Archive for May, 2009
Don’t Let Your “Customer” Run Your Quality Department
In today’s global marketplace of manufactured products the pressure for cost reduction and quality improvement can be overwhelming. Nowhere is this more evident than in the business of automotive parts production. OEM parts suppliers are being squeezed heavily to produce parts at a reduced cost everywhere in the world. OEMs want the parts cheaper. They are also demanding stricter quality standards across the board, and they are enforcing that requirement with “teeth.” Mandated containments and controlled shipping are sapping away the meager profit margin agreed upon in the price concession negotiations.
»» Don’t Let Your “Customer” Run Your Quality Department
Containment Cost Savings
Dave Jensen thinks the OEM auto makers are trying to strangle their own suppliers. Dave has been a quality manager for a midwestern automotive parts manufacturer for almost 20 years. His world and his business relationship with his customers are both changing. “The OEMs negotiate prices all the way to the bone, then they hold our feet to the fire with outrageous containment costs for the slightest quality issue,” Dave says.