Putting Quality in Supply Chain

Putting Quality in Supply Chain | LoadProof

I would think that electronics OEMs or distributors would be leading the charge toward quality, and I’m sure many of them are. However, the first time I encountered a quality department that did extensive quality control it was in a New Hampshire distribution center (DC) that served the apparel industry.

For this manufacturer, the goal was to make fairly priced clothing that delivered good quality to middle-aged women. The Director of Quality at the warehouse, along with her team, did such a good job that this retailer was known for its quality. To meet their quality goals, workers spent a lot of time measuring the tops and pants against strict criteria, checking the cut of the pieces, figuring out how the pieces would look on real people, and making sure that the colors were good for a variety of skin tones. They thought of everything. They took pictures and shared infractions with their vendors across the supply chain.

Quality inspection

Quality inspection is a relatively simple process. Basically, a percentage of the product received is set aside for quality check, done at the vendor level. If the vendor has a good track record, its percentage would be lower. Vendors with issues in the past might be assigned a higher percentage. Then the vendor’s performance is measured using Vendor Performance codes. Each code indicates a specific infraction, to identify issues ranging from the label being applied wrong to an incorrect product quantity. Problems, when identified, are issues as charge back to vendors including labor spent fixing infractions.

Quality audit

Quality audits involve a more detailed quality check. A defined sample is set aside from each shipment and rigorous checks are performed against those samples, often multiple times. If quality is lacking, further samples might be checked from the shipment. This is typically done for products coming from a manufacturing plant. In most cases, these products would be received right from the manufacturing line.

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