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Defining and Enforcing Manufacturing Processes for Better Control

October 5, 2020

Defining and Enforcing Manufacturing Processes for Better Control

As David Collins from CMC often says, there are 5 key success factors that determine a factory’s performance: Production Planning, Incoming Material, Workforce Training, Process Control and Equipment Maintenance. In this article, I'd like to focus two of these success factors: workforce training and process control. And, more specifically, on the way to evaluate how manufacturing processes were defined and how they are kept in place in daily practice. I am reading the latest edition … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Factory Audits Tagged With: manufacturing process controls, process audits, process control, process improvement

Exploring Process Audits | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 7) [Podcast]

September 23, 2020

process audits podcast

Why perform process audits? So far in this mini-series of podcasts about vetting Chinese suppliers we've discussed what quality audits and social compliance audits are and their respective benefits. Since auditing prospective suppliers is such an important part of vetting new suppliers, we now move on to another type of audit: Process audits. These audits focus on a supplier's manufacturing reliability and will aim to answer the questions: Are they truly experts in the production … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Factory Audits Tagged With: factory audits, manufacturing process controls, podcast, process audits, process control, supplier audits, suppliers' processes, systems audit

How To Fill Out an 8D Report and Fix a Problem in a Factory

April 1, 2020

How To Fill Out an 8D Report and Fix a Problem in a Factory

Filling out an 8D report means following a highly-structured approach to understanding, addressing, and (in the future) avoiding a problem. It is particularly effective for issues that are important and relatively complex. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Process Improvement Tagged With: 8D, 8D reports, process control, process improvement, product improvement

11 Steps To Set Up a Process Control Plan

November 9, 2019

11 Steps To Set Up a Process Control Plan

About 2 years ago, I wrote about the 3 process improvement tools we use most often. And today I'd like to do a deep dive into one of them -- the process control plan. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Process Improvement Tagged With: manufacturing process controls, process control, process control plan, process improvement tools

Why Design Defects Are Behind Many Quality/Safety Issues

July 15, 2019

Why Design Defects Are Behind Many Quality/Safety Issues

There is a tendency for inexperienced importers to blame their suppliers for all quality and safety issues that come up. However, in the situation where the buyer works with an OEM or a contract manufacturer, they share some (and usually all) of the responsibility when something goes wrong. It may well be that manufacturing or design defects are the cause. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supplier Management Tagged With: contract manufacturer, contract manufacturers, design defects, HALT, HASS, manufacturing defects, OEM, process control

What Are the Process Inputs & Parameters to Keep under Control?

February 27, 2019

What Are the Process Inputs & Parameters to Keep under Control?

In our daily jobs, we are in contact with hundreds of different manufacturing processes. We don't always have time to observe the process and use tools such as flow charts, FMEAs, and so on. If that's the case, how do we keep control more easily? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Process Improvement Tagged With: flowcharts, FMEA, process control, process FMEA, process improvement, process inputs

How a Factory Can (and Should) Go Beyond ISO 9001

January 13, 2019

How a Factory Can (and Should) Go Beyond ISO 9001

I wrote a few articles about ISO 9001 recently: The standard itself pushes companies in the right direction, but the auditing & certification process has many flaws: Basics about ISO 9001: The Standard and the Certification Process The standard pushes manufacturers to think in terms of systems and processes, among other benefits: Benefits of ISO 9001 for a Chinese manufacturing organization Many factories have been certified, but implementation was really bad: Factory Audit Tips: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ISO 9001, Process Improvement Tagged With: IATF 16949, ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949, new product development, process control, process FMEA

Understanding Manufacturing Process Controls in Your Factory

August 24, 2017

Turning raw material into a finished product can be a complex process. It usually requires more steps than a layperson would think and more controls along these process steps. This is where a firm grasp of manufacturing process controls becomes useful. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Process Improvement Tagged With: Controlled variables, manufacturing process controls, process control, process inputs, process outputs, Uncontrolled variables


Weekly updates for professional importers on better understanding, controlling, and improving manufacturing & supply chain in China.

This is the official blog of Sofeast.com.

This blog is written by Renaud Anjoran, an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer who has been involved in Chinese manufacturing since 2005.

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