Managing Quality in the “Mex I Can” style
Published 16.2.2022
Diana García is on the team which was responsible for obtaining the highest recognition in the area of institutional quality in Mexico: the National Quality Prize. In this interview, she explains how much she enjoys the chance to work in direct contact with the teams on site, and what’s the best thing about life at the company.
Diana García has been working in the Quality area at Techint E&C for the last six years, involved in the audit side of things for a number of major projects such as Bay City, Norte III, and LACA. She carries out quality audits and provides support for project start-up, management, and closure, and says that this "has expanded my horizon of experience and knowledge, giving me the opportunity to meet and learn from some top-notch people.”
Diana always travels to the works when specific issues come up, such as a complaint about non-conformities, as well as at the outset or completion of a project, and also when bids are won. At the office, she’s involved in drawing up the range of documentation covering the area of Quality. She says that “actually visiting the works always makes such an impression. In the office, it’s all down on paper, there are documents and plans, but seeing first-hand how it starts to come together, to see progress as the months pass, is incredibly exciting. It’s really special to see how you are part of something that’s going to change the lives of so many people.
In 2018, Diana was responsible for leading the project that went on to win the National Quality Prize, the top accolade bestowed by the Mexican Ministry of Economy. The evaluation process is led by a group of experts who carry out an in-depth analysis of the organization in terms of the quality of its processes. The end result is a report covering its strengths as well as opportunities for improvement that the company could take advantage of to optimize its performance. “It was such a major challenge! I was really keen for us to take part, and, fortunately, I garnered a lot of support throughout the organization. My boss and management as a whole trusted me, and that’s how the company obtained this award in their first participation,” she points out with pride.
In addition, for Diana, the level of participation and camaraderie is a point of added value for all employees making up Techint. “I’ve always felt I could propose things that were taken into account and evaluated. People listen to me. My suggestions may not always be carried out, but at least I always have the opportunity to propose things and that’s one of the things that I value a great deal,” she emphasizes.
Lastly, she discusses the importance of group work and expresses gratitude towards her team, who supported her with the preparation and presentation of the final project. “Working as a team means we can overcome even the toughest challenges. This experience showed us that we have some really capable and proactive people and that when we work together, we can achieve anything we set out to do. This project was a lot of work, adding extra activity to our daily routine, but the whole team took it in their stride. That was what allowed us to be successful and meet our objective,” she concludes.