Pro QC has over 40 years experience in quality control and quality assurance across virtually every industry.
Reputable brands strive to deliver the highest quality to their customers while adhering to their ethical values and company visions. Are their suppliers also meeting the required quality, safety, ethical and environmental standards?
Pro QC has developed the following 10-stage Product Development Life Cycle (PDL) framework, that applies to almost every product or component being produced today. It breaks down a typical product launch, from design to shipment, into 10 stages. The goal of Pro QC’s supplier management services is to help our clients understand and manage their supplier risks during the various stages of their sourcing effort, whether they work in the sourcing, quality, or compliance department.
Using the E-Bike as an example, 80 - 100 parts and components from 15 – 30 different suppliers are used in the assembly of an E-bike. Below, Pro QC have summarized each stage in the Product Development Lifecycle along with the common risks and challenges that our clients face in their supplier management effort.
(Click on your current stage of the PDL to learn more)
1. Design Stage The product development life cycle begins with idea generation, concept development, and market testing. For example, the E-Bike handlebar is designed with the form, fit, and function in mind that best serve the market/user’s requirements and the overall aesthetics of the final bike. Although Pro QC do not actively get involved in this stage, a postmortem investigation with many of our client often reveals the following challenges. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Misalignment between the buyer, supplier sales department, and factory production department on critical design requirements Advance product quality planning was not factored in early enough Difficulties in transitioning from a prototype supplier to a mass manufacturing supplier
2. Product Development In this stage, the engineers will refine the design and define the engineering specifications of the handle such as material properties, dimensions, weight, and other requirements while satisfying different product and safety compliances. This is also the stage where engineering prototypes (engineering build) are made to rigorously test the form, fit, and function of the product. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Poor communication of the technical details between buyer and factories Misalignment on the new product’s specifications Misalignment on design/engineering revisions Supplier’s production capability is unable to meet the design requirement Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: First Article Inspection (FAI) Supplier Development Services Resident Supplier Quality Resourcing
3. Identify Potential Suppliers Once the component specifications are defined, the procurement department will begin to identify a list of suitable suppliers that can potentially meet their requirements in terms of capabilities, cost, capacity, and quality. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Lack of experience and due diligence in new supplier region Communication challenges Concern about supplier scams Low confidence supplier’s trustworthiness Concerns over supplier’s financial viability Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Onsite Supplier Verification Financial Credit Check
4. Supplier Qualification Once a list of trustworthy suppliers has been identified, an evaluation of supplier reliability is recommended to ensure they can produce at a consistent level of quality. A world-class organization usually has a comprehensive supplier qualification program to identify and mitigate the risks associated with quality, safety, on-time delivery, cost, and compliance. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Suppliers are not as capable as they initially claimed Supplier lacks effective and systematic quality assurance practice Supplier is ISO 9001 certified, but the underlying principles are not implemented in practice Mass production quality does not match prototype quality Buyers want to sell to big retailers, but their suppliers do not yet comply with the retailer’s supplier code of conduct Supplier violation on labor law, ethical and environmental compliances Goods held in customs due to supply chain security malpractice Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Global Supplier Audit Programs Supplier Quality Audit for Potential Suppliers Quality Management System Audit Social & Ethical Audits Supply Chain Security Audit Environmental Audit
5. Pre-Production Validation Before commencing volume production, it is crucial to validate the factory’s equipment, staffing, production methods, capacity, and quality control plan for each product line. This is an important stage to prevent critical failures, costly mistakes, and loss of time due to changes and rework. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Factory not ready for mass production Shipment delays due to critical failure, poor quality, and resource constraints An exponential increase in defective products Product recall High Cost of Poor Quality An exponential increase in the cost of change after mass production commences Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Engineering Build (EB) and Quality Build (QB) Audit First Article Inspection (FAI) APQP/PPAP Audit Manufacturing Process Audit or VDA 6.3 Process Audit
6. Production Planning Production planning is an administrative process that involves ensuring that sufficient raw materials, components, staff, and other outsourced processes such as secondary processing are procured to create finished products according to the specified schedule. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Production delay due to poor material procurement planning Production delay due to inadequate production staffing Poor sub-supplier management Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Order Expediting
7. Incoming Quality Control Incoming quality control is required when all the procured material and components arrive at the factory. This is the first step in controlling the production process and resulting product quality. Understanding how a factory manages its incoming material and its supply chain is a very good indication of its commitment to quality. (The saying goes: Garbage in, garbage out.) Supplier Risks & Challenges: The factory does not manage the quality of its supply chain or is poor at supplier management Suppliers turn a blind eye to defective components during incoming and still use them for production and assembly Using sub-standard material or components (e.g., lower-quality fabric than required) Substituting lower-cost alternatives for product components (e.g., cheaper electronic components in a mobile phone) “Quality fade” where suppliers make small, gradual substitutions in materials and components over time Bulk material ordered by the supplier degrades over time due to poor storage conditions Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Incoming Inspection In-Process Inspection Manufacturing Process Audit or VDA 6.3 Process Audit
8. Production & Assembly Upon approval for volume production, raw materials and components are processed, extruded, forged, cast, injected, machined, and assembled. It is important to note that a factory may not have all the production capabilities and may outsource certain processes to other suppliers. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Operators are not producing according to the production control plan Supplier is under pressure to ship goods, turning a blind eye to defective components Lack of quality staff to enforce quality control Poor control of re-worked material/product Mistakes made by temporary, untrained staff/operators Communication breakdown when the supplier is under pressure Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: First Article Inspection (FAI) In-Process Inspection Manufacturing Process Improvement Quality/Root Cause Investigation (8D) CAPA Verification Order Expediting & Production Monitoring End-Of-Line Testing & inspection
9. Packaging Packaging and labeling of the goods are the last steps before shipping. The smallest aesthetic defect on the packaging or missing components often leads to customer returns, and a misplaced label often leads to compliance issues. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Products are poorly packaged Human mistakes and missing components lead to customer returns Wrong labeling leads to compliance issues and significant re-work Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Manufacturing Process Audit Poka-Yoke Implementation Pre-Shipment Inspection End-Of-Line Testing & inspection
10. Shipping Packaged products are being loaded by suppliers at the factory or warehouse into containers and shipped to their final destination. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Rough handling of goods during container loading by the factory or outsourced warehouse, leading to damaged product Poor container loading leads to product damage during transit Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Container Loading Supervision C-TPAT Audit
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Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) is defined as the costs associated with providing poor-quality products or services. There are internal and external COPQ elements as below:
These quality risks and COPQ can be found in every stage of your supplier management journey, and the COPQ increases exponentially as it moves downstream. The earlier these risks are identified and proactively prevented, the less it will cost the company in the long run.
A few pre-emptive supplier quality audits and proactive supplier development initiatives will always outweigh the potential cost of product recalls, safety compliance lawsuits, and marketing PR disasters.
Supplier quality audits and supplier development initiatives always outweigh the potential cost of product recalls, safety compliance lawsuits, and marketing PR disasters
Supplier audits, compliance assessments, process audits, and product inspections are all detection methods for Pro QC to identify risks and issues at the factory. The ultimate value Pro QC delivers is assisting our clients to resolve their problems and improve supplier competency. This effort will ultimately result in cost reductions and sustainable improvement.
11. Potential Supplier Development
12. Continuous Improvements
11. Potential Supplier Development Risks and issues are often identified when onboarding a new supplier or working with an existing one on a New Product Development (NPD) process. Changes, corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and training are often required to proactively minimize the potential failure or to re-qualify the production line. This often requires intensive communications and QA follow-up between the buyer’s engineering team and the factory’s production team to ensure all risks are considered. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Suppliers made changes without notifying their clients Suppliers lack the motivation or quality personnel to improve and implement system improvements Suppliers claim to have implemented improvement actions but are not validated for effectiveness Supplier actions only treat the symptoms of the problem rather than the root cause of the issues Clients do not have enough resources to follow up and validate the implemented actions Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Quality, Social, and Ethical Compliance Improvement PPAP Follow Up Supplier CAPA Facilitation Resident Supplier Quality Resourcing
12. Factory Continuous Improvement On the one hand, many of the suppliers our clients work with are small to medium size factories without the world-class quality management system or practices in place. On the other hand, some of our clients with a more established factory are always looking to improve their performance so they can sell their products into a more stringent sector. Whether the continuous improvement is triggered through a complaint or a proactive initiative, it calls for objective input and unbiased monitoring to facilitate the transformation. Supplier Risks & Challenges: Suppliers lack the qualified quality personnel to drive changes or implement actions There is a lack of internal audits and quality assessments at the factory Factory assessments are biased There is a lack of systematic continuous improvement at the factory Lack of prioritization and objective monitoring of supplier’s improvement initiatives Pro QC’s Supplier Management Solutions: Quality System Improvement and Quality Tool Deployment Targeted Quality KPI Improvement Targeted Manufacturing Process Improvement Establishing Effective Production Control Plan Poka-Yoke Implementation Implementing Continuous Improvement
Pro QC understands improvement projects are fluid and every situation and scenario requires a bespoke approach. Our Supplier Development team consists of a diversified mix of Six Sigma Black Belt quality experts, certified auditors, and supplier quality engineers who are product domain experts.
Pro QC is ready to deploy a suitable project team to support your effort in:
Defining an approach to your challenges or improvement initiatives Defining actionable milestones Following up with suppliers Resolving issues and validating CAPA Annual audits and monitoring improvement progress
All supplier management projects aim to achieve long-term and sustainable improvement.
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The Supplier Development consulting services provided by Pro QC aim to help our client manage their supplier risk and reduce their Cost of Poor Quality. This ultimately translates into an improved profit margin and enhanced brand reputation.
To discuss how we can help you manage your suppliers and ensure that they meet all performance requirements, contact us today.
Improving Factory Performance
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Pro QC Supplier Management Team Q&A
A Guide to Supplier Management
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In which country are you based?AfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBrazilBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCôte d'IvoireCabo VerdeCambodiaCameroonCanadaCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaColombiaComorosCongo (Congo-Brazzaville)Costa RicaCroatiaCubaCyprusCzechia (Czech Republic)Democratic Republic of the CongoDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEswatiniEthiopiaFijiFinlandFranceGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGreeceGrenadaGuatemalaGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMauritaniaMauritiusMexicoMicronesiaMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNorth KoreaNorth MacedoniaNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestine StatePanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalQatarRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited States of AmericaUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuelaVietnamYemenZambiaZimbabwe
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Pro QC has been providing quality assurance, engineering and consulting services since 1984.
We offer quality solutions in over 88 countries and we are continuously expanding our network.
We offer online reporting and detailed reports within 24 hours of job completion.
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