Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
(OP)
I have worked most of my twenty year career at small companies and, as a result, have been havily involved in quality assurance. During that time, I've always been able to resolve quality issues with vendors with one or two meetings and clarification of my employers expectations. But, I'm now faced with a vendor who despite 9 non-conformances in 3 months, several emails and multiple phone calls cannot seem to get a single shipment to us without major quality issues.
I would like to stop using this vendor, but their pricing is too favorable to allow that. I know the quality issues are detracting from their pricing and that is definitely working into our decision making process. One thing I've never had to do and am considering here, is somehow punishing this vendor for further problems. I was wondering if some other folks out there have any experience with setting up some kind of QA punishment system? I'd appreciate hearing about any experiences you may have had in this area.
I would like to stop using this vendor, but their pricing is too favorable to allow that. I know the quality issues are detracting from their pricing and that is definitely working into our decision making process. One thing I've never had to do and am considering here, is somehow punishing this vendor for further problems. I was wondering if some other folks out there have any experience with setting up some kind of QA punishment system? I'd appreciate hearing about any experiences you may have had in this area.





RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
What good is cheap pricing if you are recieving inadequate materials?
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
Punishment is rarely as effective as incentive in a business relationship. It seems that your supplier does not feel that losing your business would be much of a punishment.
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
If your company will not refuse to purchase from this supplier, add cost penalties for nonconformances in your P.O. and backcharge per DVWE's advice.
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
Unless you're in some place a bit more flexible.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
It turned out lots of folks had the same problems. Typically the carbide suppliers would lie and tell them they were the only ones. Once it became public everyone demanded accurate counts and 100% usable parts. It took about six months for the carbide suppliers to get straightened out. Now a defective part or a poor count is very rare.
Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.
www.carbideprocessors.com
Good engineering starts with a Grainger Catalog.
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
My manufacturing manager arranged a personal meeting between me, the brash young (long time ago) design engineer who knew everything, and the business owner, an experienced machinist. I explained what the assemblies had to do, and basically verbally reiterated the tolerances that were clearly stated on the drawings. Then I told him that he had been highly recommended, and said that I was therefore surprised and disappointed in his work.
It takes a huge ego to be a machinist; shaming one will definitely produce a result.
Luckily for me, the result was that the replacement assemblies and the remainder of the order fit together like 14th century watch parts. The joints were invisible once assembled, and even the noncritical surfaces were so smooth that they were difficult to paint.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
Reward desirable behavior.
Do not reward undesirable behavior.
Works the same for vendors.
If you get bad parts you send them back and don't pay for them.
When you get good parts, pay promptly.
RE: Punishing Poor Quality Vendors
2. It is not worth your time, and others time to monitor a non responsive supplier.
3. Hidden cost, reputation at risk cost, customer satisfaction cost, monitoring cost, non conformance processing cost, accounting back and forth cost.
4. Action; a) bid out the job b) audit new supplier c)Perform First Article c) Run a production quantity
d) Juxtiposition the two suppliers results, and if favorable to the new supplier..cut off non responsive supplier. Note: Make sure you have no other parts with that old supplier..ramp up the new supplier with all the parts
that old supplier has before cutting them off to minimize your risk..
If it were me..that is what I would do..nature of business