In the current business environment of sustained financial constraints it makes sense for companies to look to cut their costs, more and more manufacturing organisations are finding that the only sensible way to continue is to outsource their production to the developing world and more often than not to China.
China is a great place to do business at low cost, local wages are low, there’s a huge and still relatively untapped workforce to take advantage of and running costs are also lower than they would be in the West. However without some careful consideration the savings can be lost or worse it can be more expensive than producing the goods at home.
Quality is the key component of success or failure in outsourcing manufacturing. When quality control is neglected the costs can mount up quickly and in some cases can even be fatal to the operation and the company running it.
Here are five reasons to make sure that you quality control all your products:
Avoid recalls – the number one reason to ensure that the products you deliver are all exactly as they should be is to avoid the expense of a recall. Chinese products in particular are often recalled because of defects which are hazardous to human health, toys, food, electrical items, components, the list is nearly endless. It is often said that no publicity is bad publicity, the exception is when you have to run a national advertising campaign apologising for the shoddy products that your customers have purchased.
Health & Safety of your customers – some faulty products actually kill their users or consumers. Toys which are badly made often pose a choking hazard to children, electrical products can catch fire and destroy lives and property. No company wants to be remembered for the death or maiming of their customer base.
Brand damage – the impact of poor quality can be far reaching, particularly when the recall is newsworthy. If you consider the case of Toyota, once considered to be among the safest of manufacturers, this last year has destroyed that reputation through two recalls of faulty vehicles.
Save time – it’s not just recalls that can affect your business, when you receive your shipment and find that the products don’t meet your specifications it can mean having to send the goods back to the port of origin, have them reworked and then reshipped. If you deal in seasonal goods, this can make the product redundant by the time the process is complete and even if you don’t it can mean empty shelves and failure to fulfil customer requirements.
Save money – quality control is not an expensive process; great quality will always save you money in the long run. It maintains your reputation, keeps your customers Introducing Lean To A Company happy, guarantees that your products are always well regarded, and delivers the maximum return on investment by enabling you to manage your inventory successfully.
Getting it Hr Consulting Firms Near Me right
One of the strange things about quality is that it is not a complex procedure, minimising manufacturing or shipping errors is a simple thing to do.
Always document – the start of any good QC process is to document what needs to be done and when. You need to make sure that whatever happens, problems are identified at the appropriate point and rectified before they become major issues. Your documentation should be comprehensive and simple to understand. It doesn’t take long to draw up a quality checklist and the process for complying with it and it’s time well spent.
Focus on your customers – everything that you do as a business should be done with your customers in mind, your quality control is no different. Open a dialogue with your customers, find out what frustrates them and then use your QC team and procedures to eliminate these issues, small problems can be easily avoided when you have the information to hand.
Document again – when you identify needs, or common areas for improvement in processes it’s time to document the solutions. Just because you fix an issue in production today doesn’t mean it will stay fixed when the next shift arrives to take over. Make sure you have clear, understandable instructions to keep the solution in place.
Independent oversight – sometimes it’s hard to see the wood from the trees, if you find that quality is or has become an issue it can be worth working with a partner that specialises in QC. They will provide a different view of the issues and can often provide solutions based on experience of working with manufacturers that might not be obvious.
The heart of manufacturing is the end result, if your products are not fit for purpose and well made each and every time, you can lose far more than you save through outsourcing. Quality Control is the key to making your investment work for you.
