Over the weekend, I came upon a webinar that gives a relatively nice overview of the issues surrounding social compliance audits, particularly in Asia. It was shot by a new company called Mosaic. If I had to summarize it, I'd use these three words: Fear of brands and retailers -- they try to collect evidence of serious due diligence, to "cover their ass" in case their products are found in a factory that burned, that hired kids, or that otherwise did something shocking. The objective is … [Read more...]
Which Communication Mediums For Dealing With Chinese Suppliers?
What are the different mediums importers might use to communicate with their Chinese suppliers? Select the wrong one and you'll find it more difficult to control your project, manage your suppliers, and get the outcomes that you expect...so even if, WeChat instant messages seem like an easy way to communicate, for example, after reading this you may think again before you fire off your next message there. It may seem harmless to communicate in whatever way seems easiest, but it can lead to … [Read more...]
What Manufacturing KPIs Show if a QMS is Performing Effectively?
Many factories are proud of their ISO 9001/ISO 13485 certificate, but a look at their quality management system (QMS) and manufacturing KPIs reveals serious issues. I wrote before about how some companies get certified with a very poorly implemented QMS and how easily an auditor or a customer can spot them. And quality managers (and salespeople, and CEOs) can get pretty delusional. They look at activity metrics such as the number of inspections done, the audits they passed, the nice way … [Read more...]
New Product Launch Tips For Entrepreneurs (Q&A with Liz Long of ‘Learn to Make a Product’)
Liz Long, founder of Learn to Make a Product a platform that supports customers to launch products, shares some of her new product launch tips and thoughts about what it takes for entrepreneurs to go through the development process and get their new products to market. Liz herself is a successful entrepreneur who bought a range of reusable bags to the market in the USA which sold for many years. She's also helped hundreds of people realize their products over the years, so let's draw on her … [Read more...]
Fail Safe Design Principles & Examples | Product Risk Reduction
Some products may, if they fail in a certain way, endanger people's safety or lead to enormous economic losses. That puts much more responsibility on the designers' shoulders and is why using fail safe design principles is so critical. Let's take a closer look at these principles and some fail safe examples you can see in today's products... … [Read more...]
Using the Limiting Quality Level (ISO 2859-2:2020) Instead of AQL
A reader asked me how he should do an inspection of a lot produced in isolation. In theory, he should work with the Limiting Quality Level (LQ), not the AQL, which is designed for inspections of a continuous stream of production. I shot a video to contrast the 2 approaches, explain when each makes sense, and show how each works. … [Read more...]
How To Successfully Implement a dFMEA?
The Sofeast Group's head of New Product Development, Andrew Amirnovin, explains what a dFMEA (Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) is, when it's used and why, and the 8 secrets you need to bear in mind to successfully implement yours. This is a tool we use for de-risking product designs at an early stage, reducing the chances of defective products being manufactured and making their way into the hands of consumers. Listen to the post here: 🎧 8 Secrets for Successfully … [Read more...]
Engineering Change Notification and Approval: a Vital Process
A lot of quality/reliability issues are the result of a poor engineering change notification & approval process or the complete lack of such a process. That's especially common in the context of OEM/ODM manufacturing. Let's uncover why... … [Read more...]
What To Do If Your Products Fail An Inspection? [Step-By-Step Process]
![What To Do If Your Products Fail An Inspection? [Step-By-Step Process]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/WhatToDoIfYourProductsFailAnInspectionStep-By-StepProcess-1140x445.jpeg)
Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran and Adrian from the team are back and talking about something else you don't want to experience but may if you're unfortunate. A failed product inspection! Renaud will explain to you why the type of inspection matters, a step-by-step process to follow to fix problems highlighted by a product inspection report now, and how to put corrective and preventive actions in place to stop the problem from reoccurring in future production runs. Listen … [Read more...]
Process FMEA: Template, Use Cases, and Examples
The Process FMEA is so useful... and so poorly conducted a lot of the time. There is an art to it, just like there is an art to conducting a solid root cause analysis. It seems to be quite a difficult and unnatural exercise for most engineers, technicians, and managers in China or Vietnam. … [Read more...]
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