Quality management tips are guidelines you can use to improve the quality of products in your supply chain.
The quality of your supply chain’s product says a lot about your business, especially when you are not there. It can endear customers to your business, it can also repel them.
Striving for quality should be your number one goal for the product. As much as we promote lead times and other customer-centric metrics if the quality is poor, it will all be for nothing.
In this article, we will review quality management tips that can help you control the quality of products your supply chain gets across.
1. Define Quality Management Goals
Your quality management goals are what define your quality management journey. Without a destination in mind, the journey to quality management will never start.
Have a set standard you want to achieve from your supply chain. It could be an industry standard quality goal or a business goal you are comfortable with.
Although quality goals might differ, it is important to consider what is in the market. You will have a competitive edge if you can meet or exceed industry standards.
Remember, as much as your customers want to pay less for their products, they also want the best possible quality.
Defining and properly articulating your quality goals to all relevant stakeholders gives them something to work with and allows them to work with you to ensure it is achieved.
2. Have a Quality Management System
Your quality management system or quality control is a set of procedures, practices, or processes every stakeholder in the supply chain has to undergo to promote quality in your supply chain.
Quality automatically becomes a part of your supply chain management process with the quality management system. This simplifies the enforcement process.
The catch is to put a quality management system that aligns with your quality goals and is implementable by your resources.
Resources here could mean labour and material resources. You want to set up a quality management system that both can fully support, leading to fewer disruptions.
3. Embrace Tech
Technology makes things easier and is one of this article’s most critical quality management tips. With technology, you have effective tools that can help you monitor, track, and measure quality throughout the supply chain.
Embracing tech solutions across your supply chain also promotes visibility and transparency through the supply chain process.
These two outcomes allow you to identify problematic areas in your supply chain and address them before they become complicated or the customer identifies them. You definitely do not want that.
This, in turn, ensures accountability from stakeholders at every point of the supply chain, including the quality management systems.
To embrace tech successfully, ensure it aligns with business goals and standard quality management practices such as Six Sigma and ISO certifications.
4. Involve Everyone
Quality affects everyone in your supply chain, so they should all have an active role in ensuring it is achieved in every product.
Quality should be a big concern every step of the way, from the procurement team to the production team, warehouse, and logistics.
When everyone plays an active role, making mistakes becomes increasingly difficult, improving the overall quality experience for customers.
Quality shouldn’t be enforced internally though; external stakeholders like your suppliers are vital to the success of your supply chain. When sourcing and onboarding them, ensure they share your quality goals and are committed to achieving and maintaining them.
5. Staff Training
Last but not the least of the quality management tips. Your staff can 10x your quality control and outcome if they have the necessary skills.
As much as you need resources like technology, materials, and infrastructure to promote quality in your supply chain, people are still the most valuable piece of your supply chain.
Your supply chain cannot be better than the people in it, making this last point very critical.
Hiring is great, but you can also invest in training and developing your current staff. It promotes loyalty and commitment to your business.
Train your staff on industry standards like ISO certifications or Six Sigma. With the right training and knowledge, your supply chain team will always promote excellence across the board.
Obinabo Tochukwu Tabansi is a supply chain mastro and writer with a decade of experience working in different facets of the supply chain. Today he is living his passion for writing on all things supply chain. His blog, Supply Chain Nuggets, is Africa’s fastest-rising supply chain blog, helping professionals, business owners, and curious minds navigate the supply chain complexities on the continent.
