Benefits Of TL 9000 To Cable Providers: Competitive Advantage

As we wrap up the series on the benefits of TL 9000 in multiple communications segments, I was thinking about how to distinguish a message regarding the benefits of the TL 9000 to service providers in the cable space.  Quite frankly the message is much the same regardless of market segment: by using TL 9000 as a standard quality management system for suppliers you can control costs within your supply chain, reduce supply chain risk and improve key performance in areas such as, on time deliveries and reduction of network outages.  All of these advantages make sense outright, just as they do for traditional telecommunications wireline and wireless service providers.   However, there is a way that cable providers can look at TL 9000 as being particularly beneficial to their industry-competitive advantage.

TL 9000 can clearly help cable providers by bringing a strategic competitive weapon to the marketplace.  Cable providers are vying for the same customers against service providers with a long tradition of quality and network uptime.  Until now, this industry segment has not followed a single quality standard for their operations.  (Workmanship standards are another category and I’m sure standards exist for how equipment is installed and maintained.)  I am not disparaging cable providers, as they may not be aware that such a communications quality system exists.

It is often said; when in Rome do as the Romans do.  Cable providers need to be aware that the major providers have already adopted the TL 9000 quality management standard.  TL 9000 and standardized network operating policies have been a strategic competitive weapon for wireline and some wireless service providers for quite some time.  Standardized measurements required for TL 9000 certification allow certified companies to benchmark themselves against their competitors within their service category. This means that at any given time they will know if they are best in class, worst in class, average, etc. for on time delivery, customer complaints, network or service outages and defective services.

Imagine as a cable operator, if you reported this type of blind data and had access to it too? You would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for this type of data from companies that lack the specific expertise of QuEST Forum, TL 9000’s sponsor.  QuEST Forum is made up of member service providers and suppliers that all have industry expertise to lend to working committees that develop the standard and the measurements.

Cable companies could also encourage critical suppliers within their own supply chain to adopt TL 9000 so they would have a standard way of ensuring that suppliers meet their requirements. The TL 9000 quality standard would be a very effective way for cable suppliers to improve customer satisfaction based on fact based data, shorten their time to market and compete effectively with other providers in the communication’s marketplace. For more information about the standard, contact the TL 9000 Experts and/or e-mail us at info@bizphyx.com.