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...]
Exploring Process Audits | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 7) [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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
Understanding Manufacturing Process Controls in Your Factory
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...]