Global Supply Chain Management: Quality Strategy Management Essay

Global Supply Chain Management: Quality Strategy
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Global Supply Chain Management: Quality Strategy
One of the contributing factors of the quality issues in the supply chain is flawed raw materials (Soltani et al., 2011). As indicated in both M-case and H-case, when supply provides low-quality raw materials, this translates to the production of low-quality products. In both cases, management concentrated much on workers rather than the sources of raw materials. If the production of low-quality products occurred, it was blamed on the workers working at production plants and serious punishment could be slammed on them. However, what managers did not consider is the fact that flawed raw materials are bound to make the whole production line inefficient and result in increased defect rates in final products (Soltani et al., 2011). Moreover, low-quality raw materials may need extra machining, and if management is not aware of this, they end up blaming the employees. Poor quality management is another issue typically seen in the supply chain. In some instances, companies install inexperienced or individuals with poor quality control skills such that the warranty dates put on products are faulty, making goods to deteriorate or wear out before the indicated dates. A considerable number of failures can occur after products leave the manufacturing facility, depending on the nature of the business (Soltani et al., 2011). The quality control team may fail to provide better transportation facilities, and this can compromise the quality the product between manufacturing plant and warehouse or between the warehouse and retail shops. Manual inspection is another source of quality issues in the supply chain. As indicated by the M-case and H-case cases, both companies applied a strategy of manual inspection. The technique tremendously raises the cost of production, and it is unnecessary if the quality control mechanisms are functioning properly (Soltani et al., 2011).
To ensure high quality in the supply chain, a company can adopt a number of strategies, including selection of a good partner, ensuring effective cooperation, and motivating loyalty to buyers. One may think that a perfect supplier is simply the one who can produce whatever goods needed by customers, but this is far from the truth. A good partner is the one who is ready to take responsibility for the quality issues and work hard to address them quickly (Soltani et al., 2011). My company has chosen to work with the M-case and H-case because both companies are accountable in the sense that they have agreed that there are quality issues and are working towards solving them. Both companies have removed the untrimmed threads and have implemented stricter and effective quality control mechanisms to prevent future quality issues in the manufacturing of their products.
Another key to minimizing quality issues in the supply chain is effective cooperation. Cooperation both upstream and downstream the supply chain is crucial because it plays a key role in the identification of needs for all p...