ensuring the quality of export products -- such as frozen food. The message must filter through to all types of businesses. Slogans now should be -- 'quality or perish' or 'quality is the key.'
Shahidul Haque
East Testuribazar, Tejgaon, Dhaka
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