Quality Blog

Find articles, case studies, videos and other insightful resources related to quality assurance, quality control, supply chain, and manufacturing.

What’s special about quality engineers?

What’s special about quality engineers?

News
Quality engineers are at the heart of our organization.  As a third-party quality assurance firm, we count on the hundreds of engineers we have positioned throughout the world to be the eyes and ears for our clients on-site at their factory locations.  As an exhibitor in this year’s World Conference on Quality & Improvement last week, we […]
Administrative Professionals & Quality – Thank You!

Administrative Professionals & Quality – Thank You!

News
Since 1952, the International Association of Administrative Professionals has honored office workers by sponsoring Administrative Professionals Week. Today, it is one of the largest workplace observances outside of employee birthdays and major holidays. As we recognize Administrative Professionals this week, it’s important to note the quality connection and overall significance of these positions and express gratitude to […]
Top 3 Benefits of C-TPAT Audits

Top 3 Benefits of C-TPAT Audits

Factory Audits
Although the program started in 2001, there continues to be a lack of understanding regarding what C-TPAT is and how it benefits and adds organizational value. What is it? “The U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism initiative (C-TPAT) is a voluntary U.S. Customs and Border Protection program designed to improve border security while also accelerating the […]
Negotiating in the global marketplace

Negotiating in the global marketplace

News
An article recently posted by Inc. highlights the importance of cultural considerations in negotiation and business activities. As a third-party quality provider, understanding and taking into account cultural differences can give companies a competitive edge. This is particularly relevant in sourcing activities, where cultural barriers can impede successful negotiations. One resource that delves further into […]
Language translation challenges for businesses

Language translation challenges for businesses

News
Business News Daily captured our attention this morning with a post discussing things you should know about language translation. As an organization that does offer translation services for documents such as product specifications, instruction manuals or CAD drawings, we also recognize the challenges from an internal perspective as well.  From internal documentation of processes and […]
Pass the exam! Certification study tips…

Pass the exam! Certification study tips…

Interviews/News
We place significant value on industry certifications and actively look for engineers that have various quality-related designations. I recently volunteered to assist others during a local ASQ certification exam study session and noted the following tips to help ensure success: Take the pre-test. Assess your strengths and weaknesses ASAP. Most certification exam study guides offer […]
Best Practices For Minimizing Global Supplier Risk

Best Practices For Minimizing Global Supplier Risk

Supplier Management
We were just reading through an article posted by Supply Chain Management Review that discusses Four Best Practices for Minimizing Global Supplier Risk.  As a third-party quality engineering and consulting firm, we get questions about this often and have written a handful of articles related to the topic. We like the SCMR’s four best practices, […]
3 Ways to Use Defect Data to Drive Improvement

3 Ways to Use Defect Data to Drive Improvement

Quality Control
Our quality engineers collect data from supplier locations all over the world, and we encourage our clients to get as much value as possible from our reporting to drive overall improvements and support successful supplier partnerships. Consider the simplified example of conducting weekly pre-shipment inspections of one product at a single supplier site.  The information […]
Quality Tools for Quality of Life

Quality Tools for Quality of Life

Quality Control
Celebrating Chinese New Year (Gong Xi Fa Cai!) has us thinking about resolutions again.  Pro QC’s Communications Director met with local quality professionals recently through the American Society of Quality’s network in the Tampa Bay area and discussed the application of quality tools to quality of life. Highlights from this discussion reveal a compelling case for […]