It’s World Quality Week, a time to celebrate our commitment to quality products and services and raise awareness of the importance of the quality profession. Stewarding quality doesn’t start or end at the quality function. At BD, quality is everyone’s responsibility, and we take that mindset seriously. Quality is a team activity grounded in our BD WAY Values, “We thrive on innovation and demand quality.” And, we demand it of ourselves as well as each other.

Through Inspire Quality, our multi-year journey towards building a best-in-class healthcare quality organization, we’re championing our culture of quality now more than ever, and we see this team approach to quality as a competitive advantage. That’s because every BD associate is working—together—to build trust in our high-quality products and services no matter where they sit in the organization, at a desk, on the manufacturing floor, or in the driver seat making a delivery to a hospital. BD associates care so deeply because we know that there is a customer and patient at the beginning of everything that we do.

This year, in the spirit of our team approach to quality, I’ve asked a few of my peers to share how their functions contribute to trust through quality here at BD. Here’s what they had to say:

“Our culture of quality truly makes the difference. Everyone across our supply chain share the same vision and values. This culture begins with our plant and distribution center associates. It shapes every product leaving our facilities. At it creates trust for our customers and patients. They know every BD product is made with the care and diligence they expect from BD.” - David Shan, EVP, Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer

“As a large, trusted healthcare partner, we know that our innovation is helping patients when they’re at their most vulnerable. Our R&D scientists and engineers are bringing their unique skills and shared passion to make a difference for patients. The trust that our customers have in the quality of our products is the foundation of our future innovation and impact.” - Beth McCombs, EVP, Chief Technology Officer

“Marketing tells our customers our quality story, but our actions give them the reasons to believe year after year. This means trusting the process of voice of the customer, innovation and continuous improvement so that our customers see this showing up in the products and solutions they rely on. We earn our customer’s belief in BD through trust.” - Tony Ezell, EVP, President, North America and Chief Marketing Officer

“In business, nothing is harder to earn than trust, and yet it is fragile. One slip can damage or even destroy trust. That’s why we empower our associates to speak up and always do what is right. We ensure full compliance with the law, and we choose to act in the most ethical way possible. This protects our associates, our company, our customers and our reputation.” - Michelle Quinn, EVP, General Counsel

The picture is clear, quality is a team effort at BD and all associates, no matter the job, are bought into the belief that we all have a responsibility for the safety, reliability and quality of our products. Our competitive advantage is how we work together to make that happen for our customers and patients. So, on this World Quality Week, I’d like to thank all our BD associates for being on Team Quality!