the search for quality / standards
a surge of standards and cachets
and continued less quality. What is the reason? In the November issue of the magazine ‘brand eins’ the focus topic was quality. Here author Wolf Lotter has developed the term a-priori-quality. It means as much as “innate” quality, or from the start. It is shown as industrial quality expectations and standards like DIN and ISO already co-opted the quality term.Quality is, what can be defined as to be quality, what can be measured, checked and maintained. These standardised material properties or production criteria are then falsely projected directly onto the product. Thus false assessments unfortunately form about actual product quality
It is not sufficient to label a product after normalised materials as good or bad. It takes more than that: The whole is more than the sum of its parts. That way, the uncritical use of a-priori-quality as reinforced in industrie and education as a standard of quality, could put an end to development and innovation.*
As to not get me wrong, we do need standardisation. That is the basis of an industrial society and the foundation of our prosperity. But we are moving in a jungle of well-intentioned rules and regulations that obscure a clear view on the essential. Included are ecolabels that sprout like mushrooms from the earth. Old ecosigns like “Der blaue Engel” are also part of the problem. As an example the “blue angel” award criteria for low-emission furniture DE-UZ-38. On twenty three pages is explained to which criteria a company or a product has to adhere to obtain this qualification. Not everyone is aware that this award only looks at environmental aspects of production and product. The product quality itself is not taken into account. Neither does it conclude which of two equal products that received a blue angel is the more eco friendly one?
Our furniture construction system can not be assessed with regular standards. It is innovative, new, and can not be captured in graphs and ISO standards. How can we show potential customers that this is an extra-ordinary furniture construction system? The quality of the product and the environmental quality of the Fünfgeld Möbelbau system is not easily recognisable, but it is innate, at the basis, as a concept, just there.
*quote: wolf lotter
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