Quality Management : Supplier Quality
A Simple Plan
For more than 100 years, U.S. manufacturers have advanced equipment and manufacturing technologies to constantly monitor progress and drive process improvement....
K'NEX Success
As a result of the recent lead scare, companies many have grown to trust—Fisher-Price, Mattel, J.C. Penney—found themselves on recall lists instead of in kids’ hands during the holidays. Some companies, however, were able to skirt the issue....
Using FMEA to Assess Outsourcing Risk
Although outsourcing is a growing trend among U.S. businesses, there are risks involved and not everyone benefits from such arrangements. The advantages of outsourcing must be weighed against risks and go beyond cost savings. Without a systematic...
Challenges in RFID Enabled Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management is the fastest growing application of radio frequency identification devices (RFID), but few organizations are equipped to deal with the accompanying flood of information. Most definitions of RFID emphasize the technological...
A Statistician Looks at Inventory Management
A major problem facing companies today is how to promptly deliver products to customers without tying up too much capital in the form of inventory buffers. The incorporation of statistical models into supply chain management tactics helps in sizing and...
The Importance of Building Social Capital
Maintaining the integrity of the supply chain is critical in times of economic instability. An investment in social capital among organizations within the supply chain is mutually beneficial. The affinity group provides a strategy for developing...
Managing Supplier Relationships
Effective supply chain management (SCM) can provide companies the competitive edge by adding stability and predictability to their supply stream. Manufacturers can identify vendors that provide high quality service and developing close,...
Column: Standards Outlook: Purchaser and Supplier Quality
Going beyond ISO 9001, QS-9000 and TS 16949
For quality to happen, quality control from the supplier's perspective is necessary. But evidence indicates suppliers do not always pursue the actions needed for quality improvement. Quality practitioners...
Column: Career Corner: Supply Chain Management: A New Opportunity
In a recent survey of more than 200 companies, Deloitte Consulting found that while 91% of manufacturers rank SCM as either critical or very important to their company's success, only 2% rank their supply chains as world class. This...
Column: Back to Basics: Supplier Selection and Maintenance
The extent you go to depends on the associated cost, production and risk
Las compañías en EE.UU. utilizan leyes gubernamentales y requisitos de contrato para seleccionar proveedores y controlar su funcionamiento. Para controlar los productos y servicios comprados, las compañías deben definir totalmente sus requisitos hacia los...
New Quality for the 21st Century
The worldwide marketplace demands a redefinition of quality in the relentless pursuit of improvement. The 1990s have provided six drivers of this new vitality for quality: fundamental changes in how people think about and act on the need for quality;...
Quality Management and Continuous Improvement at Campbell
Campbell's approach to HACCP Campbell began voluntarily implementing HACCP in its facilities in 1988 ( HACCP is now required for all United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA) and some Food and Drug Administration products). By staying ahead of the...
How to Fine-Tune Your Business Processes
Two tools for eliminating waste and managing handoffs between internal providers and customers are service-level agreements (SLAs) and internal service guarantees (ISGs). SLAs cover the delivery of support resources or services. The provider and...
Considerations for Global Supplier Quality
Assessment of international suppliers occurs in two steps: initial investigation and supplier visit. In the initial investigation, data are gathered about the company and the country. This includes background information on the company as well as...
Is Your Satisfaction Survey Creating Dissatisfied Customers?
Customer satisfaction measurement (CSM), may be causing dissatisfaction, especially when compared to marketing research and opinion measurement techniques. Reasons for the dissatisfaction include customer anonymity and inadequate follow-through. CSM...
A Report from the Automotive Trenches
QS-9000 compliance helps supplier tiers contribute to the satisfaction of new-car buyers. Supplier quality assurance departments of the Big Three automakers have improved product launches and decreased defects by demanding quality from their tier 1...
Implementing a Supplier Scorecard Program
Improving supplier performance is crucial in the highly competitive and customer-driven electronics industry. Conner Peripherals has used a supplier scorecard program to track the work of its vendors. Such a program requires internal support from...
The U. S. Semiconductor Industry's Wild Ride
SEMATECH (SEmiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology) has improved its industry's research and development activities and its supplier infrastructure. This consortium of U. S. semiconductor manufacturers was established in 1987 to revive an industry whose...
Waving the White Flag
The supplier-distributor relationship in the semiconductor industry has been improved by joint development of an industry survey. In the past, each supplier annually surveyed its own distributors, but this is inefficient and ignores the need of...
To Boldly Go Where So Many Have Gone Before
Saturn Corporation focuses on selling the company instead of its car and satisfying its customers. This strategy has been crucial when many competitors go after the same customers. To sell its company, Saturn's advertisements emphasize the pride and...
In this month’s QP, A.V. Feigenbaum outlines five areas quality professionals must focus on to help their companies succeed as the economy recovers. The article is based on remarks he presented at ASQ’s World Conference on Quality and Improvement in May 2009. For a preview of this article, listen to an interview with Feigenbaum from earlier this year and see his conference presentation. You can also check out his past QP articles.
65th Annual Deming Conference of Applied Statistics
December 7–11 | Atlantic City, NJ
Call Walter Young at 610-989-1622 or e-mail demingchair@gmail.com.
Lean and Six Sigma in Product Development Conference
December 8–10 | Miami, FL
Call Worldwide Conventions and Business Forums at 800-959-6549 or visit www.wcbf.com/quality/5101.
ASQ members exchange comments, suggestions, questions and ideas inspired by articles or letters in Quality Progress.
