Best-Practices for Supplier Quality Management That Are Worth Implementing

Cyberattacks and counterfeiting attempts are becoming increasingly prevalent among manufacturers in the international marketplace supply chain. Hence, a robust supply chain can also help reduce risk, eliminate business interruptions, and help organizations protect their internal operations. 

The process of Supplier Quality Management is one of the most common ways business owners improve supplier quality, which requires significant resources. However, these best practices can dramatically enhance the quality of suppliers and help manufacturers meet their business objectives. 

The supply chain strategy and annual business plan must be in complete harmony. Any manufacturer or business owner could dramatically increase the quality of their suppliers by using best practices. 

A Quick Introduction to Supplier Quality Management 

Throughout the supply chain, Supplier Quality Management (SQM) focuses on monitoring, managing, and responding to the dynamic nature of supplier quality. The factors that affect delivery quality and compliance with regulations are incorporated into this. Your business could suffer disastrous results if your SQM is ineffective, losing brand reputation and creating legal and financial repercussions. 

The companies that sell physical products must have a supplier who manufactures and ships them. Businesses must implement right supplier quality management practices to become more adept at managing quality risks as the supply chain expands to ensure consistently high-quality products. 

Best-Practices for Supplier Quality Management That Are Worth Implementing 

Best Practice #1: Assess and monitor the cost of poor supplier quality 

Using metrics, or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), you can assess how well the business is performing. If you do not understand how to interpret the KPIs, some can be very confusing. In addition to inventory carrying costs, other metrics can provide valuable insights into a company’s efficiency.  

The importance of COPQ tracking cannot be overemphasized. Take advantage of what you’ve got. Data about supplier performance may be available to you. Start aggregating the data, looking for trends, and analyzing them. You will undoubtedly come across something important. Then, think of ways to incorporate into your program effective methods that lead to positive results. 

Best Practice #2: Identifying cost recovery opportunities 

Businesses can implement cost-recovery systems that charge suppliers for poor-quality supplies if they fail to meet quality requirements. You will find a lot of non-material costs here, like operator handling or inspections. 

Best Practice #3: Audit your suppliers regularly 

It is crucial to evaluate customer-related processes at regular intervals to determine whether they conform to agreed-upon arrangements. The results from this will provide management with information about the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. In addition, suppliers must participate fully in all aspects of the quality management system for manufacturers to comply with the applicable standard requirements. It ensures the supply-base is fully integrated into the Quality Management System (QMS) implementation. 

Related Articles: Know How Auditing Suppliers Help to Grow Your Business

Best Practice #4: Maintain Supplier Performance Scorecard 

Supply chain management needs to be in line with business goals. Manufacturers can evaluate the performance of suppliers based on key operational metrics and monitor their quality, in the long run, using key performance indicators. In future negotiations, the supplier scorecard can provide valuable data. 

Best Practice #5: Build closed-loop systems for corrective actions 

You can lower the costs of poor quality by implementing a quality management system that gives access to a closed-loop corrective action process. Maintaining accuracy and speed during the corrective action process is vital to avoid information slipping through the cracks. Audits are essential for corrective action processes and assist in continuous improvements. 

Best Practice #6: Making Suppliers Part of Quality Systems 

Collaboration with partners, suppliers, and overall, the customer is what collaboration outside of an organization represents. It is essential to communicate with customers. Businesses use it to learn what their customers want. Partners and suppliers who communicate frequently have a higher probability of receiving products in time to fulfill customer orders. In addition to enabling a virtual supply chain, IT practices can increase the transparency of things like travel, warehouses, and manufacturing. 

Businesses with supply chains, like manufacturers, can improve their suppliers’ quality and, in turn, improve business performance through the implementation of these six best practices. 

However, implementing all the above-mentioned best practices can be overwhelming when done manually. It would be best for the businesses to take advantage of next-generation Supplier Quality Management Solutions. The solutions will help them streamline supplier-related processes while helping them to comply with regulatory requirements. 

How to Choose Right Supplier Quality Management Solution? 

If you are looking for a reliable supplier quality solution, you must ensure that the solution you choose enables you to standardize processes such as: 

• Tracking and Managing the Qualification Process for Potential Suppliers and Vendors. 
• Maintaining Complete Details of all the Evaluated Suppliers 
• Effectively Communicating with Suppliers to Provide Feedback 
• Managing Approved Supplier List (ASL) 
• Preparing and Sharing Supplier Scorecard 
• Integrating with Existing ERP System 

Therefore, the right supplier quality management system will help you fill gaps and lower quality risks. Your company’s decision makers might also see the value of tracking supplier quality improvements and be enticed to spend a little upfront for the opportunity to save big down the road. 

Qualityze Supplier Quality Management: An Industry-Leading Solution! 

Through Qualityze Supplier Quality Management Solution, companies can streamline and standardize the process and operational challenges related to suppliers. In addition to managing the supplier qualification process, supplier data, certifications, and more, it also provides you with detailed reports. 

Qualityze Supplier Quality Management Solution comes with;

• Centralized Supplier Database 
• Supplier Part-Location Matrix 
• Reporting and Dashboards 
• Supplier Portal 
• Customizable Supplier Questionnaire 
• Alerts and Notifications 
• E-Signature Validation 
• Seamless Integration 
• Chatter, and more. 

Built on the most powerful and secure cloud platform, i.e., Salesforce.com, Qualityze ensures complete reliability, flexibility, and traceability required for managing supplier processes across the globe without any traceability or data integrity issues. 

You can integrate Supplier quality management with our document management system to maintain and manage supplier documents, certifications, agreements, and contracts.  You can also integrate it with Audit, Nonconformance, CAPA and Inspection management system to initiate and manage supplier Audits, NCR’s, and SCAR’s. Further, the intuitive supplier portal enables you to communicate with your suppliers regularly. 

Experience the Qualityze difference for simplified supplier quality management processes today by requesting a free demo today! 

The Bottom Line 

As the global market becomes more dynamic and competitive, the need for an efficient supplier management solution that helps you identify suppliers who contribute to your quality and compliance goals becomes increasingly important.   

If you want to know more about Qualityze Supplier Quality Management Software and its amazing in-built capabilities, please contact our customer success team directly at +1-877-207-8616 or email us at info@qualityze.com, and we will be right there for you.